NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT:

FAO INVESTMENT CENTRE
Environmental Report Series 2

INCENTIVES SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT:
The Role of Indirect Incentives

REPORT NO. 99/023 IFAD-RAF

The Environmental Report Series is a new series of publications produced by the FAO Investment Centre. The primary objective of the Series is to provide illustrative examples of recent environmental “best practices” in support of the design of agricultural and related investment projects. The intended users of the Series are Centre staff, their national counterparts and other interested professionals involved in investment project design. In most cases, the material presented in the Series is based on recent work of Centre staff supported through co-operative agreements between FAO and its partner institutions. The primary criteria used for the selection of material published in the Series are quality, degree to which the underlying work represents accepted “good practices” in the field, relevance to meeting Centre needs, and originality.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO or IFAD concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city of area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.





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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO or IFAD concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city of area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. (Note: this version has been slightly amended from the printed document for web publication)

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© FAO 1999

Abstract

In response to a number of requests from the Governments of the Sahelian countries, IFAD has agreed to assist in the preparation of National Action Programmes under the framework of the International Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD). In initiating this work, incentive systems for Natural Resource Management (NRM) have been identified as a possible entry point, since this issue has not yet been addressed in a systematic and conclusive manner by the several CCD consultations at international, regional and national levels. In this context, current options for NRM incentives include matching grants, food- or cash-for-work, provisions for tools, equipment, and social infrastructure, support to female-headed households to cushion the impact of male migration, and specific activities in favour of youth to encourage their participation in resource conservation activities instead of resorting to permanent migration. Beyond such short- and medium-term incentives, there is need for: (i) longer-term incentives relating to security of access to and control of resources; (ii) sectoral prices and subsidies (of both inputs and outputs); (iii) information on soil fertility management technologies; and (iv) decentralization of decision making and financing (through de-concentration, delegation, devolution and privatization). Finally, while the importance of the macro-economic environment is recognized, in many cases this is far from being a sufficient condition to bring about the desired changes in resource management practices at a local level.