Implementing Agenda 21

Campaigning for Local Natural Resource Management in Africa

By Dominic Walubengo

Introduction

The preparatory process leading to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) brought into sharp focus the fact that the fight over natural resources has shifted from a physical, visible and armed confrontation to an invisible one, whose main weapon is information. African delegations to all the UNCED preparatory committee meetings (PrepComs) had one common complaint: the lack of adequate information. African NGOs had a similar complaint: they lacked adequate information to enable them to lobby effectively.

The fact that the fight over natural resources has shifted means that NGOs campaigning for the sustainable use of natural resources have had to shift their strategies as well. The NGOs formerly spoke of local control of natural resources. However at the time they did not have the mandate to speak on behalf of local communities. So the NGOs went back to their communities and started awareness campaigns on topics discussed at the PrepComs. The topics varied from country to country, and from region to region. For example, NGOs from Central Africa concentrated on biological diversity and forestry issues; those from the Sahel concentrated on climate change and desertification; and NGOs from East and Southern Africa worked on climate change, biological diversity and desertification. Therefore, right from the preparatory stages, UNCED began changing NGO perspectives in Africa, and it is fair to say that NGOs in Africa have not been the same since.

The preparatory process to UNCED and the conference itself provided NGOs in Africa with an agenda: to a large extent it revolved around the question of who controls the natural resources that are so vital for the survival of the people of Africa. The NGOs realized that development efforts in Africa over recent decades have been frustrated by the complicated and multifaceted nature of change, a number of inherent contradictions among the various issues, and differences in perspectives among actors.The NGOs also realized that the heart of the problem appears to be insufficient local control over natural resource management and lack of influence over policy, administration and legislation pertaining to natural resource management. The question of who controls natural resources always resurfaces whether the discussion topic is emancipation, democratization, poverty alleviation, sustainable development, gender or women and development.

The Concept of a Natural Resource

Natural resources have been the source of conflict for thousands of years: States have gone to war to expand their borders and acquire more land, forests, oil, water and grazing rights. We need to answer several questions:

What is a natural resource? Where are natural resources found? Why are there conflicts over natural resources? A natural resource can be defined as something that occurs naturally in the world and is not caused, or made by people. Examples of natural resources are

water, fish, wildlife, forests, coal and oil. Conflict takes place over natural resources because they are the essence of life - without them, life is not possible. This is the reason the pre-UNCED process focused so much on the control of natural resources.

In Africa the exploitation of natural resources was at the centre of colonialism and is now at the centre of international trade. The globalization of trade has also globalized the debate on the control, management and exploitation of natural resources. Unfortunately, this debate tends to remain at the international level and seldomly comes down to the local level, where resources are actually found. Some NGOs have made an effort to bring this debate down to the grassroots - these include ENDA Tiers-Monde, the Environment Liaison Centre International (ELCI), and EcoNews Africa (ENA), all of whom have been at the forefront of bringing the debate on desertification to local communities.

The Role of NGOs

In Africa, NGOs work at two levels. At the community level, they are small informal organizations, which are often invisible to outsiders and rarely receive external support. These community based organizations (CBOs) remain outside formal structures. Some examples of CBOs are women's groups, youth groups, village development committees, water users' associations, forest users' groups, farmers' groups, pastoralists' groups and self-help groups. Generally speaking, the activities of CBOs are limited to the local level and have little if any influence in national political processes.

The second level of NGO intervention is at a higher level: national or international. These NGOs, which provide services to communities directly or through CBOs and other NGOs, include networks and umbrella organizations. They offer a variety of services, some very specialized; they may be purely charity or service organizations, while others seek for a more political role.

After UNCED, NGOs grew rapidly in Africa. This was partly in response to widespread and persistent poverty, and the failure of governments to provide their citizens with basic services and social security. However, it was also because of UNCED, many governments, which recognized the importance of NGOs, recognized the fact that NGOs are flexible and attempt to reach the poorer sections of society. Thus there are now many NGOs working in relief and the provision of medical services, water and even education. In some areas NGOs have assumed roles that are almost equal to that of governments by providing people with medical services, shelter and food. These include Somalia; North-Eastern Kenya; Eastern Zaire; Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan.

