@article{oai:nagoya.repo.nii.ac.jp:00024061,
 author = {ONKEN, Dady Ingwen},
 issue = {10},
 journal = {国際開発研究フォーラム, Forum of International Development Studies},
 month = {Nov},
 note = {Recently the interest in local people’s strategies to cope with land degradation has grown among scholars and policy-makers. However, most of the studies have only examined the degradation process and described farmers’ strategies’ without placing attention on understanding the factors influencing farmers’ decisions and reasons to choose innovative strategies. This article, while examining local farmers’ strategies in Yassa ― Munene village, analyzes why farmers choose the strategies they apply. A body of literature has argued that farmers’ decisions are often based on the land user’s interest in direct and indirect cost and benefits of the undertaken strategies, in term of yield, time and cash. Using the ‘framework for traditional local institution analysis in land management’, this study argues that farmers’ decisions to adopt or reject innovative strategies are mostly based on local traditional leaders’ will and approach to implement the strategies. Leaders play a central role as custodians, resources controllers, mediators and advisors. But, they are also exemplars, key actors, risk takers and‘ servants’ or helpers of the community in implementing innovations. Because, they are the‘ well informed’ and‘ well educated’ in resources management than ordinary farmers. This study shows that all the major past innovations have successfully been adopted with and through leaders’ involvement and decisions; rather than through the farmers’ own initiatives or that of the external actors.},
 pages = {1--24},
 title = {Local People’s Strategies to Cope with Land Degradation : The Case of Yassa-Munene Village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo},
 volume = {47},
 year = {2016}
}