Knowledge of the different demographic, socio-productive and socio-environmental variables and their link with the territory should be considered as the starting point for the development of local development proposals.
Rapid Socioeconomic Characterization (CSR) is part of the four basic studies (Land Use Capacity Study –ECUT-; Mapping of Key Actors –MAC-; and Critical Aerial Diagnosis –DAC-) that will allow the development of the “ Territorial Planning Plan ”(POT) of the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and the Municipality of Jarabacoa and the subsequent development of the Strategic Plan for Territorial Development.
The CSR methodology is born from the different regional experiences that have allowed the development of "Diagnoses" and "Characterizations" with results that allow obtaining information regarding the territory considering the participation of the same territorial actors for the development of the referring activities to the initial design of the information capture forms, the data collection system, the data collection, the initial stages of processing and the validation of the results.
Having “Base Line” information outside the context of Land Use Planning is an added value of the CSR, considering that in the phase of collecting secondary information at the local and national level, the lack or absence of information regarding the characteristics was detected. socio-productive and socio-environmental aspects of the "CAY" and the municipality of Jarabaco.
The Baseline information will allow the generation of "Criteria and Indicators" that will allow the development of "Monitoring and Evaluation Systems".
Being more in-depth the use in the development of the "Territorial Planning Plan" within which the information of the CSR and other studies, duly analyzed and mapped, will serve as a platform, together with the participatory actions and concertation of the "Strategic Lines" approach / or "Strategic Projects" within the framework of the "Strategic Plan for Territorial Development".
The CSR will contribute to systematizing the secondary information that, although limited and disaggregated, provides a series of inputs that will allow the feedback of the primary information collected through the survey forms.
2.Objective of
- Present the methodological proposal for the development of Rapid Economic Characterization, considering the experience generated during the development of the Land Use Plan for the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and the Municipality of Jarabacoa.
2.2 Specific objectives
- Present the methodological steps that will allow the development of the Rapid Socioeconomic Characterization (CSR) of a rural-oriented territory;
- Generate the base information for the mapification analysis and subsequent development of the proposal of the Land Management Plan.
3. Methodology
3.1 Territorial planning approach
Rapid Socioeconomic Characterization (CSR) is a method of generating primary information within the Land Use process to generate demographic, socio-productive, and socio-environmental information for the preparation of development proposals.
The CSR is not an isolated study but rather serves to complement the information necessary for the development of a "Land Use Plan". It is part of the basic studies required by the "Territorial Planning Methodology for the Dominican Republic" prepared by the Undersecretariat for Environmental Management. This methodology is based on the 2004 Environmental Law (Law 64-00).
In the framework of territorial ordering, the CAY is considered as a 'region of conservation and sustainable development' (RECODES) that needs a 'comprehensive management of natural resources'. Based on this approach, CAY is considered as a region of the Central Cordillera that includes hydrographic basins, protected areas, micro-basins, municipalities, communities and farm systems (GITEC, 2003; Figure 1).
Territorial planning implies and is at the same time a state policy (eg Law 64-00), a development planning instrument through which a harmonious quality of life with nature and an intergenerational commitment is obtained… It is a perspective holistic, democratic, participatory. It allows: to adapt the political-administrative organization and the spatial projection of social, economic, environmental and cultural policy.
It is an articulated, strategically planned, dynamic, iterative process whose objective is to promote the rational use of space and natural resources, prevent, mitigate, and suppress Disarticulated Incrementalism ”, use and abuse of space and its resources, being the opposite of developmental models. It evolves towards territorial action, as it fosters changes through real interventions, coherent and organized actions. It is not a goal, much less a fixed map, it is constantly evolving.
It takes into account the integration and the balance of demand and expectations of a growing population. It considers the capacity and characteristic of the territory and its resources, as a vital space and intergenerational sustenance. It must be based on parameters of minimum variability, easily projectable and capable of adequately characterizing the areas of greatest uncertainty.
It continually evolves after dynamic and flexible evaluations of its partial results and impact on the physical, sociocultural and biological environment. This is not done nor should a fixed, but flexible, land arrangement be established that constantly varies. Consider socio-economic conditions to decrease inequality and concentration of wealth.
