The Green Awassa Atelier
The Green Awassa Atelier is another participatory success story that dealt with natural resource degradation in sub-Saharan Africa. The Awassa region in Ethiopia was victimized by globalization. The export-led model of development gives only a small percentage of the final value of agricultural products to farmers. Additionally, because the farmers in the region could not afford modern fertilizers or capital-intensive methods of preserving their farmland, they were gradually ruining the nutrient content of the soil they relied on for their livelihoods. This is a problem throughout Ethiopia, where massive disinvestments in natural capital are commonplace. Nationally, Ethiopia endures topsoil losses ruining 5 million acres of cropland per year (20). This sets in cycle negative feedback loops compromising water quality and diminishing the incomes of farmers. Farmers' lack of education about sustainable agriculture diminishes their ability to counteract these soil losses (20). The Awassa Atelier stepped in as a participatory program to invest in both human and natural capital. It was loosely modeled off of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai's Green Belt movement which planted 30 million trees in Kenya, original proof that investments in human and natural capital are possible even in face of financial limitations. The Atelier had some amazing effects! The Atelier was a joint effort between the Awassa Children's Center and the University of Vermont's Gund Institute for Ecological Economics. These are the program's steps:
1. Community meetings identified problems. Disinvestments of natural capital were by far the most cited problem, which is why the program focused on this issue. These meetings also encouraged villagers to identify vicious cycles at work. For example, villagers recognized that deforestation leads to erosion, which leads to reductions in agricultural productivity, leading to expansion in lands under cultivation, which finally leads to deforestation (20).
2. The second stage of the program involved community members in proposing solutions. These solutions invested in natural, human, and social capital in order to solve the problems identified by community members, and were implemented by the University of Vermont with the assistance of a local NGO.
(20)
3. The Awassa Atelier was not without challenges:
(20)
In sum, the Green Awassa Atelier utilized a participatory model to buck a current development agenda that emphasizes heavy capital investments and industrial growth. It was able to make substantive changes in local livelihoods and protect the environment at the same time. It didn't require villagers to rapidly adapt their lifestyles according to top-down mandates, but integrated the advice of expert researchers into community dialogues in order to solve problems identified by locals. This is an example of how participatory development programs work; they are not paternalistic, they offer creative solutions to local problems. Rock on Participatory Programs!
1. Community meetings identified problems. Disinvestments of natural capital were by far the most cited problem, which is why the program focused on this issue. These meetings also encouraged villagers to identify vicious cycles at work. For example, villagers recognized that deforestation leads to erosion, which leads to reductions in agricultural productivity, leading to expansion in lands under cultivation, which finally leads to deforestation (20).
2. The second stage of the program involved community members in proposing solutions. These solutions invested in natural, human, and social capital in order to solve the problems identified by community members, and were implemented by the University of Vermont with the assistance of a local NGO.
- Reforestation: Because deforestation figured so prominently into the the problems identified by villagers, finding a solution to it was important. The Reforestation program had two components. Firstly, a series of incentives were devised for farmers to prevent grazing and adopt careful cultivation practices on degraded lands. Incentives were a small monetary payment. The second phase was a mass reforestation of the watershed coordinated with local NGOs and the government. Marginalized villagers such as women and orphans were selected to participate in this phase of the program because of the educational benefits they received by participating in this training.
- Finding Alternatives to wood use: Because deforestation is a partial result of unsustainable cooking and heating practices, this phase of the program encouraged the adoption of environmentally friendly wood stoves. Women learned to build and sell these stoves, providing valuable entrepreneurial activity to the region and empowering the women. An important part of any participatory development program is involving the villagers in the solutions. There's no better example of this!
- Public Awareness: Community members observed a general lack of knowledge about sustainable agricultural practices. Community leaders coordinated with the Awassa Youth Campus (AYC), a local NGO to develop a series of environmental plays and games to convey crucial agricultural messages to villagers. This was very successful
- Community Alliance: Finally, to foster better coordination between levels of government, private, and NGO actors, the community established the Green Awassa Collaborative Alliance. This alliance includes representatives from villages, government, and NGOs and has a mission to ensure food security, a stable water supply, and awareness of ecological issues in the Awassa watershed. The alliance has been moderately successful.
(20)
3. The Awassa Atelier was not without challenges:
- A history of unsuccessful development projects threatened to derail the project, as its success required the engagement of the community at all stages
- Inherent problems investing in Public Goods: It is difficult to get people to invest in natural capital if it is easy for “free-loaders” to capture the benefits of those investments.
- Importance of NOW: Although the long-term benefits of natural resources may far outweigh the gains from utilizing them for short-term gain, people living at the subsistence level often aren't able to think on this long-term horizon. Local stakeholders need to have a sustained commitment to this effort (20).
(20)
In sum, the Green Awassa Atelier utilized a participatory model to buck a current development agenda that emphasizes heavy capital investments and industrial growth. It was able to make substantive changes in local livelihoods and protect the environment at the same time. It didn't require villagers to rapidly adapt their lifestyles according to top-down mandates, but integrated the advice of expert researchers into community dialogues in order to solve problems identified by locals. This is an example of how participatory development programs work; they are not paternalistic, they offer creative solutions to local problems. Rock on Participatory Programs!