6.1 Executive Secretary's Visit to Donors and Collaborating Institutions
· Prof. Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed, the Executive Secretary, visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), and the Center for Development Studies of University of Bergen, from 6-21 May 2001.
· During the first week of November 2001, the Executive Secretary visited the Sudan National Chapter to discuss the preparations for the 7th OSSREA Congress. The Chapter has selected the Congress theme and prepared a preliminary concept paper which will be further refined by the Secretariat. The theme selected is "The quest for social peace in Africa: Transformation, democracy and public policy".
· During the last two weeks of November, the Executive Secretary visited Norway and The Netherlands. In Norway, he discussed future plans for collaboration with two partners, namely, the Center for Development Studies (the University of Bergen) and Chr. Michelsen Institute. OSSREA and the two institutions have joint projects that are phasing out and there was need to see what future activities may be organized.
In Oslo, the Executive Secretary met with the responsible Programme Officer in NORAD and was informed of the planned visit of the NORAD Officials to OSSREA in February 2002. The issue of collaboration with Norwegian institutions was discussed and the NORAD Official expressed support for this collaboration.
During the visit to The Netherlands, a meeting was held with the responsible Project Officer in the ISS and then with the responsible officer in The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both meetings were focused on future activities and plans for new projects.
6.2 PLaW Activities
6.2.1 Management of Workshops
· A Social Science Research Methodology workshop was held in Sana'a (Yemen) from 15-24 April 2001. Twenty-five participants, of whom 16 were women, were given training in research methodology.
· A similar workshop was held in Khartoum (Sudan) from 19-31 December 2001. Twenty-five participants, of whom 14 were women, participated in the training programme.
6.2.2 Support for Project Implementation
· Support was provided, in the preparation of policy briefs (17 October - 2 November, 2001), to the research team of the American University in Cairo (Desert Development Center) that is implementing an IDRC- sponsored project titled "Assessment of Water Users Associations in Egypt".
· Support was also provided, in the drafting of a final report of the project (27 November to 5 December 2001), to the Environmental Protection Council of Yemen, which is implementing an IDRC-sponsored project titled "Socio-
· economic, Agricultural and Environmental Implications of Qat Consumption/Production in Yemen".
6.2.3 Review of Project Proposals
· Nine proposals submitted to IDRC in response to a call for proposals on a project titled "Studies on the Socio-economic Impact of Water Hyacinth on Riparian Communities of the Victoria Lake" were reviewed in order to select a `team of researchers' from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The review was carried out to the satisfaction of IDRC.
· A research proposal titled "Social Value and Management of Water in Egypt: A Study of Grassroots and Newly Created Water Users Organization towards a Policy and Institutional Reform" and submitted to IDRC by Minia University (Egypt) for support was also reviewed.
6.2.4 Environmental Forum
As part of the activities of the OSSREA-based Environmental Forum, researchers were identified from Botswana, Rwanda and Zimbabwe to assess whether or not National Environmental Action Plans (NEAP)/National Action Plans (NAP), Forestry Action Plans, etc., in their respective countries have worked. Each country has a team of at least two researchers, one of which is a social scientist and the other a natural scientist, working on the project. OSSREA provides technical and financial support for this research endeavor.
6.2.5 Wetlands Project
A team made up of two social and two natural scientists is in the process of formulating a project titled "Management of Wetlands in the Nile Basin Countries". To date, the team has carried out two field trips, one in the Lake Tana area and the other in the southwestern parts of Ethiopia.
6.3 Cross-Border Trade and Food Security in the Horn of Africa
This is a collaborative research project of OSSREA and the Broadening Access and Strengthening Input Market Systems - Collaborative Research Support Program (BASIS-CRSP), USA, which started in 1998. One of the main activities it carried out in 2001 was organizing a regional seminar on "Cross-Border Trade: Research and Policy Implications in the Horn of Africa".
