DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES, NORAGRIC Established in 1986 as a centre at the Agricultural University of Norway (NLH), Noragric became the Department of International Environment and Development Studies at the renamed Norwegian University of Life Sciences - UMB on 1 February 2005.
Noragric’s activities include research, education and assignments, focusing particularly, but not exclusively, on developing countries and countries with economies in transition. With more than 40 years collaboration between UMB and academic and professional institutions in Africa, Asia and South East Europe, Noragric has established a broad network of worldwide contacts.
CONTENTS
Reflections from Rector _________________________________________________________________ 3 Message from the Head of Department ____________________________________________________ 4 Noragric’s Professional and Academic Focus _______________________________________________ 5 Noragric Programmes __________________________________________________________________ 6 Research Projects and Assignments _____________________________________________________ 10 Institutional Cooperation ______________________________________________________________ 14 Education ___________________________________________________________________________ 16 Master’s Theses in 2006 _______________________________________________________________ 24 Information Dissemination and Library __________________________________________________ 26 Financial Overview ___________________________________________________________________ 27 Who’s Who at Noragric ________________________________________________________________ 28 Acronyms ___________________________________________________________________________ 30
Photo credits: M. T. Belay (p. 18), T.A. Benjaminsen (p. 8, 9), Digital Vision (p. 23), B. Forbes (p. 7), A.S. Hanssen (p. 18), Ingram Image Library (p. 1), E. Jørgensen (pp. 4, 13, 15), B. Sitaula (p. 6), H. Sparre/UMB (pp. 3, 19), J. Teurlings (pp. 14, 27)
Editor: Joanna Boddens-Hosang
Layout: Tangram Design / Spekter Reklamebyrå as, www.spekter.com
Our youngest academic department, Noragric, turned 20 in 2006. Noragric has played an important role in developing institutional collaboration agreements with the many partners that our university has in Africa, Asia and South East Europe. This collaboration not only offers our students the opportunity to take part of their studies abroad, but also for us to welcome students and researchers from these continents to UMB.
Development Studies is now firmly anchored as an academic field at UMB, and Noragric staff and students are engaged in interdisciplinary studies on a wide range of issues concerned with poverty, livelihoods, gender, property rights, environmental management, conflict, peace building and post-conflict development in Sub- Saharan Africa, South- and Southeast Asia and South America.
Noragric has become our second most sought- after department for recruiting new students:
at the start of the autumn semester in 2006, Noragric had 41 students enrolled in the Bachelor’s programme in Development Studies;
34 in the Master’s programme in Development Studies; and 25 in the Master’s programme in Management of Natural Resources and Sustainable Agriculture-MNRSA. For our univer- sity, attracting some 100 new students per year is very important. Due to this, the UMB Board has agreed to increase core funding, amounting to NOK 1,5 million for 2007, 1 million for 2008- 2009 and 0,5 million for 2010. The performance- based part of the budget model will increase due to the increased number of students.
In addition to the above-mentioned Bachelor and Master student numbers, 20 PhD students are also enrolled at Noragric. UMB will give financial
support to Noragric to set up a PhD sandwich programme starting in the autumn of 2007 with the Section for International Development Studies, Roskilde University, Denmark, and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex. Enrolled PhD students will attend courses at all three network partners.
UMB’s Health programme was launched in September and one of the sub-programmes, Health and Development, is centred at Noragric.
The programme’s reported activities following the launch included the appointment of a Prof.
II at the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology, a new PhD student at the Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, and the successful application for a NUFU project at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. Also in relation to the topic of Health, Noragric has been selected to host the Thor Heyerdahl Professorship at UMB. This professorship lies within the field of health, environment and development and will also be used to address interdisciplinarity as a research topic.
Noragric’s anniversary seminar in June was called “Environment and Development Studies:
The Way Ahead”. As I pointed out then, the
“way ahead” is an unwritten road map filled with unknown challenges. Noragric and our university have a task to carry out. I am confident that, together with our partners, we are academically equipped to face these challenges and contribute to finding solutions.
Prof. Knut Hove
Knut Hove
2006 was the year Noragric turned 20 which gave us an opportunity to look back at past achievements, but also forward to assess Noragric’s future direction, what role to play, and how best to contribute towards just and sustainable development. Noragric has evolved from being a centre mainly engaged in consultancies related to agriculture and natural resources, and providing English language Master education to students from developing countries, to a full-fledged university department with strong research activities, excellent publication records, and academic programmes at Bachelor, Master and PhD level, while still maintaining an applied, hands-on approach.
The Noragric students are no longer only from Asia and Africa, but from all over the world, including a large number from Norway.
Noragric’s success is due to many factors, but the most important one is the long-term, constructive and fruitful institutional collaboration with partner universities in the South and in South East Europe. Institutions are important – yet even more important are the people who constitute the institutions. Noragric has been extremely fortunate in having wonderful, visionary, dedicated and hardworking partners.
What the future will bring for institutions in the field of international environment and development studies is difficult to tell. The Noragric anniversary conference in June, called
“Environment and Development Studies: The way ahead” was fortunate to have Minister of International Development Erik Solheim give a keynote address on peace building and development in a globalising world. Three panel presentations and discussions followed, focusing
MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
Ruth Haug
on (1) peace building–development relations: the role of livelihood security and natural resources;
(2) future scenarios for agriculture, land use and climate change; and (3) the relation between biodiversity and poverty.
The meaning of development and who is shaping it will probably change. Perhaps there will be different agenda-setters in a future development knowledge generation sector. Let’s hope that the next decades of development research will be more successful in contributing to the world becoming a better place for everybody. In the future, international environment and development studies will probably be less confined to geographic borders. The so-called developed and developing countries are heavily interdependent on each other, e.g., the interdependence of policy of the North and the space for governance in the South in relation to trade, migration, energy and the environment. Development Studies in the years to come will probably reinvent itself in the direction of increasingly addressing North-South relations, local-global linkages, study the wealthy and powerful in order to better understand why poverty continues in a world of plenty, and explore how to form better alliances between activists, politicians and academics in order to contribute towards more equity, justice and sustainability.
Finally, I would like to express my warmest appreciation of Noragric’s highly committed and hardworking staff for their great contributions and achievements in 2006.
Prof. Ruth Haug
mittees and networks, in advisory roles for the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Ministry of For- eign Affairs, in institutional collaboration with partners in develo- ping countries, and in collaboration with various national and international civil society organisations.
Within the context of “international development” and the issues that are related to this topic (e.g. social movements, conflicts and peace-keeping, rights and food sovereignty), Noragric focuses on three mutually supportive programmes:
• Agricultural development and livelihood security
• Biodiversity and natural resource management
• Rights, conflicts and resources
These programmes include cross-cutting themes such as policy, ecological zones (drylands, coastal zones, highlands), gender, participation, inter- and cross-disciplinarity, community develop- ment, urban/rural relations, partnership and capacity building.
