From research outputs to development outcomes—selected stories - Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security - page 184

up, households fished individually and competed with one another for the
catch.
Householders learned to work together to coordinate their activities and to
protect the fish stock. Through a benefit-sharing arrangement, landowners and
fishers both receive a share of the net profit. The society became financially
more stable and strengthened its ability to raise funds for next year's purchase
of fingerlings and the fencing needed to prevent fish escaping from the ponds.
The lease was extended through 2012, with an option for a further three years.
Project PN35 sought to understand the socio-economic conditions that
allowed the community-managed fish culture in Beel Mail and elsewhere to
function successfully. It found that improved technology was a component, but
practices that gave more equitable access to the fisheries, including the landless
poor who were allowed unlimited rights to fish with hook and line, were
important at the community level. Their success depended on communities
enforcing their own rules, and maintaining lease rights to seasonally flooded
areas used for fish production. Land tenure was a key component. Growing
competition from private investors is likely to be an issue for the future.
Citations relevant to this story are: Sheriff et al., 2010; Collis et al., 2011;
CPWF, 2012f; WorldFish, 2013.
Research outputs and negotiations about resource use
Enhancing multi-scale water governance in the Mekong Basin (PN50)
(PN67)
There are a number of outcome stories emerging from the work of several
projects working on water governance and multi-stakeholder platforms in the
Mekong. The stories illustrate the slow but progressive build-up of infor-
mation, understanding and capacity required in this action arena. One of the
lessons from the work from the Mekong Program on Water, Environment and
Resilience (M-POWER), applicable anywhere, is that public participation
programs are not a panacea. Governments and other organizations often
believe that participation is a cost not a benefit. Participation can also legitimize
otherwise flawed processes and decisions while sidelining issues of gender and
equality. The following stories illustrate that engagement backed by credible,
salient and legitimate information can lead to changes in investment behavior,
policy implementation and practices.
M-POWER is a network of collaborating scholars undertaking action-based
research, facilitated dialogues and knowledge brokering to improve water
governance in the Mekong region. It does this by supporting sustainable
livelihoods, healthy communities and ecosystems. M-POWER was established
in 2004 with the goal of democratizing water governance in the Mekong
region through research and dialogue.
In Phase 1, the CPWF, together with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and IFAD funded a fellowship program partnered with M-POWER. The