Falk, T and Vorlaufer, T and Brown, L and Domptail, S and Dallimer, M (2021) Citizens' preferences for development outcomes and governance implications. Land Degradation & Development, 32 (17). pp. 5129-5139. ISSN 1085-3278
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Abstract
People's preferences influence national priorities for economic development and ecological integrity. Often policymakers and development agents base their actions on unclear assumptions about such preferences. This paper explores rural citizens' preferences for economic and ecological development outcomes and how they differ within and between communities. We collected data from three purposely selected communities representing dominant social-ecological systems in the transboundary Cubango-Okavango River basin in southern Africa. We used contingent ranking survey experiments, which are a novel methodological advance in policy related research. This included a qualitative experimental design process that provided a broad framing underpinning the research. The contingent ranking itself allowed us to simultaneously assess: (i) respondents' priorities for development domains; and (ii) respondents' preferences for the ordering of outcomes in diverse domains. We found relatively strong preference homogeneity within and between communities. Economic development was given high priority across all communities. At the same time, all communities expressed a high preference for a healthy river system providing stable water quality and quantity. This does not mean that our respondents prioritised nature conservation. They showed low preferences for preserving biodiversity and forests that provide fewer local benefits. This is of high governance relevance. The results point at development domains where policymakers can most likely expect stronger buy-in from citizens. Understanding citizens' preferences help to better align national development priorities with what citizens want.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | Global Research Program - Enabling Systems Transformation |
| CRP: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Angola, Botswana, contingent ranking, development trade-offs, Namibia, transboundary river basin |
| Subjects: | Others > Agricultural Statistics Others > Agricultural Economics |
| Depositing User: | Mr Nagaraju T |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Jun 2025 04:29 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Jun 2025 04:29 |
| URI: | http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/13147 |
| Official URL: | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/l... |
| Projects: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Funders: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Acknowledgement: | This study was part of The Future Okavango (TFO) project which was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research under the Sustainable Land Management funding measure (project code 01LL0912A). The work was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Market (PIM) as well as the Program on Water, Land, and Ecosystems (WLE). We thank Michael Kirk and Evelyn Korn, the coordinators of the project's governance subproject, for their dedicated support. Special acknowledgement goes to all surveyed communities for their time, assistance, and hospitality. We thank all assistants who contributed to the study. Maike Ritzer made a valuable contribution in the frame of her Master thesis. |
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