RESEARCH
Research is closely linked to the education programmes and the assignments undertaken by staff. The Research Committee (RC), led by the Head of Research, initiates and co-ordinates research activities and integrates these with education, institutional collabo- ration and assignments. The Research Committee plays a facilita- ting and coordinating role for academic prioritisation at Noragric.
RC is also responsible for the PhD programme in Development Studies.
EDUCATION
The steadily increasing number of both Norwegian and foreign students in Noragric’s Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programmes shows a growing interest in the topic of development combined with proper management of environmental resources. Noragric’s Head of Education, supported by the Education Committee (EC), is responsible for the Bachelor’s- and Master’s programmes. These are the Bachelor’s programme in Development Studies and two Master’s programmes, namely International Environmental Stu- dies (former MNRSA), and Development Studies.
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AND ASSIGNMENTS In addition to its core academic areas of education and research, Noragric plays an active role in national and international com-
NORAGRIC’S VISION IS TO:
Contribute towards equitable development,
sustained well-being of women and men, and sound environmental practices through collaborative activities that generate and exchange knowledge and provide education in the area of agricultural development, livelihood security and natural resource management.
This programme addresses:
• Poverty reduction, rural employment, access to markets
• Governance, national policies, civil society
• Research, education, access to new technologies
Agricultural intensification and environmental impacts in hill watersheds in Nepal
In Nepal, over 80% of the total population has ongoing involve- ment in agriculture. The linkage between agriculture systems, production and the use of agro-chemicals in the environment has been better understood in recent years. Evidence suggests that the alteration of agro-ecosystems due to agriculture intensifica- tion contributes to soil degradation, water pollution and an increase in greenhouse gas fluxes in the atmosphere. Soil and nutrient loss from upland terraces are a major threat to long-term agricultural sustainability and cause environmental problems in a mountainous country like Nepal. To elucidate and minimize these problems, a number of studies were conducted in the watersheds of Nepal.
An assessment of soil quality in the Pokhare Khola watershed of the Middle Mountains showed that rain fed terraces (Bari) were found to have the highest nutrient stocks among different types of land use. They also had the highest soil quality index (SQI) follo- wed by forestlands and irrigated paddy lands (Khet). The determi- nants of farmers’ adoption of soil conservation technology were also studied. This showed that technology dissemination through multi-sectoral type community based local groups is a good option to enhance the adoption of improved soil conservation technology in the Middle Mountain farming systems in Nepal. Results from another recent study conducted in the Ansikhola and Chakhola watersheds showed that agricultural intensification has altered the physical, chemical and biological quality of river water.
Realising the emerging environmental problems in the mountain agriculture system and upland-lowland inter-linkages and inter- dependencies, the Nepalese Agriculture Development Policy of 2004 urges farmers to take initiatives to minimise the use of agro-chemicals, promote organic farming and in situ conserva- tion of biodiversity. These initiatives are expected to promote sus- tainable agriculture development in the country and make agri- cultural products more environment-friendly.
Collaboration between Noragric, Tribhuvan University and Kath- mandu University has resulted in pooling scientific information on various aspects of mountain development, including mountain
agricultural systems. The scientific information has been used for the above-mentioned policy. Promoting sustainable and environ- ment-friendly agriculture development in the mountains is impor- tant for both farmers and the environment in the long-run.
Contact: Prof. Bishal Sitaula
NORAGRIC PROGRAMMES
Rural focus of poverty reduction strategies
Limited participation of rural stakeholders and insufficient prio- ritisation of policies and actions that can address rural poverty have been among the concerns related to Poverty Reduction Stra- tegies (PRS) in many low-income countries. In order to identify the root-causes to these weaknesses in the PRS processes, and also to find out how PRS processes can be strengthened to improve long-term development impacts, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has initiated a project com- prising five country case studies. The country case studies are conducted in Bolivia, Cambodia, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Ethiopia. Noragric was assigned the responsibility for the case study in Ethiopia, funded by Norad.
Ethiopia’s first Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) was known as the Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP) and covered the time period 2000/01 to 2003/04. The second PRSP (Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty - PASDEP) covers the time period 2005/06 to 2009/10. PASDEP has a strong status as Ethiopia’s overall planning document, representing the country’s PRSP as well as its five-year development plan and strategy to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). It has a strong central political ownership, as witnessed by an extensive consultation process and two full weeks of debate in Parliament, and is thus a substantial improvement over its predecessor, SDPRP.
1. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LIVELIHOOD SECURITY
Ansikhola watershed, Nepal
marising relevant findings from available documents regarding Ethiopia’s PRS process. A first draft country case study was for- mulated based on the desk study and a reconnaissance visit to Ethiopia in November. The study continues into 2007.
Some fundamental issues regarding PASDEP are still pending, such as whether the participation of rural stakeholders in the consultations was active enough to secure a broad national ownership of PASDEP, as opposed to an ownership by only the political establishment in Addis Ababa; and whether local levels of government have the capacity in terms of sufficient number of qualified, stable staff to implement the plan in the rural areas.
Contact: Dr. Fred Håkon Johnsen
2. BIODIVERSITY AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
This programme addresses:
• Effects of natural and human influences on the environment
• Natural resource management in different ecosystems
• Benefit sharing, “ownership”, capacity building, access to knowledge
Ecological and social resilience in coastal areas of the Indian Ocean
Interlinkages between ecological and social processes can be stu- died taking a holistic analytical approach that incorporates resi- lience and vulnerability as its conceptual framework. This appro- ach is gaining academic credence rapidly and ideas are develo- ping that provide new insights into understanding of processes that lead to enhanced or diminished sustainability.
Noragric is currently engaged in a research project in coastal Tan- zania investigating the ecological and social impacts of a change in fisheries policy that allows for the export of fish from coastal areas: this issue has been complex and controversial because it has both positive and negative implications – industrial fisheries may increase production and profits that benefit some people and also provide foreign exchange earnings from exports, but such policy changes may also lead to overfishing of vulnerable fish spe- cies and the marginalisation and impoverishment of small-scale fisherfolk thereby threatening livelihoods food security. In this endeavour, Noragric is collaborating with researchers from the key institutions in Tanzania related to fisheries research.
Several of Noragric’s students have focused their Master’s thesis research topics on issues of ecological and social resilience and vul- nerability, livelihood analysis and issues of sustainability in tropical coastal areas within an increasingly globalised world. These have included studies on mangrove conservation and sustainable use, coral reef recruitment and survival, winners and losers from aqua-
Contact: Prof. Ian Bryceson
Integrated Ecosystem Management approach and indigenous communities in Russia
The societal transformations that Russia has faced after the col- lapse of the Soviet Union involve demanding processes relating to the integration of environmental and socio-economic conside- rations into planning frameworks. Shifting political and adminis- trative systems have severely undermined the socio-economic infrastructure in rural areas. National and global market demands intensify pressures on natural resources and related infrastruc- ture development. Powerful interest groups such as large oil, mining, and logging companies have the capacity to exercise power and influence decision-making, whereby indigenous peoples’ rights to land and resources are often ignored. Local institutions are weak, and enforcement of laws that should protect poor and marginalized local people is weak or non-existent. Tra- ditional use of land and natural resources for indigenous peoples’
subsistence is ignored. Community involvement in self-govern- ment of natural resources is practically absent.
