Staff Publications

Unsustainable fishing practices, including the use of non-selective fishing methods and Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, contribute to the decline of tuna fish stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). This has led to emergence of different public and private governance arrangements to foster the sustainable exploitation of tuna stocks. This thesis focuses on the performance of three innovative private incentive mechanisms: Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs), International Seafood Sustainability Foundation’s Pro-active Vessel Register and eco-FADs, and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, to deliver economic incentives for improved production. The overall objective of this thesis is to evaluate the extent to which private incentive mechanisms influence Filipino fishers’ decision to improve their fishing practices.

In order to address the overall objective, this thesis first analyses and compares the ways existing private incentive mechanisms influence the upgrading strategies of Filipino tuna fishers in the value chains (in chapter 2). Second, it evaluates the important determinants for small-scale handline fishers’ decisions to participate in two FIPs for yellowfin tuna in the Philippines (in chapter 3). Third, it examines the effect of MSC certification on the allocation of fishing days by Filipino purse seiners operating in Parties to Nauru Agreement (in chapter 4). And finally, it analyses the profitability of investments in measures needed to comply with private incentive mechanisms by Filipino purse seiners (in chapter 5).

The findings show that overall, the incentive mechanisms are able to improve the practices of fishers, however only to a limited extent. The first two chapters (chapters 2 and 3) show that producers first need to have the capabilities to meet the requirements of private incentive mechanisms, so that they can be included in the value chain and that they can realise the incentives offered by these mechanisms. However, being capable does not guarantee that producers will improve their practices. As shown in the last two chapters (chapters 4 and 5), producers must also have the willingness to upgrade, based on their risk attitude and on the ability of the economic incentive to cover the additional costs and to compensate for the increase of the risks of participation of producers. Given that producers have the availability of capabilities to upgrade and that the benefit is sufficient to opt for participation, then producers may decide to improve their practices, which may contribute to the sustainability improvement goal of private incentive mechanisms. As a consequence of this finding, the incentives, inclusiveness, and improvements must be taken into account in both the design and implementation of private incentive mechanisms.

Urmia Lake, in north-western Iran, is an important internationally recognized natural area designated as a RAMSAR site and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Over the last 20 years, the surface area of Urmia Lake has declined by 80%. As a result, the salinity of the lake has sharply increased which is disturbing the ecosystems, local agriculture and livelihoods, regional health, as well as tourism, which could amplify economic, political and ethnic tensions in this already volatile region. In response to that, Iranian government established the ten-year “Urmia Lake Restoration Program (ULRP)” proposing six approaches in terms of controlling, protecting, surveying, studying and supplying water from other sources. This study first assessed the main reasons for the decreased inflow using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrological model, including reservoirs and irrigation modules. The results showed that climate change was the main contributor to this inflow reduction. However, water resources development, particularly water use for irrigation, has played a substantial role as well. In the second step assessed Urmia lake inflow under future climate change and irrigation scenarios. Then, the (VIC) model was forced with bias-corrected climate model outputs for both the lowest (RCP2.6) and highest (RCP8.5) greenhouse-gas concentration scenarios to estimate future water availability. The results showed that the water resources plans are not robust to changes in climate. In other words, if future climate change is limited due to rapid mitigation measures (RCP2.6) the new strategy of reduction of irrigation water use can contribute to preserve Urmia Lake.

The next step of this study assessed the quantitative impacts of ULRP by introducing a constructive framework. The framework depicts real water saving by distinguishing between water withdrawals, depletion, and demand in the context of uncertainties in future demand and supply. The results showed that although the ULRP helps to increase inflow by up to 57% it is unlikely to fully reach its target for three main reasons. The first reason is decreasing return flows due to increasing irrigation efficiency. The second reason is increased depletion which is due to neglecting the fact that agricultural water demand is currently higher than available water for agriculture. The third reason is ignoring the potential impact of climate change. However, there still can be some additional none-quantifiable barriers and challenges that may cause the failure of the restoration plan. Therefore, in the last step, this study used two types of qualitative data to explore these aspects: first, the opinions from 40 experts and the in-situ observation of some of the ULRP implementation practices. The results indicate a number of challenges for the ULRP implementation including the water use regulations and the agricultural measures. In addition, (water) demand-side measures such as crop pattern changes were more supported, as opposed to supply-side measures.

This thesis showed that the sustainable approach to preserve Urmia Lake should incorporate both demand management (considering socioeconomic complexity) and flexible supply management strategies (to deal with uncertainties in climate variability and change) in a participatory approach. To be prepared for the future, also scenarios with reduced inflow into Urmia Lake, either due to climate change or water resources development, need to be considered to deal with considerable amounts of variability in the current system and with future changes in climate and socioeconomic conditions.

