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Ecotourism Economics

and Environment


ii

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iii

Ecotourism Economics

and Environment

Edited By

Biju Abraham

K Nagarajan

Alex K Thottunkel

EDUCREATION PUBLISHING (Since 2011)

www.educreation.in


iv


v

Earth provides enough

to satisfy every man’s need

but not every man’s greed.

Mahatma Gandhi


vi

Preface

The traditional perspective on tourism was limited to that of the

once in a while excursions undertaken at the time of vacations for

relaxation. Realizing the potential of tourism as a source of income

and possible employment generation in the host region, efforts and

developments were directed and concentrated towards attracting

maximum visitors to the locality. With its commoditization tourism

industry began to grow multifold with a wide impact and influence

on the economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects of the

society. This hasty approach that focused more on quantity

overlooked the qualitative factors and mass tourism came into

existence. While importance was given to mass tourism, little

attention was paid to protect the environment, local culture,

tradition, or the improvement of livelihood opportunities in the

locality. The resulting negative impact gave rise to the need of

including the principles of sustainable development and

environmental consciousness into the crass commercial aspects of

tourism and the concept of ecotourism developed and gained

prominence.

Ecotourism suddenly began to be viewed as the magic potion

which can nullify the negative impact created by mass tourism. At

present the need and importance of ecotourism is widely

recognized, and is the central focus of a number of discussions and

debates. Consideration is also supposed to be given to the concepts

of ecotourism while tourism policies are formulated by the

governments.

Even then how far has the ground reality improved? How effective

are the policies in ensuring sustainable development? Do they

really promote ecotourism, Can they be watered down to promote

rapid development? Are the ecologically friendly, economically

viable and environmentally sustainable concepts of eco-tourism,

really applied? In the due process, is the true meaning of


vii

ecotourism lost and waylaid, resulting in the masquerading of mass

tourism as ecotourism? What are the damages caused by mass

tourism and how can ecotourism resolve the issues created by mass

tourism? What is the economics behind ecotourism? Tourism

indeed is needed especially from a developing nation‟s perspective,

but how far is it sustainable? How sustainable is tourism and how

can the sustainability factors be measured? Is inclusive growth

ensured?

This book is a collection of essays by scholars from different walks

of life which answers some of these questions and also throw light

into the different aspects of ecotourism including its theoretical and

practical dimensions. The book is divided into two parts based on

the nature and content of its chapters. The first part, covers the

different theoretical aspect of ecotourism and the practical issues,

including the various dimensions of ecotourism at the national and

regional level. The second part of the book is devoted to specific

case studies carried out in different tourism locations in India.

Jairous Joseph Miti draws a clear picture of what is happening in

another part of the world, the sub Saharan Africa where economic

activities have not benefitted the local communities and continue to

pose a threat to the environment and its sustainability. Miti stresses

on the need for “social policies that will result in viable

redistribution in social policy and administration systems, in

regulation of economic activity on the environment, improved

mechanisms and strengthened social policy roles towards the

environment, so as to protect the environment and for making

decisions and practices that safeguard the environment for the

benefit of generations to come”.

Bishnu Prasad Mohapatra discusses the outcome of the interaction

between environment policies, particularly forest policies with

politics and its impact on ecotourism in Odisha. Bishnu looks at

the evolution of the policy process that has evolved into

participatory forest management, raises question on the politics of

environment and the double standards in it.


viii

Many projects are started in the guise of ecotourism eventually

ending up creating negative impacts as equivalent as mass tourism

if the purpose for which it is established is forgotten along with

improper management and monitoring Such ecotourism projects

eventually scoop down to the level of mass tourism. Mini Nair

based on the study of three ecotourism projects which was scaled

up in the PPP model with the involvement of the private sector

notices its impact on the environment and on the local community

of the region. She finds out that the negative impacts are because

of policy failures and the lack of protection of natural resources as

they are not strictly monitored.

In the background of the larger neoliberal approach in development

which has no consideration for sustainable development, eco

tourism is a contradictory stand point. Is the neo liberal stand that

the state is taking resulting in the death knell of the welfare based

sustainable development? Is the neo liberal approaches and the

interventions based on it the reason for the issues in the operation

of eco projects? Rajasree K R examines the ecotourism projects

under the neo-liberal regime and argues the need for a radical

change in policy and practice.

