We present here, the ‘information transect’ for Rahepwa village in Mewat. This transect for two seasons in the village reveals the need for seasonal observations of the land, water and human resources systems to solve real problems in rural livelihoods. Information on the village system, its elements, and the nature of inter-seasonal variations, begins with the primary perceptions of the people inhabiting the village. These primary perceptions can then be validated and collated along with micro and meso level information on contexts and contents, and integrated with existing macro level information. Generation of data / information within the framework of seasonality of rural livelihoods is essentially a participatory process. In land use plans, information to formulate and implement counter-seasonal development projects must be contextualized within these seasonal variations. Particularly important are the inter- and intra-seasonal variations in the nature and use of the basic resources in the village- land, water and labour, - as mediated by relevant institutions within and outside the village.
The basic characteristic of a meaningful land systems information set is its location “in-time”. For instance, a farming systems improvement project may assume that farmers crop layout, crop sequences,and land management operations are logical/ rational responses to a particular rural context. But for the farmer, his/ her farming system is inevitably the result of his/ her cumulative knowledge of events unfolding through a seasonal calendar. It is difficult for a development agency / sponsor to get to respond to the time factor involved in a particular crop layout or cropping sequence. In location specific information and /or technologies, the term location conveys only the spatial context, leaving the time or seasonal context often unrepresented. When a crop layout in a season or a cropping sequence in an year “result from” each farmer’s cumulative knowledge over time, it becomes imperative that a farming systems improvement project and the local farmers share the same spatial (locational) logic as well as the temporal logic (Richards, 1989).
Meaningful land systems information is located within the rural time-scale, of cooking, cleaning, washing, feeding/ agricultural operations/ cattle grazing/ market dealings/ and such during the day; processing, storing/ cattle care/ and such during the week; crop layout/ agricultural operation plan and work/ cattle dealings (letting out, sale or purchase)/ market activities/ family decisions, delegation of responsibility, work share/ and such during the season. In addition, the rural time scale functions on the cumulative knowledge of previous days, months, seasons and years. To collect and use this highly disaggregated information, it is imperative to ensure a realistic “integration” of various sources, methods of collection, modes of interpretation and use, of data (quantitative and qualitative) as it exists in the village system.
Systems concepts and seasonal information
Systems theory provides a rich range of possiblities for generating and utilizing integrated participatory seasonal information. The basic concept from systems theory, that rural- especially agricultural- livelihood, is part of a complex set of interacting elements (Bawden, 1984), is applied here. Information about seasonal changes in livelihoods, therefore, is part and parcel of information about the whole village system. It is more than a list or aggregation of selected economic or social variables. Given the unpredictable nature of seasonal changes, a systemic perception is essential:
...(it) is sensitive to contextual issues from which unforseen problems can emerge. Indeed, it seeks to learn from the sources of those problems - other stakeholder perspectives, for example- and to encourage joint formulation of management solutions informed by both local and non-local knowledge. (Ison, Maiteny and Carr, 1997, p. 264).
The systems linkages and their significance in the context of different livelihoods are evident with the participation of women, pastoralists, artisans, landless labourers, various groups/ types of farmers, external change agents like the extensionists, fertilizer dealers, flayers/ tanners/ other agro-processing business, the line Departments of the State, the local NGOs, etc., in a regular institutionalized process of data collection and use. Participation of the rural population in generating and utilizing their own seasonal information reveals how different people interpret the same seasonal context in different ways, “based in line with their experiences and worldviews, or Weltanschauung and purposes.” (Ison, Maiteny, and Carr, 1997, p. 260). Application of systems concepts to solving problems of seasonality of rural livelihoods demands that the “different, and sometimes conflicting perspectives of stakeholders” (ibid) must be taken into consideration. Information generated thus, brings scope for mutual understanding and negotiation at each phase of the project, starting from problem formulation, implementation of prioritised counter-seasonal strategy, through participatory monitoring and evaluation of the project, and follow-up activities.
We present examples from our IPSOS facility in Rahepwa to show how integration of information within a systems perspective considers the systems information concepts:
- Information about the land system reveals the interdependence among elements as well as the reciprocal dependence, where an action within a system causes other actions.
- Information about land and rural livelihoods is dynamic. The system and its elements grow, alter, decay, die over time and through interventions.
- The information components are clear, specified at the outset and changed over time. Components include information on people, land, environment, inputs, structure, process, outputs, boundaries, etc.
- The information package is flexible enough to map and explain the interactions or changes of each of these components, mainly land and water, with respect to their environment(s).
- When the information is used for
participatory development decisions, the possibility of
equifinality must be explored. From many beginning states a final
state may be reached, and from one beginning many end states may
be reached.