This doctoral dissertation research project examines how social institutions that mediate access to natural resources respond to changing environments and the implications such responses have for people dependent on natural resource-based livelihoods. As the consequences of climate change increasingly impact communities across the globe, the local institutions that mediate access to natural resources will be critical in shaping effective adaptation practices. This project will inform scholarship on social and ecological change by integrating political ecology and social-ecological systems theory to analyze the relationships between institutions, environmental change, and resource access. The doctoral student will focus on institutional responses to environmental changes in the globally significant ecosystem of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Seasonal floods are an integral part of life for the residents of the Okavango Delta, where rural livelihoods depend on the floodwaters for important natural resources. In recent years, however, increased flooding levels have displaced residents from their homes and disrupted livelihood systems. The student will examine how social institutions that affect the rules of use that determine access to natural resources are responding to these increases in flooding. She also will evaluate the ways in which these institutional responses enable and constrain residents' livelihood systems. Her qualitative study will use household-level semi-structured interviews and a structured survey to address three specific and interlinked questions: (1) What are the institutions that govern access to wetland resources in the Okavango Delta? (2) How are these institutions responding to increasing levels of flooding? (3) How do these responses impact the ability of residents to access resources and sustain livelihoods?
This project will enhance understanding of how social institutions shape resource access in an aquatic ecosystem, a type of system previously under explored in the geographic subfield of political ecology. It will strengthen the social-ecological systems (SES) framework developed by Elinor Ostrom by applying the framework within a dynamic aquatic ecosystem. This project will add to current scholarship that is working to provide empirical detail to the SES framework and will add new variables, including: gender, ethnicity, informal rules, and seasonal access patterns. More broadly, the project will highlight the importance of understanding the relationships among environmental changes, social institutions, and resource access across Africa south of the Sahara and in the developing world. The project will contribute to environmental and climate change adaptation policy in the Okavango Delta by indicating how institutions are currently responding to environmental changes and will assess how well positioned they are to help residents respond to predicted future increases in flooding variability. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.
As the consequences of climate change increasingly impact communities across the globe, the local institutions that mediate access to natural resources will be critical in shaping effective adaptation practices. In recent years, increased flooding levels in the Okavango Delta of Botswana have disrupted wetland-based livelihood systems, resulting in differential responses between actors. To better understand these dynamics in the Delta, this project investigated three questions: 1) What are the rules of use governing access to wetland resources? 2) How are these rules responding to increasing levels of flooding? And, 3) How do these responses impact the ability of residents to access resources and sustain livelihoods? To answer these questions, a mixed methods study was conducted in two villages of the Delta, Etsha 6 and Etsha 13, located in a region significantly impacted by high floods in 2009-2011. The co-PI conducted 75 semi-structured household interviews, a structured household survey with 185 households, 15 interviews with government officials and researchers, and 10 livelihood participant observation sessions. Findings from this research indicate that in recent years critical livelihoods in the region have been mutually constrained by increasing state control over natural resources and changing flooding patterns. The most significant findings are related to molapo farming, a local form of floodplain agriculture. Molapo fields are located within seasonal or occasional floodplains, where crops are planted in the moist nutrient-rich soils resulting from adjacent or recently receded floodwaters. Residents prefer to grow maize and vegetables in molapo fields, rather than at dryland fields. Many people transition between the two types of fields within years, molapo farming after the floods recede (August-December) and dryland farming during the rainy season (January-May); this greatly increasing household food security. However, during seasons when floodwaters are too high (inundating molapo fields) or too low (leaving fields dry), farmers are entirely dependent on dryland agriculture. This is what happened during 2009-2011, when high floods inundated molapo fields near Etsha 6 and Etsha 13 at unprecedented rates, resulting in reduced crop yields over multiple years. At the same time, the Botswana state began to limit access to wetland resources— including molapo fields, reeds, and fish— while actively encouraging residents to transition to dryland-based livelihoods. During these years, local government bodies began to enforce formal rules mandating that a household can only hold a certificate for one agricultural field. Molapo farmers were encouraged to turn in certificates for molapo fields, in exchange for a new one at the dryland. Many respondents described pressure to transition entirely to dryland farming, thereby ending transitional agricultural practices designed to respond to flooding variability. While some residents have refused to stop molapo farming, there is a strong perception that these rules will become increasingly strict in the future, and it is predicted that the government will begin to actively force molapo farmers to move to the dryland. Many residents believe the state is limiting access in order to promote conservation and tourism in the Delta. These ecological and social changes have particularly significant implications for certain actors in the region. The Bayei tribe, whose members identify as "river people" have historically engaged in livelihoods based within the wetland, including molapo farming and fishing. Many Bayei people fear not only the loss of critical wetland-based livelihoods, but also the loss of cultural identity. A complete transition to dryland-based livelihoods will also create a heavier burden for female-headed households in the region, as many tasks related to dryland farming are considered the duty of men. The dissertation thus shows that differential institutional responses to environmental variability can be the result of unequal power dynamics between state and non-state actors. The dissertation concludes that if state rules continue on the current trajectory, negative impacts will disproportionately impact specific groups, namely Bayei people and women. Moreover, it is anticipated that these groups will have a particularly difficult time adapting to the future increases in flooding variability predicted for the Okavango Delta. These findings lead to three distinct theoretical contributions: 1) The research expands the boundaries of political ecology by understanding how social institutions shape resource access in an aquatic ecosystem, a type of system previously under explored in the field. 2) The research helps to strengthen the social-ecological systems (SES) framework, by applying the framework within a dynamic aquatic ecosystem and by adding new empirical variables, including: gender, ethnicity, informal rules, and seasonal access patterns. 3) Through dissemination in Botswana, the project is working to increase understandings of relationships between institutions, natural resource access, and environmental changes in the country. The co-PI has begun dissemination efforts in Botswana, with community leaders and residents, as well as with regional policy makers, researchers, and practioners. Findings from the project have been presented at three conferences within the United States, and have helped to inform two publications authored by the PI and co-PI.