Alex K Thottunkel examines the two entirely diverse approaches to

tourism, ecotourism and mass tourism. The article stresses on the

need and importance of ecotourism and deliberates on the role of

local government in developing ecotourism. The paper takes a

quick look at the current tourism scenario of Munnar and reasons

the need for development of ecotourism in the region.

Justin John Stephen‟s study on Dang district of Gujarat is a

discussion on how sustainable development can be brought about

by Networking and Co-Creating of the several actors and entities

to attain the objective of sustaining nature and the society in order

to fulfil the needs of the present without compromising the future

needs.

Shamila elaborates on the positive aspects of ecotourism and the

negative aspects that are possible in the absence of a proper


ix

management plan and stresses the need for proper evaluation of

eco tourism projects.

Dr.A.M.Ravindran elaborates on the criteria‟s that must be used to

evaluate the sustainability of tourism, namely, Sustainability

criteria, Educational criteria and Local participation criteria. The

seven techniques for measuring tourism provides us a basis for

analysing the sustainability of a tourism location.

Dr. Inderjeet Singh Sodhi taking cues from some of the best

ecotourism projects and practices in the country lists out a number

of more broadly applicable objectives, strategies, features,

findings, and lessons which can be applied to other tourist

destinations elsewhere to improve their capacity to benefit from

and become ecotourism locations. The project based approach

suggested might be of help in converting existing tourism projects

to an eco-tourism based one. The study analyses the Eco-

Certification Scheme of Hotels and Restaurants, the Thenmala

Eco-Tourism Project in Kerala, and the Preparation of

Kanchipuram Town Eco City Plan and calls for the framing of

effective ecotourism laws, rules, regulations and environmental

measures.

Shelji Mathew and Neetha Francis examines the scope of

ecotourism in Wayanad and puts forth suggestions to make

Wayanad an ecotourism destination.

Paper on Economics of Ecotourism by Biju Abraham discusses the

various economic sides of ecotourism and the issues associated

with calculating the Economic Impact of Ecotourism. The paper

also traces the history of ecotourism and describes the economic

effect of ecotourism on the host household.

Tourism indeed is needed as an economic driver which can

generate employment and contribute to the GDP from a developing

nations stand point. Nagaraj S discusses the positive impact of

capital investment on tourism for the state economy by way of

foreign exchange earnings and the contribution of the sector to the

revenue earning of the state.


x

Mumtaz claims that with the increase in disposable income among

middle class there is an upward increase in domestic tourism in

India. But in tandem with the growth in tourism there is no upward

increase in the policies concerning safety measures to protect the

fragile ecosystems in the country.

The paper titled Tourism in Munnar: Role of Local Self

Government and Impact on Local Community is the study report

of Department of Economics, Munnar Government Arts College

which examines the impact of tourism on the local communities

and analyses the role, local self government can play to promote

and sustain ecofriendly tourism in Munnar. This study point out

the need for the local self government to get actively involved with

tourism related activities to ensure that the principles of ecotourism

are truly followed so as to ensure the conservation of nature and

improvement in livelihood opportunities.

Benny Kurian gives an overall picture of nature based tourism with

special focus on Chinnar wildlife sanctuary and tries to understand

whether the nature tourism practiced there is really following the

concepts of eco tourism.

Beach tourism could be successfully developed in a State like

Kerala with its lengthy coast line. Still if regulations based on

sustainable concept is not there it can create several negative

impacts. Dr.Sudheer.S.P, Dr. P.Arunachalam, Dr. P.Anvar discuss

the environmental aspect of beach tourism taking Cherai Beach as

a case study.

Paul V Mathew elaborates on how ecotourism is successfully

practiced in Thekkady. The paper discusses the successful

community participation in both tourism development and

environmental conservation which has resulted in effective

destination management and has assured sustainable livelihood to

the destination community.

Prasanth Udayakumar and Alphonsa K Joy examines how

ecotourism is used as a tool for environmental conservation and


xi

suggest a model to improve the current ecotourism practices in

Satkosia Tiger Reserve, a popular eco-tourism destination in the

State of Odisha.

Paper by Manesh N A, James Joseph, Ajish A discusses the

shopping experience of tourists who visit Munnar. They point out

the need for government intervention to ensure quality and fair

price.

