An analysis of institutions for agriculture and water management:

Linking knowledge to action

David Cash

Harvard University

Integrated Studies of Sustainability:

Land-Water Systems of the Yaqui Basin

Annual meeting:

October 17-19, 2002

Agenda

• Research context

• Research objective

• Framework: Boundaries, salience, credibility, and legitimacy

• Preliminary results

• Future work

Research context

• Global Environmental Assessment Project (NSF)

– 5+ years, 40+ fellows

– Climate change, biodiversity, transboundary pollution, water management

• Research and Assessment Systems for Sustainability Program (NOAA)

– Harvard, Stanford, Clark, Stockholm Environment Institute, International Human Dimensions Program

Comparative Case Analyses

– Water management in the US Great Plains;– International agricultural research and

technology development (CIMMYT-Yaqui Valley/ICRAF-Alternatives to Slash and Burn);

– ENSO forecasting in the US-affiliated Pacific Islands and southern Africa;

– Fisheries management in the western North Atlantic;– Transboundary air pollution in Europe and the US;– Global environmental change assessments

• Climate change, biodiversity loss

Research objective

• Identify characteristics of effective research, assessment, technology-development and decision-support systems.

Data Collection

• Interviews– At different levels, different nodes

• Documentary– Grey literature (planning documents, reports, etc.)

– Media

– Peer-reviewed literature

• Surveys?• Behavior change (e.g., technology adoption)• State of the resources (e.g., ag., econ, env.

indicators)• Inductive/Deductive analysis

Adoption of Bed Planting in the Yaqui Valley

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

Year

% F

arm

ers

Pla

nti

ng

on

Be

ds

(adapted from Naylor, Falcon and Puente-Gonzalez, 2001)

Deductive: Testing an emerging framework of the central institutional challenges for linking S&T

knowledge to action?

BOUNDARIES exist between....– science and decision making;– across disciplines;– across scale;– between public and private arenas;– across knowledges.

Three attributes of information and information systems are critical....

– SALIENCE;• the relevance of information for an actor’s decision choices

– CREDIBILITY; (largest concern of scientists) • the scientific plausibility and technical adequacy (often by

proxy)

– LEGITIMACY• perceptions of the PROCESS meeting standards of procedural

and political fairness

An emerging framework (cont’d):

Salience, credibility, and legitimacy

• Thresholds

• Interactions: tensions and complementarities

• Balancing tradeoffs

Attemptsto

increase…

influence salience influence credibility influence legitimacy

salience - by “tainting”science with politics;

by including“place-based”

knowledge

or by increasing theinclusion of different decision

makers

credibility by isolating the science

and removing decisionmaker input;

by including differentscientific disciplines who

ask different questions

-

by limiting participationand thus decreasing process

legitimacy; by increasing inclusiveness

of expertise from formallyexcluded groups

legitimacy by changing the focus of

the resulting informationand therefore its usefulness

to defined users by increasing

inclusiveness increasingparticipation of decision

makers

by “tainting”science with politics by increasing theinclusion of different

knowledges

-

Initial Research Findings

• Institutional structures– Networks

• Nodes, connections

• Institutional mechanisms– incentives for individuals in organizations– contracts, collaborative agreements– funding– allocation of roles

International

National

State

Area

Individual

Cómision Nacional de Agua CNA

Data, analysis, regulation

Ejidos

Module

Farmers; Private Farms;

Tecnológico de Monterrey , obregon(ITESM)

District de Riego #41

CIMMYT

CIMMYT - Mexico

Extesnion

CNALocal office

Ag. Water Pol/econ context

Seed Companies

INIFAP Fundaciones Produce

Private consultants

INIFAP

Other CGIAR Centers

GGAVATTS Grupos ganaderos de validación y transferencia de tecnología

Patronato de Sonora (Famrer-led)

CIMMYT – Wheat experiment station

U. de Sonora

Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora (ITSON

)

Colegio de Postgraduados

SAGARPA

Commercial Farms

NAFTA

Land reforms

Market reforms

Water privatization

Stamford

CIRNO

missing insts: credit, donors, etc.

Farmer unions

Preliminary findings:Institutional issues/challenges in the Yaqui Valley

Challenge:

Major boundaries:

Discipline/Issue: Agriculture and Water and Environment (José Luis/ Lee; Amy; Esther/Steve)Technology developers – users (Ivan; David/Greg)Across scale (Wally/Matt; Lee)

Beginning solutions:

Engaging existing organizationsCreating accountability across the boundary (private crop consultants)Support of individual boundary crossers through mission, mandate,

crossover positions, structuring incentives;Long term iterative relationship to build trust and credibility.

Preliminary findings:Institutional issues/challenges in the Yaqui Valley

Challenge:

Tradeoff between salience, credibility and legitimacy

Beginning solution:

Structuring research/technology development using participatory modes;

Co-producing outputs (Ivan, David/Greg, José Luis-Lee)

F S

*

*

*

*

Model 5:“Scientific”

plantbreeding

Selectionof source

germplasm

Traitdevelopment(pre-breeding)

Cultivardevelopment

Varietalevaluation

F S

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Model 2:Complete

participatorybreeding

F S

*

*

*

*

*

*

Model 3:Efficient

participatorybreeding

*

*

*

*

Model 1:Traditional

farmerbreeding

F S F S

*

*

*

*

*

Model 4:Participatory

varietalselection

Who participates when, for what purpose?Case: Participant Plant Breeding at CIMMYT, Mexico

Preliminary findings:Institutional issues/challenges in the Yaqui Valley

Challenge:

FundingDecrease in core unrestricted funds in the CG systemDecrease in extension fundingLong-term/short term tradeoffs

7-10 years to develop a new variety15-20 years to go from flood to furrow irrigation

Competitive granting (credibility over salience?)...increasing transactions costs

Beginning solutions:Switching to information market (e.g., private consultants; farmer union technicians; INIFAP funding from Fundaciones)

Preliminary findings:Institutional issues/challenges in the Yaqui Valley

Challenge:

Heterogeneity of producers = different needs

Next steps

• Ag./Water/Env. nodes and connections• Other institutional measures

– Funding trends

– FTEs, etc.

– Use of advisors

• Measuring effectiveness? – Development/economic measures

• Technology adoption– Crops; cropping technologies (e.g., bed planting, no-till); irrigation technologies; use of diagnostic

technologies

– Environment measures• Nitrogen application/loading• Water use; aquifer depletion

– Combined• Water & Nitrogen efficiency

• Plan next phase of data collection

• Yaqui project as demonstration.....