Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
between rice farming, shrimp production and the environment in the Mekong
delta. Technology work focused on improving productivity of rice in these
systems.
In Vietnam, the decision-support system (DSS) developed by the project
(Baran et al., 2006; Baran et al., 2010) was targeted at decision makers at the
provincial level who made decisions about sluice-gate management to control
the level of salinity in the water. Letting in more seawater is good for shrimp
production but lowers production for rice farmers. The project reports that
officials used the results of the model in their management decisions to the
benefit of both groups of users (PN10 final report).
Several factors may account for this successful influence. In terms of the
results themselves, the model recommendations did not support the “rice
bowl” (emphasis on rice production) orientation of the existing policy. They
were not entirely unexpected, however, and served to confirm a growing
sense among stakeholders that the current policy was no longer optimal or
sustainable.
During implementation, the PN10 project team engaged farmers,
practitioners and policymakers. The model was built based on consultations
with farmers, primarily to obtain technical parameters but also to confirm how
farmer objectives were modeled. The model was originally intended to
maximize biomass but shifted to a multi-objective problem on the basis of
farmers' feedback. The targeted decision makers were also engaged from the
beginning, and the appropriateness of the model was confirmed with them
during development of the model.
Understanding the problem and engagement with local stakeholders may
have been facilitated by the special composition of the project team. Among
the project principal investigators (PIs) were: natural and social scientists,
researchers and development practitioners, nationals from each of the countries
where the project worked, and scientists from international rice, fish and water
management institutes. This was possible in a small team because in many cases
a single individual fitted multiple categories. This likely contributed to the
extent to which the researchers were able to work effectively across disciplines,
scales of analysis and objectives (research and development).
The work in PN10 built on past projects that the PIs had been involved in,
and was linked to projects that other partners led. Even though PN10 was led
by CGIAR Centers and governed by rules of CPWF contracts, the
partnerships were long-standing. There was a sense of mutual accountability
for actions, findings and outcomes that went beyond what was stipulated in
CPWF contractual arrangements. Also, the particular characteristics of the PIs
and their multiple allegiances could have helped ensure equitable interaction
among different stakeholders.
While the project appears to have been successful in getting its results used
by provincial water management authorities, several questions remain about
the sustainability of the impacts. First, it is not clear to what extent the
provincial water managers built their capacity to use the model rather than just
Search WWH ::
Custom Search