Working Paper: NBER ID: w29469
Authors: D Layne Coppock; Lucas Crowley; Susan L Durham; Dylan Groves; Julian C Jamison; Dean Karlan; Brien E Norton; R Douglas Ramsey
Abstract: Classic theories suggest that common pool resources are subject to overexploitation. Community-based resource management approaches may ameliorate “tragedy of the commons” effects. Using a randomized evaluation in Namibia’s communal rangelands, we find that a comprehensive four-year program to support community-based rangeland and cattle management led to persistent and large improvements for eight of thirteen indices of social and behavioral outcomes. Effects on rangeland health, cattle productivity and household economics, however, were either negative or nil. Positive impacts on community resource management may have been offset by communities’ inability to control grazing by non-participating herds and inhibited by an unresponsive rangeland sub-system. This juxtaposition, in which measurable improvements in community resource management did not translate into better outcomes for households or rangeland health, demonstrates the fragility of the causal pathway from program implementation to intended socioeconomic and environmental outcomes. It also points to challenges for improving climate change–adaptation strategies.
Keywords: community-based resource management; rangeland management; Namibia; climate change; tragedy of the commons
JEL Codes: O12; O13; P11; Q15; Q24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Increased grazing intensity due to non-participating herds (C92) | Decline in ecosystem health (Q57) |
| Improvements in community resource management (Q27) | Rangeland health (Q24) |
| Improvements in community resource management (Q27) | Household economics (D19) |
| Program implementation (C88) | Grazing intensity (Q15) |
| External environmental factors (O36) | Causal pathways from program implementation to outcomes (D78) |
| Program implementation (C88) | Improvements in community governance (H10) |
| Program implementation (C88) | Improvements in collective action (D70) |
| Program implementation (C88) | Improvements in grazing management practices (Q15) |