TY - JOUR

T1 - Governance Challenges at the Interface of Food Security and Biodiversity Conservation

T2 - A Multi-Level Case Study from Ethiopia

AU - Jiren, Tolera Senbeto

AU - Leventon, Julia

AU - Jager, Nicolas W.

AU - Dorresteijn, Ine

AU - Schultner, Jannik

AU - Senbeta, Feyera

AU - Bergsten, Arvid

AU - Fischer, Joern

N1 - This research was funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant (FP7 European Research Council) to JF. The authors would like to thank all stakeholders involved in this study, including the community and respondents at all governance levels. We also extend our appreciation to the federal government of Ethiopia, and Oromia regional state for permission to undertake this study. Leuphana University Lueneburg provided ethics clearance for this study. Finally, we owe our acknowledgment to the editor and anonymous reviewers of this manuscript,

PY - 2021/4

Y1 - 2021/4

N2 - Ensuring food security while also protecting biodiversity requires a governance system that can address intra- and intersectoral complexity. In this paper, we sought to explore the governance challenges surrounding food security and biodiversity conservation through an empirical study in Jimma zone, southwestern Ethiopia. We used bottom-up snowball sampling to identify stakeholders and then held semi-structured interviews with 177 stakeholders across multiple levels of governance. We also conducted 24 focus group discussions with local people. Data were transcribed and thematically analyzed for its contents. Challenges in the structure of institutions and policy incoherence were the key challenges identified for the governance of food security and biodiversity conservation. The challenges around institutional structure included incompatibilities of the nature of governing institutions with the complexity inherent within and between the two sectors examined. Incoherences in policy goals, instruments, and contradictions of policy output relative to the actual problems of food security and biodiversity further hampered effective governance of food security and biodiversity conservation. Notably, many of the challenges that influenced an individual sector also posed a challenge for the integrated governance of food security and biodiversity conservation, often in a more pronounced way. Based on our findings, we argue that governance in our case study area requires a more integrated and collaborative approach that pays attention to institutional interplay in order to ensure institutional fit and consistency across policy goals.

AB - Ensuring food security while also protecting biodiversity requires a governance system that can address intra- and intersectoral complexity. In this paper, we sought to explore the governance challenges surrounding food security and biodiversity conservation through an empirical study in Jimma zone, southwestern Ethiopia. We used bottom-up snowball sampling to identify stakeholders and then held semi-structured interviews with 177 stakeholders across multiple levels of governance. We also conducted 24 focus group discussions with local people. Data were transcribed and thematically analyzed for its contents. Challenges in the structure of institutions and policy incoherence were the key challenges identified for the governance of food security and biodiversity conservation. The challenges around institutional structure included incompatibilities of the nature of governing institutions with the complexity inherent within and between the two sectors examined. Incoherences in policy goals, instruments, and contradictions of policy output relative to the actual problems of food security and biodiversity further hampered effective governance of food security and biodiversity conservation. Notably, many of the challenges that influenced an individual sector also posed a challenge for the integrated governance of food security and biodiversity conservation, often in a more pronounced way. Based on our findings, we argue that governance in our case study area requires a more integrated and collaborative approach that pays attention to institutional interplay in order to ensure institutional fit and consistency across policy goals.

KW - Institutional interplay

KW - Institutional structure

KW - Integration

KW - Policy incoherence

KW - Policy output

KW - Environmental planning

KW - Biology

KW - Gender and Diversity

KW - Environmental Governance

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100924335&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s00267-021-01432-7

DO - 10.1007/s00267-021-01432-7

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 33591406

AN - SCOPUS:85100924335

VL - 67

SP - 717

EP - 730

JO - Environmental Management

JF - Environmental Management

SN - 0364-152X

IS - 4

ER -