For a holistic view of biotechnology in West and Central Africa : what can integrated development approaches contribute ?

peer reviewedAfrica, ever on the lookout for development levers that will allow its economy to take off, is turning more and more towards technology. This is one of the possible modern avenues to success, especially the use of the biotechnologies that are so touted by Western countries. However, the hope placed in these new technologies must not hide the long- proven fact that technology alone is not enough to solve development problems. Biotechnologies do not escape this rule. Biotechnologies can be the best and the worst things for the people of Africa. Beyond their technical contributions, we must be wary of their boomerang effects and collateral damage. A country’s development is actually more complex than simply implementing technology, and in the current global environmental context a holistic vision is necessary to ensure sustainable development. In the area of water, this integrated vision emerged on the international scene during the Dublin Conference in 1992, which consecrated the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). More recently, the Eco-Health concept strives to combine human health and ecosystem health while incorporating a socioeconomic dimension into the health and environmental spheres. The concern to mesh human activities better with environmental protection was materialized previously, in the 1970s already, through impact studies. After presenting this set of tools in the service of a holistic approach to the environment and development, we shall see that these ap- proaches can inspire the players when it comes to the ways they implement biotechnologies. At the end of the day, a holistic approach to biotechnologies in Africa will be facilitated by enhanced information and communication and reli- ance on peasant farmers’ expertise. It will have to be rooted in broader participation of the players concerned. This in- tegration will also concern environmental and land-owning aspects, without forgetting socio-cultural acceptance of the projects and the links with health. Ultimately, it will also mean putting the human at the heart of development by taking all the richness and particularities of African society into account

L'eau dans les pays en développement, retour d'expériences de gestion intégrée et participative avec les acteurs locaux

Cet ouvrage constitue un témoignage laissé après plus de 20 années de recherche consacrées à la GIRE en Europe et dans les pays en développement. Après avoir contribué à l'analyse de nouveaux modes de gestion en Belgique, des expériences de gestion intégrée et participative ont été initiées dans divers pays du sud. L'objectif était de vérifier le caractère universel de ce type de démarche basée sur la participation des acteurs locaux de l'eau. Le lecteur est emmené dans un petit tour du monde, au départ de la Belgique, pour se rendre dans 7 autres pays différents, chaque étape correspondant à un des chapitres du livre : Burkina Faso, RD Congo, Bolivie, Algérie, Maroc, Haïti, Cameroun. Dans ces huit rencontres, au fil de l'eau, on retrouve les mêmes conditions de participation, de solidarité, d'intégration, tout en veillant au caractère pragmatique et opérationnel de la démarche. Ces expériences de GIRE replacent l'homme au coeur du processus de développement

Macrophytic Distribution and Trophic State of Some Natural and Impacted Watercourses - Belgium Wallonia

peer reviewedIn the present paper we investigated macrophyte community structure in 60 natural and impacted stream and river sites distributed throughout the Walloon river network. The objectives were to describe the distribution of macrophyte assemblages in relation to physico‐chemical parameters of their environment and to assess the variability in ecological metrics within these watercourses. Two‐way clustering allowed us to simultaneously assign sample units and species to groups by performing two separate cluster analyses. Indicator species analysis allowed us to assess the degree to which a species indicated a group, based on its constancy and distribution of abundance. Six end‐groups were identified as a result of using twoway clustering and indicator species analysis techniques. Hygroamblystegium fluviatile, Chiloscyphus polyanthos and Lemanea fluviatilis were found to characterize acidic and low impacted streams and rivers (G1), while Ranunculus fluitans was found in all low impacted large streams (G2). Potamogeton pectinatus, proved to be more common in eutrophicated waters in the calcareous areas particularly in the ʺLoess low plateauxʺ region (G6). Cinclidotus riparius, Fissidens crassipes and Pellia endiviifolia, appeared in rivers situated in the Condroz region (G4), which was characterized by a high concentration of nitrogen

Quelques clés de succès et verrous pour des portes résistantes à la GIRE.

Comment évoquer ce concept sans donner l'impression de vouloir enfoncer des portes ouvertes ? Mais ces portes, sont-elles réellement ouvertes ? S'il existe un trousseau de clés pour les ouvrir, rangé dans des boîtes à outils confectionnées par les organismes internationaux du domaine de l'eau, la GIRE se heurte encore trop souvent à des portes fermées par autant de verrous qui en empêchent l'accès. Nous retiendrons ici un jeu de 5 clés et 5 verrous

Eau et territoire à travers l’expérience des contrats de rivière en Wallonie (Belgique)

For more than 20 years, the river contracts develop successfully in Walloon Region of Belgium. To date, 89 % of the territory is covered by these contracts. Inspired by the French model, the Walloon approach privileges the participative approach within users' community which makes a commitment on the elaboration and the implementation of an action plan of restoration of the water resources and the waterways.The success of the river contracts is strengthened by a willingness of integration of all the components of the management of the water, among these, the spatial size. In reference to a territory of management as the sub-catchment basin, the river contracts transcend the administrative limits to recreate water territories. They will be territories of solidarity and participation, territories of knowledge where the local expertise of the residents and the users of the water is recognized and comes to complete the scientific knowledge, territories of preventive actions through the promotion of best practice of ground occupation and finally territories of integration by the consideration of all the functions of the river of which the landscaped function. This territorial reference constitutes one of the main levers of this process of integrated and participative management of the water at a local level.Today, the river contract makes its contribution to the implementation of the water framework directive, while positioning as a tool of territorialization in the management of the water at a local level

Gestion physique concertée des cours d'eau en basse Semois, 10 années d'expérience avec le contrat de rivière

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