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News March 2001
March
2001 Newsletter
Prof.
Bruce Campbell Takes up New Appointment
Bruce,
after six years as IES Director, moved at the end of February to take up
an appointment with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).The University
appointment committee is currently making a decision on the new director.
Visions
For A ‘New’ Science Of Natural Resource Management
Prof.
Bruce Campbell spent his last days in the office at IES starting on a new
project with Prof. Jeff Sayer from CIFOR. Using the papers from a meeting
on integrated natural resource management (INRM) in Penang last year, and
drawing on the practical examples provided by the on-going work in Chivi.
There are now trends in many branches of science that suggest that
research and development should be much closer aligned, to the point where
the distinction becomes artificial. INRM would generally involve adaptive
management, action research, cross-scale analysis (in time and space), the
use of systems modelling to explore systems and longer term phenomena (but
not to get too involved in complex systems models that require years
before yielding useful results – rather go for “throw-away” models).
In general, we would expect that the systems are analysed from within the
system (i.e. researchers are one of the actors) rather than in the
traditions of most systems analysis or farming systems research. A book on
the topic should be ready by the end of 2001
Geographical
Information Systems and Database Management Project
The
objective of this project is to investigate the use of GIS in planning the
development of natural resources of Zimbabwe and the sustainable
development of urban infrastructure. Several sub-projects inclusive of; the Application of GIS in determining suitable borehole sites for
hydrological unit 3 of Zimbabwe; Towards a spatial data policy framework:
A survey of existing Zimbabwean practices; The use of GIS to determine the
Accessibility of Social Services to the Rural Population; The Development
of a GIS based system for Enhanced Urban Management; Distributed GIS using
Persistent Java; Development of the Unlimited Data Unit [UDU] Model, a
conceptual data model for ecological data management, have either been
completed or are still in progress. Three PhD and three MSc.
research students are currently being supported through research grants
from the donors, SIDA-SAREC.
Coordination
of the project
The
year 2000 brought in some useful changes in the running of the SAREC-GIS
project. To assist the project coordinator, the GIS committee is now
formally constituted with a set of terms of reference for it’s brief.
The committee is now involved in; Approving
work plans and budgets for each year; Regulating the activities of the SAREC-GIS project; Selection of
postgraduate grantees; Reviewing of project proposals; Assessing progress of research; Providing the project co-coordinator with
bi-annual research progress reports; Contributing to the annual report.
The Steering committee will meet at least 4 times a year (once every
quarter).It is expected that this new arrangement will lessen the administrative burden on the coordinator and will lead
to the smooth running of the project and the production of quality
research.
World
Summit on Sustainable Development
The
World Summit on Sustainable Development (also known as Rio + 10), will be
a summit gathering in June 2002 in Johannesburg,
South Africa, of world governments, concerned citizens, United
Nations agencies, multilateral financial institutions and other major
actors to assess global change since the historic United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), of
1992. In Johannesburg, the world will take a critical look back at UNCED,
and aim to arrive at a comprehensive, frank and useful review of the past
ten years.
Expected
outcome of Johannesburg 2002
The
upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development, will aim to answer the
following questions, among others: What has been accomplished since 1992
(in Rio Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3 - 14 June)? What have the
participating countries done so far to implement Agenda 21? Have they
adopted the National Sustainable Development Strategies as they agreed
they would by 2002? Have they ratified the conventions that aim to prevent
loss of biodiversity or ensure women's rights as they agreed to do in
1992? What obstacles have they encountered? What lessons have they learned
about what works and what does not? And what new factors have emerged to
change the picture? What mid-course corrections need to be made to reach
the goals? Where should further efforts be concentrated?
The
summit gathering will not open Agenda 21 for revision, but it will seek
consensus on the general assessment of current conditions, and on
priorities for further action in new areas or issues. Decisions will aim
to strengthen commitment of all parties to achieving the goals of Agenda
21. A focused agenda will foster discussion of findings in particular
environmental sectors (forests, oceans, climate, energy, fresh water, and
so on) as well as in cross-sector areas such as economic conditions, new
technologies and globalization.
