1998, Robin Grimble | Natural Resources Institute, UK
Stakeholder analysis can be defined as a methodology for gaining an understanding of a system, and for assessing the impact of changes to that system, by means of identifying the key stakeholders and assessing their respective interests. The key stakeholders in natural resource research are subsistence farmers and other small-scale natural resource users, but stakeholders may equally include development practitioners, policy makers, planners and administrators in government, commercial bodies or non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The most fundamental division between stakeholders is likely to be between those who affect (determine) a decision or action — and those who are affected(whether positively or negatively). The distinction may not be absolute, however, as some groups (e.g. local people) may be involved in natural resource management in both active and passive ways.
Stakeholder analysis also distinguishes between conflicts and trade-offs. ‘Conflicts’ are situations of competition and potential disagreement between two or more stakeholder groups over the use of one or more scarce resource. A ‘trade-off’ is the process of ‘balancing conflicting objectives’ within a single stakeholder group. Conflicts and trade-offs often occur together and the likelihood and intensity of both tend to increase when, with development and population growth, the resource becomes scarcer and more highly valued.
Local level conflicts may arise between different on-site stakeholders, such as settled farmers and migrant livestock herders, or between on-site and off-site stakeholders. Such conflicts frequently originate from breakdowns in systems of common property management, under pressure from population growth, economic activity and sometimes the incursion by outside interests (see Case Studies).
The most fundamental division between stakeholders is likely to be between those who affect (determine) a decision or action — and those who are affected(whether positively or negatively). The distinction may not be absolute, however, as some groups (e.g. local people) may be involved in natural resource management in both active and passive ways.
Stakeholder analysis also distinguishes between conflicts and trade-offs. ‘Conflicts’ are situations of competition and potential disagreement between two or more stakeholder groups over the use of one or more scarce resource. A ‘trade-off’ is the process of ‘balancing conflicting objectives’ within a single stakeholder group. Conflicts and trade-offs often occur together and the likelihood and intensity of both tend to increase when, with development and population growth, the resource becomes scarcer and more highly valued.
Local level conflicts may arise between different on-site stakeholders, such as settled farmers and migrant livestock herders, or between on-site and off-site stakeholders. Such conflicts frequently originate from breakdowns in systems of common property management, under pressure from population growth, economic activity and sometimes the incursion by outside interests (see Case Studies).
