Browsing by Author "Swatuk, L.A."
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Swatuk, L.A.; Kgomotso, P.K. (Elsevier, www.elsevier.com/locate/pce, NaN, 2007)[more][less]
Abstract: Supplying adequate water and sanitation facilities to small, scattered rural communities and/or large, fast growing settlements in remote areas is a challenge not easily met anywhere in the world. This article focuses on just such a challenge in the remote, rural area of Ngamiland District in north-western Botswana. Drawing on a combination of critical analysis of government and secondary data, participant observation, and key stakeholder interviews conducted over the period 2004–2006, the article shows that despite a good aggregate record of supplying water and sanitation throughout the country, there are abiding, often serious, problems with supply in remote areas. The research reveals that due to a combination of limited human and financial resource capacity, government policy that deliberately under-serves remote areas in order to encourage resettlement, and complacence among key decision-takers, supply problems go unresolved. The article suggests four key interventions as possible ways forward: using the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) process as a guiding framework for institutional reform; linking research directly to human resource capacity development; treating water as both a social and an economic good; and soliciting an IWRM ‘champion’ to drive the political process. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/501 Files in this item: 1
Swatuk2007WATERSUPPLY.pdf (1.584Mb) -
Swatuk, L.A.; Motsholapheko, M. (Elsevier, www.elsevier.com/locate/pce, NaN, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: The Boteti River is an ephemeral outflow of the Okavango River. It lies in the north-western part of Botswana where about 25,000 people reside across a number of widely scattered villages and informal settlements. The river, with its seasonal streams and pans, is vital to the livelihoods of these people, their livestock, and the wildlife that share this physical space. A combination of factors has led to widespread degradation of the physical resource base – both in the river bed itself and in the wider environment. As part of its outreach role, the Harry Oppeheimer Okavango Research Centre has undertaken a multi-year project along the Boteti River to assist people there with the rehabilitation of their resource base. The globally influential concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) provides the analytical framework, in particular its emphasis on dialogue and stakeholder participation. The project has three primary aspects: facilitation of a dialogue platform; action-research; outreach and information dissemination. After two years of implementation, the project has collected a good deal of data and established a River Basin Forum with a common vision. However, the project continues to face difficulties in implementation: participation is limited; myths regarding resource degradation are difficult to dispel; meaningful communication among differently empowered actors is hard to achieve; and there are numerous human, financial and technological limitations. The primary researchers continue to alter their methods in the hope of achieving a functioning River Basin Committee (RBC), but observe that the globalized ideals of IWRM are, in this particular case at least, of limited use when attempting to alter localized management practices in basins with deeply embedded social and cultural practices. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/504 Files in this item: 1
Motsholapheko2008IntegratedWater.pdf (1.154Mb) -
Swatuk, L.A. (Elsvier, www.elsevier.com, NaN, 2003)[more][less]
Abstract: This paper explores possibilities for achieving 'wise use’, defined as the sustainable utilization of resources of the Okavango Delta system, within the framework of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. The paper argues that while the Ramsar Convention’s wise use strategic plan forms an important basis for collective action toward sustainably managing the Okavango River Basin as a whole, there are numerous barriers to success, the most important of which is the abiding behaviour of the region’s state-makers in defense of sovereignty and pursuit of narrow national interest. In spite of this formidable barrier to success, the paper highlights a number of on-going multilateral activities that may serve to further the aims of wise use of the Okavango River Basin system. It also provides a number of practical suggestions for furthering progressive frameworks of action. The paper is based on a close reading of published and unpublished written materials and the findings of a number of open-ended interviews conducted with stakeholders active in the Okavango River Basin. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/988 Files in this item: 1
Swatuk_state Interests_2003.pdf (2.238Mb)
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