The
gathering will also consider fully the impact of the revolutions in
technology, biology and communications that have changed most of the world
since 1992, while remembering that one out of every six individuals on
Earth is yet to make a telephone call. New financial instruments, the
functioning of international financial institutions and markets will also
be evaluated for their implications for the future.
All
types of citizens' groups from business and industry to scientists, from
indigenous people to young people, from community leaders to trade unions
are urged to take part in the evaluation process that are now being
launched in every nation. Broad participation is critical. This global
stock taking must begin with the facts of life as individuals are living
it now. Governments cannot do this alone if further action is to be owned
by all and thus be effective in achieving the ultimate goal of
sustainability.
African
Regional Preparatory Meetings
The African Regional PrepCom meeting will be held at the UNON (UN Office in Nairobi), Nairobi, Kenya, on 28 - 31 August 2001
Tentative
Schedule:
28 August:
Civil
Society/NGO Segment
29
August:
High-Level Multi-Stakeholders' Segment
30-31 August: Regional
Preparatory Meeting
SADC
Meeting
Subregional
meeting for South Africa: Southern African Development Community (SADC)
meeting is planned for Gaborone, Botswana on 28 - 31 May 2001
Report
on the EU-INCO Project Workshop held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The
INCO project, Enhancing Soil fertility in Africa: From Field to Policy –
Maker is in the its last year. The
final activity was a workshop entitled BEYOND NUTRIENT BALANCES: impacts of research on processes of change in African Agriculture held
from the 12th to the 14th of March 2001 in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshop
was hosted by SOS Sahel and organised by the INCO coordination team in
Ethiopia, IIED and LEI-DLO. Participants
were from Mali, Uganda, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, South Africa,
Spain, Greece, Sweden, UK, The Netherlands and Ethiopia. Zimbabwe was represented by Dr J Nyamangara and Mr J Chikuvire of
the Institute of Environmental Studies (University of Zimbabwe).
The
objective of the workshop was to document and assess the impact of soil
fertility management studies on farmer practises, research and extension
services, and the design of policy and intervention. Questions addressed were:
1. What is the evidence of farmers changing their soil fertility
management practises as a result of feedback research results, in
particular from nutrient balances and from enhanced dialogue with
researchers?
2. Have perceptions and attitudes of stakeholders, such as
researchers, extension and NGO workers, changed and in what way? Has this resulted in adjustments in approaches to research,
extension and other intervention?
3. What has been the nature of interaction between researchers and
policy makers? How has
research been linked into debates about policy and has this resulted in
more informed policies? What
are the principal constraints in such a process of engangement and
learning. How can improved
dialogue be promoted between stakeholders, including farmers’
organisations?
Impact
of Climate Change To Cost The World US$300 Billion A Year
Global
Warming may cost the world several bullion dollars a year unless urgent
efforts are made to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and the other gases
linked with the “greenhouse effect”
A
report by insurers, members of the United Nations Environment
Programme’s (UNEP) financial services initiative, indicates that losses
due to more frequent tropical cyclones, loss of land as a result of rising
sea levels and damage to fishing stocks, agriculture and water supplies,
could annually cost around US$ 304.2 billion
Courses
and Workshops
Act
Project Planning and Training Workshop
Date: 2-5 April 2001
Venue: Harare
Environmental
Impact Assessment Course Stage 2, Harare
Date: 7 -
11 May 2001
Environmental
Health and Clinical Waste Management Course
Date: 21
–25 May 2001
AFSA-ICRAF
Training Course
Date: May 2001
International
Forum for Policy
Environmental
Impact Assessment
Date: 25 – 29 June 2001
For
more information on these courses and workshops contact Ms D
Vhevha
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