ENB:04:11
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PATECORE:
Dr. Helmut Whl, principal technical advisor for
rural regional development at Germany's GTZ, discussed technical
cooperation between Burkina Faso, CILSS and Germany in the
Patecore Project. He described the high plateau ecosystem and the
context within which desertification occurs. He outlined the
experiences of two local NGO projects in improving local land use
and noted both the problems faced and the solutions found. For
example, there was a lack of coordination between the plan and
the resource users, so a planning method was developed that
adjusted to the farmers' abilities and knowledge of the
surroundings. Lessons learned as a result of problems faced by
NGOs included: control of man-made desertification must have a
socio-economic emphasis; projects need integration for
sustainable resource management at the community level; the
capacity of resource users must be strengthened; there must be a
short-term economic benefit; a framework for solving land tenure
problems must be created; traditional knowledge must be
incorporated in planning and implementation; country capacity
building has to be intensified by ensuring availability of
knowledge at all levels; and population-related aspects have to
be included in the planning process.