Proposal For Polycentric Governance System

The proposal is aimed at enhancing polycentric governance system in the agricultural sector of Nigeria, where over 70% of the people are engaged and the sector contributes about 25% to the GDP of the country according to World Bank (2020). At the moment, centralized governance has resulted in problems such as inefficiency, resource misallocation, and low community participation. The idea of polycentrism is based on the existence of several autonomous governing authorities at the local, regional, and national levels. It seeks to address the need to increase stakeholder involvement, increase efficiency in the distribution of available resources, and address local agriculture issues like climate change, pests, and market volatility.

Stakeholder Groups and Their Relevance in the Social-Ecological System

The execution of the polycentric governance system in Nigeria’s agricultural sector requires the involvement of various stakeholder groups across multiple levels: individual, team, organization, and society. In the case of each group, they all have an important function to play in the relevant social-ecological system.

Individual Stakeholders

Farmers and members of the local community are the key players within the agricultural industry. They understand the local conditions, conventional farming practices, and the peculiarities of the area including soil health, pest control, and water management which are very helpful for making decisions at the local level (Sennuga et al., 2020). They are the direct beneficiaries of governance and are crucial in ensuring that the policies and practices developed at the grassroots level are relevant.

Team Stakeholders

Local governance teams and regional agricultural cooperatives are the middlemen between individual farmers and other large organizations (Kampmann & Kirui, 2021). These teams help in the implementation and coordination of decentralized policies among the farmers. They also assist in organizing the resources, settling the conflicts, and testing the new forms of agriculture that are suitable for the given climate.

Organizational Stakeholders

Sennuga et al. (2020) assert that the organizational tier consists of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), private sector companies, and government agencies. Non-Governmental Organizations support through provision of expertise, lobbying and financial support, and are usually involved in implementation of sustainable measures at the grassroots level. Private sector players, especially those in the agri-business value chain, supply key inputs, physical assets, and markets, while public sector bodies oversee, supervise, and set overall macro policies. It is crucial for the development of a governance structure that is both workable and sustainable on a large scale.

Societal Stakeholders

At the societal level, it is the national governments, international organizations, and civil societies to ensure that the local practices meet the national and international goals including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Jonsson & Bexell, 2021). They guarantee that the system can withstand the larger shocks such as climate change and food insecurity while at the same time balancing between the regional and national levels. This way, the participation of each stakeholder group ensures that the governance system is comprehensive, effective, and sustainable.

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Sustainability and SDG Analysis of the Polycentric Governance System

The proposed polycentric governance system in Nigeria’s agricultural sector is in compliance with the 3 Pillars of Sustainability—economic, environmental, and social—and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which meet the needs of multiple stakeholders.

Economic Perspective

From the farmers’ and local communities’ perspective, the polycentric system improves the distribution of resources, increasing productivity and income variability (Amaruzaman et al., 2022). It eliminates decision-making bottlenecks, promotes resource distribution, and enhances economic stability (SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth). To organizations and government agencies, it fosters innovation in the use of agricultural practices, productivity, and possibly investment (SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). However, it calls for high initial costs that can be a challenge to smaller stakeholders especially the local governance teams.

Environmental Perspective

For local communities and NGOs, the system enhances improved resource utilization and management of specific environmental issues such as soil erosion and water deficit (SDG 15: Life on Land) (Gatto, 2022). Decentralized governance enables the development of context-specific responses to environmental stressors, promoting sustainability. It also enables the sustainable management of natural resources in order to minimize vulnerability to climate change (SDG 13: Climate Action). This is especially important to farmers, who are most affected by the changes in the environment.

Social Perspective

The key societal and organizational stakeholders benefit from the higher level of participation, which enhances equity in decision-making (SDG 10). The polycentric approach also addresses the problem of exclusion and marginalization of vulnerable groups as it allows them to participate in policy making (SDG 1: No Poverty) (Amaruzaman et al., 2022). However, problems like power relations and capacity limitations have to be addressed to make the participation more meaningful, particularly for the farmers and local teams.

