Building capacity for resource management in Africa
Integrated natural resources management (INRM) is a modern approach to maintaining the production capacity of an ecosystem. This approach would be particularly useful in Africa, where meso-scale (regional-scale) resource management can suffer from a lack of coordination. This is where the EU-funded AFROMAISON(opens in new window) project comes in. The project aims to develop tools and strategies to strengthen the INRM approach at the regional scale in Africa. AFROMAISON has already advanced a framework to improve INRM, and is testing it at case study sites in Ethiopia, Mali, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda. The project uses a range of well established assessment tools to gather data at each site. In addition, several models of climate, ecosystem and water use generated a better understanding of the ecosystems in each case study. This information will now be used to produce a comprehensive and flexible set of guidelines to help local resource managers implement INRM. Resource management in Africa is still fragmented and inefficient, resulting in negative impacts on the environment and the economy. AFROMAISON is working with locals and its efforts should lead to enhanced capacities in the region.
