Environment and Sustainable Development in Eastern and Southern Africa: Some Critical Issues

244 Pages·1998·59.315 MB·English

by  Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed, Wilfred Mlay (eds.)

IN
ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN
EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
Also by Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed
BEYOND CONFLICT IN THE HORN OF AFRICA (co-editor with
M. Doornbos, L. CUffee and J. Markakis)
MANAGEMENT OF THE CRISIS IN THE SUDAN (co-editor with
Gunnar S¢rb¢)
PERSPECTIVES ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE SUDAN (co-editor with
Paul van der Wei)
SHAYKHSANDFOLLOWERS
SOME ASPECTS OF PASTORAL NOMADISM IN THE SUDAN
THE ROLE OF INDIGENOUS SYSTEMS OF PRODUCTION IN
DEVELOPMENT
Also by Wilfred Mlay
THE CRISIS OF DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN EASTERN AFRICA
(co-editor with Eshetu Chole and Walter Oyugi)
THE POPULATION QUESTION IN THE AFRICAN CRISIS (co-editor with
P. Kinmuya and G. Kinoti)
Environment and
Sustainable Development
in Eastern and Southern
Africa
Some Critical Issues
Edited by
Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed
Professor of Social Anthropology
University of Khartoum
and
Executive Secretary
Organization for Social Science Research
in Eastern and Southern Africa
and
Wilfred Mlay
former Professor of Geography
University of Dares Salaam
Tanzania
and
Regional Director
International Bible Society, Nairobi
in association with
Palgrave Macmillan
First published in Great Britain 1998 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-26645-6 ISBN 978-1-349-26643-2 (eBook)
DOl 10.1007/978-1-349-26643-2
First published in the United States of America 1998 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-21047-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Environment and sustainable development in Eastern and Southern Africa
: some critical issues I edited by Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed and
Wilfred Mlay.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-21047-2 {cloth)
I. Sustainable development-Africa, Eastern. 2. Sustainable
development-Africa, Southern. 3. Environmental policy-Africa,
Eastern. 4. Environmental policy-Africa, Southern. 5. Agriculture
and state-Africa, Eastern. 6. Agriculture and state-Africa,
Southern. I. Ahmed, Abdel Ghaffar Muhammad. II. Mlay, Wilfred.
HC860.Z9E535 1997
333.7'09676---dc21 97-28957
CIP
© OSSREA 1998
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1998
OSSREA acknowledges the support of the International Development Research Center
(IDRC), Ford Foundation, the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing
Countries (SAREC) and the Norwegian Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with
written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by
the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
07 06 OS 04 03 02 01 ()() 99 98
Text layout: Misrak Kinfemichael, Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern
and Southern Africa (OSSREA}, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Contents
List of Tables Vll
Notes on the Contributors Vlll
Introduction 1
Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed and
Wilfred Mlay
2 Sustainable Development in Africa in the 9
1990s and Beyond: Meeting the Challenge
Sadig Rasheed
3 Population Dynamics and the Environment 30
Wilfred Mlay
4 Adjustment Programmes and the Environment 45
in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Exploratory Results
Ali Abdel Gadir Ali
5 The Response ofNon-Governmental Organization 62
to the Ecological Crisis in the South with Special
Reference to Eastern Africa
M. A. Mohamed Salih
6 Poverty Alleviation and Food Security in 83
Tanzania: An Environmental Perspective
S. M. Kapunda
7 Drought and Famine in Eastern Sudan: 104
The Socio-Cultural Dimension
Idris Salim El Hassan
8 Soil Erosion and Conservation Techniques 118
for Sustainable Crop Production in Zimbabwe
F. Tagwira
vi Contents
9 The Promotion of Small Farms in Swaziland: 128
A Sound Agrarian Policy, Friendly to the Environment
S. N. A. Mensah
10 The Impact of Agricultural Technology on 144
Sustainable Land Resource Utilization in
Africa: The Case of Semi-Arid Tanzania
William Rugumamu
11 Sustainability of Forests in Kenya: Emerging Issues 161
MaryOmosa
12 Agricultural Extension Policy in Malawi: 176
Past Experiences and Future Directions
M.A. Nambote
13 The Impact of the 1991/92 Drought in Zambia 190
Gear M. Kajoba
14 Restoring the Land: Environment and Change in 207
a Non-Racial, Democratic South Africa
Dominic Milazi
Index 231
List of Tables
3.1 Distribution of World Population by Major 34
Regions ofthe World 1950-2100 (per cent)
4.1 Rural Poverty in Sub-Saharan African Countries: 55
1965 and 1988
4.2 Rural Poverty in Sudan: 1978 and 1986 57
5.1 Number and Classification of Major National and 64
International NGOs Operating in Selected
East African Countries, 1991
6.1 Food Production Trends in Tanzania (1989-1991) 88
6.2 Livestock Production Indices ( 1989-1991) 89
6.3 Livestock Population 1984-1992 89
6.4 Nominal Catches ofFish, Crustaceans, Molluscs, etc. 92
(1981-1990)
8.1 Land and Rainfall Distribution by Natural Regions 118
8.2 Land and Farmer Distribution by Agricultural 119
Sub-Sectors
8.3 Variation in Extent of Erosion According to Population 122
Density in Communal Areas
8.4 Typical Annual Losses of Soil, Rainfall and Nutrients 124
from Farmlands
