Research - competence areas and ongoing regional and global activities
WebmasterNoragric has three academic focal areas: Agricultural development and livelihood security, Biodiversity and natural resource management, and Rights, conflicts and resources.
All the three scientific programmes are applied to different ecological zones (e.g. in drylands, highlands and coastal zones). All three apply an interdisciplinary and problem oriented approach. The research outcome under each of these themes feeds into the general process of rural development.
Cattlecamp in Sudan
Photo: Frode Sundnes
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1. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LIVELIHOOD SECURITY
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-- Contact: Pål Vedeld (leader) pal.vedeld*at*umb.no
Agriculture is recognised as the most powerful and practical engine of rural economic growth and improved welfare for the poor. However, it not only affects the rural population. Lowered food prices and reduced migration from rural areas affect cities just as much. Globally, agricultural productivity has seen remarkable gains in productivity over the past half century. Yet this positive global picture masks major regional, national and local differences. Hunger and food insecurity persist.
Noragric's Agricultural development and livelihood security programme addresses, among others, the following issues:
Poverty reduction, rural employment, access to markets.
How can countries in the South add value to their agricultural output and increase agricultural productivity in order to reduce poverty and inequality?
What are future opportunities for small-scale agriculture and rural enterprises to be successful in increasingly competitive national and international markets?
What could be done in the many less-favoured areas in Africa that suffer from poor agro-climatic conditions and/or lack of infrastructure and market access?
Governance, national policies, civil society.
In what way do policies, institutions and processes affect how people use their assets in pursuit of different livelihood strategies?
How to enhance fair and transparent systems of governance?
What are the relevant roles of public, private and civil society sectors in agricultural development?
Research, education, access to new technologies.
How to create appropriate conditions and incentives to increase poor peoples access to new technologies and approaches to sustainable management?
What is the role of agricultural research and technology in livelihood security and well-being? What are the bottlenecks to getting better technologies into farmer's fields and how can these be overcome?
What are the best practices and technology investment in African agriculture (including animal husbandry, crops, soils, and aquaculture)?
How can the curricula in higher education for agriculture and natural resource management be adapted/changed in order to meet society's needs and promote sustainable development?
(Relevant links can be found at the right hand menu)
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2. BIODIVERSITY AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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-- Contact: Ian Bryceson (leader) ian.bryceson*at*umb.no
The majority of poor people in the South are smallholders and pastoralists whose livelihoods depend to a large extent on the natural resource base. The degradation of the natural resource base affects the poor more than others as they tend to rely on more fragile natural resources for their livelihoods. Soil is the foundation for agriculture; forests protect water sources and provide income and food; water is essential for human life and agriculture; and biodiversity is the basis for protecting human life and improving all domestic plant and animal varieties, while safeguarding food security.
The Biodiversity and natural resource management programme addresses the following issues, among others:
Effects of natural and human influences on the environment.
- In what way and why do different landscapes change over time and what is the impact of these changes on people's livelihoods?
- How will climate change affect food production, ecosystem function and farmer vulnerability in developing countries?
- What are the effects of land use change on carbon sequestration?
- How to reduce land degradation and improve water management?
- How to optimise the use of the natural resource base to meet agricultural productivity goals?
Natural resource management in different ecosystems.
- How to protect and use specific ecosystems and associated biodiversity (national parks, wildlife reserves etc) in a sustainable way?
- How to enhance good policies and practises of integrated coastal zone management?
- How to address dryland farming/pastoralism challenges in relation to rangeland management and different drought coping strategies?
- What are the impacts of grazing on biodiversity of rangelands?
- How to use community forest management in poverty eradication?
Benefit sharing, "ownership", capacity building, access to knowledge.
- How to facilitate that the political and legal framework as stated in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Agenda 21, the Global Plan of Action and the Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources work for local communities e.g. regarding access and benefit sharing?
- How do wildlife property regimes interface with local society?
- How to incorporate local knowledge with scientific knowledge in biodiversity conservation?
- How to contribute towards capacity building e.g. regarding knowledge, management and negotiations in relation to biotechnology and intellectual property rights?
- How to ensure fair and sustainable management of agro-biodiversity at local, national and global level?
- How to improve on-farm conservation and use of local plant genetic resources to enhance food and livelihood security of poor farmers?
(Relevant links can be found at the right hand menu)
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3. RIGHTS, CONFLICTS AND RESOURCES
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-- Contact: Knut Nustad (leader) rknut.nustad*at*umb.no
The livelihoods of poor people are heavily dependent upon rights and access to natural resources as well as the quality of the resource base. Rights are related to policy, power structures and distributional issues such as access to land, water, forest and food. Land reforms and control over resources can lead to violent conflicts. Preparing for post-conflict development is an ensuing challenge. Rights-based development has been suggested as an approach to expanding the asset base of the poor. This is anchored in human rights legislation not only in relation to civil and political human rights, but also economic, social and cultural human rights.
The programme Rights, conflicts and resources addresses the following issues, among others:
Rights, opportunities and access to natural resources for the poor.
- How to realise rights through creating opportunities for the poor?
- How to operationalise the concept of rights-based development with focus on the right to food and to natural resources (land, water, forest, rangelands, biodiversity)?
- What are the relationships between rights, power structures and accountability?
- What are the consequences of land reforms on local people?
- How do men and women negotiate control and access to resources under changing contexts?
Conflicts and post-conflict management.
- How to manage different conflict situations (land, water, pasture, forest, shrimp-farming etc)?
- What is the relationship between national conflicts and rural poverty?
- To what degree is "development" possible in conflict situations?
- How to secure access to appropriate seed and restore local seed supply systems in post-conflict or post disaster situations (natural and/or man-induced)?
Internally displaced people and forced migration.
- What happens when men and women become internally displaced, forced migrants in their home country?
- How to address forced migrants right to return as well as their right to stay.
- What is the relationship between forced migration and ordinary mobility?
- What are the ecological impacts of forced migration?
(Relevant links can be found at the right hand menu)
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Published: 04.12.08
Updated: 22.04.09
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Del med en venn:
Department of International Environment and Development Studies
- Noragric
Phone: +47 64 96 52 00
Fax: +47 64 96 52 01
E-mail: noragric@umb.no
Postal address:
Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
P.O. Box 5003
NO-1432 Aas
Norway
Visiting/delivery address:
Universitetstunet 1 (Tivoli)
NO-1432 Ås
Phone: +47 64 96 52 00
Fax: +47 64 96 52 01
E-mail: noragric@umb.no
Postal address:
Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
P.O. Box 5003
NO-1432 Aas
Norway
Visiting/delivery address:
Universitetstunet 1 (Tivoli)
NO-1432 Ås