The World Bank/WBI’s CBNRM Initiative

Case Received: February 7, 1998

Author: Lourdes F. Brache

Tel.: +1 607 255-5417

Fax: +1607 255-1005

Email: lb17@cornell.edu

Over the past three years Cornell researchers have worked in the Dominican Republic with collaborators from Centro Zonal de Pastoral Social (CEZOPAS), a local NGO, and government institutions (Dept. of Agriculture and Forestry) in finding ways to intensify farming without the normal side effects of capital-based intensification. Many participating farmers had been evicted from a neighboring national park and must desist, according to new Government Decrees, from migratory farming in the region. CEZOPAS and Cornell co-generated an eco-conuco model which integrated woodlot trees, fruit trees, small ruminants, beekeeping, and organic agriculture, but high labor requirements associated with the model discouraged its widespread adoption.

Our emphasis then shifted from adoption to adaption. Since October, 1996, we have developed farmer-centered research and extension methodologies to advance environmentally acceptable intensification. The centerpiece of this initiative has been as well cover crops technologies which minimize labor requirements, increase yields, and enhance soil fertility without soil loss. 1997 saw unprecedented interest among farmers and local extensionists in the new technology and in trial-and-error processes of spreading both imported and indigenous cover crop systems. Initial success on diverse trial plots surrounding the national park have activated debate and research on related matters of credit, post-harvest storage, marketing, social and environmental impact, and extension follow-up. Five workshops and two community demonstration fairs have helped farmers compare their gains and plan outreach strategies to other affected communities.