8.5 Micro-catchment Tillage Yields for Three Crops 126
Grown in the Low Rainfall Lowveld
Region of Zimbabwe
9.1a Adult Rural Population, 1986 139
9.1b Adult Farm Labor Force, 1986 139
9.2 Simulated Employment-Generation Capacity 140
10.1 Yields of Cereal Crops in Bahi Village 155
11.1 Estimated Expenditure on Forest Resources 162
1965/66-1969/70
13.1 Zambia: Total Rainfall, Normal and Departures, 193
1991192 Season
13.2 Crop Production and Sales 1990-1992 194
13.3 Some ofthe Drought Relief Support from the 195
International Community
vii
Notes on Contributors
Abdel Ghaffar Mohamed Ahmed is Professor of Social Anthropology,
University of Khartoum and currently the Executive Secretary of the
Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern
Africa(OSSREA). He is the author of several books, including Shaykhs and
Followers (1974), The Role of Indigenous Systems of Production in
Development (1976), Some Aspects ofP astoral Nomadism in the Sudan (1976).
Among his several edited books are the following: Perspectives on
Development in the Sudan (1986) with Paul van der wei, The Hague,
Management of the Crisis in the Sudan (1989) with Gunnar Serbe and
Beyond Conflict in the Horn ofA frica (1992) with M. Doornbos, L. Cliffee
and J. Markakis.
Ali Abdel Gadir Ali was Professor of Economics, University of
Khartoum and the Academic Secretary, University of Gezira in the Sudan.
He published widely on economic development, structural adjustment
polices and poverty in Sudan and the Middle East. His book on Sudan
Economy in Disarray, was published in 1985.
Idris Salim El Hassan teaches anthropology at Khartoum University.
Presently is on secondment as an OSSREA Visiting Professor in
Anthropology at the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social
Administration, Addis Ababa University. His major specialization is
cultural anthropology and sociology of religion with particular emphasis
on Islam. Currently, his research interests focus on religious and gender
issues (mainly traditional educational institutions) in eastern sudan and the
Horn of Africa. Among his major publications are Religion in Society:
Nemeiri and the Turuq, Khartoum University Press, Khartoum, (1993) and
Leisure Activities in Saudi Arabia (Arabic co-authored with I. Khalifa),
University of King Saud Publications, Riyadh, (1987), and "Gender
Religious Experience: Women and Quranic Schools in Eastern Sudan",
EASSRRVol. XI, No.1, January 1995.
Gear M. Kajoba is a lecturer in the Department of Geography University
of Zambia, Lusaka. His areas of interest are Agrarian Studies, Land
Tenure and Geography of Development. His current topic of research is
changing rural land use and land matters in Southern Africa. Among his
publications are "Food Security in Zambia and the Need for
Diversification from Depending on Rain" in Osci-Hwdie and Muna
Naris(ed) Development ofCrossroads: An African Experience, (1990); "Some
Aspects of Land Administration in Zambia in Historical Perspective" in
Zambia journal ofH istory, No.3, 1993.
viii
Notes on Contributors ix
Stephen M. Kapunda is a senior lecturer in Department of Economics,
University of Dar es Salaam. Among his publications is "Food
Consumption Patterns (1989)", Tanzania journal of Economics. His
current topic of research is consumption patterns in selected African
countries.
Samuel N. A. Mensah is a senior lecturer in the Department of
Economics, University of Swaziland. His areas of interest are labor and
political and agricultural economics. His current topic of research is the
political economy of Swaziland agrarian structure. Major among his
publications is "Stmctural Adjustment Programmes in Africa: Lesson
from Ghana and Nigeria in Africa Insights, (1993)"; "Agricultural
Commodity Marketing in Nigeria Without the Marketing Boards in
Agricultural Extension and Management, (1988)".
Dominic Ben Tono Milazi is a Professor of Sociology in the Department
of Sociology University of Bophuthatswana, The Republic of South
Africa.
Wilfred F. I. Mlay is a Professor of Geography, University of Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania. He is presently Regional Director of International
Bible Society, Nairobi, Kenya. His areas of interest are migration,
population and family life and rural development in Africa. Among his
major publications is: The Population Question in The African Crisis, edited
by Kinmuya, P. and Kinoti G. 1993. He is also a co-editor of 71Je Crisis of
Development Strategies in Eastern Africa (1990) with Eshetu Chole and
Walter Oyugi.
Mike A. Nambote is a lecturer in Media Education and Communication,
University of Malawi. His main area of interest is the policy implication
of technology transfer in rural communities. He published articles on:
"Integration of Population Education in Agricultural Extension", "Youth
Employment Perceptions and Opportunities in Malawi and Kibuina: An
Introduction to Malawian Dance and Theater".
Mary Omosa is a lecturer in Sociology at the Institute for Development
Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya. Her publications include "Beggars
in the Streets of Nairobi: The Role of Physical Handicap - a Simple
Observation 1985"; "Poveny: A Review of Selected Theories on Who are
the Poor? (1985)"; "The Dysfunctions of Bureaucracy: A Review (1985)".
Her topic of current research is practices and technologies in the
sustainable management of tree: a case study of Nyakoe Location Kisii
District.