Tilbake til søkeresultatene

FRISAM-Fri prosjektstøtte samfunnsvitenskap

Poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods in small-scale fisheries: The Case of Nicaragua and Tanzania.

Tildelt: kr 4,9 mill.

In this project we question how poverty can be alleviated through ecosystem-based management of natural resources. Alleviating poverty sometimes requires strategies which are inherently in conflict. As one seeks to reduce poverty, one risks aggrevating it . For instance, in fisheries and coastal communities poverty is commonly related to overuse and resource degradation of natural resources. Poverty is both cause and effect of unsustainable fisheries and coastal economies. Poor fishing people have no other available alternative than to continue their environmental destruction. For fisheries and coastal management, this involves a dilemma: As one aims to develop a fishery, one may undermine its very basis. Fisheries development and management must therefore go hand in hand. Poverty alleviation must occur within safe ecological limits, i.e. be sustainable. Otherwise poverty will be sustained if not amplified. We will study how poor fisheries communities in Nicaragua and Sri Lanka cope in order to maintain su stainable livelihoods through periods of resource crisis, and what kind of conditions are essential to secure resilience at individual, household and community levels. A particular focus will be on government and civil society institutions for collective action that exist at various scales. This will include their capacity for poverty alleviation, conflict resolution and resource stewardship. The project will draw on, and contribute to, "sustainable livelihoods theory", "governance theory" and ecosystem-b ased management. These theories emphasise socio-cultural and institutional issues concerning rural development, such as coping strategies, social and ecological resilience, empowerment, social capital and trust.

Budsjettformål:

FRISAM-Fri prosjektstøtte samfunnsvitenskap

Finansieringskilder