Integrated Ecosystem Management (IEM) is widely acknowled- ged as a tool for achieving sustainable development. In order to address the challenges described above, a workshop entitled
“Integrated Ecosystem Management: Building Successful Part- nerships for Conservation in the Russian Arctic” was held in St.
Petersburg, Russia, 19-21 November 2006. Participants and speakers expressed a wide variety of interests in and expectations from the workshop, including gaining a better understanding of IEM, implementing IEM in Russia and more broadly in the Arc- tic, the role of different stakeholders in IEM (e.g., industry, indi- genous peoples, researchers, government institutions, etc), and sharing experiences about IEM. Acknowledgement was given to the oil and gas companies for their interest and participation in the workshop, although there was a desire to see more involve- ment from both Russian companies and the government.
Indigenous Russian reindeer herders
Some recommendations emerging from the workshop included setting up a network of co-management/CBNRM (community- based natural resource management) experts, and the desire to learn from experience and expertise from other continents such as Africa that may be relevant for Russia. A presentation of the results of the workshop is planned for the next meeting of Senior Arctic Officials in the spring of 2007, as well as to the working groups of the Arctic Council.
Contact: Dr. Thor S. Larsen
3. RIGHTS, CONFLICTS AND RESOURCES This programme addresses:
• Rights, opportunities and access to natural resources for the poor
• Conflicts and post-conflict management
• Internally displaced people and forced migration
The political ecology of a farmer-herder conflict in Tanzania Farmer-herder conflicts in Africa are often presented as typical examples of resource conflicts that illustrate the main message in influential ‘environmental security’ literature. However, political ecologists argue that these conflicts are usually more than just resource conflicts and that they should be studied within a broa- der historical and policy context.
The Programme for Agricultural and Natural Resources Transforma- tion for Improved Livelihoods (PANTIL) is undertaken in Tanzania in collaboration with Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), UMB, NVH and Bioforsk. The total support from the Norwegian Govern- ment for the 4-year-period, 2006-2009, is 83.6 million NOK.
The most important activities in the programme are to undertake demand-driven research for improved natural resource utilisa- tion; to increase farmer empowerment to enhance continued technology development and uptake, to promote institutional transformation and capacity building at SUA; and finally to facili- tate student exchange between SUA and UMB/NVH.
This particular study is a detailed case study of a local conflict at village level between farmers and Maasai pastoralists in the Kilosa District in Tanzania. The conflict has led to the killing of 38 villa- gers in December 2000 and has been highly publicised and much discussed in Tanzania. It is frequently interpreted as a clear-cut resource conflict about access to water and grazing for the pastoralists in the dry season. However, the study demonstra- tes that to understand the conflict, it is also necessary to study the history of land use in the district, which involves the rise and fall of the sisal estates and state ranches as well as the history of “vil- lagisation”, land tenure policy and pastoral policy in Tanzania.
The root cause of the conflict is argued to be policy-makers’ and other officials’ lack of appreciation and understanding of prin- ciples of pastoral production leading to attempts to confine pasto- ralists in ‘pastoral villages’, which lack basic services and do not contain enough grazing land.
The study is part of the PANTIL programme and the main rese- archers involved are Tor A. Benjaminsen (Noragric), Faustin Maganga (Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dar es Salaam) and Abdallah Jumanne Moshi (Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania).
Contacts: Dr. Tor A. Benjaminsen and Dr. Lars Olav Eik Conflict, Peace and Development: Noragric’s engagement continues
Conflict, peace and development together constitute a broad field of engagement in Noragric’s educational and research activities.
While the Master level course in Conflict and Development offers students an opening to go deeper into issues such as conflict resolution, post-conflict development and peace building, topics such as resource conflicts and livelihood security in a globalising world are also addressed in-depth in other courses. Many of our Master’s and PhD students have chosen particular aspects of war- torn societies such as displacement and resettlement, peace building and democracy, livelihoods and resource rights, and gender and conflict in African, Asian and Latin American coun- tries for their research. Noragric’s senior researchers have criti- cally examined the peace processes in Sudan and Sri Lanka and conducted field studies in livelihood revival and peace building in these countries. Most of these studies have been brought together in two anthologies1. An underlying message of these and some of the studies conducted by our graduate students is that peace pro- cesses and reconstruction and development programmes must pay more serious attention to grievances generated by protracted war. Thus not only the causes but also the consequences of armed conflict need to be addressed simultaneously with a view to forge strong reciprocal links between peace building and development.
Contact: Prof. N. Shanmugaratnam
1 N. Shanmugaratnam, Ragnhild Lund and Kristi Anne Stølen (eds), 2003, In the Maze of Displace- ment: conflict, migration and change, Norwegian Academic Press
N. Shanmugaratnam (ed), 2007, War and Peace in Sudan and Sri Lanka: Deprivation and Livelihood Revival, James Currey, Oxford.
Remains of a house after the conflict in 2000, Kilosa, Tanzania
Grouped according to the three scientific Noragric programmes
1. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LIVELIHOOD SECURITY Lungwena health, nutrition and agri- cultural multidisciplinary project, Malawi Funded by: NUFU
Period: 2003-2006
Noragric contacts: Frik Sundstøl, Randi Kaarhus
Programme for Agricultural and Natural Resources Transformation for Improved Livelihood (PANTIL), Tanzania
Funded by: governments of Norway and Tanzania (via SUA, Tanzania)
Period: 2005-2009
Noragric contact: Lars Olav Eik
Breeding and management systems for healthy and productive goats of different types and purposes in Tanzania; Norwe- gian dairy goats, East African meat goats and Cashmere goats (research project under PANTIL)
Funded by: governments of Norway and Tanzania (via SUA, Tanzania)
Period: 2005-2009
Noragric contact: Lars Olav Eik Improving semi-arid rural livelihood through draught animal power (research project under PANTIL)
Funded by: governments of Norway and Tanzania (via SUA, Tanzania)
Period: 2005-2009 Noragric contact: Jens Aune
Enhancement of water productivity in smallholder irrigation and rainwater har- vesting systems for improvement of live- lihoods (research project under PANTIL) Funded by: governments of Norway and Tanzania (via SUA, Tanzania)
Period: 2005-2009
Noragric contact: Paul Vedeld
Long-term institutional cooperation.
