Nineteen University of Botswana undergraduate students completed their work for HOORC's Winter Course this week, wrapping up their fieldwork assignments with presentations of the results of their research. This year's work included economics studies from Mbakile P. Seabe - Household attitudes and willingness to pay for the conservation of Lake Ngami, Botswana -- Kaelo Galeage - The impact of...
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UNPulse has alerted us to Trends in Sustainable Development 2008-2009, recently issued by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) Division for Sustainable Development. The report highlights recent trends in agriculture, rural development, land, desertification and drought, five of the six themes being considered by the Commission on Sustainable Development at its...
ELDIS has alerted us to a new report from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), Trading nature: a report, with case studies, on the contribution of wildlife trade management to sustainable livelihoods and the Millennium Development Goals. The report makes the point that the worldwide value of wildlife trade has been estimated at USD300 billion, which excludes the domestic trade that takes place...
A newly published article by HOORC economist Donald Kgathi and associate Julie Wilk, Risk in the Okavango Delta in the face of social and environmental change in Geojournal, looks at results of a survey of four villages in the Okavango Delta. Households were questioned about strategies they used to cope with recurring hazards such as drought, reduced flooding and animal disease. Results of the...
The World Resources Institute (WRI) and its partners have produced a guide for the public sector on how to take ecosystem services into account in economic and social strategies. Ecosystem Services: A Guide for Decision Makers provides examples of how the success of projects, plans and policies can benefit from incorporating ecosystem services. The guide introduces various methods to link...
“Summer of Solutions” – I first heard these words from my friend Ashley Trull, from across the table in the Clark University dining hall in late April, over plates piled high with mediocre vegan cafeteria food. Summer of Solutions sounded like an amazing program, designed by and for students, working on exciting, real projects for community-based solutions to climate change. She eagerly described to me the project descriptions she had seen on the website and promised to forward the email she had received with the application info attached. But she didn’t need to forward the email. By the end of the meal, it was decided.
“We’re going!” I said, so adamantly and with such force and intention that I surprised even myself, grabbing Ashley’s hand in excitement as we rose from...
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The Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (HOORC) is growing. The University of Botswana is currently advertising the following academic positions for HOORC for both Botswana citizens and international candidates:
Vacancy No. HOORC1/2008 Associate Professor/Senior Research Fellow in Wildlife Ecology and ManagementVacancy No. HOORC2/2008 Associate Professor/Senior Research Fellow in...
"Not all that is very useful commands high value (water, for example) and not everything that has a high value is very useful (such as a diamond)." Preface, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: an Interim Report
Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News has alerted us to a new resource. At the European Environment Ministers Meeting's "Potsdam Initiative--Biological Biodiversity...
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has announced the release of the 2008 African Economic Outlook (AEO). Focused on technical skills development, the report also presents a comprehensive analysis of the economic, social and political developments on the continent. The AEO applies a common analytical framework to every country, every year. Produced by the OECD...
The latest issue in the IIED's Participatory Learning and Action series has arrived in HOORC's Library. Immersions : learning about poverty face-to-face presents examples of participatory work intended to help development aid workers better understand the nature of poverty. Immersions are opportunities for development professionals to spend a period of time living with and learning from a poor...
A tool for visualization of socio-economic data, the 2008 TerraViva! SEDAC Viewer has been updated with a wide range of new SEDAC data. This map viewer and standalone software application (Microsoft Windows-based) uses a data-viewing engine and tools to enable visualization and integration of hundreds of socioeconomic and environmental variables and layers, including a range of satellite-based...
Fishing on the Thamalakane River 2007
Integrating gender and livelihoods in a biodiversity project : a case study of the invisible stakeholders in the Okavango Delta Panhandle, a Master's thesis by Barbara Herrero Cangas for the University College London, looks at how women are participating in the fisheries co-management work of the BIOKAVANGO Project. Cangas' interviews with women who fish...
The UN International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD) has approved a grant to expand and support a knowledge network to connect development partners working on initiatives to reduce rural poverty in Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. The network known FIDAfrique-IFADAfrica, which has operated since 1999, will allow members to share lessons learned, experiences and ideas for development....
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Story Clark, author of A field guide to conservation finance, makes the point that organizing and financing local conservation of nature lies in the world of finance, where people understand the art and science of raising, borrowing, invensting and managing funds. Based on her knowledge and experience with private conservation projects in the United States, Clark aims to help the reader...
SARPN site
Douglas Thamage, recently appointed Community Conservation Officer, Fisheries, for the BIOKAVANGO Project, has alerted us to the web site of the Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN) a non-profit organisation that aims to promote debate and knowledge sharing about poverty reduction processes and experiences in Southern Africa. The site allows browsing by country and by...
I wonder where the mea culpa is for having been at the helm when the highest inflation in 15 years appears.Does not Mr. Trichet realise that his inaction in not increasing rates since when he took his post was directly responsible for where we are today?An inconvenient fact so not to be mentioned!Onésimo Alvarez-MoroSee article:The global financial turmoil could last longer and have a broader impact on the eurozone economy than previously expected, the European Central Bank warned onThursday, even as it underlined its hard-line stance on inflation by leaving interest rates unchanged.Comments by Jean-Claude Trichet, ECB president, highlighted the risks and uncertainty the Frankfurt-based institution sees surrounding the eurozone economic outlook. But with inflation at 3.5 per cent, the...
The 2008 Factbook for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has appeared and gives a useful análisis of the state of the world. In these volatile times, well worth a...
You may have heard this piece of wisdom in Econ 101. “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Someone is footing the bill.
The mass material affluence that characterizes much of American society is a testament to the power of our economic and political system. The cities we inhabit, the cars we drive, the gadgets we use, the ways we communicate, the food we eat, and the energy we consume are all products of its success.
But remember, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Someone is footing the bill.
Allow me to modify that statement. There is no such thing as a dollar menu. Transactions inflict costs on the real world that are not reflected in a market pricing system.
A friend of mine is particularly fond of McDonald’s Dollar menu, and makes a habit of...
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The United States climate delegation negotiating a Kyoto successor in Bangkok has suggested the U.S. will be unable to provide funds to poor nations [ark | moreark] fighting global warming because of worsening economic conditions, but may be able to provide loans. So after decades of booming economies and growth in emissions in the rich countries, developing countries are now left in the lurch, even as the rich super predatory consumers seek to maintain their high levels of consumption for a wee bit longer. This has been described as "the moral equivalent of having someone drive a car into your house and offering you a loan to pay for the damages."
The Earth is in real danger from a global heating meltdown as action is delayed over concerns about price and as a skeptic lead public...