Policymakers In Africa Research Articles

Community-based natural resource management in Mozambique: a critical review of the concept's applicability at local level

Since the early 1990s community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has become a mantra of sustainable development, which has been broadly embraced by national leaders and policy-makers in Africa, as well as aid bureaucrats and technical specialists in donor countries. Its dissemination to local communities, however, has turned out to be a rather controversial process. On the basis of two case studies this article assesses the extent to which the new approach has been adopted in Mozambique, and the conditions on which it has been accepted by local communities. The results indicate that the CBNRM model cannot be considered independently of the local political context, even though this aspect has been largely neglected. Devolution of full authority to local institutions is also a crucial issue. Restrictions on the use of natural resources are acceptable to the local population, but only if they are compatible with local livelihood strategies. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and its Rules of Origin Generosity Undermined?

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), signed into American law on May 18, 2000, is a major plank of U.S. initiatives toward the African continent. The Act aims broadly at improving economic policymaking in Africa, enabling countries to embrace globalization, and securing durable political and economic stability. As an incentive for Africa to adopt the necessary policy reform, AGOA offers increased preferential access for African exports to the United States. This paper describes the provisions of AGOA and assesses its quantitative impact on African exports, particularly in the apparel sector. Its main conclusions are: 1) AGOA will provide real opportunities to Africa. Even on conservative estimates about Africa's supply response, Africa's non-oil exports could be increased by about 8-11 percent. 2) However, the medium-term gains could have been much greater if AGOA had not imposed certain conditions and not excluded certain items from its coverage. The most important condition is the stringent rule-of-origin, that is, the requirement that exporters source certain inputs from within Africa or the United States. Estimates suggest that the absence of these conditions would have magnified the impact nearly five-fold, resulting in an overall increase in non-oil exports of US$0.54 billion compared with the US$100-US$140 million increase that is expected in the presence of these restrictions. These restrictions, particularly on apparel, will come at a particularly inopportune time, as Africa will be exposed to competition from other developing countries when the quotas maintained on the latters'exports under the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) are eliminated. Africa's apparel exports will be lower by over 30 percent with the dismantling of the MFA. If, on the other hand, AGOA had provided unrestricted access, the negative impact of the dismantling could be nearly fully offset.

Education and Training for Subject Specialization in Academic and Research Libraries in Africa: A Theoretical Critical Reappraisal

The author strongly believes that for any country in Africa to make decisions on the education and training of librarians without minding its national goals is intellectual irresponsibility. It is necessary for educational policy makers in Africa not only to consider carefully the proper aims of education in the context of the particular environment, but also continually to review critically those aims to ensure that they equal the changing values. Education and training for subject specialization in academic research libraries (ARL) in Africa is necessary, but it is not the highly prized type obtainable in the developed countries of the world. The author considered the provision for local adjustment of the international standards of education and training of librarians made by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and deemed it the best option for Africa. The African philosophy of librarianship, especially concerning the education and training for subject specialization in ARL, is presented. The author concludes that the undergraduate degree type of education and training of librarians with sufficient subject background, which will not only enable the graduates to achieve the national objectives of their countries but will also gradually pilot them to the ideal international standard, is the most acceptable and relevant one for Africa. A number of suggestions are made to improve the education and training of librarians in Africa.

South Africa: Political economy or virtual economics

In 1994 South Africa was politically transformed from an oligarchy into a democracy. How has this momentous change affected the framework of economic policy? This paper approaches the question via the virulent unemployment that is South Africa's most serious economic problem today. The apparent answer gives great cause for concern: South Africa's policy-makers seem about to leave the real world of political economy to enter the illusory world of virtual economics instead.

Highest and best use?: Access to urban land for semi-subsistence food production

Pressures on urban policy-makers in Africa to formalize land tenure and land delivery systems are mounting, while at the same time there is increased demand for informal access to urban land for subsistence production and low-cost housing. In Kampala, Uganda, semi-subsistence agriculture is an important component of the urban economy, yet it is a technically illegal form of land use and largely misunderstood by urban authorities and policy-makers. This paper analyzes the means of access to land, much of it informal, and discusses possible policy responses to competing demands over urban and peri-urban land.

Testing the Link Between Devaluation and Inflation: Time Series Evidence from Ghana1

Policy makers in Africa often argue that devaluation leads to inflation. This is undesirable in itself and also because the inflation mitigates any impact that the nominal devaluation has on the real exchange rate, which is what one hopes to change in the face of balance of payments problems. This paper argues that, under the extensive trade and exchange restrictions that are common in Africa, devaluation of the official exchange rate should have little impact on domestic prices. It tests that hypothesis with time series techniques due to Box and Tsiao (1975) using data from Ghana for the period 1974-86 when exchange controls were severe. The paper's main conclusion is that devaluations in Ghana have had a small but statistically significant impact on the domestic CPI: for a 100 percent increase in the exchange rate, prices rise by 5 to 10 percent. Copyright 1992 by Oxford University Press.

