Suchergebnisse

"This paper argues that although there are good reasons why poor countries in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) should support their agricultural sector, applicability of protective policies in the agricultural sectors of SSA is limited by various legal, economic, social, political and administrative reasons. The remaining scope, however, could be used to develop prospective agricultural sub-sectors for growth, poverty alleviation and food security, while protection should be embodied in comprehensive development strategies. These strategies must address the problems of low price transmittance of border measures and high transaction costs (in the largest sense) for agricultural products and particularly the limited supply capacity of small scale producers. Legally, trade policy in the case study country Senegal as well as in many other SSA countries is restricted much more by regional trade agreements than by the World Trade Organization (WTO). This is a formal and political reason why the protective part of such integrated strategies must be defended and implemented at the regional level. Other reasons to plan, negotiate and implement further specific elements of these strategies at the regional level are the lock-in effect of commitments in order to protect them against ad hoc decisions of national politics, as well as economies of scale and scope in supportive policies, in supply and in demand. These specific elements, such as research, standard setting, quality control or strategic public-private partnerships, should be complemented with other more general elements of regional integration which are less sector-specific, e. g. infrastructure, transport, information, finance or regional trade facilitation. In this way, regionally oriented agricultural policies can profit from wider regional integration and at the same time support it. A note of warning is finally expressed that regional solutions have high political and administrative costs and should only be stressed where advantages clearly outweigh these." (author's abstract)

Die Forst- und Holzindustrie Mosambiks ist ein bedeutender Wirtschaftszweig für das Land, trägt zum Wachstum bei und gibt wichtige Impulse für seine Entwicklung, insbesondere im ländlichen Raum. Mosambik liegt in der subtropischen Zone des südlichen Afrikas und verfügt über reiche, natürliche Ressourcen, die bisher nur in geringem Umfang genutzt werden. Zirka 20 Millionen Hektar des Landes sind mit natürlichen, produktiven Waldformationen bedeckt, die ein großes Potential zur Erzeugung qualitativ hochwertigen Holzes darstellen. Der geschätzte Gesamtvorrat wird auf 500 Millionen Kubikmeter geschätzt, wovon die holzbearbeitende Industrie bisher nur einen sehr geringen Anteil nutzt. Den Rahmen der Studie bilden eine intensive ökonomische Analyse des gegenwärtigen Status des forst- und holzwirtschaftlichen Sektors Mosambiks und strategische Betrachtungen zu nachhaltigen Entwicklungsaspekten. Einleitend wird der Leser ausführlich anhand geschichtlicher, geografischer und sozioökonomischer Informationen in das Land und das Thema eingeführt. Die naturräumlichen Voraussetzungen für die Forstwirtschaft und Inventurergebnisse ergänzen diesen Teil. Der Hauptteil umfasst eine vertiefte Strukturanalyse der holzbearbeitenden Industrie, des Holzmarktes sowie die Darstellung der wichtigsten verarbeiteten bzw. gehandelten Baumarten - insbesondere deren Dimensionen, Mengen, Preise und Qualitäten. Für den mosambikanischen Forstsektor sind große Unterschiede zwischen den Regionen und den Unternehmen charakteristisch: Der Norden verfügt über einen hohen Holzvorrat, aber über relativ geringe Produktionskapazitäten. Der Großraum Maputo im Süden ist das wirtschaftliche Zentrum mit einer relativ hohen Nachfrage an Schnittholz, ist aber waldarm. Die Produktionswerte (Schnitt- und Rundholz) der Unternehmen reichen schätzungsweise von 25.000 bis 2,5 Mio. USD im Jahr 1997/98. Die Mehrheit der Unternehmen schätzt die Zukunft trotz zahlreicher Probleme (beispielsweise schlechte Infrastruktur, fehlendes Fachpersonal und Finanzierungsschwierigkeiten) vorsichtig optimistisch ein und beabsichtigt in den Sektor zu investieren. Den Schluss der Arbeit bilden: A) Eine ausführliche Diskussion, unter anderem über die Nachhaltigkeit, die folgendermaßen eingeschätzt wird: Eine Verknappung des Rohstoffes Holz ist mittelfristig - Mosambik als ein Markt betrachtet - nicht zu befürchten. Sie ist aber langfristig nicht gesichert, die Ursachen werden diskutiert. B) Strategische Überlegungen zum mosambikanischen Forstsektor, zu Investitionsmöglichkeiten und zur Entwicklungskooperation werden vorgestellt. ; The forest sector of Mozambique is an important contributor for the economical growth of the country and is a significant factor for the further development, especially for the rural areas. Situated in Southern Africa within the sub-tropical region, Mozambique is rich in natural resources most of which still to be explored. About 20 Mio. hectare of the country are covered by natural productive forests with potential to produce high quality timber. The total volume is estimated by 500 Mio. cubic metres. To date, only a small percentage of this potential is being used form the wood processing industry. The scope of this study is an extensive economical analysis of the status of the forest sector of Mozambique and provides strategic considerations for a sustainable development. In the introductory part of the study, the reader is informed about the historic, geographic and socio-economic background of the country. Details about prevailing conditions for forestry practice and a national inventory complete this section. The main part focuses on the in-depth analysis of the forest sector structure, the timber market and a description of the most important swan and traded tree species, respectively their dimensions, volumes, prices and qualities. The Mozambican forestry sector presents large differences between regions and enterprise characteristics: In the north there are extensive forests of growing timber, but relatively lower sawing capacities. The Bigger Maputo area in the extreme south is the economic centre of the country and the demand for swan timber considerable high, but the forested areas are small. The production value of the firms of round and swan timber ranged from USD 25.000 to USD 2,5 Mio. for the years 1997/98. The majority of the enterprises are cautiously optimistic with regard to the future. Although, they face different problems as insufficient infrastructure, a lack of specialised labour and financing, the future prospects of the sector encourage the entrepreneurs intend to invest in the sector. The final part of the study encompasses the following: A) Detailed discussions of aspects as for example sustainability, which is assessed as: In the medium range a lack of timber, considering the country as a whole is not expected. On the long run sustainability is not secured. The reasons are discussed. B) Strategic reflections about the Mozambican forestry sector, his investment opportunities and the international co-operation are presented.

