Presentation on Rural Development and Indigenous Communities in Traditional Settlement Areas made on 25 January 2016 in Peubla, Mexico. Presentation by Enrique Garcilazo, OECD Regional Development Policy Division. More information: http://www.oecd.org/cfe/regional-policy/

1. Enrique Garcilazo
Chris McDonald
David Freshwater
Regional Development Policy Division
Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development OECD
Puebla, 26th January 2016
Rural development and indigenous
communities in traditional settlement areas

2. 1. OECD approach to rural development
2. Traditional settlement areas
• Characteristics what makes them different
• The missing bridge – connecting indigenous people to the larger society
3. Policy Considerations
 Flexibility in policy design
 Delivery on economic opportunities and well-being
4. Framework for Traditional Settlement areas
 Applying the OECD framework to indigenous people in traditional
settlements
Outline

3. • Almost 20 National
Reviews (since 2000)
• Around 35 Regional
Reviews (since 2000)
• 11 National Rural Policy
Review
• 3 National Urban Policy
Reviews
Large knowledge pool and
qualitative database from which to
identify good policy!
OECD Work at Subnational Level
Territorial Reviews

4. Environment
Sustainability
Economic
Efficiency
Social
Equity
Regions
From
tradeoffs…
… to
complementarities
The OECD Tag Line:
Better Policies for Better Lives
Global Financial
Crisis
Well-being
“How live “
Green growth Inclusive growth,
Inclusive productivity

5. The OECD Rural Policy Paradigm 3.0.
Integrating policies, actors and places
Old
Paradigm
New Rural
Paradigm
(2006)
New Rural Policy
(2015-2016)
Objectives
Equalization.
Focus on farm
income
Competitiveness of
rural areas
Wellbeing of rural areas based on
the economic, social and
environmental pillar. Requires the
elaboration of complementarities.
Key target
sector
Sector based
Holistic approach to
include various sectors
of rural economies
Low density economies and
differentiating types of rural areas.
Convergence forces are key and fat
tail effects
Main tools Subsidies Investments
Complementarities . Need for
governance structures to construct
the design of policies.
Key actors
National
governments,
farmers
Multilevel-governance
MLG and rural urban partnerships
across levels of government and
citizen participation

6. Indigenous People & Traditional Settlement Areas
10 OECD countries recognise distinct rights to indigenous
 Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Mexico, New
Zealand, Norway, Sweden, US, South-Africa, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, ect.
 First peoples with distinct cultural identities and specific rights linked to the
territory they come from
 Minority of total population but relevant and
concentrated in a number of rural communities
 Sami in Lapland, Aboriginal in North Australia, Mapuche in Southern Chile
etc.
 Reserves located in difficult geographies
 Mountainous areas, deserts, forests – typically less desirable land
 Represents a constraint for economic development
 Tend to record low socio-economic indicators
 High poverty, low skills, low labour force participation
 Problem of social exclusion – live outside dominant society

7. Economic and Institutional Issues
 Sovereign status
 Reservations live outside much of the legal and political environment
 Aspirations to be free from dependence on and control of governments
 UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2006)
 Distinct set of political and social institutions
• Often embody holistic aspirations for self-determination, strategies of land access
and ownership, cultural maintenance and provision of municipal and social
service
• Lack of multilevel governance with state and regional/local administrations:
bilateral relationship with national state agency
 Extreme examples of rich diversity in rural areas
 Different values, cultural richness
 Tend to be isolated from markets with low socio-economic
status
 In remote rural areas and even in geographically proximate
 Lack of connection to most aspects of market economy
 Tend to have high population growth rates
• Fertility higher than mortality yielding positive replacements rates in areas of
typical decline
• Can represent only potential for some rural communities

8. The Missing Bridge:
Building Institutional and Economic Linkages
 Legal recognition of rights, land, sea and resources
 Requires regional development practitioners to incorporate indigenous issues more
fully within regional policies
 Lack of trust and weak institutional linkages
 May be weak because of a lack of trust due to a legacy of colonial rule and
dispossession
 Indigenous institutions not integrated into regional development strategies
 Bottom-up processes are necessary
 Role of broker (interlocutor) to build relations with outside
communities
 Public managers need to act as ‘brokers’ that can help develop relationships, set
behaviours, and blend different groups that may have various goals, interest, and
norms
 Broker from the community is needed
 Building a foundation, developing local leaders and entrepreneurs
 Need to build institutional needs before economic needs
 Weak connectivity to surrounding economy
 Weak skills, health, and safety constrains social civic and economic participation
 Limited incentives for entrepreneurial activity
 Limited access to financial intermediation

9. Policy Considerations
 Need policies to address disadvantaged areas
 Requires regional development practitioners to incorporate indigenous issues
more fully within regional policies
 Traditional policy approaches based on cash-transfers and subsidies
 Policies can’t be disconnected from neighbouring areas
 Empowering indigenous communities to participate in decision
making and co-produce services
 Policies to deliver opportunities, income and well-being
 In remote rural areas and even in geographically proximate
 Institutional structures that govern the relationship between
regional development and indigenous affairs (closing gap)
 There tends to be a separation of responsibilities between agencies responsible
for regional development and those responsible for indigenous communities and
people
 Find ways to improve multilevel governance (e.g. Australia in prime ministers
office)
 Economic opportunities while maintaining traditional values
 Better match demographic conditions to service delivery
 Youth require provision of secondary, vocational and tertiary education); elderly
requires social care

10. Framework for Traditional Settlement Areas:
Applying the New Rural Policy Framework
1. Based on bottom-up approaches rather than top down
– It should be sustainable – that is promoting endogenous
development over the medium and long term phasing out
dependency and external transfers
– Need to break dependencies (New Rural Paradigm).
– Flexible approach (context specific), variety of sectors
– The framework can be based on the New Rural Paradigm:
2. It should be based on economic foundations that
incorporates traditional values
– Dealing with realistic scenarios (role of brokers)
– Thinking about incentives not a wish list or unrealistic promises
– Better linking spatial plan (master plan) with the potential of the
local economy
– Identifying framework conditions (national or local) for
entrepreneurship and improving skills

11. 3. It should be grounded on evidence and attainable
objectives
– What is the size of the local economy and what are the main
areas of economic activity
– Assessing the potential based on previous point
4. Policy design and implementation
– Setting realistic goals and clear targets
– Capacity building and feedback loops
– Evaluation of the efficacy of interventions
– Facilitate partnerships
– Ensuring an integrated approach across different government
departments and agencies
Framework for Traditional Settlement Areas:
Applying the New Rural Policy Framework

12. thank you
JoseEnrique.Garcilazo@oecd.org
Chris.MCDONALD@oecd.org
David.freshwater@uky.edu
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