02 Contents Frame

Land evaluation – towards a revised framework
24
The sustainability of livelihoods is a function of how men and women utilize asset 
portfolios over the short and long term. Sustainability includes economic efficiency, 
ecological integrity, environmental sustainability and social equity. The latter implies 
that promotion of opportunities for one group should not foreclose options for other 
groups, either now or in the future (Singh and Wanmali 1998). 
Stakeholder participation
Stakeholders are groups or individuals who have a stake, or vested interest, in the land 
resource and have a traditional, current or future right to decide, jointly, on the use of 
the land resource. Participation is a process through which stakeholders influence and 
share control over priority setting, policy-making, resource allocations and access to 
public goods and services. 
The primary stakeholders are the present users of the land, farmers and other local 
inhabitants. It is their future which will be affected, usually enhanced, by the proposed 
changes in land use. Among the land users, minority communities may be given 
special consideration. In addition, however, there are a wide range of communities and 
institutions, both within the area and outside it, which stand to gain or lose by changes 
in use and management of the land. National governments, for example, may have a 
stake in increasing production of cash crops for export. International environmental 
organizations, and the global community as a whole, have a stake in the preservation 
of forests, rare plant or animal species, or genetic resources.
Among the stakeholders whose interests may need to be taken into account are:
¾The present users of the land, farmers and other land users.
¾Local communities as a whole, especially the landless, who will often have 
interests in, or be dependent on, production or services from land.
¾Minority peoples, or those practising traditional ways of life, who need sufficient 
land to ensure their livelihood.
¾Holders of title deeds or concessions, including larger landowners and companies 
(in mining, agriculture, forestry, etc.).
¾Urban communities in the region, who may depend on the land for services, 
especially water and recreation or tourism.
¾State of provincial governments, which have a direct responsibility for the 
wellbeing of their populations, and need to raise revenues.
¾National or federal governments, which have strategic interests such as physical 
security of the land, ensuring human occupation of their sovereign territory, 
promotion of commodities for export, internal food security, and settlement of 
excess population from other parts of the country.
¾Worldwide organizations, especially those linked to biological resources and the 
environment (e.g. UNEP, WWF), acting on behalf of the global community as a 
whole.
There is a long history of participation in agricultural development and a wide range 
of development agencies have attempted to involve people in some aspect of planning 
and implementation. Two overlapping schools of thought and practice have evolved 
(Pretty 1995). One view is that participation as a means to increase efficiency is the 
central notion and that if people are involved from the start; they are more likely to 
agree with and support the new development or service. The other sees participation 
as a fundamental right, in which the main aim is to initiate mobilization for collective 
action, empowerment and institution building.
In recent years an increasing number of studies in natural resource management have 
shown that participation is one of the critical components of success. Relationships 
between population pressure and land degradation were reviewed in studies on 
rangeland degradation (Tiffen et al., 1994), soil fertility decline (Phillips-Howard 
and Lyon 1994), deforestation (Fairhead and Leach 1996), soil and water resources 

Chapter 3 – Expansion of concepts and definitions
25
degradation (Reij et al., 1996) and plant biomass production (Mortimore et al., 1999). 
These studies have resulted in a more positive perception of local people as capable 
managers of their resources. 
Stakeholders’ views and specific interests in the land determine the priority of 
functions and strategies adopted for land resources use. Farmers and villagers may 
have food production as a primary goal and their strategy may range from risk aversion 
to profit maximization depending on different socio-economic and environmental 
factors. A perceived short-term focus of this strategy often stems from insecure land 
tenure. The aims and strategies of the wider community up to national level tend to 
have a longer-term focus and multiple goals: to raise quality and standards of living 
whilst preserving the land resource for future generations. Matching individual 
strategies with priorities for land resources use across different levels of local, national 
and interregional authorities is an increasingly challenging task. 

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