Collaborative alliances: the environment, women and the Africa 2000 Network

Abstract

This paper reviews the work of an international environmental management project known as the Africa 2000 Network that emerged from the need to address the growing awareness of gender issues in environmentally sustainabledevelopment activities worldwide. The intention of this study was first to establish the degree of linkage between women’s needs and interests and the work of Africa 2000 Network’s national coordinators in Cameroon, Ghana, and Kenya. The second was to relate the findings of Africa 2000 Network’s (hereafter called the Network) responses to women to the current research on gender, environment and development. The third was to clarify more specifically and substantively the types of actions that have empowered the resource management roles of African women while at the same time alleviating the effects of environmental degradation. It is hoped that this investigation will begin to contribute to the formulation of strategies and structures that go beyond the mere cooptation of African women’s labour into mainstream development activities. The aim is to work towards the transformation of current configurations of power relations within the ownership and control of resources; not only between men and women but also, ultimately, between nations.