Implementing natural resources management policy in Africa : a document and literature review

There are two main chapters. The first reviews 19 A.I.D. projects and programs in forestry/agroforestry, sustainable agriculture, and protected areas/biodiversity conservation in Africa. Key management and organizational issues cited include: management capacity, host government commitment, organizational systems, sustainability, community participation, and decentralization. Salient external factors include institutional capacity, recurrent costs, and the effect of other sectoral policies. The second main chapter summarizes current literature on NRM policy implementation in terms of: (1) the clarity and consistency of NRM objectives; (2) identification of critical factors and linkages necessary for achieving policy objectives; (3) policy implementation arrangements; (4) management and political skills and commitment; (5) ongoing constituent support; and (6) supportive socioeconomic and political conditions. NRM policy implementation in Africa is found to be significantly constrained on all six counts, with the lack of skilled managers being especially problematic. The study also identifies several troublesome features of NRM policies: the underlying contradiction between sustainable NRM and the prevailing economic development paradigm; the nature of NRM costs and benefits; the negative orientation of NRM regulations; and the tendency of NRM issues to generate conflict. A final section presents a set of strategic questions as a way to begin clarifying the complexity and multiplicity of factors and linkages that characterize NRM.