Governance, Decentralization and Co-Management: Lessons From Africa

Today, decentralization and democratic participation are presented as necessary conditions to achieve poverty alleviation and ensure the sustainable use of our diminishing natural resources. In small-scale fisheries, similar ideas predominate and decentralization has become the new management paradigm through the concepts of community-based and co-management. In this paper, we present the conclusions of a series of governance analyses recently completed in five African countries (Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, Malawi, and Zambia). Relying on a new analytical framework which emphasizes the different nature of governance reforms and reflects in particular the distinction between deconcentration, devolution and decentralization, these governance analyses propose to assess the various co-management programmes implemented in these countries. From these reviews, it appears that the (mainly-donor funded and often top-down) fisheries governance reforms implemented in Africa have been successful in challenging the previous (centralized) governance system. However, the reviews also suggest that, contrary to their intent of empowering primary resource users, the inabilities of local governments, deconcentrated agencies and fisherfolk to take up their newfound mandates has frequently resulted in the division of influence among local power brokers and in the instrumentalization of the co-management process. From a conceptual point of view, the analysis highlights the limits of the conventional approach to co-management and questions in particular the view that participation is the key-element to ensure successful decentralization. Instead, the document highlights the crucial importance of downward accountability as the main ‘driving belt’ ensuring an efficient representativity of the local communities, and underscores the importance of recognising the political economy dimension of co-management

Power Struggle, Dispute and Alliance Over Local Resources: Analyzing 'Democratic' Decentralization of Natural Resources through the Lenses of Africa Inland Fisheries

Summary This paper is based on a global review of fisheries decentralization programs (co-management) in sub-Saharan Africa. Partly challenging the current narrative, but in line with experience in other sectors (e.g., forestry), the review shows that the outcomes of these decentralizations have not been systematically positive. In most cases, fisheries co-management failed to improve governance, but simply altered the distribution of power and responsibility amongst the different stakeholders. In this new political landscape, poorly designed reforms have enabled a variety of (usual and new) local actors to advance their own agendas, often at the detriment of the direct end-users (fisherfolk).governance reforms decentralization natural resources management local actors sub-Saharan Africa