We feel this preface will remain incomplete if we don‟t remember

the invaluable help and services received from various corners in

materializing this work. The origin of the book and its ideas came

from a national seminar conducted at Government Arts College

located at Munnar one of the most popular hill stations in the State

of Kerala. Kerala, the narrow strip of land that extends from the

Arabian Sea with its sunny beaches to the mist laden hill stations

of the Western Ghats, consists of numerous lakes, forests and

rivers that crisscross the State.

It is its bountiful natural beauty which made Kerala to be aptly

named and known all over the world as “Gods own Country”. This

lavish blessing of Nature enabled the tourism industry to well

establish in the State. But how far is the continuity of this blessing

ensured? Is anything done to conserve and preserve the

environment? Especially in Munnar where the seminar was

conducted the abuse of nature is very apparent. The once pristine

and picturesque place is now rapidly becoming another polluted

concrete jungle. The field study by the Postgraduate Department of

Economics confirmed what is visibly evident. So we felt that the

papers presented and received ought to reach a wider audience who

might share our concern.

Interestingly the papers received from other parts of India as well

as a paper from Sub Saharan Africa have similar stories to tell,

which confirms our hunch that this is a common issue among all

the developing regions when it comes to rapid development

especially in sectors which exploit common resources. The policies

and practices related to development practiced now are

counterproductive to the environment, the community and the

supposed to be general good. Only “the very few” derive the


xii

benefits while the lives of the “the many” who have a much higher

rightful share of the common resources, remains as it is without

much improvement. In this background and in the current scenario

ecotourism seems to be the best alternative option that is available

when it comes to tourism. The strength of ecotourism is in the

valid, normative principles based on which it is built. These

principles ensures development without much compromise on the

principles of sustainability. Though eco tourism in some literature,

even now is only connected with the environment, it is much more

complete as it covers not only the environmental aspects but also

the social, cultural as well as the economic aspects of the host

community. Interestingly many incomplete variants of ecotourism

is also practiced nowadays for convenience in different names. No

other forms of tourism in whichever name it is known can match

with ecotourism for the protection of the environment, building up

livelihood opportunities, for protecting the culture or from

preventing negative social aspects from inflicting the host region.

If the concepts of ecotourism are practiced completely in its truest

sense, indeed it will make a huge positive difference for the present

as well as the future generations.

We hereby express our gratitude to the Principal, Staff and

Students of Government College Munnar, Idukki, Kerala who

have put endless effort in making the national seminar a success.

All the key speakers and the participants are also remembered with

gratitude. Our heartfelt thanks to all the contributors of the articles

and the reviewers without your effort, this book would not have

materialized. We are also grateful to all those who are associated

with the field study and preparation of the report. Dr. Jos

Chathukulam requires a special mention for kindling in us the idea

of conducting a field study, for making himself available whenever

we approached him and for his constant support at its various

stages. Our thanks to all those who are associated with the

publishing and marketing of this book and finally you the reader

for selecting this book.

For us publishing this book is for a much higher cause. Hence we

the editors have decided to keep the price of this book as low as

possible and to publish this book without taking any royalty


xiii

whatsoever, regardless of the time, money and effort spend by us

for publishing this book. We have decided that whatever royalty

that will be earned from the sale of this book will be utilized for

the benefit of the poor students enrolled in Government College

Munnar, as well as for supporting any activity by the students, that

will result in the promotion of environmental consciousness in the

society.

The Editors

Biju Abraham

K Nagarajan

Alex K Thottunkel


xiv

Content List

S. no. Content Page no.

Preface v

Part I 1

1.

Environmental Sustainability and Social Welfare

in Sub. Saharan Africa Do we really Care? A

social policy perspective

- Jairous Joseph Miti

2

2. Forest Policies, Environment Issues And Politics

of Sustainability In India- A Study of Odisha

- Bishnu Prasad Mohapatra

19

3. Community Based Eco-Tourism In Andhra

Pradesh

- Mini Nair

31

4. The Fate of Sustainable Development In India

Under Neo-Liberalism: A Study of Major

Ecotourism Projects In The State of Andhra

Pradesh

- Rajasree K R

42

5. Relevance of Eco Tourism In The Context of

Mass Tourism Development With Reference To

Munnar

- Alex K Thottunkel

56

6. Networking And Co-Creating The Eco-Tourism

Entrepreneurship In The Region Gujarat: A

Holistic Approach To Sustainable Development

- Justin John Stephen

69

7. Role of Ecotourism In Environmental

Sustainability

- Shamila . V.U

80


xv

8. How To Sustain Sustainable Tourism: Issues

And Options

- Dr.A.M.Ravindran

92

9. Eco-Tourism Projects In India-Learning Lessons

And Strategies

- Dr. Inderjeet Singh Sodhi

106

10.

