If you want to see why natural resources matter for local-level democracy, look no further than Namibia.
Across this breathtakingly beautiful country, a remarkable social and economic experiment has been going on for nearly two decades: devolving rights to manage and benefit from the use of natural resources from the national government to rural black communities.
Empowering communities with a bundle of secure rights over natural resources has not only produced notable conservation and economic returns. It has helped build stronger, more representative governance institutions in a country that suffered under decades of oppressive colonial and South African rule.
Read more from the #DemocracyMatters series:
● What do citizens want out of democracy?
● Political vision key to sound natural resources management
● 5 ways to tackle threats to democracy in Africa
● Transparency: Make or break for the extractives industry
About the author
Karol Boudreaux
As a member of the Cloudburst Group’s expanding Natural Resources Management business unit, Karol Boudreaux develops and implements innovative approaches to international development and engagement with the private sector. Her work focuses on legal and policy analysis, private sector investment and tenure risk assessment, mitigation planning, as well as monitoring and evaluation.