Directorate of Research and Postgraduate Studies (DRPGS), Tanzania
Funded by: Sokoine University of Agri- culture, Tanzania
Period: 2005-2009
Noragric contact: Lars Olav Eik
Evaluation of Norwegian support to NAS- FAM, Malawi
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Stein Bie
Technical support to the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (secondment), Bonn
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2006-2007 Noragric contact: Stein Bie
Evaluation of World Bank policies and the agricultural sector at country level in Africa
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2006-2007
Noragric contact: Espen Sjaastad Study on rural focus in PRS in Ethiopia Funded by: NORAD
Period: 2006-2007
Noragric contact: Fred Johnsen Appraisal of the programme proposal
‘Reversing Food Insecurity and Environ- mental Degradation in Zambia through Conservation Agriculture”
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Kjell Esser Study of the agricultural sector on Madagascar
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Jens Aune
Drylands Coordination Group/DCG (framework agreement)
Funded by: Development Fund Period: 2005-2008
Noragric contacts: Ingrid Nyborg, Jens Aune
Partnership and participation for a sustainable tomorrow
Funded by: Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training
Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Kjell Esser
Study on fertilizer import, Yara, Tanzania Funded by: NORAD
Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Paul Vedeld
Scientific advisory services to the CGIAR Funded by: Norwegian Ministry of For- eign Affairs
Period: ongoing
Noragric contact: Ruth Haug Review of Norges Vel’s agricultural projects in Kosovo and Macedonia, 2002- 2006
Funded by: Norwegian Ministry of For- eign Affairs
Period: 2006-2007
Noragric contact: Mensur Vegara West Balkan programme: “Education, Research and Training for Global Envi- ronmental Change and Sustainable Man- agement of Natural Resources in the Western Balkans”.
Funded by: SIU Period: 2006-2010
Noragric contact: Bishal Sitaula Teacher Education Programme in Kath- mandu University, Nepal
Funded by: SIU Period: 2006-2008
Noragric contact: Bishal Sitaula
RESEARCH PROJECTS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Triangular institutional co-operation between Ethiopia, India and Norway:
Fostering South-South links in the management of natural resources in semi-arid areas (including CPR study) Funded by: NORAD
Period: 1997-2006
Noragric contact: Bishal Sitaula Competence transfer, institutional con- tact and cooperation between university faculties of agriculture, forestry and vet- erinary medicine in South Eastern Europe
Funded by: Norwegian Ministry of For- eign Affairs
Period: 2004-2007
Noragric contact: Mensur Vegara Institutional collaboration between aca- demic institutions in agriculture, forestry and veterinary medicine in Norway and Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Ser- bia & Montenegro - West Balkan Funded by: Norwegian Ministry of For- eign Affairs
Period: 2005-2010
Noragric contact: Mensur Vegara
2. BIODIVERSITY AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Enhancing food production and nature management, Hawassa University, Ethiopia
Funded by: NUFU Period: 2002-2006
Noragric contact: Trygve Berg
Reindeer and sheep: research project on optimal dual species management, Norway
Funded by: University of Oslo Period: 2003-2006
Noragric contact: Stein Moe
GEF indigenous vegetation project, Kenya, Botswana and Mali Funded by: GEF
Period: 2004-2006 Noragric contact: Gufu Oba
Evaluation of Drought Insurance Plan, Ethiopia
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Gufu Oba
Community participation in the imple- mentation of the global environment con- ventions and poverty alleviation
Funded by: NFR Period: 2004-2007 Noragric contact: Gufu Oba
Fact-finding mission: Decentralized for- est and natural resource management, Uganda
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Paul Vedeld
Mid-term review of the Norwegian Pro- gramme for Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in Central America
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Michael Angstreich Evaluation of marine protected areas (MPAs) in relation to development aid, Tanzania
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Ian Bryceson Environment and Development course for MFA’s Competence Centre
Funded by: Norwegian Ministry of For- eign Affairs
Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Thor S. Larsen
Review of UNESCO’s Major Programmes Funded by: Norwegian Ministry of Educa- tion and Research
Period: 2006-2007
Noragric contact: Ian Bryceson GRID-Arendal technical support Funded by: UNEP
Period: ongoing
Noragric contact: Thor S. Larsen Sustainable management of natural resources in watersheds, Nepal Period: 2003-2007
Funded by: NUFU
Noragric contact: Bishal Sitaula Agricultural intensification impacts on soil, water, socio-economic development, Nepal
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2003-2007
Noragric contact: Bishal Sitaula
3. RIGHTS, CONFLICTS AND RESOURCES
High Altitude Integrated Natural Resource Management and Poverty Reduction Programme, Phase II Funded by: Aga Khan Rural Support Pro- gramme (AKRSP) and NORAD
Period: 2003-2007
Noragric contact: Ingrid Nyborg
Developing alternative livelihoods in Dai Kundi Province, Afghanistan
Funded by: Norwegian Church Aid, Afghanistan
Period: 2005-2007
Noragric contact: Ingrid Nyborg Developing nutrition interventions for improved health and productivity in Morogoro and Iringa Regions, Tanzania (research project under PANTIL) Funded by: governments of Norway and
Tanzania (via SUA, Tanzania) Period: 2005-2009
Noragric contact: Randi Kaarhus Farmer Empowerment (a cross-cutting project under PANTIL)
Funded by: governments of Norway and Tanzania (via SUA, Tanzania)
Period: 2005-2009
Noragric contact: Randi Kaarhus Water availability and access in reducing farmer–pastoralist conflicts for sustain- able livestock productivity in Kilosa dis- trict (research project under PANTIL) Funded by: governments of Norway and Tanzania (via SUA, Tanzania)
Period: 2005-2009
Noragric contact: Tor Arve Benjaminsen Land tenure conflicts, pastoralists and the state: a case study from the inner Niger delta in Mali
Funded by: the Nordic Africa Institute Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Tor Arve Benjaminsen Changing land rights study, Malawi Funded by: NORAD
Period: 2005-2006 Contact: Randi Kaarhus
Decentralisation in the agricultural sector, Malawi
Funded by: NORAD Period: 2005-2006
Noragric contact: Randi Kaarhus Human rights and governance in South Africa’s land and agrarian reform Funded by: University of Oslo, through the Institute of Human Rights Period: 2005-2006
Noragric contact: Espen Sjaastad Land rights and conflicts in Africa Funded by: Danish Institute for Interna- tional Studies. Period: 2006
Noragric contact: Espen Sjaastad Land, water and poverty in Southern Africa: Breaking with the past Funded by: NFR
Period: 2005-2008
Noragric contact: Bill Derman
SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH PROJECT APPLICATIONS IN 2006
Noragric received the green light for four projects under the Norwegian Research Council’s “PovPeace programme”. These are: 1) “In the Shadow of Conflict: Impacts of Zimbabwe’s Land Reform on Rural Poverty and Development in Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia” (Noragric coordination by Bill Derman). The project will run from 2007-2009 and includes partners Catholic University/Mozambique, PLAAS, University of Western Cape/South Africa, the Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Extension Edu- cation/Zambia, the Nordic Africa Institute/Sweden, and the Institute of Women’s Law, University of Oslo; 2) “Protected Areas and Poverty in Africa-PAPIA” (Noragric coordina- tion by Prof. Paul Vedeld) with partners Makerere University/Uganda, Sokoine Univer- sity of Agriculture/Tanzania, and the School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia. The project runs from 2007-2011; 3) “Property, Possession and Conflict in (Re)building Settlements”, (Noragric coordination by Dr. Knut Nustad). The project will run from 2007-2009; and 4) “Poverty and marginalization in Central and West Africa:
autochthony and land rights”. The project involves cases from Ivory Coast, the Democra- tic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Mali. The project is coordinated through the Institute for Applied International Studies in Oslo. Dr. Tor A. Benjaminsen at Noragric participa- tes in the Mali case study.