The seminar was held from 2-3 April 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was jointly organized by OSSREA and BASIS-CRSP (USA). The following three case studies were presented at the seminar:
i. Cross-Border Livestock Trade and Food Security in the Horn of Africa: The Case of Eastern and Southeastern Borderlands, by Tegegne Teka, Alemayehu Azeze and Ayele G.Mariam;
ii. Cross-Border Trade and Food Security in the Ethiopia-Djibouti and Ethiopia-Somalia Borderlands, by Tegegne Teka and Alemayehu Azeze;
iii. Cross-Border Livestock Trade and Food Security in the Somalia and Northeastern Kenya Borderlands, by Peter D. Little.
The presentations were commented on by three discussants: Mr. Getachew Yoseph, Department of Economics, Addis Ababa University; Mr. Maalim Mahaboub, Arid Lands Resource Management Project, Office of the President, Kenya; Prof. Leif Manger, University of Bergen, Norway. Other participants also made additional comments.
There were also other sessions on similar efforts and databases by other organizations, as well as policy implications and future directions required on cross-border trade in the Horn of Africa. The other institutions that reported on their related activities were: TERRA NOVA Somalia; Organization of African Unity/ International Bureau of Animal Resources (OAU/IBAR); GTZ/Borena Lowland Pastoral Development Program; Dire Dawa Foreign Trade Office; Southern Tier Initiative (MEDAC/USAID); and Livestock Marketing Authority (Ethiopia).
The seminar was attended by about 40 participants including government representatives of line-departments (from Ethiopia and Kenya), NGOs engaged in a similar activity in the Horn of Africa (Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program-USA, PANOS-Ethiopia, SAVE the Children-USA, TERRA NOVA Somalia), bilateral agencies (GTZ, USAID), regional organizations (OAU/IBAR) and researchers from universities based in Ethiopia, Kenya, Norway and USA.
6.4 LANDNET Africa Activities
OSSREA is the interim facilitator of LANDNET Africa, which is a network on land tenure and land policy issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Activities of the Network and related events in 2001 include the following:
6.4.1 LANDNET West Africa Launching Workshop
The launching workshop for LANDNET West Africa was held from 12-13 February 2001 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The workshop was organized by Groupe de Rechereche et d'Action sur le Foncier (GRAF) in collaboration with IIED. It was sponsored by DFID.
The objectives of the workshop were to (i) agree on common and consensual objectives about networking activities on land issues; and (ii) to develop the structure and functioning mechanisms of the network at sub-regional level, i.e., LandNet West Africa.
On 12 February 2001, the workshop discussed presentations on networking and fundraising. In addition, technical and development partners in the sub-region also presented their interests and areas of possible collaboration with LANDNET. On 13 February 2001, participants were divided into two groups and discussed objectives, activities, structure and funding of the network at sub-regional level. The groups presented their recommendations in the plenary session for further discussion. Then, the final communiqué was drafted and adopted by the participants. The communiqué indicated the activities, structure and financing of the network over the next one year.
According to the communiqué, the major activities of the network identified by the participants include the following:
i. To consolidate existing national networks and help the creation of networks in countries where they do not exist;
ii. Collect and disseminate information to the various networks;
iii. Identify common themes of interest;
iv. Establish and develop contacts with other sub-regional networks and development partners; and
v. Develop and initiate mobilization of financial resources and implementation of activities of the network.
Groupe de Rechereche et d'Action sur le Foncier (GRAF)/LandNet Burkina was nominated to facilitate the sub-regional network (LandNet West Africa) over the next one year.
The participants of the workshop came mainly from countries of the sub-region (West Africa), i.e., Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo. Other participants include, OSSREA (the interim facilitator of LandNet Africa), several inter-African organizations (CILSS, IPD/AOS, Liptako Gourma, SADAOC) and NGOs (OXFAM-UK, IIED Sahel, IUCN-West Africa Regional Office). Mr. Alemayehu Azeze, Program Officer, attended the workshop representing OSSREA.
6.4.2 GTZ Workshop on LandNet
The workshop is one of the follow-up activities of the Addis Ababa, (January 2000) Workshop on Land Tenure Networking in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its objective is to develop a www-based interactive information and communication system which aims at making available, among others, information on organizations, studies, programs, researchers and activities on land tenure and land policy issues.