"In sub-Saharan Africa some 80% of the poor live in rural areas and derive most of their incomes, whether in kind or in cash, from agriculture; economic development that is based on agriculture and benefits the mass of the population and the building of development-oriented local government structures providing a wide range of services are therefore essential if poverty is to be reduced. Both aspects have been repeatedly overlooked because of erroneous assessments of the employment, economic linkage and value added potential of peasant farming and the disdain in which the development-promoting significance of rural communities is held; since the 1980s international development cooperation has, moreover, increasingly shifted the emphasis in its promotion to physical and social infrastructure and the service sectors, principally in the industrial and urban sphere. At the same time, there has been a growing realization that the task for rural and agricultural development to proceed sustainably and have the effect of reducing poverty will become a complex, cross-sectional one; this can no longer be performed with conventional approaches to development based on project aid; this is equally true of all globally designed action programmes that influence sustainable agricultural and rural development, such as the implementation of Agenda 21, the plan of action to implement the Desertification Convention, the World Food Summit Plan of Action and the implementation of the poverty reduction strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. From these facts, omissions and findings it must be concluded that poverty reduction in all Africa's agricultural countries should be achieved primarily through agriculturally based development, in which local government must play a
role in promoting local economic development, coordinating the intersectoral activities and bridging the service gap between national and local level; this can be achieved only by means of gradual political, institutional and fiscal decentralization. As the rural communities will have to bear the main administrative burden of poverty-reducing development in the future, they must be sustainably strengthened with national and international support; a beneficial agricultural policy environment, realignment of international development cooperation and jointly financed and democratically controlled district development funds are prerequisites for broad-based, poverty-oriented rural development." (excerpt)