Potential Benefits and Trade-offs for Stakeholder Groups

Unlike the centralization model in which farmers are mere receivers of decisions made at the policy-making level, the polycentric governance engages farmers directly in the decision-making process of the policies that impact their operation. This decentralization helps to develop regional approaches to challenges such as pest management and water supply (Fasting et al., 2021). Therefore, farmers can grow enough food for the population, be able to reverse the effect of climate variation and other factors to get to the intended economic level. However, since there is a much larger extent of policy implementation, there really is a very significant capacity development process, including technical abilities and instruments. This change could present some initial issues to the community that is not ready to live up to these expectations.

The establishment of the local governance teams provides the teams with an opportunity to take decisions and act in an efficient and timely manner for the benefit of the region. It fosters innovation, enhances the efficiency of the process of adopting efficient practices in farming, and provides timely response to emergencies (Goetz et al., 2024). The flexibility of being able to test and experiment with various strategies is desirable because it enhances flexibility. However, the coordination between several governance bodies poses some challenges. Competing jurisdictions and limited resources can cause interferences that slow down the process, and external collaboration with NGOs and governmental agencies is needed to prevent inefficiency.

For NGOs and the private sector, this governance system provides an opportunity to contribute the much-needed technical expertise, funding, and innovation. They enhance inter-sectoral cooperation, which is key to the sustainable development of agriculture (Sennuga et al., 2020). On the other hand, government agencies are provided with more effective, targeted policymaking. However, the management of a decentralized structure and the formulation of more general national objectives is difficult. Supervising multiple LGSs can be challenging and may lead to a misfit between the local and national agendas.

National and international societal stakeholders will experience improved food security, environmental conservation, and economic sustainability (Goetz et al., 2024). Nonetheless, it will not be easy to ensure that there is a consistency between the more local level of governance and the more global or national level of governance. It is thus necessary that there should be a check over the distribution of resources and exercising of power in a way that does not disadvantage the regions.

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Stakeholder Concerns and Required Conditions for Progress

For the continuation of the progressive development of the polycentric governance system for the agricultural sector in Nigeria, it is advisable to examine several issues for each category of the stakeholders to improve the governance of the system and its further development.

 While trying to maintain the balance between the structure of the system and its elements, the farmers who are in the center of the system require more attention. They will need capacity in the form of education and training in order to engage in governance activities. Besides, the right modern inputs and technology and capital are crucial in increasing the productivity of agriculture (Sennuga et al., 2020). One possible issue that farmers may have is the issue of equity in the distribution of these resources, which creates another form of polarization. The lack of infrastructure especially in the rural areas, may also limit their capacity to implement new policies. Another problem may be the opposition to change, because some communities may be used to centralized governance and the transition to the polycentric system may seem unfamiliar or difficult to them.

Local governance units and cooperatives require clear demarcation of roles so that there is no overlapping of jurisdictions and to maximize efficiency. They require sufficient funding and resources to be able to perform their duties as required. In addition, there should be well-developed coordination mechanisms that enhance the flow of communication and cooperation among different governance structures (Fasting et al., 2021). One of the concerns that could be highlighted by these teams is the challenge of handling multilevel relationships, especially when there are conflicts between local cultures and national policies.

In the case of NGOs and the private sector, it is vital to build strong relations with local governance structures and government ministries. These entities need clear regulatory systems to facilitate their functioning in the polycentric setting. One potential issue might be the inconsistency of policies across the layers of governance, which might complicate the application of coherent strategies (Jonsson & Bexell, 2021). At the same time, the government has to provide for accountability mechanisms within decentralized structures. Another concern is the level of political will required to support the system, as decentralisation may erode national sovereignty over agricultural decisions.

Societal Stakeholders must be assured that local governance is in tune with other sustainability goals (Amaruzaman et al., 2022). Some issues that may be raised include resource disparities and domination where certain areas are likely to be left out during resource distribution.