Its theoretical and operational foundation leads towards the sustainable and comprehensive development of natural resources and the reduction of environmental vulnerability, deterioration of the environment and natural resources. Development and conservation must find a balance that allows taking advantage of Natural Resources without deteriorating or exhausting them.
Territorial planning is a process of a consensual and participatory type, in democratic societies, which serves as a direction for decision-making by public sector organizations, responsible for the design of environmental / territorial policies, the development of land use plan must be generated from:
3.2 Research areas
Due to the lack of a consistent logical framework and baseline information on the socioeconomic situation at the initiation of PROCARYN
In summary, research has focused on the following areas:
- Socioeconomic situation of the selected communities; Communal infrastructure and access to services; Transportation and connection of the population to traffic in the region; Access of the population to infrastructure and technical and social assistance services (health, education, markets); Income from farmers and micro-entrepreneurs; Settlement structure and regional economy; State and maintenance of roads; Ecological impact (soil erosion, deforestation); Transactions and concentration of land ownership; Main socio-productive characteristics; Main socio-productive characteristics; Identification of priority problems by area and CAY.
To obtain the necessary data, the documentation available from the CAY and from the relevant institutions at the central and local levels has been reviewed. In addition - through field visits - representatives of the selected communities and family homes in the CAY have been interviewed.
By combining the different qualitative and quantitative methods and the application of different methodological tools, it has been possible to obtain databases that have made it possible to make approximations to characterize the socioeconomic situation of the communities and some trends in their development.
3.3 Sample criteria
The CSR should consider a sampling system that is divided into two levels
Level 1: Developed through a community-level information capture ballot, where the interviewer must select a minimum of five relevant members of the community, having to interview them jointly to obtain a sequence of information at the global level of the community.
Level 2: Developed at the level of the family nucleus (household or farm), the interviewer randomly selects a minimum of three households (or farms) developing with family members (preferably with the participation of women).
3.4 Methodological tools
Rapid Socioeconomic Characterization (CSR) is born from a series of regional methods that come together and are strengthened within the participatory process, co-management and agreement developed within the framework of the Land Use Plan and Strategic Plan for Territorial Development.
Among the main methods and studies that serve as a basis, we can mention:
- Evaluation of the rural roads program, General Directorate of Roads, KfW, Mairich, L, Guatemala, 2001; Socioeconomic Study of the communities settled in the buffer zone of the protected areas of the Conservation and Sustainable Development Region (RECODES) “Metapan ”, El Salvador Environmental Project (PAES), IDB, CATIE, Melgar, M, El Salvador, 2002; Development of Conservation and Sustainable Development Regions (RECODES), El Salvador Environmental Project (PAES), IDB, CATIE, Morales, R, Melgar, M, El Salvador, 2002; Strategic situational planning in territorial planning processes, Environmental Project of El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE, Melgar, M, El Salvador, 2002; Identification of farm topology, Southwest Project, IAK / GOPA / GTZ, Mairich, L, Nicaragua 2002, Baseline Diagnosis of the Department of Rivas;Development Process of the Strategic Development Plan of the Department of Rivas, Secretary of Strategic Planning of Nicaragua, Southwest Project, IAK / GOPA / GTZ, Melgar, M, Nicaragua, 2003; Methodology for the development of the Land Management Plan (POT) for the Upper Yaqué del Norte River Basin and the municipality of Jarabacoa, the Upper Yaqué del Norte River Basin Project (PROCARYN), GITEC / KfW, Melgar, M, Mairich, L, Dominican Republic, 2004.Yaque del Norte Upper River Basin Project (PROCARYN), GITEC / KfW, Melgar, M, Mairich, L, Dominican Republic, 2004.Yaque del Norte Upper River Basin Project (PROCARYN), GITEC / KfW, Melgar, M, Mairich, L, Dominican Republic, 2004.
3.5 Combination of interviews and documentation
To obtain the necessary data, the documentation available from the CAY and from the relevant institutions at the central and local levels has been reviewed. In addition, through field visits, representatives of the selected communities and family homes in the CAY have been interviewed.
