Collective Action and Property Rights for Poverty Reduction: Lessons from a Global Research Project

CAPRi Policy Briefs

Abstract

To examine the role of the institutions of collective action and property rights on poverty reduction, the Systemwide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) undertook a global research project with study sites in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, and the Philippines. The main goal of the project was to contribute to poverty-reduction efforts by identifying effective policies and practices that enhance the ways that collective action and property rights are used to build secure assets and income streams for and by the poor. The project intended to provide policymakers, NGOs, and community groups with knowledge of the factors that strengthen the rights of the poor to
land and water resources and lead to more effective collective action by the poor.

Four CGIAR centers and two German universities conducted empirical research on the role of collective action and property rights for disadvantaged groups. The briefs in this set represent the case studies that were part of the project. The case studies rely on a variety of research methods, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, participatory action research, and experimental games. They also cover a variety of contexts within Africa and Asia, which will allow policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to further examine what constitutes poverty and affects the welfare of the poor between and within countries, and
to draw comparisons.

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Chapters:

• The Role of Collective Action and Property Rights in Poverty Reduction (PDF 48K)
  Esther Mwangi, Helen Markelova, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick
• Collective Action and Vulnerability: Burial Societies in Rural Ethiopia (PDF 51K)
  Stefan Dercon, John Hoddinott, Pramila Krishnan, and Tassew Woldehanna
• Collective Action and Vulnerability: Local and Migrant Networks in Bukidnon, Philippines (PDF 52K)
  Agnes Quisumbing, Scott McNiven, and Marie Godquin
• Rural Market Imperfections and the Role of Institutions for Collective Action to Improve Markets for the Poor (PDF 56K)
  Bekele Shiferaw, Gideon Obare, Geoffrey Muricho
• Community Watershed Management in Semi-Arid India: The State of Collective Action and its Effects on Natural Resources and Rural Livelihoods (PDF 53K)
  Bekele Shiferaw, Tewodros Kebede, and Ratna Reddy
• Enabling Equitable Collective Action and Policy Change for Poverty Reduction and Improved Natural Resource Management in the Eastern African Highlands (PDF 55K)
  Laura German, Waga Mazengia, Wilberforce Tirwomwe, et al.
• The Transformation of the Commons: Coercive and Non-Coercive Ways (PDF 51K)
  Bekele Hundie and Martina Padmanabhan
• Unmaking the Commons: Collective Action, Property Rights and Resource Appropriation in Somali Region, Ethiopia (PDF 50K)
  Fekadu Beyene and Benedikt Korf
• Escaping Poverty Traps? Collective Action and Property Rights in Post-War Rural Cambodia (PDF 48K)
  Anne Weingart and Michael Kirk
• The Role of Collective Action to Securing Property Rights for the Poor: A Case Study in Jambi Province, Indonesia (PDF 49K)
  Heru Komarudin, Yuliana Siagian, and Carol Colfer