To protect its natural heritage and biodiversity, Vietnam has established a system of ‘special use forest’ (SUFs) which is “the backbone of the national protected areas”. The ineffective management of SUFs based solely on the state leads to a decline in biodiversity and density of the forests. Recognizing this, collaborative or ‘co’-management for SUFs is advocated to get more participation and shared responsibilities and rights between government and non-state actors. However, it is widely noted that co-management is a particularly great challenge in Vietnam because of the nature of strong state control, decades of SUF conflicts, and the lack of capacity and initiatives of communities to negotiate with the government in co-management arrangements. This PhD thesis questions the degree to which co-management can be put in Vietnamese SUFs and the degree of ‘adaptiveness’ it can engender. Conditions of the economic, political and social context surrounding SUFs becomes key to any understanding of how co-management can be implemented, including insights into how co-management may need to be amended to adjust to ‘fit’ the context of mono-organisational states.

Pesticides are intensively used in agriculture across the globe to prevent or control pests, diseases, and weeds. In this process, improper pesticide registration, distribution and use has become more serious, which has resulted in heavy environmental and human health risks in many parts of the world. This holds especially true for developing countries, including Ethiopia where good agricultural practices are often poorly implemented. To safeguard human health and the environment, a strict regulatory policy is essential. In line with this, Ethiopia has developed pesticide registration and control procedures, which are regulations and directives in which the country also included different international agreements related to agropesticides. Therefore, the overall policy with respect to pesticide plays a key role in improving the environment, the health of growers and the surrounding community and stimulates the economic performance of the Ethiopian agricultural sector. However, there was no clear answer to the question whether the policy on pesticide registration, distribution and use was implemented in an effective and sustainable way. Arguably, governance failures are the origin of many environmental and human health problems regarding pesticides in developing countries. This paper argues that the influence of state and non-state actors and the relative importance of their interactions are the major structural characteristics of pesticide governance. However, it is still important to ask what governing mechanisms and actors are available and what can be developed further to promote sustainable pesticide governance. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the pesticide policy-and-practice nexus, which includes the roles of governmental actors, private actors(traders) and farmers, and to review the actual and potential contribution from various governance actors in changing the existing (unsafe) pesticide practices in vegetables and cut flowers sector in which pesticides are used intensively.I have to conclude that both state and private actors hardly contribute to significant improvements in achieving sound pesticide management in Ethiopia. The state regulatory system has revealed an inability in controlling proper registration, distribution and safe use. Pesticide registration systems are not well established. A major challenge in pesticide registration is the double/ triple registration of pesticides with the same active ingredient (ai) but under different commercial names. Importing unregistered pesticides (only with import permits) by most flower growers allowed them to use extremely harmful/chemicals toxic to the environment and workers for higher risks. The government’s political commitment in this regard has never been observed in the floriculture industries, where there is no supervision or monitoring at all. In addition, commercial pesticide traders prove unable/unwilling to comply with regulations prescribed by the government proclamation. Among other problems, importation of pesticides with the wrong labels, conflicts of interest between importers (registrants) and double/triple registration of pesticides with the same (ai) under different commercial names cause confusion for retailers and farmers. Moreover, importation without obtaining a prior import permit and requests to import unregistered pesticides have grown over time. At the same time, the responsibility for controlling the pesticide market (inspection) failed in terms of quality control in distribution and use. The retailing of pesticides has been handled by unqualified and unlicensed retailers in shops and open markets with other commodities. Finally, this challenge is particularly critical at farm (local) level. There is substantial overuse, misuse and abuse of pesticides by end users, especially by smallholder farmers, due to lack of knowledge, technical support and training on hazards and risks associated with pesticides. Challenges to pesticide governance throughout the pesticide supply chain has resulted in negative policy outcomes for the environment and human health, particularly with the failure of state authorities to actively engage non-state actors in the complex pesticide registration, distribution and use system. Following the findings in this thesis, these situations call for the reshaping of the pesticide governance system throughout the country. To effectively address the human health and environmental impacts of pesticides requires a pesticide governance system that facilitates agricultural and environmental sustainability.

FloraHolland en Wageningen UR Glastuinbouw hebben afgelopen jaar proeven gedaan met plasma geactiveerd water. Ze bevestigen de ontsmettende werking van dit milieuvriendelijke middel. Grote uitdaging is echter om deze resultaten te vertalen naar praktijktoepassingen.