A Noragric coordinated network project called “Education, Research and Training for Sus- tainable Management of Natural Resources in Himalayan Watersheds” was accepted by NUFU for 2007-2011, coordinated by Prof. Bishal Sitaula. The main partner institution is Tribhuvan University, Nepal. NUFU is a SIU-administered programme (under a fram- ework agreement with NORAD) for academic research and educational co-operation bet- ween institutions in the South and in Norway.
A new programme funded by the Norwegian embassy in India “Conservation of Biodi- versity and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: Capacity Building for Interdiscipli- nary Research and Applications” involves Noragric and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) based in Bangalore, India. The main purpose of the project is research cooperation and academic exchange addressing complex problems of tropical biodiversity under changing ecological-economic conditions. The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (through the Norwegian embassy in India) and will run until 2010. Noragric contact: Prof. Paul Vedeld.
HEALTH UMB
The formal launch of UMB’s Health programme was held in September. The
programme’s vision is that “UMB shall be recognised nationally and internationally for its academic excellence and contributions in the field of health, particularly within the areas of food, nature, water and development.” Over the coming five years, substantial resources will be invested in the programme including two new professorships, 3 professor II positions, and over 20 years of post-docs. Health UMB is designed around three programmes: Food and Health; Nature, Health and Quality of Life; and Health and Development. All three programmes are inter-disciplinary and together will include all eight of UMB’s departments. The “Health and Development” programme is centred at Noragric.
Contact: Dr. Cassandra Bergstrøm
Noragric celebrated its 20-year anni- versary by way of a 2-day seminar on 15-16 June. The seminar called “Envi- ronment and Development Studies – The Way Ahead” was opened by the Norwegian Minister of International Development, Erik Solheim, and was followed by three panel presentations and discussions focusing on (1) peace building–development relations: the role of livelihood security and natural resources; (2) future scenarios for agriculture, land use and climate change; and (3) the relation between biodiversity and poverty. Speakers were invited from several Noragric partner institutions, both national and international.
NORAGRIC TURNS 20!
sed and the evidence provided by seve- ral speakers and participants raised grave doubts about the claims made by the proponents of the neo-liberal para- digm of development that has been imposed on developing countries.
The challenge of operationalising interdisciplinarity continues to loom large. The message from the confe- rence is ‘continue grappling with it, get more interdisciplinary, practice interdisciplinarity better in order to meet the challenges ahead in environ- ment and development studies.’
The conference report (Noragric Report No. 35) is available on the Noragric website, under Publications, Reports.
Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister of International Development The debates enlightened participants on
the complexity of the challenges of peace building and development at different interrelated levels from the global to the local and vice versa. They exposed the uneven nature of the development pro- cess and the diverse geopolitical, national, sub-national and ecological conditions in which conflict, peace building and liveli- hood processes operate. Access to and control over resources, poverty and the distributional problem figured promi- nently in all three sessions. A powerful message that emerged from the sessions may be summed up with these words:
‘pro-poor peace’, ‘pro-poor agricultural science and technology’ and ‘pro-poor bio- diversity management’. The views expres-
Former Noragric director congratulates present Head of Department
A gift from Hawassa University, Ethiopia
Pakistan
University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka Eastern University, Sri Lanka
Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE:
Agricultural University of Tirana, Albania University of Banja Luka, Bosnia & Her- zegovina
University of Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina University of Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzego- vina
University of Dz. B. of Mostar, Bosnia &
Herzegovina
University of Osijek, Croatia University of Prishtina, Kosovo
University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
University of Belgrade, Serbia University of Novi Sad, Serbia
University of Montenegro, Montenegro MULTI-COUNTRY:
REST, Relief Society of Tigray, Sadguru, a Gujarat-based NGO, Ethiopia/India Triangular Institutional Cooperation bet- ween Ethiopia, India and Norway
Peacecorps (NORAD-funded ESD – exchange for sustainable development programme)
NETWORKING AND ALLIANCES
• Drylands Coordination Group (DCG):
framework agreement with the NGO-driven forum that exchanges practical experience and knowledge on food security and natural resource management in the drylands of Africa.
Noragric has agreements with more than 30 partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Most of these are with universities; some are with civil soci- ety organisations, research foundations and public institutions. The programmes include joint research and education acti- vities as well as support to institutional development.
The institutional collaboration program- mes for Noragric in 2006 are linked to the universities and institutions listed below.
AFRICA:
Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanza- nia
University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Makerere University, Uganda
Programme for Land and Agrarian Stu- dies (PLAAS), University of Western Cape, South Africa
University of Malawi/Bunda College of Agriculture, Malawi
Hawassa University, Ethiopia Mekelle University, Ethiopia Egerton University, Kenya Upper Nile University, Sudan ASIA:
Kabul University, Afghanistan Tribhuvan University, Nepal Kathmandu University, Nepal
Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), Northern Areas, Pakistan COMSATS Institute of Information Tech- nology, Pakistan
University of Peshawar, Pakistan
Karakarum International University,
INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION
www.drylands-group.org
• Framework agreement with NORAD:
Noragric offers scientific advisory services, usually in the form of consultancy assignments and evaluations, in the field of agriculture, development, environment and food security.
• UNEP Grid-Arendal: ongoing cooperation, mainly scientific advisory services. www.grida.no
• Norwegian Church Aid, Afghanistan
• Norwegian People’s Aid, Angola, Sudan
• Chr. Michelsen Institute – framework agreement with NORAD (focusing on good governance)
Dr. Lyla Mehta, Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, U.K., spent four months at Noragric as guest researcher during her sabbatical starting mid-May. Among others, she participated in the IDS/Noragric roundtable seminar on 21 April and the Noragric 20-year anniversary in June. During her stay at Noragric, Dr.
Mehta wrote a background paper for the 2006 Human Development Report entitled “Water and human development: capabilities, entitle- ments and power”.
