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Peri-urban spaces are experiencing tremendous growth in the Global South, which in turn has fuelled a suite of environmental and natural resource management challenges, including inequitable access to and conflicts over natural resources, and the existence of institutional lacunae. Against this backdrop, we examine how scholars study collective action institutions around natural resource management in peri-urban spaces, with a regional focus on South Asia, and present its implications for institutional design and development in peri-urban contexts. In order to do so, we use 'organic institutions' and 'pragmatic institutions'– a type of institutional classification grounded in the origin of institutions, as a conceptual entry point. We find that less is known about the role of organic institutions in enabling collective action around natural resource management in peri-urban spaces, even though their understanding is key for efforts at building effective pragmatic institutions. The paper concludes that practitioners working in peri-urban spaces should invest resources into understanding underlying social differences and developing strategies to mobilise social groups, by developing an understanding of organic institutions in peri-urban spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that for any community transformation to be achieved, cultural values and legal frameworks, which influence issues relating to land rights and food security, must form an integral part of any policy intervention efforts. We adopted feminism as both a methodological and an analytical framework. The dominant research paradigm was qualitative. The study sample was 184 people obtained using a systematic sampling method. Data collection was through focus groups and interviews. We challenge contemporary development initiatives, in terms of their intentions and sustainability. Finally, it is important that any development initiatives facilitate the participation and involvement of all genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]