Institutional Analysis of Decentralization and Options of Stakeholders for Participation in Agro-rural Policy Design (DFG 2010-2013)

Forschungsschwerpunkt: I. Politikreformen und institutioneller Wandel

Mit-/ Bearbeiter: Theesfeld, I., Buchenrieder, G., Dufhues, T.

Kurzbeschreibung
Project Duration: 1 August 2010 - 31 July 2013
Keywords: Decentralization / Participation / Agriculture / Thailand

Starting from the hypothesis that participation leads to better policy design and implementation, this study analyses whether recent decentralization efforts in Thailand favour or constrain participation of farmers and how their participation affects agro-rural policy design. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework, originally developed by Elinor Ostrom, is innovatively adapted and applied in analysing the decentralization process towards more participation in policy design (see Figure 1). The research will provide new scientific insights in these issues: (1) Does the Thai decentralization process, which relies heavily on two local organisations, the Tambon Administrative Organisations (TAOs) and the Agricultural Technology Transfer Centres (ATTACs), facilitate participation? (2) Is this process taking account of the informal rules of society? (3) What is the qualitative impact of participation on the design of agro-rural policies and the subsequent implementation of measures? (4) Finally, based on multiple criteria decision analysis including stakeholder-specific criteria elaboration, the research will provide scholarly recommendations on how these local organisations can promote effective farmer participation. Studies which cover these three fields - namely (1) decentralization, (2) participation with regard to policy design and (3) institutions - and focus at the same time on agro-rural policies are rather scarce.

http://www.iamo.de/fileadmin/institute/projectimages/institutional_analysis_1.gif" border="0" width="602" height="449" alt="IAD framework to analyse the relationship between decentralization and participation" />
IAD framework to analyse the relationship between decentralization and participation

The project started in August 2010 and is funded for three years. Gertrud Buchenrieder (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg) and Insa Theesfeld (IAMO) jointly lead this project, which has been approved by the (German Research Foundation) DFG. Senior research fellow Thomas Dufhues, long-time expert in development research in Southeast Asia, will conduct the empirical research. Due to its team composition, the project represents a joint research work between IAMO and the Martin-Luther University in Halle (Saale). In Thailand the project works closely together with Nuchanata Mungkung from the Department of Agricultural Resource Economics at Kasetsart University in Bangkok. Furthermore, the project is associated to the Sonderforschungsbereich 564 (SFB) The Uplands Program from the University of Hohenheim.

Research partners:

http://www.iamo.de/fileadmin/institute/projectimages/institutional_analysis_9.jpg" border="0" width="77" height="78" alt="Kasetsart University Bangkhen, Bangkok, Thailand" />

Kasetsart University
Bangkhen, Bangkok, Thailand
http://www.ku.ac.th/" target="_blank">http://www.ku.ac.th/
http://www.iamo.de/fileadmin/institute/projectimages/institutional_analysis_3.gif" border="0" width="145" height="70" alt="Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg" />

Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Institute of Agricultural and Food Sciences
http://www.landw.uni-halle.de/">http://www.landw.uni-halle.de/
http://www.iamo.de/fileadmin/institute/projectimages/institutional_analysis_4.gif" border="0" width="59" height="59" alt="University of Hohenheim" />

The social capital research project is associated to the Sonderforschungsbereich SFB-564 of the University of Hohenheim "Research for Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Mountainous Regions of Southeast Asia - The Uplands Program".
https://http://www.uni-hohenheim.de/sfb564/">https://http://www.uni-hohenheim.de/sfb564/

Research team:

Project leader:
http://www.iamo.de/fileadmin/institute/projectimages/institutional_analysis_5.jpg" alt="Theesfeld, Insa, Dr." width="72" height="96" hspace="3" border="0" align="left" /> Theesfeld, Insa, Dr.
Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO)
Department 'External Environment for Agriculture and Policy Analysis'
Email: theesfeld[at]iamo.de
Project leader:
http://www.iamo.de/fileadmin/institute/projectimages/institutional_analysis_6.jpg" alt="Buchenrieder, Gertrud, PD Dr." width="72" height="96" hspace="3" border="0" align="left" /> Buchenrieder, Gertrud, PD Dr.
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle Wittenberg
Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät III
Institut für Agrar- und Ernährungswissenschaften
Email: gertrud.buchenrieder[at]landw.uni-halle.de
Implementing researcher:
http://www.iamo.de/fileadmin/institute/projectimages/institutional_analysis_7.jpg" alt="Dufhues, Thomas, Dr." width="71" height="95" hspace="3" border="0" align="left" /> Dufhues, Thomas, Dr.
Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO)
Department 'External Environment for Agriculture and Policy Analysis'
Email: dufhues[at]iamo.de
Thai supervisor:
http://www.iamo.de/fileadmin/institute/projectimages/institutional_analysis_8.jpg" alt="Nuchanata Mungkung, Ass. Prof. Dr." width="72" height="95" hspace="3" border="0" align="left" /> Nuchanata Mungkung, Ass. Prof. Dr.
Economics Kasetsart University, Faculty of Economics
Department of Agricultural Resource Economics
Email: feconnm[at]ku.ac.th






Publikationen:

Dufhues, T., Theesfeld, I., Buchenrieder, G., Munkung, N. (2011):
The Political Economy of Decentralization in Thailand - Does Decentralization Allow for Rural Peasant Participation?Poster präsentiert auf XIIIth Congress of the EAAE: Change and Uncertainty - Challenges for Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Zürich/Schweiz, 30.08.2011-02.09.2011