The workshop, which was held from 5-8 June 2001 in Germany, first discussed status reports on LandNet Africa from sub-regional representatives. Activities at the Secretariat and the Horn of Africa sub-region level were presented by Mr. Alemayehu Azeze, OSSREA Program Officer. Mr. Maxwell Omondi presented a report on activities carried out by LandNet East Africa while Mrs. Sue Mbaya presented activities carried out by Land Rights Network of Southern Africa (LandNet South Africa). The activities of LandNet West Africa were presented by Mr. Marc Yeboah. The presentations indicated that proposals for further activities had been developed; workshops were conducted at national (in some countries) and sub-regional levels. Thereafter, the workshop focused on the SHARED software and the proposed web site on LandNet Africa. Finally, the participants agreed to modify the software and then to test it in the field taking three countries, namely, Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe. It was also agreed that an alternative to the SHARED software proposed by Sue Mbaya, Land Rights Network of South Africa, was to be considered.
6.4.3 LandNet East Africa Thematic Workshop and General Assembly
LandNet East Africa is a sub-regional network currently comprising four countries, namely, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The Secretariat of the Network is hosted at the Resources Conflict Institute (RECONCILE) based in Nakuru, Kenya.
From 19-25 August 2001, LandNet East Africa organized a meeting in Naivasha, Kenya. The meeting had two parts. The first part, which took the first three days, focused on pastoral land rights and the second part, which continued just after the completion of the thematic workshop, was a general assembly. The meetings were follow-up activities of the Network's planning meeting in August 2000.
The thematic workshop on pastoral land rights was opened by a speech by H. E. Bonaya Godana, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Kenya. The Minister indicated the relevance of the thematic workshop given the importance of the pastoral sector in Kenya. He also mentioned that there was opportunity for the civil society and the government to work together. He pointed out that the participants should rise above enumerating the problems, and called on the participants to come up with relevant alternatives to be implemented. The Minister's speech was read by Mr. Daniel Mule, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Kenya.
Prof. A. A. Aboud from Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya, made the keynote address. Thereafter, country experiences from East Africa (Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda), Horn of Africa (Ethiopia) and West Africa (Mali) were presented. The presentation from Mali by Ced Hesse pointed out the opportunities for civil society pastoral groups to play a role. In this regard, decentralization, legislative reforms and democratization processes in Mali were identified as an example. The presentation on Mali emphasized the pastoral charter of that country and included such points as objectives, key principles, positive features and major weaknesses and remarks.
The country presentations focused on the role and constraints of the pastoral sector in the economy of each country. The issues were further elaborated by group discussions and plenary presentations. The following were some of the major constraints of the pastoral sector in Eastern Africa:
· External intervention/ land grabs including gazettement of lands for parks and farming,
· Conflict and livestock wrestling, and
· Sedentarization and privatization of lands by the pastoralists themselves.
The meeting also identified a sub-regional (East African) program for pastoral land rights. These included the following:
· Strengthening networking around pastoral land rights by:
o Reinforcing the capacity of pastoralists and pastoral groups to advocate for pastoral interests at national and sub-regional levels;
o Promoting the establishment of umbrella bodies at the national level that advocate for pastoral land rights;
o Encouraging and facilitate information and experience sharing; and
o Undertaking pastoral policy analysis and sensitizing policy makers.
· Enabling sub-regional frameworks with sub-regional organizations by:
o Promoting action on cross-border pastoral issues, such as conflict, pastoral area development and the management of livestock and grazing;
o Promoting cross-border documentation and awareness creation on cross-cutting issues; and
o Advocating for the representation of pastoral interests.
The existing environment in the sub-region was identified as an opportunity in the sense that it is conducive to the implementation of the above activities. For example, IGAD is interested in resource management; there is also the East African Community that would facilitate issues at the sub-regional level.
The second part of the meeting was the General Assembly of the Network. This part of the meeting focused on the status of national networks. After presentations and discussions were made by representatives of national activities of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, the meeting identified follow-up activities for both national and sub-regional network. The meeting also discussed and adopted the constitution of the sub-regional network. Office bearers comprising the chairman, secretary and treasurers have been elected by considering country, sectoral and gender representation. Participants also agreed that RECONCILE should continue the interim facilitation. The Hon. Prof. Peter Anyang' Nyongo, Member of Parliament, Kenya, made a keynote address. His address focused on the role of civil society. He suggested that the civil society should go beyond criticizing the Government's policy and be able to provide a better alternative. He added that the civil society needed to approach people in the parliament who might be interested in the issue under consideration.
