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Integrating governance and socioeconomic indicators to assess the performance of community-based natural resources management in Caprivi (Namibia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2010

J.G.E. COLLOMB ,
P. MUPETA ,
G. BARNES  and
B. CHILD
J.G.E. COLLOMB*
Affiliation:
School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida, 103 Black Hall, PO Box 116455, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
P. MUPETA
Affiliation:
School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida, 103 Black Hall, PO Box 116455, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA Center for African Studies, University of Florida, 427 Grinter Hall, PO Box 115560, Gainesville, FL 32611-5560, USA
G. BARNES
Affiliation:
School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Newins-Ziegler Hall, PO Box 110-410, Gainesville, FL 32611-0410, USA
B. CHILD
Affiliation:
Center for African Studies, University of Florida, 427 Grinter Hall, PO Box 115560, Gainesville, FL 32611-5560, USA Department of Geography, University of Florida, 3141 Turlington Hall, PO Box 117315 Gainesville FL 32611-7315, USA
*
*Correspondence: Dr J. G. E. Collomb e-mail: jgcollomb@gmail.com
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Summary

The achievements of community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) in southern Africa over the past 20 years have been hampered by the struggle to develop institutions of good governance. This paper explores what good governance is, how it can be measured and why it is relevant to communities' socioeconomic development goals. Horizontal accountability, used as a proxy for good governance, and people's perception of CBNRM benefits were documented through 236 individual interviews in five conservancies in the Caprivi Province (Namibia). These complex concepts were captured in order to strengthen performance assessments of CBNRM. Horizontal accountability was weak across the five conservancies studied and conservancy leaders could transfer more information to their constituents. Smaller and older conservancies displayed higher rates of information transfer, but horizontal accountability was not linked to different levels of socioeconomic benefits. In order to properly study the potential connections between good governance and the provision of socioeconomic benefits within CBNRM, the measures used in this study require further refinement.

Keywords

community-based natural resources managementgovernanceNamibiasocioeconomic development
Type
THEMATIC SECTION: Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): designing the next generation (Part 2)
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 37 , Issue 3: Thematic section. Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): Designing the next generation (Part 2) , September 2010 , pp. 303 - 309
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2010

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