ABSTRACT VAN DER WIELE, CYNTHIA FAY. Understanding the Adoption of Sustainable Natural Resource Management Practices and the Role of Ecological Design within the Milieu of Chronic Conflict and Political Instability: A Case Study of Smallholder Households in Nimba County, Liberia. (Under the direction of Shishir Råjan Råval.) This dissertation is about rural, subsistence-level smallholder households’ adoption of sustainable natural resource management (NRM) practices within the milieu of enduring disorder and persistent poverty. Theoretically, a sustainable livelihoods framework served to illuminate the interrelationships between households and biophysical and social landscapes, and the corresponding constraints and opportunities to adoption of NRM practices. The research provides insight into whether and how external assistance can be used more effectively to enable smallholder households to secure their basic needs, promote self-reliance, and adopt sustainable NRM practices as a means of breaking the unending cycle of natural resource degradation and persistent poverty. This research was accomplished with a case study of 55 individuals from four villages in upper Nimba County, Liberia, who attended an 18-week Integrated Pest Management-Farmer Field School (IPM-FFS). The training included seven low-external input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA) practices and two productive conservation practices. A grounded theory approach with complementary research techniques to incorporate qualitative and quantitative data collection was employed. Respondents completed in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Photo-documented field observations and interviews with key informants were used to verify and supplement data provided by IPM-FFS participants. The grounded theories regarding adoption under uncertainty are: 1) potential NRM practices must be compatible with predominant livelihood strategies and address sources of vulnerability; 2) anything that increases a household’s exposure to risk—or their perceptions of exposure to risk—will seem less attractive, even if it could potentially provide dependable and lucrative sources of income; and 3) NRM practices will not succeed without a commitment to low input requirements—especially financial requirements—for households to be able to adopt. Appropriate ecological design interventions include: context-specific agro-ecosystem diversity, farmscaping, and the use of home gardens for small-scale experimentation of new NRM practices. The results are applicable to similar socio-political contexts and contribute to the fields of Natural Resource Management and Ecological Design. Chronic conflict and political instability present a challenge to development initiatives. Providing ‘developmental relief’ to households and communities is akin to ecosystem recovery following a perturbation. The flux between periods of peak crisis and stability present numerous opportunities for ‘developmental relief’ interventions beginning with training opportunities in refugee camps. UNDERSTANDING THE ADOPTION OF SUSTAINABLE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND THE ROLE OF ECOLOGICAL DESIGN WITHIN THE MILIEU OFCHRONIC CONFLICT AND POLITICAL INSTABILITY: A CASE STUDY OF SMALLHOLDER HOUSEHOLDS IN NIMBA COUNTY, LIBERIA by CYNTHIA FAY VAN DER WIELE A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy DESIGN Raleigh 2004 APPROVED BY: ____________________________________ ______________________________________ Chair of Advisory Committee Co-chair of Advisory Committee ____________________________________ ______________________________________ Dedicated to the glory of God and the people of Liberia ii BIOGRAPHY Cynthia Van Der Wiele was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey. She received her primary and secondary education in Midland Park, New Jersey. Upon matriculation from high school, Cynthia attended North Carolina State University College of Engineering, earning the Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Operations in December 1984. Her senior project involved studying the feasibility of using powder metallurgy to produce brass wind instrument parts. She practiced engineering with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and several consulting engineering firms. Wanting to expand her horizons, she became a student judge with the American Orchid Society, Inc. in 1987 and became the youngest accredited AOS judge in October 1994. In August 1989, the author enrolled in the Master of Landscape Architecture program at North Carolina State University College of Design. She concentrated in natural resource management and planning. Her master’s project was on Minimizing the impacts of municipal utility construction in environmentally-sensitive landscapes: an examination of multiple objectives in Raleigh, North Carolina’s riparian zones. She graduated in December 1992 while working part-time for an engineering consulting firm and later, the North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis. After practicing landscape architecture for several years in Florida and Georgia, she returned to Raleigh, North Carolina to enter Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment in August 1995. She worked simultaneously on two graduate professional degrees-- Environmental Management where she majored in environmental economics and policy--and in Forestry where she concentrated on landscape ecology and its application to conservation planning. Her master’s project, Landscape change analysis of the Research Triangle Region, North Carolina: implications for open space planning, was funded by a grant from the Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation. She graduated in May 1998 and first traveled to the African continent in July-August 1998. iii Since January 2000, she has been working fulltime for the North Carolina Division of Water Quality 401/Wetlands Unit. In August 2000, she enrolled in the newly formed doctoral program at North Carolina State University College of Design, majoring in Community and Environmental Design. She initially went to Liberia in July-August 2001 as a member of a humanitarian mission work team, making a return in February-March 2002 as team leader to perform follow-up on projects. She also served as a Research Assistant during the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 academic years at North Carolina State University College of Design. She was awarded a scholarship by the North Carolina State University Africana Studies to pursue her research in Liberia. In May 2003, she was inducted into the Gamma Theta Chapter of Tau Sigma Delta honor society. The author has been married to Chet Buell since June 1996. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The immense challenge of accomplishing this research could not have been achieved without the timely support and financial assistance of institutions and the advice, encouragement, prayers, words of good cheer and steadfast confidence of family, friends, colleagues, and countless other individuals. Faculty, staff, and friends at the North Carolina State University Colleges of Design, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Natural Resources helped me in a variety of ways for which I shall always be thankful. The members of my dissertation committee provided thoughtful guidance and mentoring at every stage of the process, from scholarship guidance to writing the finished product. Dr. Shishir Råjan Råval and Professor Robin C. Moore provided the consistent and unwavering support I needed to dare to change research topics and conduct research in Liberia. Dr. Toddi A. Steelman and Dr. Sarah T. Warren provided advice during the development of the proposal and the rigorous scrutiny and high expectations needed to produce a quality dissertation. They cajoled me into finding my own voice and trusting my judgment. Thank you for your invaluable expertise and your time. I am extremely thankful for the financial support provided by North Carolina State University, which enabled me to pursue this doctoral program. Research in Liberia would not have been possible without the interventions of Dr. Craig C. Brookins and the North Carolina State University Africana Studies Program for providing scholarship funds to assist me in performing the fieldwork, and to the members of Edenton Street United Methodist Church Committee on Missions for providing health insurance coverage and spiritual support through their many prayers. This dissertation evolved out of earlier humanitarian missions to Liberia. It was during my second mission trip that I learned of the Liberian IPM-FFS program and decided to abandon my original research proposal. I am enormously indebted to Rev. Anne Girton Kumeh, who made this dream a reality—telling me to ‘go for it’. Without Anne, none of this would have been possible. She v provided moral support, communications, and much-needed housing in Liberia. I am blessed to have encountered the wisdom and guidance of Mr. Mozart Adevu, West African Regional Coordinator for UMCOR-SARDI. Without him, the IPM-FFS in Liberia would not exist. Mozart has been extremely gracious in his willingness to answer an endless assault of e-mails and share his vast experiences in West African rural development. Mr. Billoh Sei Bonkuo was integral to the research process for facilitating access to the villages, translating Mano, believing in my research, accompanying me to the villages and field sites, and faithfully performing whatever task I needed accomplished. I am grateful to Mr. Lewis Momoh for the use of