An important basis of the report are the studies carried out on the CAY, especially 'socioeconomic situation' (ISA (1997), 'feasibility of the PROCARYN project' (GFA-Agrar (1997), 'land tenure' (Tejada and Peralta, 1998), 'economy of peasant units' (Rosario, 1999), 'forest products' (Moya, 2002), 'eleven traditional crops' (Altrieth, Benoit, Franco) and 'Los Dajaos agrarian diagnosis' (Boulet and Chevin, 2004). In addition, data from the 1993 and 2002 national censuses, special technical studies and other secondary documents have been used.
By combining the different qualitative and quantitative methods and the application of different methodological tools, it has been possible to obtain databases that have made it possible to make approximations to characterize the socio-economic and socio-environmental situation of the communities and some trends in their development.
It is worth mentioning that, unfortunately, the heads of household interviewed were reluctant to provide information on their income levels due to the suspicion that the data would be used for a tax registry and due to the influence of the situation of the 2004 presidential elections. Therefore, consistent data on the income levels of rural families in the basin could not be obtained.
3.6 Methodological steps
In the preparation of the study, the following methodological steps have been mainly applied:
Step 1: Conceptual development of the Rapid Socioeconomic Characterization (CSR) methodology;
Step 2: Socialization and validation with local actors of the proposed methodology;
Step 3: Preparation of survey reports at the community and household level (farm);
Step 4: Socialization and validation with members of the PROCARYN team, Jarabacoa city council and Cooperation of ballots and survey at community and household level (farm);
Step 5: Involvement of local actors for the development of Rapid Socioeconomic Characterization (CSR), students from UAFAM, PROCARYN, Obra Salesiana, Plan Cordillera, Jarabacoa city council, members of COREBECA and grassroots organizations;
Step 6 Training workshops for actors who will contribute to the development of CSR;
Step 7: Preparatory meetings for data collection;
Step 8: Collection of data through survey reports at the community and family household level;
Step 9: Feedback meeting on data collection results through ballots;
Step 10: Final processing of survey ballots at the community and household level;
Step 11: Information verification meetings with survey ballots for PROCARYN extension agents;
Step 12: Presentation of results in CSR document;
3.7 Data analysis
Each individual data collection tool can only reflect part of reality. For this reason, a combination of different methodological tools has been applied and in this way it has been possible to obtain databases that have made it possible to make approximations to carry out a rapid socioeconomic diagnosis of the rural communities of the territory and identify trends in their development.
The results of the household interviews are only indicative and cannot be generalized for each of the areas of the territory. The people interviewed are not necessarily representative of the general community. This characterization is therefore an approximation, which should be deepened through other specific studies in the future, especially on family income levels.
4.Methodological modifications
In the discussions held with the technicians, extension agents, promoters and advisers, the methodology to obtain a higher community participation has been modified and supplemented, which is presented by the following:
- Involvement of key actors (UAFAM, COREBECA) in the preparation of the survey report and the taking out through survey reports; Review by COREBECA members of survey collection reports; Participation of COREBECA and representatives of the communities of the Program in the planning and coordination of field activities for data collection; Presentation of global results at the basin and area level; Training and feedback to members of local actors who participated in the collection of information.
5.Bibliography
- Memories of the International Workshop on Integrated Management for watershed management, Turrialba, Costa Rica, 1998. CEPAL, Program 21 in the comprehensive management of water resources in Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago de Chile, 1994. Critical Areas Diagnosis, MAG-PAES / CATIE Project, M. Melgar, El Salvador, 2002. Participatory Rapid Assessment and Diagnosis, MAG-PAES / CATIE Project, M. Melgar, El Salvador, 2002. General Directorate for Land Use Planning. 2001. Map of isohyets of the Dominican Republic. Secretary of State for the Environment and Natural Resources. Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. Faustino, J. Microbasin management and management, Basic manual for a short CATIE course, Preliminary Document, Turrialba, Costa Rica, 2000. Falconbridge Foundation, UNPHU:Rapid Assessment of Population and Environmental Resources in the Los Dajaos Sub-basin. Jarabacoa, 1994.Franco, F; Mairich, L; Melgar, M; Report on the Socioeconomic Characterization of the Upper Yaqué del Norte River Basin, KfW-GITEC-PROCARYN, 2004.GFA / GWB. Protection and Management of Natural Resources in the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River. Feasibility Study Part 1: Main Report. Part 2: Annexes to the Main Report. GFA / KFW, 1997. GITEC: Project "Management and Conservation of Natural Resources of the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River. PROCARYN. Technical Offer, January 2003. Hernández, H; Fernández, C. and Batista, P. 2000. Research Methodology. Editora Mc Graw Hill. Iztapalapa, México.Mairich, L.: Evaluation of the Road Construction Program in Alta Vera Paz. General Directorate of Roads / KfW, Guatemala,2002Mairich, L.: Study of Farm Typology and Integrated Farm Management. Southwest / IAK Project, Nicaragua, 2002.Melgar, M. Guatemala-Belize Binational Project Proposal for the Management of the Rio Mopan Sub-basin Basin (PROMOPAN), AECI, Guatemala-Belize, INAB Projects, 2000.Melgar, M.: Socioeconomic Study of the Communities Settled in the Buffer Zone of the Protected Areas of the Conservation and Sustainable Development Region (RECODES) “Metapan”. Environmental Project of El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE,, El Salvador, 2002; Melgar, M.: Strategic Situational Planning in the Territorial Planning Process, Environmental Project of El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE, El Salvador, 2002; Melgar, M.: Diagnostic Base Line of the Department of Rivas;Development Process of the Strategic Development Plan of the Department of Rivas, Secretary of Strategic Planning of Nicaragua, Southwest Project, IAK / GOPA / GTZ, Nicaragua, 2003; Melgar, M. / Mairich, L.: Methodology for the Development of the Plan Territorial Planning (POT) for the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, Project for the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River (PROCARYN), GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004.Melgar, M; Trinidad, D; Genao, S; Mapping of Key Actors of the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004; Morales, R., Melgar, M.: Development of Conservation Regions and Sustainable Development (RECODES), Project Ambiental de El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE, El Salvador, 2002;Secretary of Strategic Planning of Nicaragua, Southwest Project, IAK / GOPA / GTZ, Nicaragua, 2003; Melgar, M. / Mairich, L.: Methodology for the Development of the Land Management Plan (POT) for the Upper Basin of the Yaqué River of the Norte and Municipality of Jarabacoa, Upper Yaqué del Norte River Basin Project (PROCARYN), GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004.Melgar, M; Trinidad, D; Genao, S; Mapping of Key Actors of the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004; Morales, R., Melgar, M.: Development of Conservation Regions and Sustainable Development (RECODES), Project Environmental of El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE, El Salvador, 2002;Secretary of Strategic Planning of Nicaragua, Southwest Project, IAK / GOPA / GTZ, Nicaragua, 2003; Melgar, M. / Mairich, L.: Methodology for the Development of the Land Management Plan (POT) for the Upper Basin of the Yaqué River of the Norte and Municipality of Jarabacoa, Upper Yaqué del Norte River Basin Project (PROCARYN), GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004.Melgar, M; Trinidad, D; Genao, S; Mapping of Key Actors of the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004; Morales, R., Melgar, M.: Development of Conservation Regions and Sustainable Development (RECODES), Project Environmental of El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE, El Salvador, 2002;Methodology for the Development of the Land Management Plan (POT) for the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, Project for the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River (PROCARYN), GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004.Melgar, M; Trinidad, D; Genao, S; Mapping of Key Actors of the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004; Morales, R., Melgar, M.: Development of Conservation Regions and Sustainable Development (RECODES), Project Ambiental de El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE, El Salvador, 2002;Methodology for the Development of the Land Use Plan (POT) for the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, Project for the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River (PROCARYN), GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004.Melgar, M; Trinidad, D; Genao, S; Mapping of Key Actors of the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004; Morales, R., Melgar, M.: Development of Conservation Regions and Sustainable Development (RECODES), Project Ambiental de El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE, El Salvador, 2002;Mapping of Key Actors of the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004; Morales, R., Melgar, M.: Development of Conservation Regions and Sustainable Development (RECODES), Project Environmental of El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE, El Salvador, 2002;Mapping of Key Actors of the Upper Basin of the Yaqué del Norte River and Municipality of Jarabacoa, GITEC / KfW, Dominican Republic, 2004; Morales, R., Melgar, M.: Development of Conservation Regions and Sustainable Development (RECODES), Project Environmental of El Salvador (PAES), IDB, CATIE, El Salvador, 2002;
