Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
imperative. In addition, governance has to
work at multiple scales and in different pol-
itical and social environments.
What are the barriers for governance of
SOC? Some key principles for SOC govern-
ance need to be elaborated. Governance struc-
tures must:
• EmbedSOCinalllevelsofrelevantde-
cision making and action, so that deci-
sions on the allocation of resources or
the development of new curricula, for
example, must take account of the im-
portance of SOC.
• Conceptualizeruralandurbancommu-
nities and economic and political life
as collective interest groups for the en-
vironment, which means that SOC be-
comes a responsibility for all levels of
society - and not just an interest of land
users. This is particularly relevant where
incentives and penalties are to operate
as part of governance structures - as
they will have to with SOC.
• Emphasizetheconnectionofpeopleto
the ecosystems in which they live and
their collective reliance on the SOC in
the ecosystems which provide goods and
services. Goods and services are derived
privately but emanate from a complex of
private and public processes. Governance -
or more explicitly, the point of interven-
tion to achieve sustainable control - must
balance private and public responsibility
and not just target the weakest in society,
the poor rural land user.
• Promoteatransitionfromrelativelysim-
ple linear systems (such as the promo-
tion of land-use practices that maximize
SOC) to circular positive-feedback systems
that generate co-benefits and complex re-
inforcing interactions with multiple entry
points (such as organic agriculture, mar-
kets, incentives and nutrition). The concept
of Zero Net Land Degradation, proposed
by the UNCCD secretariat, is an example
(Chapter 29, this volume).
actors involved are land users as the imme-
diate guardians of SOC, local professionals,
local government and NGOs (Plate 6). Key
considerations (based on Vidal, 2005) will
include:
• Utilizinglocalsocialcapital,including
local knowledge on soil resources, local
leaderships and local education and
training. Building SOC must become
part of the local soil management dis-
course, familiarly discussed by men
and women, old and young.
• Participationandinformationaccess:
decision making on soil management
and land use must be based on adequate
and legitimate information. Access to
this information is critical.
• Governmentpresence:atthelocallevel,
the promoters of SOC are primarily pro-
fessionals such as agricultural extension
workers. They have to be trained ad-
equately, resourced and incentivized.
In some countries, such local profes-
sionals act as gatekeepers to subsidize
and incentivize as well as being the
source of technical information.
• Localinstitutionalframework:informal
mechanisms need to be employed for de-
centralized environmental governance,
including forums for social interaction
and agreements acceptable to local stake-
holders. The institutional framework
needs to address both collective action,
such as the management of organic
residues that are normally available as
community-wide free resources, and
private action that needs to be regulated
for the collective good.
National
According to Benjamin and Fulton (2011, p. 2):
'without effective environmental governance
at the national level, none of our sustainabil-
ity aspirations - international or domestic -
can be realized.' This highlights the pivotal
role of good governance by nation states,
not only in filtering down to the local level
but also in aggregating up to the global and
international levels. Because of its complex
nature and multiple stakeholders, the govern-
ance of SOC will be especially challenging.
Local
Because of its nature and management, SOC
requires participative local environmen-
tal governance arrangements. The principal
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