Dr. Mehta is a sociologist specialising in environment/development lin- kages and forced migration. Her research interests focus on the gende- red dimensions of forced displacement and resistance to dams in India;
global and local responses to water scarcity in South Africa and South Asia; and ‘public’ and ‘private’ aspects of water. She uses the case of water to explore questions of power, politics, rights and access to resour- ces.
Dr. Mehta will be returning for a second stay at Noragric in 2007.
Dr. Mukadasi Buyinza, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation at Makerere University in Uganda, was guest resear- cher at Noragric for 14 months under the Peacecorps Exchange for Sustai- nable Development (ESD) programme, funded by NORAD. The ESD partners in the North (Noragric) and South (Makerere) share the common vision of working towards food security of the poor and marginalised com- munities in the South, with special focus on sustainable natural resource management. The staff exchange programme offered the opportunity to strengthen ongoing collaboration between Noragric and Makerere.
While at Noragric, Dr. Buyinza participated in teaching and supervision of students’ research projects, contributed to the curriculum review of the Master’s programme in International Environmental Studies, gave lectures, and wrote manuscripts for scientific and popular science publications.
Dr. Admasu Tsegaye, Assistant Professor in Production Ecology and Resource conservation, Hawassa University, Ethiopia, spent two months at Noragric as guest researcher in the autumn. Among others, he spent time writing a book on enset, a main crop and staple food for about 7-10 million people, in the southern parts of Ethiopia. Enset is primarily grown to obtain a starchy product from the pseudostem and corm which is fermented into “kocho”. The corm can also be cooked and consumed in a way similar to Irish potato, sweet potato and cassava. This crop has important ecological functions such as producing organic matter, crea- ting a nutrient reserve in the soil, controlling erosion, thus contributing to the stability and continuity of farming.
Dr. Admasu has conducted research on agronomy, physiology and biodi- versity of many tropical root and tuber crops for many years.
VISITORS DURING 2006
Dr. Lyla Mehta
Dr. Admasu Tsegaye Dr. Mukadasi Buyinza
Noragric offers a PhD programme in Development Studies that is closely linked to the three scientific areas, Agricultural develop- ment and livelihood security; Biodiversity and natural resource management; and Rights, conflicts and resources. The pro- gramme places particular emphasis on Development Studies in relation to agriculture and the environment. It follows UMB’s cri- teria and requirements for PhD studies and is undertaken in col- laboration with other university departments. At present, Noragric has 20 students in the PhD programme and nine have received their degree since 1999.
PhD defences in 2006
In 2006, three candidates successfully defended their dissertations.
These are Bayush Tsegaye (Ethiopia) in June, Poul Wisborg (Den- mark) in August, and Bahadar Nawab (Pakistan) in December. The titles of their dissertations are listed in the publications list.
Noragric Research School
The green light (and UMB funding) was given to Noragric in 2006 to establish a research school as part of the PhD programme with the Section for International Development Studies, Roskilde University, Denmark, and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex. This will enable institutionalized col- laboration in PhD education with international partners and joint workshops and seminars for the students. With the start of the research school in 2007, Noragric will aim at an annual intake of at least 5 PhD students. Enrolled PhD students will attend cour- ses at all three partners.
Thor Heyerdahl professorship
UMB entered into an agreement with the Heyerdahl Institute, Norway, to establish a professorship at Noragric starting in 2007.
UMB was deemed the best university to house the new professor- ship by the Heyerdahl Institute. The professorship is the first of its kind in Europe and is funded by NOK 2,3 million from each part- ner. The professorship will be linked to UMB’s Health and Develop- ment programme. Thor Heyerdahl captivated much of the world with his Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947 and other expeditions.
BACHELOR’S AND MASTER’S PROGRAMMES
Noragric offers one Bachelor’s programme (Development Stu- dies) and two Master’s programmes (Development Studies, and International Environmental Studies). The programmes com- bine social sciences and natural sciences in the analysis of human development and the environment. The education programmes are managed by the Head of Education, assisted by three Pro-
gramme Coordinators and two Study Coordinators. The Educa- tion Committee oversees operations and provides strategic advice for management.
Bachelor’s programme
Noragric’s Bachelor’s programme in Development Studies is the only Bachelor’s programme at a Norwegian university that is taught in English. The programme is interdisciplinary, and aca- demic depth is obtained through insight into different and in some cases overlapping disciplines. The programme provides basic knowledge within social anthropology and other social sciences, ecology and economics, and applies these subjects to interdisciplinary problems. Students are free to choose courses that fit into their career plans, such as:
• resource access and conflicts
• climate and pollution
• poverty, aid and equity
In addition, students are offered the opportunity to study one semester at a university in Africa, Asia, Europe, North- or South America. In 2006, 41 Norwegian and international students were admitted to the Bachelor’s programme.
The programme’s first group of students will be spending the 2007 spring semester at the University of Ruhuna (Sri Lanka), Makerere University (Uganda), Earth University (Costa Rica), University of East Anglia (UK) and University of British Colom- bia (Canada).
Master’s programmes
The two Master’s degree programmes “International Environ- mental Studies” and “Development Studies” remain popular. The 2006 uptake received a total of 1,094 applications for 55 seats.
Among the applicants, 80% were international students and 20% were Norwegian. The high application rate resulted in an excellent academic standard of the accepted students.
The programmes consist of two years of academic work. The first year gives a theoretical basis while the second is dedica- ted to advanced courses, field research and thesis writing.
New courses were added this year giving the students a broa- der range of options. Minor modifications were implemented in response to an external evaluation of the programmes con- ducted in 2005.
For both programmes, most students spend two months atten- ding a field course at one of Noragric’s partner universities in the South. After the field course, the students conduct their field research, most of which is done in a developing country.
EDUCATION
PHD PROGRAMME IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
International Environmental Studies
The uptake of 24 students in 2006 marked the last uptake before the programme known over the years as Management of Natural Resources and Sustainable Agriculture (MNRSA) was recast under the new title International Environmental Studies.
Focusing on relationships between development and the envi- ronment in developing countries, the programme is particularly popular among international students. With this education, gra- duates should be able to analyse interdisciplinary challenges and promote ecological, economic and social development needs.
Increased freedom in designing individual education plans has been well received by the students. Broader options have further enabled students to develop competence that more specifically suits their chosen career path. In general, students appear increa- singly aware with regard to individual learning goals.
Development Studies (DS)
The allocated 35 seats were filled with highly qualified students from 20 countries. The student body represents a wide range of educational backgrounds and has a near 50/50 gender balance.
The broad student diversity provides an inspiring environment for both teachers and students.
The programme gives students a broad understanding of social science perspectives of development, as well as more speciali- sed knowledge of technological, economic and social science approaches to innovation, income generation and sustainable resource management. Core courses provide knowledge in development theory, poverty, environment and collective action.
Popular electives include courses in conflict and development, political ecology, development economics, agricultural pro- duction systems, gender and development, strategic decision making, and rural development.
