Environment, income and development in Southern Africa : an analysis of the interaction of environmental and macro economics

At population-intensive subsistence levels, rural households are more interested in consuming wildlife than its protection for the enhancement of future generations. Urban households with high unemployment and low wages for those employed have no economic resources to spare for taxation for public sector activity in water supply or electrification. This paper explores the interaction between urban income and rural resource degradation and the likely impact of environmental protection on macroeconomics. An additional focus is the kinds of policies that might enhance both material living standards and environmental protection in the world"s poorest countries. The policy discussion will include some consideration of the needed role of technology in offering solutions, the possible impact of climate change on environmental problems in Southern Africa, and the linkage between aid and incentives. In Southern Africa, (defined here as the area from Shaba in Zaire to Cape Town in South Africa), environmental economies must be seen in a context in which the area"s extensive wealth of industrial resources flows to the rest of the world, but where economic decline has been general. The area is geologically distinct from the rest of Africa and shares a common history of colonial exploitation of mineral resources as well as a modern era that emphasizes raw materials export. (Author abstract)