11.

12.

Ecotourism For Ecofriendly, Guest And Green

Host- A Case Study On Wayanad

-Shelji Mathew, Neetha Francis

Economics of Ecotourism - Biju Abraham

Kerala Tourism-Where We Are And Where We

Have To Go? - Nagaraj S

125

137

151

13. Increasing Income Levels And Ecotourism In

India

- Mumtaz Begum

161

Part II 169

14.

Tourism in Munnar: Role of Local Self

Government and Impact on Local Community:

A Study conducted by the Post Graduate

Department of Economics, Govt. College

Munnar, Kerala

- Dr. Jos Chathukulam,

Shri. K Nagarajan,

Shri. Alex K. Thottunkel,

Shri.Biju Abraham,

Anish J,

George J,

Dhanalakshmi,

Maheswary R,

Manju Shaji,

Ranjith Kumar M,

Satheesh R

170


xvi

15. Successful Endeavors In Eco-Tourism:

Experiences From Thekkady, Kerala

- Paul V Mathew

188

16. Nature Tourism And Environmental

Sustainability - A Case Study Of Eco- Tourism

In Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

- Benny Kurian

199

17. Beach Tourism In Kerala And The Potentials of

Cherai Beach- An Empirical Study

- Dr.Sudheer.S.P, Dr. P.Arunachalam,

Dr. P.Anvar

207

18. Ecotourism As A Sub-Component Of

Environmental Sustainability:A Study On

Satkosia Tiger Reserve

- Prasanth Udayakumar, Alphonsa K Joy

218

19. An Evaluation Of Tourists‟ Shopping

Experience With Special Reference To Munnar

- Manesh N A, James Joseph, Ajish A

229

W


Ecotourism Economics and Environment

1

Part I

Theoretical aspects, practical issues and various dimensions of Ecotourism



2

Environmental Sustainability and Social

Welfare in Sub Saharan Africa: Do we

really Care? A social policy perspective Jairous Joseph Miti*

__________________________________________________________

Abstract: The need for economic stability has increased human

activity on the environment. With a focus on Sub Saharan Africa,

this paper applies the role of social policy to understand the

situation of environmental sustainability. Established indications

shows that economic activities in Sub Saharan Africa are

continuously impacting the environment and have not significantly

contributed to improved social welfare. Drawing examples from

some selected countries of Sub Saharan Africa, it is established

that efforts exist to manage the economic activities and

environment at the global and national level. However, Social

Policy has a not been adequately applied to ensure that gains from

the natural resources are redistributed equally. There is absence of

effective regulation of economic activities that impact on the

environment. There is need for Sub Saharan Africa to strengthen

administrative mechanism and social policy to ensure enhanced

efforts in environmental sustainability. Social science researcher

has a pivotal role to scale up research on the subject.

Keywords: Sub Saharan Africa, Social Policy, Environment,

Redistribution

Background

Sub Saharan Africa is a fast growing region with a

population of about 800 million people. This is an interesting

region to look at. In a world characterized by insatiable desire for

economic gain, social aspect of human life can also not be

neglected.

_________________________________________

*School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zambia.

[email protected]

1


mailto:[email protected]


3

In one conversation with a colleague, I was asked why the

region seems to top the list when it comes to social and political

problems. I had no answer, and I do not think I can provide any

direct response. It is difficult. When it comes to environment and

welfare, there is a common notion, at least also reported by

Mabogunje (1998), that „conventional wisdom views the people of

Sub Sahara Africa as highly irresponsible toward the environment

and looks to the international community to save them from

themselves.‟ What is of interest also is that there is an inclination

to explain environmental sustainability issues in Africa by pin

pointing the fast increase in population and poverty. It is not clear,

the extent to which these can explain environmental sustainability

in the region. Certainly, poverty and population do not present a

magic button to explain environmental sustainability and social

welfare. The whole issue is complex.

