a) Political Constraints: -
-The colonial legacy
– At the time when explorers established contact with Africa, the prevailing ideology in Europe was based on the Old Testament idea that God gave man 'dominion over the fish of the sea and every living thing that moveth upon the earth'. Thus it was believed that humans had the right to exploit natural resources as desired. No serious effort was made to conserve natural resources. The establishment of colonial spheres of influence and the arrival of Christianity dealt a death blow to the appreciation of even ecologically sound sustainable traditional or indigenous resource management strategies, practices, systems, attitudes and behavior patterns in the African culture. This was most pronounced where these practices were applied as taboos associated with traditional African religion. With colonialism came changes in the African perspective of looking at things. Westernization and the propensity for consumption patterns of a more materialistic kind that are satisfied only with imports of foods and manufactured goods, leading to increasing dependence on the developed countries.
-Political instability
– No sustainable development can be achieved in sub-Saharan Africa with the kind of endemic political instability that has been rampart. Although inter-tribal wars were in existence before colonial administrations were established, colonialism fuelled it by divide and rule policies prior to independence leading to incompatibilities and unequal development among different areas or peoples lumped together in the same country. Coups and frequent changes in government have resulted in inconsistencies in policies and development programmes and a lack of continuity in development activities, all of which are incompatible with sustainable development.
-Corruption and deficiencies in governance
– One aspect of modernization is the collusion between the elite or politicians in power in African countries with businessmen or agents of the former colonial powers and other countries to ensure that certain development activities are executed in ways that are of mutual benefit to the individuals or businesses involved, often to the detriment of the common people in the African countries concerned. It is also well known that while some African countries are unable to allocate funds to vital development projects, some of the politicians are busy stashing millions of dollars in foreign banks. Related problems are a lack of accountability, waste, a lack of grassroots democratic institutions and participation in decision-making.
-Deficiencies in planning
– Sustainable development necessitates the adoption of holistic or systems approaches, which call for multidisciplinary interaction involving all relevant disciplines and ministries simultaneously working together in the planning process in an integrated manner. In sustainable development, environmental concerns are best integrated into the programme at the planning stage.
-Inappropriate policies and strategies – Concern about the environment must be embodied in development policies and strategies. Policies must be formulated in relation to the objectives to be achieved and the strategies to be adopted must aim at a range of alternative strategy options that ensure conservation of resources and as far as possible enhancement of the quality of the resource base.
-Deficiencies in legal and legislative support of development Programmes – There is a need for economic incentives and legal and legislative instruments as a backup for development projects in which maintenance of environment quality and the conservation of resources are given high priority. This would ensure achievement of resource conservation and environmental quality and to take the necessary measures to enforce compliance.
-Lack of effective regional integration and collaboration in development – Since the 1960’s when many African countries became independent, all regional organizations such as the CCTA (Commission for Technical Cooperation in Africa), EAFFRO (East African Freshwater Fisheries Research Organization) and related inter-territorial research organizations have broken down. This is also the case in trade and sometimes also in the sharing and exchange of information on natural resources
management and utilization. Even political and economic organizations such as AU (African Union), ECA (Economic Commission for Africa) and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) rarely function as well as intended.
b) Socio-Economic Constraints
-Socioeconomic constraints on sustainable development include deficiencies in education and training; lack of an effective campaign of public enlightenment and orientation, poverty, unfavourable economic conditions and limitations in financial support.
-Sustainable development calls for environmental education at all levels, and the development of appropriate curricula in science and technology embodying various aspects of natural resources conservation and management. The recommended ratio of 60:40 of students in Science and Technology to Arts and Humanities respectively, in African schools and universities is rarely achieved at all levels in any African country. There are also deficiencies in the education of women, with the number of women at all levels far below the number of men, especially in the sciences.
-With the change in development paradigm, there is need for a public enlightenment campaign aimed at creating better awareness about sustainable development, what it is, what it entails and the role of the masses in ushering it sooner rather than later in Africa. Special training courses need to be developed in environmental monitoring, resources inventory and environmental impact assessment.
-The prevailing poverty and adverse economic conditions in African countries owing to heavy debt burdens, unfavourable economic effects of structural adjustments and several decades of continuing decline in commodity prices have left African countries with limited funds to maintain adequate levels of relevant research and development activities, to purchase, repair and replace scientific equipment as well as to acquire journals and literature in relevant scientific disciplines.
c) Technological constraints
-Development involves the application of science and appropriate technologies to the conservation, management, processing and rational utilization of natural resources. Many African countries have neither the critical mass of trained personnel in many fields and at different levels, nor the institutional capacity for the generation and adaptation of technologies in order to make them appropriate for executing development programmes. Self-reliance and success in development have eluded them. In the past, many development projects have been either disappointing or total failures owing to attempts at horizontal transfer of technologies and use of inappropriate technologies in location –specific situations. Moreover, because sustainability was not an explicit objective of development projects, no serious effort was made to choose and develop technologies that ensure economic viability, ecological soundness and cultural acceptability
marto answered the question on March 21, 2019 at 06:20