Module 5 - Brazil: Participatory Microcatchment Strategy for Increased Productivity and Natural Resource Conservation

Incentive grants are provided to farmers adopting sustainable technologies and practices that have a demonstration value. Groups of farmers may receive grants for collective purchases of specific farm implements for tillage and improved land management. They may also receive grants to construct water supply systems for agrochemical mixing points, which prevent the pollution of streams and water sources. Individual farmers may obtain grants for land management practices (such as contour farming and strip cropping, vegetative contours, bunding, and terracing), protective fencing along water courses, and seed of green manure crops.

Based on the results of a participatory socioeconomic and agroecological survey and on the agroecological maps produced under the project, project extension workers, together with the microcatchment beneficiaries, prepared a mutually-agreed Microcatchment Development Plan. The plan identified the principal agronomic and environmental problems and proposed solutions in the form of collective land and water management activities. The plan, which sets technical targets for all community works and farm-level interventions, is supported by individual farmland-use plans and by plans for collective activities. These are reviewed and approved by the Regional Microcatchment Commission and by the Project Coordination Unit.

Benefits and Impacts

So far, the project has produced important behavioral changes among technical staff, local governments, and project beneficiaries; supported synergies between project activities and other state and local initiatives; approved and implemented 310 microwatershed management plans; established 71 demonstration plots for new technologies (including 51 for no-till pasture rehabilitation and 20 for small-scale dairy production); approved 4,270 management plans for individual properties; disbursed incentive grants to 710 beneficiaries; replanted or restored 626 hectares of riparian vegetation; and engaged 24,810 beneficiaries in project activities.

Lessons Learned and Issues for Wider Applicability

• The management and implementation structure must set out clear responsibilities at the state, regional, and local levels, with emphasis on strong local participation (government, beneficiaries, and private sector).
  
  
• NRM strategies should be based on technological changes adapted to local needs and conditions to produce immediate benefits.
  
  
• Creative, motivated, and well-trained extension workers, provided with intensive training in group dynamics and participatory methods, are essential.
  
  
• Participatory methods should be used for selecting microwatersheds and activities to be undertaken, based on technical, environmental, and social criteria.
  
  
• Financial incentives are needed for adopting technology/behavioral changes.
  
  
• Robust monitoring and evaluation systems must be in place, with strong management units able to adjust implementation plans.

  
  
• A legal framework, including sanctions against activities detrimental to the environment and community efforts, is essential.
  
  
• Inputs need to be supplied in a timely manner to prevent implementation delays.