As complex as the issue is, I take a social policy

perspective with hope to link environmental sustainability and

social welfare. My basic question is regarding “Environmental

Sustainability and Social Welfare in Sub Saharan Africa: Do we

really Care?” I attempt to draw evidence from economic activities,

as well as social policy at global and national level. The subject is

far wide that it is not holistically addressed in this article.

However, I hope the article contributes to debate, provides lessons,

and leaves behind questions surrounding environment, social

welfare and social policy.

Economic activities and the Environment in Sub Saharan

Africa

All human activities occur in an environment. In Sub

Saharan Africa, the need to improve macroeconomic complexion is

evident as most countries are not passive. There is a dominance of

investments in natural resources and infrastructure as well as

agriculture. Most African countries‟ economies are largely driven

by natural resource. If we consider agriculture for example, the

sector accounts for 65 percent of Africa‟s labour force contributing

32 percent of gross domestic product (World Bank 2013). In Sub

Saharan Africa alone, 55.2 percent of the total population works in



4

agriculture. As regards investments in the sector, it is difficult to

pin-point estimation for most countries in the region because of

various factors including the complexity of public expenditure to

farming inputs and other auxiliary services such as roads in the

rural settings. It is also difficult to tell from various data sets

whether expenditure is directed to public or private goods (Lowder

and Carisma 2011). What is essential in our case is awareness that

investment in agriculture is a key determinant of productivity

growth and is essential to meet growing demands on the sector

(Cramon-Taubadel S von. et al, 2009) and this investment can go

quite broadly beyond the immediate needs associated with

agriculture but also include infrastructure.

World Bank (2013) reports that growth in agriculture in

Africa has been mostly based on area expansion, but that land is

scarce and many countries are facing limits to further expansion.

As a result, World Bank recommends that land and agricultural

productivity must increase because African farm yields are among

the lowest in the world. As the World population is growing, so is

the demand for food which in a way is an argument to support

World Bank‟s recommendation. It is predicted that developing

countries (Africa inclusive), will convert 120 million hectares of

natural habitats to farmland to meet demand for food by 2050

(WWF Global, 2014). By implication, the more people work on the

environment by cultivation, the more irreversible impact we cause.

Against this background, it remains a contested issue whether Sub

Sahara Africa should expand its agricultural land. On a

comparative level, the African continent has more land than Asia

Developing regions as well as the Latin American and Caribbean.

Yet these regions devout much of their land to permanent crops

and are arable land. Most land in Africa however, is devoted to

pastoral agriculture, and less to permanent crops and are not arable

land. Coupled to this, there is less processing of agricultural

produce across Sub Sahara Africa rendering their produce remain

at raw material level which implies less cost when it comes to

trade. There is not much value added to agricultural produce.

Agriculture impacts the environment, given the variety of

agricultural methods used across the continent. Agricultural



5

activities are in competition with aquaculture, and in some areas

unsustainable practices are responsible for increased desertification

and pose serious potential to in balance in the ecosystem. This

perhaps justifies arguments on whether Africa should change its

focus from agriculture to mining and energy in order to drive its

economy and meet the aspirations of its people-enhanced welfare.

At the same time, there is awareness that stopping agricultural

activities is not a solution because it would be tantamount to

worsening the situations of millions of world population who are

hungry‟ in fact it will be a massive disaster that would wipe the

entire human race. Who would survive without food? It is

significant to note that there is unavoidable impact to environment

as long as human action is undertaken. Deliberate political

decisions are relevant in this case and it points to social policy as

we will see later.

The second sector we can briefly consider on the economic

front is mining and energy. Africa as a whole has a range of natural

resources and Sub Saharan Africa is host to most of these resources

including mineral and oil, among others. Nigeria boasts of oil

deposits, while republic of Congo boasts of oil and Iron ore and

Zambia mainly produces copper. If we take the case of Democratic

Republic of Congo, we find that the country is rich outside our

imagination in terms of diamonds, gold, and cultan reserves. The

Washington Post in its Diamond Hest publication (2011) gives a

succinct description of the Democratic Republic of Congo by

indicating that „in terms of its untapped mineral wealth, the DRC is

one of the richest countries in the world. Its soil is reputed to

contain every mineral listed on the periodic table and these

minerals are found in concentrations high enough to make metal

analysts weep.‟ Currently, and considering the history of working

and exploitation of these resources across Africa reveals immense

pollution and irreversible impact on the environment.

