Short and long-term benefits management
Thursday, 02 April 2009 15:16
Demonstrated planning for short and longer term benefits; and how economic benefits will be shared.
An important factor for success is that all stakeholders -- not only the leaders of the enterprise, but their key partners and the local community -- feel they are receiving benefits from the effort they are putting in to the enterprise. Those that seem to have more success plan ahead and define potential benefits to the beneficiaries in the development of the project. It is much more difficult when benefits are not clear or will take time to be realized. This is particularly true when natural resources that need a long time to grow or regenerate are involved. In the case of Nepal´s seabuckthorn harvesting project, it was reported that the leader has to constantly encourage the community (involved in cultivation) to continue with the enterprise, since the plants need four to five years to mature before producing fruit. The leader noted that a previous ODA-funded seabuckthorn project failed because international organizations do not have the time to wait for longer term projects to come to fruition and provide benefits. Likewise in Madagascar, community attention to the current limits on harvesting in the marine protected area must be sustained while the ecosystem recovers sufficiently to support a fishery once again. With SRI however, there are immediate rice harvest results that one farmer can then demonstrate to another, leading to longer term, wholesale change in agricultural practices. In Vietnam, despite the difficulties of starting the enterprise, community farmers and the community cooperative have stayed engaged and involved because they perceive benefits for the partnership. Farmers now have a new crop which they can grow on spare land that is unable to support other crops. The organization has gained more support in the community because of the project and is now seen as legitimate in representing the community and developing new opportunities for economic growth. On the conservation side of the equation, the cultivation of medicinal plants has taken pressure off of wild stocks allowing these to regenerate in areas that were once over harvested. If the enterprise requires a significant lead time before a tangible benefit can be secured, the leaders should plan for either a shorter term benefit to be offered or have a concrete strategy to keep everyone engaged while waiting for the longer term benefit.