Conflict, Peace and Development
A new Master’s degree programme entitled Conflict, Peace and Development was approved for funding by the NOMA Pro- gramme Board in December 2006. The programme will be offered jointly by Tribhuvan University (Nepal), Ruhuna Univer- sity (Sri Lanka), Eastern University (Sri Lanka) and UMB in response to an acutely felt need for high level capacity building in conflict, peace and development management.
Sustainable Sanitation, Health and Development
Together with partners Tribhuvan University (Nepal), Kathmandu University (Nepal), and Comsats Institute of Information Techno-
for funds to start up a Master’s degree programme within Sustain- able Sanitation, Health and Development. Start-up funds from NORAD’s Programme for Master Studies (NOMA) equal to NOK 200,000 were recently provided to develop a full application. The proposed Master’s degree will have an interdisciplinary character, and the overall aim will be to produce professionals with compe- tence and skills to evaluate and improve water and sanitation con- ditions in a social context and to see the effects of water and sani- tation on the health and development of local inhabitants.
Postgraduate diploma in Environment Education and Sustainable Development at Kathmandu University
Noragric coordinated the development and implementation of the Postgraduate Teacher’s Training Programme in collaboration with Oslo University College funded by SIU. The curriculum and the programme development have been accomplished and the programme is ready to be launch in early 2007 at Kathmandu University. With active support from Noragric, the curriculum and the teaching/learning materials have been developed.
Global Environmental Change and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in Western Balkans
Noragric launched an institutional collaboration project with 12 institutions in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia with the goal to establish an MSc or PhD programme in Global Environmental Change and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources. The first kick-off workshop for the new pro- gramme was held at the University of Belgrade in September.
Course on Environment and Development for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Noragric was asked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to plan and implement a new 1-day course on environment and development for the Ministry’s Competence Center (UKS) in June. The course targeted staff from the Ministry, embassies and NORAD, but was also available for NGOs and other institutions.
It addressed four main themes according to the MFA Action Plan for Environment in Development Cooperation, i.e. 1) sustainable management of biological diversity and natural resources; 2) water resources management, water and sanitation; 3) climate change and access to clean energy and; 4) hazardous substances.
Teachers from Noragric and staff from MFA, the Ministry of Environment and other institutions contributed with lectures and stimulated discussions in panels and among the 15 partici- pants. The course was well received and scored 5 out of 6 for con- tent and relevance. Comments from the students were e.g. “…
useful for future implementation of the Action Plan…. good over- view of environmental themes and challenges…” but also “… too little time for too many important topics…”
MEREDITH SEETON (CANADA)
I am a student in the Master´s programme in Development Studies at Noragric. I am from Canada and my background is in food systems studies and political economy. One reason for studying at Noragric is the opportunity to absorb Scandinavian culture. It is very exciting to study concepts such as development and social change in such a progressive social democracy!
I hope to do my fieldwork in Malawi on the connections between civil poli- tical rights and the economic right to be free from hunger. I plan to focus on the functioning of the media as a feedback avenue between citizens and the State. The diversity of the student body at Noragric makes it possible to get to know Malawians here before going to their country.
In the future I hope to work on community food security in Canada and be active in political economic linkages between Canada and other countries.
My experiences here have and will surely continue to better my understan- ding of social change.
MARTA TESFAYE TEKLE (ETHIOPIA)
I came from Ethiopia and my background is in Plant Sciences (Agriculture).
Before I joined Noragric I was working at the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute (EARI) as a Junior Researcher in the Vegetables Research Section.
Working in an agricultural research institution, I became interested in study- ing natural resource management to contribute to sustainable agriculture in my country. It is well known that agriculture is dependent on natural resour- ces especially in the case of developing countries. Proper management of natural resources is vital for sustainability of crop production. The main rea- son why I chose Noragric is because the courses are interdisciplinary which helps me to understand the relation between humans/nature, something which is crucial in the management of natural resources. Moreover, it helps to analyze an environmental problem from a different perspective and find practical solutions. Since my background is pure natural science, I was more focused towards natural settings. However, I realized that a mere focus on ecology doesn’t help in dealing with natural resource management.
My research area will be in Ethiopia in a district located in the West Shewa Zone, called Guder. I will investigate the contribution of irrigated vegetable production to the livelihoods of people in the area, with a particular focus on gender. Moreover, I will investigate the current soil and water manage- ment practices since they are the most important factors that affect sustai- nability of crop production, particularly irrigated vegetables.
After finishing my study, I will return to my home country and join the insti- tution where I was working. I have also planned to apply the knowledge that I gained at Noragric in problem identification, designing and generating technologies which are environmentally friendly, thereby contributing towards sustainable development in my country.
TWO MASTER STUDENTS
AT NORAGRIC
TOPIC/STUDENT SUPERVISOR FUNDING SOURCE Bush encroachment as a process of landscape change in the Borana rangelands
of Southern Ethiopia: Ecological and management assessments. Ayana Angassa Abdeta
Gufu Oba Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund/NUFU Forest change in Baltistan region in Northern Areas of Pakistan: Perceptions,
property rights and policies. Jawad Ali
Tor Arve Benjamin- sen/Ingrid Nyborg
Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund/ AKRSP Impacts of agricultural intensification on socio-economic conditions and impli-
cations for soil and water quality in Kavre district, Nepal. Bed Mani Dahal
Bishal Sitaula/
Ingrid Nyborg
NORAD
Environment and poverty linkages and local perceptions of poverty and poverty alleviations among Boorana pastoralists in Southern Ethiopia. Boku Tache Dida
Espen Sjaastad/
Leif O. Manger
The Research Council of Norway
Perceptions of landscape, environment and land reform among stock farmers.
A case study from Namaqualand, South Africa. Eirin Hongslo
Tor Arve Benjamin- sen/Randi Kaarhus
Norwegian University of Life Sciences Land tenure, common property resources and local participation in tourism
development (Mozambique). Hanne Haaland
Kjersti Larsen The Research Council of Norway
Market and non-market incentives for in situ conservation in a centre of diver- sity: the case of durum wheat landraces from Eastern Shewa, Ethiopia. Bayush Tsegaye. Defended June 2006
Trygve Berg/
Bekele Sheferaw
Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund /Inst. of Biodiversity Conservation and Rese- arch of Ethiopia Management of agricultural biodiversity – Third world farmers’ experience with
change and their coping strategies (India). Frøydis Kvaløy
Trygve Berg/Randi Kaarhus
The Research Council of Norway
Farmers first: Participatory knowledge generation in Ecuador. Elisabeth Molteberg
Randi Kaarhus The Research Council of Norway
Technical and social adaptation of natural systems for sanitation and wastewa- ter treatment in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan. Bahadar Nawab.
