Comprehensive Study Congo on Lake Malawi Ecology Tanzania for Sustainable Angola Malawi Lilongwe Utilization Zambia Zomba
Zimbabwe Mozambique Madagascar Botswana Project Sites Zomba
1. Background of Project agencies for the resource management of lakes and Lake Malawi is highly recognized not only for its swamps. important functions in water transportation, irrigation, 2) Project Purpose sightseeing and fishing, but also for its richness in valu- Latest knowledge on the ecology of Lake Malawi able natural resources. In recent years, however, due to is accumulated, and facilities for interdisciplinary the deterioration of the environment and excessive fishing research available for both researchers and local caused by a rapid increase in population, the quantity of inhabitants are established. fish in the lake has been seriously diminished, resulting in 3) Outputs the deprivation of an affordable protein resource for the a) Research system to study the ecology of Lake nation. Malawi is established. To sustain the fish resource, extensive research on b) Interdisciplinary research (fish molecule system ecology would be indispensable. This includes other aca- learning, sociology, ecology) on the ecology of demic approaches in natural science and in socio-cultural Lake Malawi is carried out. studies. However, such interdisciplinary research facili- c) The local community participates in the research ties are not adequately developed in Malawi, hence the process. accumulation of data and knowledge is insufficient for the d) The research facilities (experiment ridge, field purpose of policy planning by the government. station) are expanded and improved. The Chancellor College, University of Malawi, is the e) A database is established, making it possible for most renowned institution for fishery and environmental government agencies and inhabitants to share an studies in the country. It decided to carry out a compre- overall knowledge of the ecology of Lake Mala- hensive research on the fish ecology of Lake Malawi at wi, and Related reports are published. the behest of the Government of Malawi and because of f) Research results are conveyed to policy-making increasing international concern. The request of the coop- agencies as fundamental ideas in policy planning eration was made to Japan that has a successful experi- for feasible resource management. ence in a similar cooperation project in Lake Tanganiyika g) Teaching materials and course programs are pre- in East Africa. pared for undergraduate and graduate students. 4) Inputs 2. Project Overview Japanese Side Long-term experts 04 (1) Period of Contract Short-term experts 20 1 May 1998－30 April 2001 Trainees received 06 Equipment 25 million yen (2) Type of Cooperation Research Cooperation Malawian Side Counterpart 10 (3) Partner Country's Implementing Organization Land and facilities Chancellor College, University of Malawi Local cost
(4) Narrative Summary 1) Overall Goal The research system established by this project is fully utilized by researchers and policy-making
278 Chapter 3: Terminal Evaluation III Africa
3. Members of Evaluation Team Team Leader: Katsuhiro SASAKI, Planning Division, Regional Department (Africa, Mid-East and Europe), JICA Technical Instruction: Yasuo TAKAMURA, Professor, University of Kyoto Cooperation Evaluation: Megumi KOURA, Regional Department (Africa, Mid- East and Europe), JICA Project Evaluation: Seizou YAMADA, Katahira Engineering International, Limited.
4. Period of Evaluation Lake Malawi with the most varied species of fish in the world 5 November 2000－13 November 2000 evaluation, policy for conveyance to the government 5. Results of Evaluation including seminars on the research results was decided. (1) Relevance (5) Sustainability A comprehensive study on the ecology of Lake Mala- The supporting system of development of research wi is indispensable for maintaining the nation's supply of facilities has been established by the Ministry of Finance fish as an affordable source of protein. Reflecting a local and Economic Planning, the University of Malawi, the need, this project holds relevance. National Park Wildlife Section and the Fishery Depart- ment. The Government of Malawi assures the salaries of (2) Effectiveness researchers and management costs, while counterparts are An interdisciplinary research organization called working towards acquiring the necessary funds to cover "Unit" was installed at the University of Malawi, and costs in addition to those above. However, it should be research facilities have been expanded. In addition to the noted that it is essential to find a source to meet local inhabitants' participation in the research process, the costs, such as investigation trips and expendables. There availability of the research outcome increased by the dis- is special concern over whether the maintenance cost of tribution in the forms of illustrated books, subject manu- the DNA Sequencer can be continuously obtained. The als, internet, and others. Therefore, it is considered that maintenance management of other kinds of equipment and the research facilities are now well-equipped for the active the arrangement of human resources are carried out prop- involvement of researchers and local community. On the erly, therefore, sustainability is highly expected. other hand, due to a shortage of manpower and time, hold- ing of seminars regarding the research results and prepa- 6. Lessons Learned and Recommendations ration of educational materials and programs for the local community were not achieved. However, this did not (1) Lessons Learned influence the overall project effectiveness. For interdisciplinary projects, which require involve- ment of a number of people, it is essential to coordinate (3) Efficiency the necessary tasks fully and in advance. Therefore, even The only research field that had long-term experts for small-scale projects should include a project coordinator the full project period was fish ecology. There has been a from the beginning of the entire process. When planning, delay in dispatch of project coordinator and expert to other because a delay in supplying input is expected, it would research fields. A set of equipment was supplied prompt- be desirable to allow enough time for the implementation. ly, and its maintenance has been properly controled. The research results have been extended ahead of (2) Recommendations schedule due to the participation of local inhabitants. For full utilization of the supplied equipment such as the DNA Sequencer, a concrete plan including fund man- (4) Impact agement should be carefully prepared and implemented. Because the relevant persons were adequately in- formed of the necessity, purpose and content of this pro- ject, the awareness level toward the problems was raised. It also successfully led to producing researchers who can contribute to the sustainable development of the country. Although the research outcome had not yet been applied to actual policy-making at the time of project
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