This paper presents a methodology employed in reconciling demands of households, private sector, and government on miombo woodlands of Southern Africa. A Weighted Goal Programming approach is presented for planning management and use of the woodlands as well as a framework for policy analysis. The approach is based on essentially two models, viz., household and private sector models, which are linked into a miombo woodlands model (MIOMBOGP). The MIOMBOGP provides a framework for evaluating the impact, on these two sectors and the woodlands, of some government macro-economic policies as well as some forestry and agricultural sector policies.
Despite the great social, economic and environmental diversity in countries of Africa South of Sahara (SSA), forestry research issues and advances are quite similar. This is partly influenced by historical facts relating to forest resource ownership and management. In most countries, governments own and manage forest resources. Forestry research institutes are in many countries tiny departments or units tucked under huge ministries or agricultural research organisations. Their visibility, much less their effectiveness, is barely significant, because they are poorly staffed and financed. The little available forestry research capacity is poorly managed. The few competent researchers are increasingly involved in administrative functions and looking for greener pastures. Economic policies imposed by global financial institutions constrain the recruitment of young scientists to undertake forestry research now and in the future. Although universities are much better resourced, their efforts are rarely linked with national research issues. They operate independently, far removed from real world issues. Through the intervention of some global stakeholders, some research institutes have developed their research agendas, but these have largely remained on the shelf for lack of implementation resources. Most ongoing work is donor-driven. There is a serious gap between forestry research and development. Research institutes do not have the capacity to extend their findings and are not properly linked with agricultural extension services or NGOs to get their messages to stakeholders, especially farmers. This delimits the usefulness of the little that could trickle from forestry research. This paper briefly discusses these issues and makes some recommendations. It is clear that SA countries and the global community have a role to play to redress the situation. SSA and the world stand to loose the opportunity to benefit from SSA forestry resources unless affirmative action is taken.
The miombo woodlands of eastern, central and southern Africa are some of the most extensive dry forests in Africa. They supply a myriad of products and services for local populations, governments and the private sector, the main stakeholders. Planning the management and use of the woodlands by many and diverse stakeholders who often have conflicting interests in the woodlands continues to be a great challenge to national governments and other interested parties. This paper presents a system dynamic model, MIOMBOSIM, which has potential for facilitating planning developments in the woodlands in ways which reconcile the aspirations of the three major stakeholders. The model holds potential for analysing various policy implications on people and the woodlands, as well as the desirability of various partnership arrangements for managing and using the woodland resources.
This paper describes the effects of the colonial and post-colonial land policies and legislation on the management and utilisation of natural woodlands in Malawi and Zimbabwe. The two countries share similar patterns of land ownership; customary or tribal trust land designated by colonial governments for settlement and cultivation by the indigeneous populations; private land mostly alienated from local communities for commercial farming and ranching; initially by white settlers and later officially sanctioned by post-colonial governments; and public land appropriated by governments for purposes of establishing national parks and forest reserves. The private and public land tenure, did not only reduce the size of land available to indigeneous communities for agricultural and non-agricultural activities, but also compromised the roles and power of traditional authorities in controlling and managing natural resources including miombo woodlands. The major factors, which appear to have contributed to rapid deforestation and land degradation, include increases in population pressure, poverty and failure by governments to urgently provide effective policy guidelines on land management and administration regarding the utilisation of forests and natural resources.
Community-based management of natural resources is a priority in Mozambique's policy on forestry and wildlife resources. In essence the government's policy is to manage the natural resources in partnership with the rural communities and the private sector. This represents a change in policy in the agricultural and natural resources sectors, and has potential for significant impact in economic development. This paper demonstrates the potential for employing goal programming as a planning tool in participatory natural resource management in Mozambique. The focus is on the miombo woodlands which are the main natural forest resources in the country and which most of the local communities, the forestry and tourist industries depend on for a variety of forest products and services.
The study was undertaken in Tanzania to assess the effect of some macro-economic policies on livelihood strategies for households within or in close proximity in miombo woodlands. The focus was on how their responses are impacting on the management and use of the woodlands. Data were collected at macro level from three sites categories as remote, intermediate and peri-urban. Also data on important macroeconomic trends were collected. The results indicate that reductions government spending have decreased agricultural support in terms of extension services and subsidies on farm inputs. The increase in prices of input factors relative to output has raised costs of farm inputs, cost of living in general and decreased disposable incomes for most rural dwellers, forcing some of them into extensive forest product exploitation and trade for each incomes. in the study sites, some forest products contribute between 50-70% of annual household incomes. However not many households have the capacity to take the advantage of promising forest-based income generating activities. Economic hardships also led to changes in gender roles particularly in per-urban and intermediate sites. Women are increasingly expanding their roles, away from traditional domestic activities to income generating activities such as forest product exploitation and sale, casual labour and petty business. Men are gradually talking up activities which have traditionally been in the domain of women. The role of local institutions and traditional values in management of woodlands has declined. Village governments have replaced village and clan elders in land allocation. Local beliefs of value for forest protection and traditional property rights which influence utilization of communal resources have gradually been eroded. Some macro-economic policies have created conditions for broadening the cash income base of rural communities and have put value on some otherwise non-tradable forest products. Local communicates advocate for the full involvement in the management and use of these resources. .