Defended Nov. 2006
Kjell Esser/Ingrid Nyborg/Petter Jenssen
Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund
Forest based carbon sequestration: Contribution of the private, public and civil societies to poverty alleviation and management of forest resources in Uganda.
Charlotte Nakakaawa
Paul Vedeld/Jens Aune
Norwegian State Education Loan Fund/
Makerere University Integration of ecological and indigenous knowledge assessments of long term
environmental changes in and around settlements in two arid and sub humid rangeland sites in Northern Kenya. Hassan Guyo Roba
Gufu Oba The Research Council of Norway
OVERVIEW OF DOCTORAL STUDENTS AT NORAGRIC IN 2006
Politics, property rights and production in Arsi and East Shewa Zones, Ethiopia (1941-2004). Hussein Jemma Sheymo
N. Shanmugarat- nam / Espen Sjaa- stad / S. Pausewang
Addis Abeba University
Conflict management over contested forest resources: The case of Munesa Sha- hemene Forest Industry Enterprise, Ethiopia. Abebe Seifu Welde Tsadik
Paul Vedeld Agricultural Univer- sity of Sweden Household livelihood adaptation in a high population density area in Ethiopia:
The case of Wolaita Zone. Ayele Tessema Jufare
N. Shanmugarat- nam
NORAD
Transgressing economic boundaries: Gender, commodification and social change in Zanzibar. Hege Wallevik
Kjersti Larsen/Ian Bryceson
The Research Council of Norway
Human rights and land tenure reform in South Africa: a case study of policy, discourse and stakeholders. Poul Wisborg Defended Nov. 2006
Tor Arve Benjamin- sen
The Research Council of Norway
Effects of land use change on carbon sequestration in the acid upland agroeco- system of the Philippines. Shushan Ghirmai Woldu
Jens Aune/Gufu Oba
Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund On-farm conservation and use of local crop diversity: Adaptations of rice and
taro landraces in different crop ecosystems in Nepal. Deepak Kumar Rijal
Trygve Berg/
Åsmund Bjørnstad
Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund/IPGRI Transboundary National Park management: Mt. Elgon National Park
Jon Geir Petursson
Paul Vedeld Other sources
Social Environmental History of the Tula Wells Ecosystem, Borana, Southern Ethiopia: 1889 – 2005. Waktole Tiki Uma
Gufu Oba / Randi Kaarhus
Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund The Transformation of Waso Booran Pastoral Production, Crisis and Recovery:
An Assessment of Gender Roles, Land Rights and Poverty Alleviation. Zeinabu Khalif
Gufu Oba / Randi Kaarhus
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
After Doha: Bringing the Rights Back In? A strategic Choice Exploration of Pro- spects for a Social Clause in the WTO, Identifying Enabling Modalities by Map- ping Stakeholder Positions in Indian and Brazilian Agriculture. Simon Pahle
Gunvor Berge/
N. Shanmugarat- nam/Carl-Erik Schulz
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Health Consequences of Civil War. Christin Ormhaug Espen Sjaastad / Håvard Hegre (PRIO)
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
TOPIC/STUDENT SUPERVISOR FUNDING SOURCE
Stakeholders’ perception of land degrada- tion and the management in Bamba, Mali Abdramane Dembele (Mali)
Supervisor: Jens Aune
The effect of distance to trees on cattle behaviour in Muy Muy, Nicaragua Anders Riis Nilsen (Norway) Supervisor: Stein Moe
Crossing the river. Perceptions of ‘human trafficking’ among villagers in Bokeo province, Northern Laos
Aslaug Gotehus (Norway) Supervisor: Kjersti Larsen
Comparative socio-economic analysis of nomadic and agro-pastoralist households in the Central Province of Mongolia Batgerel Myagmarsuren (Mongolia) Supervisor: Espen Sjaastad
Rural finance system in transition economies: A study from Strumica Region, Macedonia
Biljana Kostovska (Norway) Supervisor: N. Shanmugaratnam Herder knowledge of landscape scale bio- diversity monitoring in Marsabit central, northern Kenya
Bulle Hallo Dabasso (Kenya) Supervisor: Gufu Oba
Tsunami recovery in Batticaloa District, eastern Sri Lanka: Livelihood revival and the performance of aid delivery systems in the fisheries sector
Camilla Marie Risvoll (Norway) Supervisors: Ian Bryceson and N. Shan- mugaratnam
Collective steps towards enhancing rural livelihoods in post-genocide Rwanda Camilla Peace Sundvoll (Norway) Supervisor: Kjersti Larsen
Effects of traditional and project water ponds and herder perceptions on the vegetation changes in Borana rangelands of southern Oromia, Ethiopia
Chaltu Dula Buyo (Ethiopia) Supervisor: Gufu Oba
Farmers’ perception of socio-economic constraints and coping strategies in crop production in Mopipi, Botswana
Chimbidzani Leutlwetse (Botswana) Supervisor: Knut Nustad
Dependence on environmental income by households around Rwenzori Mountain National Park, Western Uganda
David Mwesigye Tumusiime (Uganda) Supervisor: Paul Vedeld
An integrated herder knowledge and ecological methods for assessment of rangeland in Nara, north-western Mali Drissa Doumbia (Mali)
Supervisor: Gufu Oba
Community perceptions of rangeland degradation and management systems in Loologane and Shadishadi, Kweneng North, Botswana
Geofrey Michael Khwarae (Botswana) Supervisor: Gufu Oba
Returning to a shattered community:
Consequences of child abductions in northern Uganda
Hege Kristin Iversen (Norway) Supervisor: Knut Nustad
Adoption of farming among the Obbu Borana of northern Kenya
Hussein Tadicha Wario (Kenya) Supervisor: Gufu Oba
Interagency cooperation in disaster management: partnership, information and communications technology and committed individuals in Jamaica Ina Østensvig (Norway)
Supervisor: Stein Bie
Women’s access to capitals through participation in community forest management: cases from a Mid-Hill district of Nepal/Kalpana Shrestha Kalpana Shresta (Nepal)
Supervisor: Ingrid Nyborg
Privatisation of rangelands, ranch development, management and equity:
the case of area 4b, Botswana Kgomotsego Motlopi (Botswana) Supervisor: Espen Sjaastad
Socio-economic and ecological analysis of a privately managed marine protected area:
Chumbe Island Coral Park, Zanzibar Kjersti Thorkildsen (Norway) Supervisor: Ian Bryceson
Adoption of soil fertility improvement techologies among smallholder farmers in southern Malawi
Linda Lindizgani Robert Chinangwa (Malawi)
Supervisor: Jens Aune
The politics of poverty reduction - Power relations in the making of Uganda’s PRSP
Margrethe Ellingseter (Norway) Supervisor: N. Shanmugaratnam
Uganda’s watchdog: Attacking and attacked. The role of print press in Uganda’s democratisation and development process
Marte Lia Torskenæs (Norway) Supervisor: Knut Nustad