This is evident in Nigeria where the history of oil

exploitation in Ogoni community (an oil-rich area) is like the

history of oil pollution as the commencement of oil exploration

and exploitation was followed almost immediately with the three

major causes of oil pollution namely, the impact as seen in the



6

seismic survey, gas flaring and oil spills (Pyagbara 2007). It was

evident that oil exploitation affected the environment and

continues to do so in the present day. This is not an isolated case as

exploitation for oil and other minerals like copper, is a practice

going on around countries endowed with these resources in Africa.

Consequently, the environment receives impacts of the industrial

and domestic activities associated with production. I think a

significant question that may have been answered in some

literature is who owns or who controls these resources; or a more

business oriented question is of who has injected some capital into

the resources of Sub Saharan Africa as a business venture?

Another difficult answer to this question is, because most

businesses are registered in one name and the owner is the other-

de jure, the de facto aspects remain hidden and unknown in many

cases. It is also justified to ask what has been done with

consideration to environmental sustainability.

One could expect that the resources belong to local people,

or the nation as a whole which might be expected to exploit them.

However, with political ideologies, globalization and its sister-

liberal policies has led to private ownership of resources through

mining or exploration giants in the global business arena. Where

the state owns and controls such resources, it is partial and in most

cases has been compromised to suit the business giants. In

Democratic Republic of Congo, private companies are running

some of the country‟s mining ventures. The extent of redistribution

of gains from these ventures to local people still remains a

contested issue.

Some of the business entities in the African natural

resource business operate through a complex web of joints with

local companies where necessary. If this is the case, the nature of

partnerships is of more benefit to the multinational cooperation

than the local entity. Various reasons could explain this situation.

Certainly, this cooperation create employment for local people

though in most countries it is a contested issue regarding the nature

of employment and wages, as some mining cooperation‟s in

countries like Zambia have come under criticism for offering what

was termed as slave-wages.



7

As indicated earlier, the phenomena and business situation

is not free of effecting the ecological system and human

environment. In countries were mining is taking place in the Sub-

Saharan Africa, there is lack of clear assessment on past and future

effects of the mining activities. Where such assessment is

available, it is largely ignored for political and business reasons.

What remains is the accumulating effects on the environment and

human welfare. Amidst this situation, social policy is a significant

player to contribute to efforts in improving social welfare and the

environment in which people live.

Social policy: The absentee-land lord

The subject of environmental sustainability and social

welfare has a global character. I will therefore address it from

domestic and global social policy because the function of social

policy at these levels remains the same in many respects. Bob

Deacon (2007), a renowned Global Social Policy expert argued

that globalisation has affected the way social policy is to be

understood and analysed. Indeed it has. As countries exploit

resources, they tend to utilize not only locally based knowledge but

also technology that may not be available in domestic countries.

Globalisation has increased foreign direct investments in most of

Sub Sahara Africa today. In addition, the business targets for the

produce of natural resource are multilateral cooperation‟s and

advanced economies which all operate within the globalization

sphere. From this perspective, social policy has the function for

redistribution, regulation and promoting social rights.

Redistribution

Redistribution is essential in altering market activity

outcome to benefit all people. In this case, activities such as mining

and excavation, and other related human undertakings are expected

to produce a particular outcome which at least in principle should

trickle down to all. As regards regional institutions, Africa as a

whole has not seen much redistribution taking place from „lead

multilateral development finance‟ the African Development Bank.



8

The Bank provides lends to its member countries with

funds raised in international markets at relatively favorable terms.

It provides loans, guarantees, equity and quasi‐equity, and risk

management products. However, given the huge demand on social

welfare and other competing needs the services are not enough. In

addition, the continent is yet to test the profitability and

redistributive function of the African Monetary Fund whose

creation was approved at the African Union summit in 2014. As

economies of the countries vary, so will their shares in the fund.

But it is not clear at this point how most vulnerable countries will

benefit from the initiative.

Africa remains a recipient of redistributed donor funds

despite the continent boasting of enormous natural resources.

