Oasis’ strategy is described in more detail in two attached documents. The ‘Research Lessons and Opportunities’ paper (51 pages, over 200 references) provides a global overview of the topic. The 5-page Oasis Concept Note gives in brief the rationale for Oasis, more description of the KStreams, and how Oasis will be implemented if approved to become a Challenge Programme.

Oasis’ strategy is briefly summed up by its motto, ‘Building Lives, Saving Lands.’ This motto reflects Oasis’ recognition that land users must find more prosperous yet sustainable livelihoods if dryland degradation is to be halted. It is not enough to simply address narrow biophysical or institutional problems in isolation of other factors that simultaneously affect how people survive from the land. Research is needed to open new opportunities that reward land-users for better land care.

The six Oasis KStreams are:

KStream 1. Co-learning among stakeholders for more effective dryland research-for-development
KStream 2. Understanding the drivers of dryland degradation from a sustainable development perspective
KStream 3. Improving landscape, soil, water, nutrient and biodiversity management
KStream 4. Policy, market and institutional and options to combat dryland degradation
KStream 5. Livelihood options that reward better dryland care
KStream 6. Development pathways that build lives while saving lands

The Oasis KStreams are not sequential but operate simultaneously in a highly interactive way. Through co-learning, KStream 1 binds the whole set together by researching and implementing ways to cross-share knowledge with partners, stakeholders, beneficiaries and between KStreams. KStream 2 creates essential understanding of dryland degradation from a development perspective (integrating both human and biophysical drivers), generating crucial diagnostic and monitoring tools. KStreams 3, 4 and 5 work towards solutions in three key dimensions: landscape management, livelihoods, and policies-markets-institutions. Finally, KStream 6 integrates these tools and solutions to devise sustainable development pathways that lead to scalable impacts.

Oasis is confident that by integrating environmental considerations into agricultural research, and taking holistic approaches that include land-user and community motivations and knowledge resources, innovative win-win solutions can be found that benefit both people and the environment. This is called the 'integrated ecosystem approach', derived from the ecosystem approach pioneered by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD 2004).
 

Integrated Ecosystem Approach
The Table below (evolved from the concepts of White et. al. 2002) illustrates some ways in which this integrated ecosystem approach is distinguishable from conventional agricultural research approaches.

Conventional versus the integrated ecosystem approach

Aspect	Conventional Approach	Integrated Ecosystem Approach
Perspective	Natural ecosystems seen as input suppliers (land, fertility etc.) for current or future commodity production	Natural and managed ecosystems viewed as part of one interdependent whole, providing a wide range of goods and services
Products	A few commodities or products	A wide array of both managed and natural goods and services
Strategy	Maximize yield, production, and net present value by intensifying the use of land, labor, and capital	Optimize total ecosystem goods and services output over time
Methodology	Reductionist: high-resolution measurement of a small number of factors	System-oriented, including both quantitative and qualitative assessments with close attention to interactions, flows, asset balances, tradeoffs
Approach to diversity	Reduce diversity for more predictable results, more targeted interventions, and greater economies of scale	Take advantage of diversity to exploit niche potential, meet a wider range of needs, preserve future options, and reduce total system risk
Scales of work	Political and ownership boundaries	Ecosystem and landscape, societal plus biophysical
Role of science	Applied science focused on biophysical resources, geared towards simple one-size-fits-all technology solutions	Combine biophysical with social and policy analysis, create prototypes to be customized differently in different locations