Realizing collective action in agency-constrained contexts: the case of the Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia
In rural Cambodia, inland freshwater and rice field fisheries are key sources of income, animal protein, and important ecosystem services. As the flood pulse in the Tonlé Sap floodplain recedes post-monsoon, leaving rice fields and local water bodies dry, Community Fish Refuges (CFRs) offer a promis...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Environmental Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2024.1417971/full |
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| author | Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco Sanjiv De Silva Pia Gleich Yin Yan Mark Dubois Stefan Sieber Stefan Sieber Michelle Bonatti Michelle Bonatti Michelle Bonatti |
| author_facet | Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco Sanjiv De Silva Pia Gleich Yin Yan Mark Dubois Stefan Sieber Stefan Sieber Michelle Bonatti Michelle Bonatti Michelle Bonatti |
| author_sort | Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In rural Cambodia, inland freshwater and rice field fisheries are key sources of income, animal protein, and important ecosystem services. As the flood pulse in the Tonlé Sap floodplain recedes post-monsoon, leaving rice fields and local water bodies dry, Community Fish Refuges (CFRs) offer a promising path to sustain dry season fish stocks, aquatic biodiversity, and secure water for agriculture and husbandry. Their sustained physical integrity and productivity as multiple-use systems hinge on communities’ ability to manage these systems collectively. To explore whether the studied communities have been able to respond to the challenge of collectively governing CFR, we investigate two CFR sites that were established in 2016 by local and international organizations alongside State authorities. Our aim is to investigate two key aspects: 1) the presence, extent, and efficacy of community-level collective action (CA) for managing CFRs; and 2) the factors that either facilitate or inhibit CA regarding CFRs. We conducted a qualitative case study between March and May 2023 at two sites in Kampong Thom Province. These were selected because while they have similar ecological features, they show different management results according to the implementing international organization WorldFish. This paper delves into a process guided by external agents seeking to reshape local behavior and existing institutional frameworks. Results show how centralized power structures and entrenched rural patronage politics in villages limit villagers’ participation and agency in CFRs management. Villagers encounter constraints hindering their capacity to instigate change, prompting a re-evaluation of the CFR Committee’s composition and operation to ensure broader legitimacy among actors. While emphasizing extended project funding and informed external intervention strategies, the study underscores doubts about short-term CA feasibility. It highlights the critical influence of contextual factors and policymakers’ assumptions in achieving effective collective governance. Structural factors and the deeply human process of pulling together a plurality of stakeholders pose challenges to establishing community-based projects prioritizing diverse voices. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-916a323cfcde4aa4b526cf832f8ec6be |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-665X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Environmental Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-916a323cfcde4aa4b526cf832f8ec6be2025-01-23T06:56:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Environmental Science2296-665X2025-01-011210.3389/fenvs.2024.14179711417971Realizing collective action in agency-constrained contexts: the case of the Community Fish Refuges in CambodiaCarla Rene Baldivieso Soruco0Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco1Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco2Sanjiv De Silva3Pia Gleich4Yin Yan5Mark Dubois6Stefan Sieber7Stefan Sieber8Michelle Bonatti9Michelle Bonatti10Michelle Bonatti11Resource Economics Group, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, GermanyResearch Area 2 “Land Use and Governance”, Working Group SusLAND, Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, GermanyJAINA Studies Community, Tarija, BoliviaInternational Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri LankaResource Economics Group, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, GermanyIndependent Researcher, Siem Reap, CambodiaInternational Water Management Institute (Laos), Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic RepublicResource Economics Group, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, GermanyResearch Area 2 “Land Use and Governance”, Working Group SusLAND, Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, GermanyResource Economics Group, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, GermanyJAINA Studies Community, Tarija, BoliviaPolitical Sociology post graduation program, Vila Velha University, Vila Velha, Espirito Santo, BrazilIn rural Cambodia, inland freshwater and rice field fisheries are key sources of income, animal protein, and important ecosystem services. As the flood pulse in the Tonlé Sap floodplain recedes post-monsoon, leaving rice fields and local water bodies dry, Community Fish Refuges (CFRs) offer a promising path to sustain dry season fish stocks, aquatic biodiversity, and secure water for agriculture and husbandry. Their sustained physical integrity and productivity as multiple-use systems hinge on communities’ ability to manage these systems collectively. To explore whether the studied communities have been able to respond to the challenge of collectively governing CFR, we investigate two CFR sites that were established in 2016 by local and international organizations alongside State authorities. Our aim is to investigate two key aspects: 1) the presence, extent, and efficacy of community-level collective action (CA) for managing CFRs; and 2) the factors that either facilitate or inhibit CA regarding CFRs. We conducted a qualitative case study between March and May 2023 at two sites in Kampong Thom Province. These were selected because while they have similar ecological features, they show different management results according to the implementing international organization WorldFish. This paper delves into a process guided by external agents seeking to reshape local behavior and existing institutional frameworks. Results show how centralized power structures and entrenched rural patronage politics in villages limit villagers’ participation and agency in CFRs management. Villagers encounter constraints hindering their capacity to instigate change, prompting a re-evaluation of the CFR Committee’s composition and operation to ensure broader legitimacy among actors. While emphasizing extended project funding and informed external intervention strategies, the study underscores doubts about short-term CA feasibility. It highlights the critical influence of contextual factors and policymakers’ assumptions in achieving effective collective governance. Structural factors and the deeply human process of pulling together a plurality of stakeholders pose challenges to establishing community-based projects prioritizing diverse voices.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2024.1417971/fullcollective actionCritical Institutionalismcommon-pool resource managementsocial ecological systemssustainable livelihoods |
| spellingShingle | Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco Sanjiv De Silva Pia Gleich Yin Yan Mark Dubois Stefan Sieber Stefan Sieber Michelle Bonatti Michelle Bonatti Michelle Bonatti Realizing collective action in agency-constrained contexts: the case of the Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia Frontiers in Environmental Science collective action Critical Institutionalism common-pool resource management social ecological systems sustainable livelihoods |
| title | Realizing collective action in agency-constrained contexts: the case of the Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia |
| title_full | Realizing collective action in agency-constrained contexts: the case of the Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia |
| title_fullStr | Realizing collective action in agency-constrained contexts: the case of the Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Realizing collective action in agency-constrained contexts: the case of the Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia |
| title_short | Realizing collective action in agency-constrained contexts: the case of the Community Fish Refuges in Cambodia |
| title_sort | realizing collective action in agency constrained contexts the case of the community fish refuges in cambodia |
| topic | collective action Critical Institutionalism common-pool resource management social ecological systems sustainable livelihoods |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2024.1417971/full |
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