Niger: Anatomy of a Neotraditional Corporatist State

The apparent failure of competitive party politics to take root in much of contemporary Africa has not curtailed efforts by military regimes to extend popular participation. Curiously, current scholarship does not adequately reflect the range of such initiatives.' While analysts periodically look for liberalizing trends in Africa's soldier states and are primed to consider the prospects for a return to civilian rule,2 few have examined participatory institutions under indeterminate military tutelage.3 Indeed, the literature reflects a tendency to assume that officers who tarry in government regard the modem bureaucratic army as a paragon for the organization of society as a whole.4 There is growing evidence to suggest, however, that in the future Africa's military rulers will have greater recourse to corporatist models of state-society relations as they seek to avoid a return to the barracks. Why this is so and what characteristics these structural alternatives are likely to assume are central questions addressed in this essay. Following a brief typology of corporatist systems, my purpose here is to relate the installation of corporatist modes of representation and policymaking in Africa to the quest for effectiveness and legitimacy by regimes faced with a crisis of governance which is inseparable from the international context of capitalism. This proposition will be developed more fully in a case study of neotraditional corporatism in Niger. Distinctions among several frequently occurring varieties of corporatism establish the parameters for elaborating the special case of neotraditional corporatism, a mode of governance that draws heavily on indigenous cultural patterns of authority, interest aggregation, and leader-follower relations as prime sources of legitimation. By examining Niger's recent experience with participation fostered through a five-tier hierarchy of development councils, we shall see how a corporatist-style representational system was installed by the military rulers in a two-step process. First the system was presented as transitional; it served to draw civilian constituencies into preparations for a return to constitutional government. Then, when Niger's domestic economy began wrenching from the shocks of a precipitous decline in the price and market for uranium, the existence of these purportedly transitional participatory structures preempted the formation of class-based parties or pluralist political alternatives. The. final section of our analysis, which links the onset of a crisis in Niger's political economy of development with the new politics of participation, explores the regime's recourse to corporatist intermediaries in the implementation of structural and policy reforms. Following a discussion that highlights the interactive relationship between economic policy dilemmas and the problems of governance, we conclude with a few theoretical and empirical observations about neotraditional corporatism and regime legitimation in Niger.

Managing urban growth in Lusaka, Zambia∗

The question of urban management is a key issue for policy makers in Africa. The objec‐tive in this paper is to analyse recent trends in the management of urban growth in Lu‐saka, Zambia. The Zambian urbanization experience is of a transition from constrained to unconstrained patterns of urbanization and of the imperative to dismantle the heritage of colonial policies. Lusaka's management performance with regard to the pro‐vision of shelter and services as well as work opportunities for an expanding population is investigated. It is argued that the experience of Lusaka underscores the urban management dilemmas of transcending the burden of past policies.

Vocational-Technical Education in Tropical Africa

In all African countries the role of education is a fiercely debated subject, and discussions are sharpened by the growing charges that the present context and structure of education are irrelevant in preparing African youth for meaningful occupations in their country. There has been a general consensus among education policymakers in Africa that a greater emphasis must be placed on vocational-technical education. Yet, there is a growing gap between policy and practice which is further compounded by the perceptions of African youth as to the importance and value of vocationaltechnical education. The well-being of a nation, its standard of living, and its potential for economic and industrial development depend on a large pool of expertly trained middle-level technicians, craftsmen, and other specialists. These are directly related to the priority that a nation places on developing and maintaining an efficient system of vocational-technical education. It was only in the past few years, however, that African countries began to realize that these relationships exist. Presently, technical education tends to be a response to industrial activity in a given region, and its success is dependent on the extent of the immediate demand for lucrative employment of the individuals who were trained. This case-by-case training is a reflection of colonial rule, under which most African countries depended on the European metropolitan (home) countries for their manufactured products, and therefore, had no need to train a large technical labor force. After independence, many African countries began to recognize the need to be self-reliant. An increasing part of the efforts to produce a cadre of welltrained manpower has involved the introduction of vocational-

Developing Africa: A Modernization Perspective.

The countries of the African continent suffer from numerous and severe economic maladies that inhibit their chances for effective economic growth. The problem confronting Africa's policy makers is how to combine overall economic growth with a more equitable distribution of income and economic assistance. This resource book examines the experiences of the African countries in implementing development programs and policies during the 1970s, and offers some conclusions and suggestions for further study. To assist those directly involved or interested in the formulation and implementation of economic development policies, the editor has provided statistical information and a descriptive bibliography for further research.