UKZN Pietermaritzburg (South Africa), April 2012
MSc student Agronomics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) studies the values rural households attach to forest resources
Stanley Sharaunga of UKZN was motivated to study the values rural households attach to forest resources because of the fact that difficulties have continued to be encountered in sustaining community-based forest management (CBFM) programs in many rural communities of South Africa. The main problem affecting the sustainability of CBFM programs is the limited participation of households in such initiatives. The low household participation in CBFM programs have been attributed to the fact that the values households in most South African rural areas attach to forests are poorly understood for appropriate policy recommendations regarding CBFM programs. This case study sought to improve this understanding by examining the values households in KwaSobabili, New Reserve B and Gudwini (SCI-SLM recognised) communities of KwaZulu-Natal attach to forest resources and the factors influencing their participation in CBFM programs. On the page of SCI SLM South Africa a short summary of his study can be found.
CIS-VU Amsterdam (The Netherlands), March 2012
MSc students VU University Amsterdam execute field research in Uganda under the auspices of SCI-SLM
In April and May of 2011, two master students in Environment and Resource Management (ERM) of the VU University in Amsterdam executed their graduation projects under the auspices of SCI-SLM. During the field research they were supervised by Dr W. Critchley (TAG, CIS-VU Amsterdam) and locally hosted by Mr. S. Muwaya of the Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), based in Kampala.
Olaf Piers (OP) and Eva van de Ven (EV) both travelled to Uganda to execute their fieldwork in two – preselected – innovative communities; one located in Ntungamo district (community 1, as depicted on the left) and the other in Kamuli district (community 2). Both land-based groups needed to be visited (respectively Banyakabungo Co-operative Society and BANDERA 2000) and looked at in more detail to document the specific community initiatives and its characteristics to evaluate their appropriateness for SCI-SLM. Additionally, the ERM students designed and executed their individual master graduation researches concerning the subjects of ‘extension of farmer knowledge’ (OP) and ‘social innovativeness amongst land-based communities’ (EV) in rural Uganda.
On the follow page SCI SLM Uganda, descriptions of Olaf Piers’ and Eva van de Ven’s individual researches is given. A link to the full version of the summary (pdf) is provided as well.