Pretty, J.N.

This very interesting history of SWC worldwide argues that over the last century conservation policies and practices have treated farmers as bad managers of soil and water. Through coercion and financial incentives, they have been made to adopt externally imposed measures. While enormous amounts of time and money have gone into this, the results have been minimal if not counter-productive and have destroyed much of the credibility of conservation work.

A brief history of soil and water conservation and harvesting work worldwide concludes that it has been too dominated by external ideas and intervention and it has often been ineffective or harmful. Two new approaches, Rapid Catchment Analysis in Kenya and the work of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in India, are introduced as ways in which external institutions can provide more effective support for locally run processes. The steps involved are described in some detail. Performance indicators and the role of support institutions are also described.

A Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture team used PRA to assess the impact of its Catchment Approach in six catchments, focusing on community level changes. This impact analysis linked differences in the implementation process with differences in results. It was clear that increased levels of community mobilization and involvement led to greater, quicker and replicating changes.