What then is the role of NGOs in natural resource management? NGOs are people's organizations and they were established for a purpose: they are pressure groups helping to make governments listen to the people's point of view. Not all NGOs challenge government policies; they often provide sound arguments based on well-researched information. For example, an NGO might argue against draining a swamp, by citing the negative environmental implications, including driving away rare animals and bird species, killing fish, reducing available water to a community, and changing people's lifestyles.

Another example is when NGOs try to make people and governments aware of the environmental and human impacts of constructing dams. When a dam is constructed, promoters talk about the benefits that will be obtained from the production of cheap electricity and the availability of water for irrigation. Often, they do not inform people of an increase in the number of mosquitoes, and therefore malaria; that bilharzia may become commonplace; and worse, that whole villages will be submerged, which results in forced migration.

The NGO community in Africa faces a severe challenge in the management of natural resources. This challenge was made formal after UNCED. Many African governments now insist on the participation of NGOs in all development projects, with the result that NGOs are invited to contribute to among other things national environment action plans and national forestry master plans. Now the challenge to the NGOs is that they must perform; which means they must have adequate capacity and resources.

Capacity building in the NGO sector has not been easy-this is because until only a few years ago, one-party governments in Africa frowned on any organization or association which had any semblance of authority or influence. At that time governments believed that only they could solve the problems facing their people. This centralization of power reduced people's enthusiasm for self-help groups, which often develop into NGOs. Indeed, during UNCED PrepComs, several African governments wanted to prevent NGOs from participating in the debate as observers. Needless to say, they lost that debate.

Thanks to UNCED, there is now a move by some African governments to share management of some natural resources with local people. For example, the Tanzanian government has allowed collaborative management of the Mgori Forest in Singida Rural district. In Kenya, the Kenya Wildlife Service has started a community development section, which allows people living close to national parks to earn some income from tourism. In Zimbabwe, the Camp Fire programme actually allows people to manage the wildlife and earn revenue from tourists and hunters. Collaborative management of natural resources has been spearheaded by NGOs and individuals who believe in Agenda 21.

During the preparatory stages of UNCED, many NGOs from Africa had contact with NGOs from other parts of the world. This interaction allowed African NGOs to exchange information and ideas with other NGOs. African NGOs also heard their own governments promising, in front of the whole world, to work with NGOs and other community groups. These promises have made it easier for NGOs to operate and work with governments. In addition, many African countries have signed several conventions resulting from UNCED, which contain sections advocating NGO participation in development projects. The conventions include those on biological diversity, climate change and desertification.

Lessons Learned

NGOs working in natural resource management during the post-UNCED era, have learned the following lessons:

1. NGOs should come up with a vision on local natural resource management in Africa. Training needs for local CBOs and NGOs should be identified as well as areas that need advocacy.

2. African NGOs should strengthen existing natural resources networks to enable them to carry out networking and learn from each other and their communities. These networks could serve as a forum for meetings of NGOs and CBOs involved in natural resource management and they could facilitate training, organization of exchange visits and production of newsletters.

3. NGOs are needed to work on cross-boundary issues, such as the environmental problems facing Lake Victoria, and the influx of refugees in East and Central Africa.

4. African NGOs should come up with a framework for participation of local people in the management of natural resources. In this framework, stake-holders in natural resources should be identified and advocacy should be emphasized.

5. NGOs and CBOs should face the question of their own sustainability and work out ways to ensure it.

6. The relationship between NGOs and governments should be more clearly defined, in order to avoid wasted resources and energy.

7. In Africa men still dominate and benefit more than women from development projects, including those expressly meant to benefit women. Poor people are often further marginalised by development projects.

8. Most government departments don't have money and therefore pass on their social responsibilities, such as education, health, medical services, to civil society, which is ill equipped to deal with these responsibilities.

9. Land tenure and property rights need to be looked at with a new perspective. Current laws are a major constraint to development projects in the area of natural resources, and new land bills being tabled in the African parliaments are designed to privatise land, but not solve the conflicts that arise out of land ownership and access. There is a serious conflict in the perspectives of agrarian and pastoralist communities.

10. People would like to earn money from the projects in which they are involved, whether the projects are tree planting, biogas or water catchment.

11. Communal projects only work when all participants have a stake in the project and share benefits equitably. Local people will not look after resources that they do not own, or have a stake in, and that do not benefit them directly.