6.4.4 Workshop on Current Issues on Land Tenure in Ethiopia
OSSREA attended a workshop on "Current Issues on Land Tenure in Ethiopia". It was held from 6-7 April 2001 at the Ghion Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was organized by the Institute of Development Research, Addis Ababa University, in collaboration with the Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin. The workshop focused on issues of land policy, impact of land tenure on food production, land use and management, and conflict over land. During the meeting, basic data on researchers and institutions based in Ethiopia with an interest in land tenure and land policy issues was collected by OSSREA.
6.5 African Conflicts: Management, Resolution, and Post-Conflict Recovery and Development
The African Conflicts research project started in 2000. An international conference was held in collaboration with the Development Policy Management Forum (DPMF) in December 2000 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The following are similar events in 2001.
6.5.1 Workshop on the Sudan Case
From 28-30 May 2001, a workshop was held in Addis Ababa to discus the case of the conflict in the Sudan.
The workshop was attended by the following resource persons: those who had been involved in research on the conflict in the Sudan for many years, those who are currently involved in active peace initiatives, those networks who represent various sectors of the civil society from most parts of the Sudan, those who took part in the Bergen Forum on the Sudan in 1989, and representatives of the Sudanese Embassy in Ethiopia. The workshop discussed the following points.
i. The Role of History: How can the Sudanese people make use of their controversial history for shaping new concepts of a united Sudan with diversity?
ii. The Role of Intellectuals, Technocrats and Political Leaders: What kind of mature intellectual and political leaders does Sudan need for a non-conflict future? What contributions can the Sudanese (individuals and groups) offer in promoting the culture of tolerance for a united and prosperous Sudan?
iii. Advocating Internal Peace Initiatives: How can the Sudanese people develop and support an initiative of their own as a possible agenda for national transformation out of the present crisis? How to break the silence in raising the peace issue?
iv. The Role of the International Community, Foreign Relations, and the Diaspora: How can the Sudan's foreign relations be influenced towards peace-building and development? And what role could different groups including the diaspora play?
v. The Role of Religion and Religious Groups: How can religious groups contribute to peace-making, social stability and respect of human rights?
vi. The Media: What kind of information order and language style are needed to sensitize the Sudanese public towards maturity, accommodation and confidence in the future?
vii. The Modalities of Post-Conflict Recovery and Envelopment: What should be done in terms of revenue-sharing, local governance, role of civil society groups (e.g., women groups), etc., to pave a constructive way to the future?
The report of the workshop has now been published by OSSREA.
6.5.2 Planning Meeting for Country Case Studies
A planning meeting was held from 15-16 October 2001 at OSSREA headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting discussed four proposals from Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. The topics of the proposals are as follows:
· Inter- and Intra-Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia: The Role of Access to and Control over Resources in the Rift Valley and the Surrounding Escarpments, by Kassahun Birhanu and Tegegne Gebre Egziabher;
· Clan-Based Political Culture in Peacemaking and Governance in Decomposed Somalia in the Post-Military Period, 1991-2001, by Ahmed Yusuf Farah and Ahmed Abdisalam Adan;
· African Conflicts: Management, Resolution and Post-Conflict Recovery and Development (The Case of Sudan), by Atta El-Battahani and Priscilla Joseph;
· African Conflicts: Management, Resolution and Post-Conflict Recovery and Development (The Case of Zimbabwe); "Zimbabwe: State Formation, Access to and the Control of Land Prospects for Success in Addressing Historical, Socio-Economic Imbalances?" by Donald P. Chimanikire and Martin R. Rupiya.
6.6 Workshop for Establishing a Regional Pastoral Network for Eastern Africa
A regional workshop on Establishing a Regional Pastoral Network for Eastern Africa was held from 12-13 April 2001 at the Imperial Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was organized by OSSREA and attended by pastoralists, researchers, government and NGO representatives based in Eastern African countries, namely, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somaliland, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. About 40 participants attended the workshop.
