Institutions and social-ecological synergies in Indian agriculture

Ramprasad, Vijay

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Description

Title

Institutions and social-ecological synergies in Indian agriculture

Author(s)

Ramprasad, Vijay

Issue Date

2017-07-12

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Chhatre, Ashwini

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Chhatre, Ashwini

Committee Member(s)

• Ribot, Jesse
• Taylor-Lovell, Sarah
• Agrawal, Arun

Department of Study

Geography & Geographic InfoSci

Discipline

Geography

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Rainfed agriculture
• Social-ecological systems
• India
• Development

Abstract

This dissertation advances theoretical and empirical knowledge on an ongoing challenge throughout the developing world: synergizing livelihood enhancement and agro-ecological sustainability. Systematic knowledge of synergies and causal pathways through which they are generated remains limited. This study addresses this gap by examining the role of institutions as drivers of synergies and tradeoffs between social and ecological outcomes in rainfed agriculture. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative evidence collected over sixteen months of fieldwork among 212 smallholder households in six villages and over sixty institutions in Telangana, India, I examine the influence of five institutional pathways on livelihood and landholding effects. I find that the pathways generally improved livelihood and landholding conditions. However, these improvements are unevenly distributed even among marginalized social groups. National level policies strongly affect livelihoods and agro-ecological conditions. However, failure to adequately acknowledge the processes by which target groups access benefits led to social and power relations threatening effective benefit delivery. Civic institutions play supporting roles by filling voids left by public interventions and channel benefits to their constituency. Findings show that indebtedness to formal and informal institutions shape vulnerability of smallholders by moderating livelihood strategies and agricultural practices. Scholars and policy makers interested in institutional dimensions of agriculture must attended more carefully to the complexity in local-level institutions, examine non-linear relationships between institutions and social-ecological outcomes and associated political arenas to better design interventions.

Graduation Semester

2017-08

Type of Resource

text

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Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2017 Vijay Ramprasad

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