Changing Status of Common Pool Resources in Andhra Pradesh: with special reference to APRLP districts (2002) Study commissioned by APRLP, Hyderabad

This study seeks to understand the status of CPRs and their contributions to rural livelihoods in Andhra Pradesh, with a special focus on the five APRLP districts, i.e., Nalgonda, Prakasam, Mahaboobnagar, Kurnool and Anantapur. The study also discusses ongoing strategies for developing CPRs and outlines examples of some successful cases of CPR management. 

CPRs have come to occupy an important place in development studies for their significance in affecting poverty and livelihoods of rural communities. Despite rapid decline and deterioration in recent years, CPRs such as community pastures, wastelands, forests and water bodies continue to play a significant role in providing livelihood options to the rural poor in the semi-arid regions of India.

According to the 1998 NSS survey, the household average value collection from CPRs in Andhra Pradesh is Rs. 554 per annum. At the all-India level this is Rs. 693. Fuelwood forms a major part (58%) of the CPR collections, while fodder accounts for 25% and others 17%.

There are no definitive official estimates of CPR land resources in India. The estimates vary depending upon the way land resources are defined and the methodology adopted for estimating the data. Despite variations in estimates, a number of studies, both micro and macro, have clearly revealed that the quantity as well as quality of CPRs have rapidly declined and deteriorated during the post-independence period, particularly after the early 1970s in the semi-arid areas of India.

The estimates of the present study  (drawn on the basis of reclassification of official land use data) for Andhra Pradesh and APRLP districts also indicate similar trends. For 1999-2000, the CPR land (non-forest) accounts for 29.7 lakh ha. which is about 10.8% of the total geographical area of the state. The total CPR land in the five APRLP districts is 14,7 lakh ha. Between 1970 and 2000 the CPR land area declined by 21.9% at the state level. The primary data collected from 10 villages in five APRLP districts also indicates a sharp decline of about 30-70% in different villages between 1970 and 2000. 

The decline of CPRs has been attributed to a number of factors such as government policies, population pressure, market forces, failure of management institutions, technological changes and environmental factors. Privatization of CPR land has occurred through both legal assignments (distribution of lands by the government) and illegal encroachments

One of the important causes for depletion of CPRs is the breakdown of traditional management institutions and practices, resulting in the erosion of people’s collective participation in management of CPRs. The process of taking over the management responsibilities from local communities by the state which began during the colonial period continued vigorously during the post-independence period. The new institutions created by the state have been largely ineffective in maintaining CPRs. Today many development theorists consider the collective management model as the most effective model of CPR management, as it broadly fulfill the CPR management, objectives of productivity, equity and sustainability.

Since the early 1990s, there has been a clear shift in the governmental strategy for management of natural resources such as water, forests and wastelands. It has recognized the need for encouraging peoples` participation in management of resources. The introduction of Joint Forest Management, Participatory Irrigation Management and Watershed Management is the out come of this shift.

Andhra Pradesh is one of the leading states in the country to introduce reforms in management of irrigation and forest sectors. As a part of the reforms in management of natural resources, the state government has created new institutions such as Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSS) for protection of forests, Water Users’ Associations (WUA) for maintaining irrigation systems, and Watershed Committees for conservation of land and water. Several programmes have been launched in water, wasteland and forestry sectors in the state, which have yielded some positive results. However, despite these positive developments, the programmes in the above-mentioned sectors suffer from certain drawbacks. A number of studies have revealed that there still are certain key issues like equity and gender participation missing in some of these ongoing programmes.

The findings of this study indicate that, despite the rapid decline and deterioration, there is a lot of scope for development of existing CPRs in the sample villages. Water as a CPR resource is a primary concern for local communities and there is a great demand for rehabilitation of common water bodies like tanks, ponds and community wells. Unlike village common lands, which have declined in terms of both area and quality, the common water bodies suffer more from a qualitative rather than a quantitative decline.  

Although water is a priority concern for most village communities, common lands are equally important as a resource for creating livelihoods for the landless rural poor. But a significant percentage of CPR lands are under illegal encroachment and there is a serious need to address this issue. In most of the sample villages what is left as CPR land is mostly unproductive lands in and around hills (kondalu), hillocks (guttalu) streams (vagulu) and rivulets, roadside margins and severely degraded forest areas. These lands could be developed through undertaking tree plantation of different species, keeping in mind both commercial value and subsistence needs of the local population; developing pasture lands etc. However, any successful strategy for developing CPRs needs to take into account local specificities, needs and requirements of stakeholders, and address complex patterns of interaction between resources, user groups, user rights and management practices obtaining at the local level for sustainable management.