The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC),  Overseas Development Institute (ODI), European Centre for Development Policy Management and German Development Institute convened a conference on theme Effective Natural Resource Management for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in the Context of Increased Scarcity and Climate Change: What Role for the Public and Private Sector? on July 11-12, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.

Sessions featured about 20 presentations by distinguished economists, scholars and policy makers including Dr. Luis Carlos Jemio, former Finance Minister of Bolivia; Prof. Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh; Mike Muller, National Planning Commission, South Africa; among others. Thereafter, active discussions by the participants made up of policy makers, eminent economists and scholars from all over the world, development partners and researchers from Africa and beyond took place. The workshop provided a forum in which the over 65 participants met within a worldwide network of professionals, and dealt with issues relevant to Africa’s economic development.

Speaking ahead of the conference in Nairobi, Prof. William Lyakurwa, AERC Executive Director while stressing the importance the issue of natural resource management said: “Botswana is a clear example that has managed to use the returns of natural resources to draw the country from a low-income county to middle-income county within a short time. East African countries have an abundance of natural resources and should emulate Botswana.”  

Also giving a comment before the conference, Dr. Dirk Willem te Velde Team leader, European Report on Development (ERD), observed: “It is imperative that the East African policy community meets the challenges of increasing scarcity in order to plan properly for future development. Increased scarcity will have a corresponding impact on land acquisitions and on the environment. Physical or economic scarcities in these interrelated resources – the water-energy-land (WEL) nexus – provide a new context for natural resource management. We have to work together to predict the effects of different demands for each resource in order to avoid the sort of shortages we are currently seeing.”

He noted that rocketing demand for key resources requires swift action from East African policymakers. The ERD is funded by the European Commission and seven member states. It is thought that by 2030 demand for energy will have risen by 40%, while that for water will go up by 40% and for food by 50%.”

The conference attracted widespread media coverage. Media organizations that covered this event included The Daily Nation, Business Daily, The Standard, The East African, K24, Kenya Television Network (KTN) andthe national broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC). Other media stations that were present were The People Daily, Kiss/Classic FM, The Star, Kenya News Agecy (KNA) and 1FM. A journalist from a quarterly magazine, The East African Builder Magazine, was also present.

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