Tropentag, September 19 - 21, 2016 in Vienna, Austria "Solidarity in a competing world - fair use of resources"

Stakeholder Analysis in Support of Joint Land Use Decision Making: Case from Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (ADTI), Germany

Abstract

The Chinese-German project SURUMER aims at developing integrative, applicable land use options for “Sustainable Rubber Cultivation in the Mekong Region”. It is intended to develop complex solutions which improve ecological sustainability of the biodiversity hotspot region but not impair smallholder farmers' livelihoods. For this purpose, land use changes are being analysed, and consequences of different scenarios are being modelled with respect to ecosystem services and trade-offs. From the beginning, stakeholders on different levels of decision-making (village heads, prefecture bureaus, companies) have been involved. Ongoing dialogues are seen as crucial in order to validate the resulting set of options (land use measures and policies), thus increase the likelihood of implementation.
This presentation discusses the role of stakeholder analysis in a broader sense. It describes the whole approach, presents its results and application in the context of the transdisciplinary process, and discusses opportunities and constraints. The approach itself can be characterised as “participatory learning and action”: Qualitative data has been collected with a triangulation of empirical methods, analysed by the researchers, and fed back into stakeholder dialogues and inner-consortium discussions, iteratively and reflexively. The whole process includes three pillars: 1) Identification and engagement of key stakeholders; 2) Scenario discussions with information gathered during open and in-depth interviews; 3) Analysis of power structures and communication networks to provide information on framework conditions for further implementation.
Analysis shows that stakeholders are aware of the problems caused by current land-use systems. However, these problems seem not be the prior according to stakeholders' agenda and they are lack of motivation to initiate changes. This implies that linking sustainable land-use with stakeholders' interests and objectives could increase their motivation, e.g. including regional governmental development plan into the scenarios. In addition, external supports could be incentives for them as well, e.g. farmers welcome alternatives with financial or technical supports, and regional authorities are interested in the concrete research results and techniques. In general, stakeholder analysis is beneficial to joint land use decision making. In future it would be good to start as early as possible with adequate time and resource inputs.

Keywords: Decision making, land use, Southwest China, stakeholder analysis, sustainability

Contact Address: Jue Wang, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Agricultural Extension and Communication Group, Luisenstr. 53, 10099 Berlin, Germany, e-mail: jue.wang.1agrar.hu-berlin.de