A framework for evaluating effectiveness and inclusiveness of collective action in watershed management

Abstract

Abstract Collective action in agriculture and natural resource management (NRM) is all too often conceptualised in terms of the mere number of participants, with little consideration given to who participates, why and the outcomes of inequitable participation. This paper focuses on approaches under development under the African Highlands Initiative to bring collective action principles to bear on gender‐equitable change processes in NRM. A framework for assisting research and development organisations to evaluate the effectiveness of collective action processes in watershed management is proposed. The authors then use a set of case studies to illustrate the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches for enhancing gender‐inclusive and equitable collective action processes for activities common to multiple stages of watershed management: structuring the community interface, eliciting views and governing benefits capture. Use of the framework to analyse these cases demonstrates the utility of breaking collective action down into its component dimensions when assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.