report - Arid Areas Programme

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Doreen Atkinson: A Review of International Arid Areas Research Agencies March 2008 Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC) 2. United Nations The UN Convention to Combat Desertification defines desertification as: "land degradation in arid, semiarid and subhumid tropics caused by a combination of climatic factors and human activities." Thus, work on desertification-related issues includes a wide range of topics: 107 • local economic development, • gender issues, • poverty eradication, • relief delivery and food security, and • climate change research • natural resources management • ecology, zoology and botany of arid lands. United Nations • Desertification • local economic development, • gender issues, • poverty eradication, • relief delivery and food security • climate change research • natural resources management • ecology, zoology and botany of arid lands. Conclusion South Africa has a great deal to learn from research conducted elsewhere in the world, particularly as regards economic investment in desert regions. In certain ways, our Karoo, Kalahari and Namaqualand areas are already well developed, particularly in terms of commercial agriculture and urban infrastructure. But there are new and pressing issues on the horizon, particularly with regards to climate change, the need for sustainable desert agriculture, the growth in international tourism, and the need to grow the enterprise base of the local economy, with particular emphasis on the involvement of black and low-income entrpreneurs. The overview presented in this report has highlighted the following themes, which can guide South African Research and Development in arid areas: 1. Improving government service delivery in arid areas, particularly with regards to appropriate technology (housing, energy, water and sanitation) 2. Creating partnerships between established (often white-owned) and emerging (often black-owned) businesses 3. Promoting high-value desert products (particularly if they are low-cost, in terms of transport) 4. Promoting place-bound products (such as tourism sites) 5. Identifying desert cultural resources (e.g. indigenous knowledge and art) 107 http://ag.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/cstccd.cgi. 62
Doreen Atkinson: A Review of International Arid Areas Research Agencies March 2008 Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC) 6. Productive use of land by non-western communities, and by indigenous farmers, including sustainable grazing systems – this can have a major significance for commonage land in Namaqualand, the Kalahari and in periurban areas in the Karoo 7. Promoting community rangers on game farms and game reserves in the arid areas 8. Promoting environmental education for school learners in the arid areas 9. Production of indigenous crops and herbs 10. Improving local pastoral practices, particularly with regards to sheep and goats 11. Investigating, professionalising and promoting off-road tourism (e.g. 4x4 tourism) 12. Promoting business networking in the arid areas, including the creation of partnerships and consortia to bid for bigger projects 13. Creating realistic opportunities for the involvement of local black and coloured businesses in tourism enterprises 14. GIS and spatial planning systems that show business, agriculture and tourism projects, together with underground and surface water resources and transport systems 15. Assisting networking amongst emergent farmers in the Karoo, Kalahari and Namaqualand, and the introduction of internet-based information systems 16. Business incentives offered by municipalities, to attract investment 17. Business support systems for start-up businesses 18. Promote the Karoo space projects (telescopes) as a tourism destination, and maximise the multiplier effects of tourism activities in these areas 19. Promoting cross-border planning systems, whether across local, district, provincial or national boundaries 20. Researching population dynamics, poverty, and migration patterns. 21. Promoting cutting-edge, high-technology projects in arid areas, such as solar and wind energy and the effective use of water resources 22. Analyse the interaction between human and ecological systems (such as watersheds, ecologically sensitive areas, and grazing land). These initiatives will require the creation of a strategic “Greater Karoo” economic agency, to identify economic options, lobby funders and decision-makers, and assist local stakeholders to network and to refine their business ideas. Such an agency should build up a repository of arid areas information and issue a newsletter, circulated to a data-base of entrepreneurs in the arid areas. 63
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