The objective of the workshop was to:
· discuss current issues such as land tenure, conflict, resource management, food security, and environment in pastoral areas;
· identify the role of networks regarding the needs of the pastoralists;
· agree on the process of establishing the Network.
The workshop was officially opened by the Hon. Omwony Ojwok, Minister of State in the Prime Minster's Office, Uganda. Prof. Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed, Executive Secretary of OSSREA, pointed out that the initiative for the workshop came from pastoralists who had attended a workshop on "Pastoral Resource Competition in Eastern Africa" organized by OSSREA in October 1999.
The workshop discussed presentations on the role of pastoralists and networks by Prof. Mohammed Salih, ISS, the Netherlands, and Mr. Melakou Tegegn, PANOS, Ethiopia. The presentations stressed that pastoralists have important socio-political and economic roles that have both positive and negative aspects. The presenters recommended that networks need to respond to these realities and should be geared towards enhancing the positive roles and eliminating the negative ones. Participants also presented land tenure issues and experience in organizing pastoralist forums in their respective countries. These country presentations revealed that pastorlists in the Eastern Africa region face similar problems that would call for a regional approach in counteracting them. Therefore, participants agreed to work for the establishment of a pastoralist network in Eastern Africa. To this end, participants identified the principles for the network as well as a follow-up committee. The committee comprised 13 members including pastoralists, NGO representatives and researchers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Somaliland, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The committee has been mandated to workout the constitution and structure of the network. The committee will also organize the up-coming workshop to discuss the findings and recommendations and establish the network.
To facilitate the participation of pastoralists in the workshop, deliberations were translated into/from five languages, viz. Afar, Amharic, Arabic, English and Oromiffa.
6.7 Dryland Husbandry Project
The Dryland Husbandry Project (DHP) is a regional action-research project funded by Sida/SAREC and coordinated from OSSREA. The first phase began in 1995 and was in operation up to 1998 in the dryland areas of five IGAD member countries, namely, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. In 1999, DHP started its second phase under the umbrella of Regional Dryland Programme for Eastern Africa: Training and Research for Sustainable Livelihoods (REDPA). In addition to DHP, REDPA includes two other Sida/SAREC-funded programs: Environmental Policy and Society (EPOS), based at the University of Linköping, Sweden; and Pastoral Information Network Programme (PINEP), based at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Under REDPA, the division of labour among the three programmes in the second phase was that DHP would focus on: (i) Extension Methodology, (ii) Action Research, and (iii) Policy Issues. EPOS would focus on: (i) M.Sc. and informal training, (ii) Local Agenda 21, (iii) policy issues on Convention to Combat Desertification. PINEP would focus on: (i) M.Sc. training, (ii) Research, and (iii) Research Information Dissemination.
The following are some of the major activities carried out by DHP in 2001.
· Securing Bridging Funds for DHP: It was communicated to OSSREA by Sida/SAREC that DHP/OSSREA would be funded until the end of December 2001. Future extensions are under study. The project proposals for all the four DHP countries have been forwarded to Sida/SAREC.
· External Evaluation: Sida/SAREC selected a team of three individuals, namely, Dr. Tom Alberts, Dr. Seme Debela and Dr. Coert J. Geldenhuys, to evaluate the Dryland Husbandry Project (DHP), Pastoral Information Network Programme (PINEP), and Environmental Policy and Society (EPOS). For this purpose, there was a two-day meeting in Nairobi, from 18-19 April 2001, to discuss the terms of reference for the evaluation team. The meeting was attended by Dr. Eva Ohlsson, Sida/SAREC, and Dr. Tegegne Teka, DHP Regional Coordinator. The team visited OSSREA and DHP National Offices, including action-research sites in DHP-participating countries. Finally, the evaluation team presented its draft report in a meeting held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 14-15 September 2001 in the presence of participants from REDPA and RPSUD as well as Dr. Eva Ohlsson. Prof. Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed, Executive Secretary of OSSREA, and Mr. Alemayehu Azeze from DHP Regional Office were also present at the meeting.
· DHP Publications: DHP Publications Series No. 5 (1999), on Uganda, has been edited and published. In addition, DHP Publications Series No. 6, an Evaluation Manual, has been sent for publication.