Bretton wood institutions and the multiple United Nation

organization agencies continue to channel more resources to

programmes and activities in Sub Saharan Africa in the form of

development assistance. Since 1970s, and also in 1992 developed

countries committed to give 0.7% of the Gross National Income

per annum for development assistance. However, these countries

have failed to meet the target. There could be various reasons to

this failure of commitment but will not be covered in this article.

My argument is that given the enormous natural resources

in Sub Saharan Africa, countries in this region need to reconsider

its social policy and administration systems. The region lacks a

strong and transparent system that links economic and human

activity to social policy and the goal of attaining the quality of life

for all people. Redistribution through aid and debt cancellations

received from supranational institutions has not adequately helped

Sub Saharan African to focus energies on effective social policy

delivery and equity share as a whole. If anything, debt cancellation

initiatives like the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) have

not produced favorable outcome. It is evident in Zambia where

pursuing World Bank and IMF-led reforms resulted in the increase

in the poverty gap and the weakening of the country‟s social

services. The country is still borrowing today. If the country had a

viable redistribution in social policy and administration systems,



9

the situation would have been different in many respects. Sub

Saharan Africa faces the need to change its course and discourse as

far as redistribution is concerned from reliance on transnational

actors to harnessing domestic and regional resources with social

policy playing a significant role. This is far from isolating Africa

from global integration and globalization as a whole. Instead, it has

potential to foster the role of Africa in global governance and

particularly in trade terms that has a significant influence in the

global market. Sub Saharan Africa should draw lessons from other

countries in natural resources management and environmental

sustainability.

Lessons can be drawn from countries in Northern Europe

which at the working of social policy, have redistributed gains

from natural resources thereby creating the viable welfare states

that they are today. Norway is such an example as its natural

resource revenues have benefited the public. The history of the oil

and gas industry in Norway is a saga of wise political decisions,

world-class industrial development and huge value creation

(Norskolje&gass, 2010). These decisions were carried on in social

policy. As a result of this, Norway has implemented a transparent

system for redistributing its wealth and the country´s success in

fending off the resource curse and has saved about US$800 billion

in sovereign wealth-funds, commonly referred to as oil fund,

Oljefondet. This is the fund meant for future generations.

Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich country in Africa has attempted to

create a sovereign wealth-fund which receives about 0.5 percent of

oil revenues. However, there are fears that no information on the

fund's rules, assets, transactions, or investments has been published

(Natural Resource Governance Institute, 2014). This leaves the

question of redistribution hanging in balance.

Social policy in Sub Sahara Africa has become an absentee-

land lord. As a result, redistribution has been affected. One such

mechanism of redistribution is taxation, where states obtain

revenue from economic activities taking place. Taxation from

firms operating in natural resource sector such as oil and mining,

as well as carbon tax when needed is insufficient to compensate the

environment and significantly contribute to welfare needs of the



10

population. In most of African countries there are still concerns

that business entities continue to evade tax. They pay tax, it is far

insignificant. We can look at copper, which sometimes hits high

commodity price. By implication, this leads to increase in earnings

both in real and absolute terms for companies. Do these companies

in countries like Zambia pay much tax as a share of the business

boom? No. Profits are returned to shareholders as special

dividends. Every time government proposes to increase tax, such

companies claim to be making a lose and even threaten to close

operations. Meanwhile, their activity continues with irreparable

impact on the environment creating local people as losers. This is

an offshoot of effects of economic liberalism. This being the case,

(Gomory & Baumol 2004) provide a useful insight in what should

be done.

At the very least . . . those who stand to benefit from the

process [of globalization] should be expected to agree to provide

systematic and substantial assistance to the victims, presumably

via government channels, and supported liberally by the wealthier

communities. If that is not acceptable politically, there is surely

little that can be said convincingly in support of a contention that

the suffering of the victims will be justified by the promised future

benefits to their descendants. (Gomory & Baumol 2004).

It is currently a critical debate in Zambia as some sectors of civil

society organizations have consistently petitioned government to

implement windfall tax. One argument for windfall tax is that the

government will be assured to gain more revenue from copper

mining activities in case of price boom and would therefore be able

to redistribute the funds to other needy sectors of economy and

public service provision. Copper is not a renewable resource.

Therefore if the country has not benefitted meaningfully and

redistributed the gains of the resource to its citizens, one

expectation is that there will be more environmental, economic and

social problems in the years and generations to come which will

consequently make it impossible for the country to be free from

debt-dependency on supranational institutions.



11

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