In addition to environmental problems, they face economic hardship, a lack of services such as education, health, and credit, and a lack of agricultural infrastructure. Ecologically sound technologies One of the program's objectives is to identify ecologically sound technologies that use resources more efficiently. The program also attempts to design effective strategies for implementing technological solutions that will improve resource management and the livelihoods of local farmers. Under the program, researchers are examining watersheds from several perspectives including their biophysical, geographical, and socioeconomic characteristics. Most watersheds include a mix of commonly owned and privately owned natural resources that are used by people living both inside and outside the watershed.
Case studies are under way in areas that represent a range of watershed types.
The analytical methods being developed should, therefore, be relevant over a large geographical level, says Jacqueline Ashby , a rural sociologist and coleader of the Hillsides Program. Ashby and her colleagues are combining biophysical and socioeconomic research at the field, farm, community, and watershed levels. This tool helps community members understand both what a watershed is and how it functions, and can be used to map land-use patterns and problems. It is also useful for setting resource management priorities. Local farmers played a key role in developing the model, which illustrates significant patterns of soil use and degradation resulting from erosion and deforestation.