Table Of ContentUnderstanding Poverty and the
Environment
Does poverty lead to environmental degradation? Do degraded environments and
natural resources lead to poverty? Are there other forces at play? Is the relation-
ship between poverty and the environment really as straightforward as the vicious
circle portrayal of ‘poverty leading to environmental destruction leading to more
poverty’ would suggest? Does it matter if the relationship is portrayed in this way?
This book suggests that it does matter. Arguing that such a portrayal is unhelpful
and misleading, the book brings together a diverse range of analytical frameworks
and approaches that enable a much deeper investigation of the context and nature
of poverty–environment relationships. Analytical frameworks and approaches
examined in the book are drawn from political ecology, gender, environment and
development, institutional analyses, livelihoods and wellbeing, social network
analysis and analyses of the governance of natural resources. Key themes running
through the analytical frameworks and approaches are highlighted in a concluding
chapter, including power, access, institutions and scale.
Nunan draws on material published over the last thirty years as well as key
contemporary publications, steering readers towards essential texts within each
subject area through annotated further reading recommendations. Understanding
Poverty and the Environment is unique in critically reviewing a number of frame-
works that are often applied within environment and development research.
Engaging and accessible, the text will enable students to grasp the key concepts
and rationales of the various frameworks and make sense of often complex
original sources. The book is a must for students of development studies, environ-
mental studies and related disciplines.
Fiona Nunan is currently Head of the International Development Department
at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research focuses on natural resource
governance and livelihoods, particularly in coastal areas and inland fisheries, and
relationships between poverty and the environment. She has published papers in a
range of journals including World Development, Fish and Fisheries, Environmental
Management, Geoforum and the Journal of International Development.
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Understanding Poverty
and the Environment
Analytical frameworks and approaches
Fiona Nunan
First published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Fiona Nunan
The right of Fiona Nunan to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Nunan, Fiona.
Understanding poverty and the environment: analytical frameworks and
approaches / Fiona Nunan.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Poverty—Environmental aspects. 2. Sustainable development.
3. Environmental sociology. 4. Political ecology. I. Title.
HC79.P6N86 2015
339.4′6—dc23
2014043228
ISBN: 978-0-415-70756-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-70759-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-88670-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Book Now Ltd, London
For Ann
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Contents
List of illustrations xi
Preface xiii
1 Why poverty and the environment? 1
Introduction 1
Environment and development: the debate 3
Poverty and the environment: the vicious circle and downward spiral 6
Definitions and interpretations of poverty 9
The environment and natural resources 11
Cross-cutting themes 13
Institutions 13
Social capital 14
Gender 15
Power 16
Property rights and property regimes 17
Community 19
‘Access to and control over’ natural resources 20
Vulnerability 20
A note on ‘frameworks’ 21
Structure of the book 22
Summary of key points 24
2 Political ecology 30
Introduction 30
What is political ecology? 31
Environmental science and ecology 34
Challenging dominant narratives: three key themes 36
Perceived causes of environmental change: common themes 36
Responses to environmental change 39
Challenges to dominant narratives from political ecology 40
Chains of explanation within political ecology 43
viii Contents
Feminist political ecology 44
Desertification: a classic case study of a dominant
narrative and political ecology critique 45
Other examples of the application of political ecology 48
Debates and issues within political ecology 48
Summary of key points 51
3 Analysing institutions 57
Introduction 57
Why do institutions matter in poverty–environment relations? 59
Critical Institutionalism 60
The Environmental Entitlements approach 63
Environmental entitlements and fisheries resources
in Uganda 66
Institutional Analysis and Development framework 69
The Social-Ecological System framework 77
Application of IAD to an analysis of state afforestation
policies in Vietnam 78
Comparing the approaches 79
Summary of key points 81
4 A gender lens on poverty and the environment 85
Introduction 85
‘WID, WAD and GAD’: women, gender and development 87
Repoliticizing gender 89
And what about poverty?: the ‘feminization of poverty’ 89
Women, environment and development 90
Feminist political ecology 92
Natural resource sector examples 93
Gender and land 94
Gender and forestry 96
Gender and fisheries 97
A word on gender and climate change 99
Summary of key points 100
5 Livelihoods and wellbeing 105
Introduction 105
Livelihoods 106
Sustainable Livelihoods framework 108
Applications of the SLF in research 116
Wellbeing analysis 120
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework 123
The Wellbeing in Developing Countries approach 126
Contents ix
Livelihoods and wellbeing approaches compared 130
Summary of key points 131
6 Social network analysis 135
Introduction 135
What are social networks and social network analysis? 135
Planning a social network analysis study 138
Types of ties or relations 140
Specifying boundaries 141
Ego networks 142
Complete social networks 144
Examples of the use of social network analysis in
natural resource management 146
Summary of key points 153
7 Analysing governance 157
Introduction 157
What is governance? 158
Principles of governance 161
Why governance? 162
Decentralization of natural resource governance 163
Governance frameworks 166
Analysing water governance and poverty 166
Interactive governance and governability 168
Analysis of governance in decentralized natural
resource management 170
Key components of governance analysis 173
Governance challenges 174
Power 174
Scale and levels 175
Coping with change and uncertainty: adaptive governance 176
Summary of key points 177
8 Conclusion: reflections on investigating
poverty–environment relationships 181
Introduction 181
Key themes arising from a comparison of frameworks
and approaches 182
Power 182
Institutions 188
Access 189
Poverty, livelihoods and wellbeing 189
Gender 190