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Guidance for Implementing the Polycentric Governance System Using the 7 Principles of Resilience

Applying the polycentric governance system in Nigeria’s agricultural sector using the 7 Principles of Resilience requires a complex and systematic approach (Colding et al., 2020).

1. Maintain Diversity and Redundancy: Governance must be a collective effort of farmers, local communities, NGOs, and governmental bodies where each brings in their unique ideas and strengths. Duplication of decision-making is a good thing because if one system is not working, there is another one that can take its place and no single entity has the authority to dominate.
2. Manage Connectivity: There must be effective communication networks between the local, regional and national governance structures. Appropriate integration means that decisions made at one level can easily be relayed and adjusted at other levels without overloading the system with interdependency.
3. Manage Slow Variables and Feedbacks: Supervising such slow changing factors such as the quality of the soil or water resources can help avoid such ecosystem failures. Feedback mechanisms should be established on a regular basis to review policies and resources granted so as to avoid adverse threshold effects.
4. Foster Complex Adaptive Systems Thinking: The governance system should be adaptable, because the conditions of agriculture in different regions are constantly changing. This can be done through the formulation of policies that are not cast in concrete but can be reviewed and adapted to the current changes in the environment and society.
5. Encourage Learning: Farmers and governance officials will need to engage in continuous training programs to acquire the capacity for such a system. It should be possible to try out different approaches to farming and managing the land, and to share information about these approaches across different areas.
6. Broaden Participation: Engaging all the stakeholders, particularly the minority groups, fosters trust, equality, and increased participation, thus making the decision-making process more inclusive and accurate.
7. Promote Polycentric Governance: The creation of several governing bodies at various levels promotes adaptability, decentralization, and creativity in decision-making while keeping the actions consistent in responding to general national and international policies regarding agriculture.
   

References

World Bank. (2020). Nigeria’s economic update. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria/overview

Sennuga, S. O., Baines, R. N., Conway, J. S., & Angba, C. W. (2020). Awareness and adoption of good agricultural practices among smallholder farmers in relation to the adopted villages programme: The case study of Northern Nigeria. Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare, 10(6), 34-49. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Olayemi-Sennuga/publication/340548537_Awareness_and_Adoption_of_Good_Agricultural_Practices_among_Smallholder_Farmers_in_relation_to_the_Adopted_Villages_programme_The_Case_Study_of_Northern_Nigeria/links/5e9054924585150839cec8e5/Awareness-and-Adoption-of-Good-Agricultural-Practices-among-Smallholder-Farmers-in-relation-to-the-Adopted-Villages-programme-The-Case-Study-of-Northern-Nigeria.pdf

Jonsson, K., & Bexell, M. (2021). Localizing the sustainable development goals: The case of Tanzania. Development Policy Review, 39(2), 181-196. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12497

Kampmann, W., & Kirui, O. (2021). Role of Farmers’ Organizations in Agricultural Transformation in Africa: Overview of Continental, Regional, and Selected National Level Organizations. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3787932

Amaruzaman, S., Trong Hoan, D., Catacutan, D., Leimona, B., & Malesu, M. (2022). Polycentric environmental governance to achieving SDG 16: Evidence from Southeast Asia and Eastern Africa. Forests, 13(1), 68. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13010068

Gatto, A. (2022). Polycentric and resilient perspectives for governing the commons: Strategic and law and economics insights for sustainable development. Ambio, 51(9), 1921-1932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-022-01719-x

Colding, J., Colding, M., & Barthel, S. (2020). Applying seven resilience principles on the Vision of the Digital City. Cities, 103, 102761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102761

Goetz, A., Hussein, H., & Thiel, A. (2024). Polycentric governance and agroecological practices in the MENA region: Insights from Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 40(5), 816-831. https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2023.2260902

Fasting, S., Bacudo, I., Damen, B., & Dinesh, D. (2021). Climate governance and agriculture in Southeast Asia: Learning from a polycentric approach. Frontiers in Political Science, 3, 698431. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.698431