Ce projet financé par le PNUE et mis en oeuvre par le CIFOR s'est intéressé aux forêts tropicales humides d'Afrique occidentale, plus particuliérement au Ghana et au Nigeria, avec des informations complémentaires provenant du Libéria, de Sierra Leone et du Cameroun. L'objectif général était de faire une synthèse de toute l'information disponible sur les formations forestières humides d'Afrique occidentale afin de catalyser les initiatives susceptibles de favoriser l'adoption de principes de gestion durable des forêts dans toute la région. Le rapport se divise en neuf chapitres. Le premier chapitre décrit la situation des forêts en Afrique occidentale et centrale, en s'intéressant notamment à la distribution de la végétation et aux facteurs qui influent sur la distribution des forêts. Les chapitres 2 et 3 décrivent les techniques de sylviculture et d'aménagement forestier passées et actuelles, ainsi que les systèmes de contrôle de l'aménagement. Les aspects relatifs à la biodiversité, et le rôle des produits forestiers autres que le bois, sont examinés au chapitre 4. Les relations entre générations, les facteurs socio-économiques qui influent sur la gestion des forêts, et les questions de politique et de législation, sont traitées dans les chapitres 5,6 et 7. Le chapitre 8 esquisse les stratégies et les incitations qui pourraient être adoptées pour promouvoir un aménagement durable des forêts. Le rapport conclut par des suggestions de recherches pouvant être entreprises pour combler les lacunes dans les connaissances qui sont apparues au cours de ce projet. Grâce à des fonds publics français, le CIFOR et le CIRAD mènent un projet analogue sur les forêts tropicales humides de Côte d'Ivoire, du Cameroun, de République Centrafricaine, de la République Populaire du Congo et du Gabon. Le rapport est disponible en anglais et en français
A UNEP-sponsored project, implemented by CIFOR focused on the West African humid forests of Ghana and Nigeria. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cameroon also were included in the study. The general objective of the project was to integrate all available information on humid forest formations in this region in order to promote initiatives to foster the adoption of sustainable forest management principles. The report is organised into nine chapters. The first chapter gives an account of the forestry situation in West and Central Africa, with emphasis on vegetation distribution and factors affecting forest management. Chapters 2 and 3 highlight past and present silvicultural and forest management practices and also consider management control systems. The relevance of biodiversity and the role of non-timber forest products are explored in Chapter 4. Inter-generational issues, socio-economic factors influencing sustainable forest management, and the relevance of policies and legislation are addressed in Chapters 5, 6 and 7. Chapter 8 outlines strategies and incentives which might be adopted to promote sustainable forest management. The report concludes with suggestions for research which could be undertaken to fill gaps in knowledge which became apparent in the course of this project. The project contributes to a larger joint project currently being undertaken by CIFOR and the Government of France for the Francophone countries of Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo and Gabon.
Many countries in eastern and southern Africa have lost significant natural forest resources. Initially the pace was gradual, but it has accelerated very much in the recent past. Some of the efforts made to contain the situation include revising past policies to improve forestry development and conservation. This paper traces the evolution of such policies together with corresponding implementation mechanisms in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Although broad policy statements on involving local communities in forestry have existed in some countries for several decades, adequate resources have not been committed for their effective operationalisation. Generally, the forestry sector in southern Africa has lagged behind other sectors in revising its policies to adequately reflect political and socio-economic changes. Political and socio-economic policies appear to have taken precedence over forest sector policies, with far reaching consequences for the sector. However, current forest policies are more comprehensive in terms of stakeholders considered and issues addressed.
Efficient applied research systems are those that achieve a good match between the priority research problems and the capacity required to solve them. Effective research systems make a difference to real life problems through the timely delivery of readily utilisable research-based solutions to user audiences. In many developing countries both efficiency and effectiveness are constrained. Commonly, there is a mismatch between the priority problems and the problems to which the available research capacity and resources are allocated. Similarly, research findings often fail to reach the audiences that could put them to their most effective use. To rectify this situation, not only is it important to identify sound research priorities but also to deploy the available capacity to address these priorities in an effective manner. Effective future deployment requires knowledge current installed capacity at organisational, national and regional levels. Such knowledge also has utility for the design and implementation of effective collaborative research initiatives and capacity building investments. In 2001/02 a survey of forty-seven organisations conducting forest-related research in the Eastern African countries of Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, was conducted. General trends relating to research capacity in the region are highlighted and include: insufficient collaborative research; poor linkages between research and intended users; inadequate flow of information and access to scientific literature; low levels of remuneration for researchers and a lack of continuity in research programme support. Research is seldom geared to inform public policy, and whilst the 'informal' forestry sector is of great importance to local livelihoods in many African countries, related topics do not feature strongly in the national/regional research agendas. An issue of profound concern for future research capacity in Eastern Africa is the continued erosion of human technical capacity from HIV /AIDS. While there is still a considerable need to invest in the development of human resources and physical infrastructure at the organisational level, governments and development assistance agencies should attempt a multi-pronged strategic approach to improve the overall performance of research systems. At a national level, research organisations need to be held to higher levels of accountability for the delivery of utilisable research products that generate public benefits. A key means of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of research systems at both national and regional levels will be investments that improve access to information, improved communications, and greater collaborative efforts. Support to national and regional research networks and their communications infrastructure will be key components in such investments.
