Landcare and the issues of "scale": reflections from the Philippines

This paper reflects upon the experiences of scaling-up Landcare in the Philippines. Clearly, Landcare is impacting on farmers and their landscapes. Its metaphor illustrates a biological growth-model where few interested farmers grow into a movement of loosely knitted Landcare groups dedicated to improve their well-being and reverse land degradation. Today, over 400 Landcare groups are operating within 15 municipalities in Mindanao and Central Philippines. Continuous demand from the public and private sectors indicates the potential spread of Landcare. However, this development is twined with a growing concern on how the properties that gave Landcare its name are maintained with site-specific adaptations and large-scale implementation. The paper discusses three key questions: What does it take to scale-up Landcare What are the issues and concerns What are the conditions to scale-up It will also discuss aspects of scaling-up design and management from an institutional perspective. It will consider that much of a scaling-up dilemma arises when the demand-driven approach changes to a supply-driven approach, with the risk of completely corrupting the whole process. Nonetheless, with much acceptance of a combined approach, it will argue that examination of issues at hand is important to effectively address, perhaps some unintended effects of projectizing Landcare.

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