The EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership: Waning affection,persisting economic interests

ABSTRACT

Ten years after the coming into force of the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership, this article takes stock of this partnership. Our aim, within this special issue, is to assess the EU’s perspective on its strategic partnership with South Africa, and in particular to look at economic and development cooperation within the partnership and to what extent European expectations of closer engagement have been met. Our analysis shows that economic interests have remained central to bilateral relations and the strategic partnership, even if some potential for economic engagement has remained unexploited. At the same time, the relationship has been quite tense in recent years, as bilateral ‘affection’ at the political level has waned. The implications for the partnership are weighed.     

Economic,trade and development relations between South Africa and the European Union: The end of a strategic partnership? A South African perspective

ABSTRACT

The relationship between democratic South Africa and the European Union (EU) has been in existence for over 20 years, with its roots tracing back to anti-apartheid support measures. In its earlier form, it was anchored in the Reconstruction and Development Programme. Currently, it is guided by the National Development Plan of the National Planning Commission. This relationship has been tested over time, especially as a result of negotiations over the Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU. In the meantime, the euphoria that marked new South Africa's participation in the global system, with trade and development cooperation with the EU as one of the cornerstones, has waned considerably. The cancellation of several bilateral investment treaties with EU member states has further strained the relationship. While there are notable successes in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership, these may not be reflective of the actual strategic value of the partnership in the context of global shifts and the rising influence of emerging powers with which South Africa is integrating.     

An overview of the EU–SA Strategic Partnership 10 years on: Diverging world views,persisting interests

ABSTRACT

The European Union–South Africa (EU–SA) Strategic Partnership has entered its 10th year. It is a product of its time and particular regional and international circumstances. These having changed somewhat over the course of the last decade, it is not surprising that the dynamics of the relationship, expressed through the strategic partnership's parameters, have undergone commensurate changes. Based on the recognition that the partnership is between a multilateral institution and a state, the difference in their respective strategic positions is inevitable. The challenge, therefore, is for the EU–SA Strategic Partnership to maintain a flexibility that allows for continued contestation, development and relevance. This paper reviews the historical context of the partnership and the challenging dynamics that have evolved over the lifespan of the partnership, providing the basis for the thematic discussion which follows in this issue. The analysis in this article demonstrates that, in spite of acknowledged challenges, the functionality of the strategic partnership based on persisting interests remains intact.     

Contribution of parkland trees to farmers’ livelihoods: a case study from Mali

Native species of trees and shrubs contribute significantly to farmers' livelihoods by supplying food, medicinal products, fodder, and wood. In the case study reported in this article, this contribution to farmers' annual revenue varied from 26 per cent to 73 per cent, and was as high as US$ 650 a year for households for which agroforestry products were the primary source of revenue. Household consumption was not quantified in the study, but farmers' comments confirmed that native trees also played an important role in assuring food security, especially in the ‘hunger period’ when grain stores are low and farmers are waiting for the next harvest.     

Gold mining and corporate social responsibility in the Wassa West district,Ghana

Despite a boom in gold mining in Ghana's Wassa West district (WWD), unemployment and poverty have deepened, partly due to loss of farmland to surface mining but more so because of the limited opportunities for wage employment in the district's ‘revived’ gold-mining industry. However, the large-scale mining companies are implementing some alternative livelihood programmes (ALPs) as part of their corporate social-responsibility (CSR) agenda. While the ALPs have provided some employment and income-earning opportunities and skills training, the prospects for their sustainability depend on how the challenges confronting the various programmes are addressed. This will require a well-coordinated approach involving all the key stakeholders.     

Eco-regional conservation and development in Madagascar: a review of USAID-funded efforts in two priority landscapes

The need for eco-regional or landscape-scale conservation and development has been widely recognised in Madagascar, yet implementation remains problematic. The approach was initially driven by biodiversity-conservation concerns, without enough emphasis on sustainable development, especially agriculture. Current challenges include consensus building for eco-regional visions, strengthening partnerships with government institutions, and negotiating land-use trade-offs within focal landscapes. Increased attention to revenue generation from agriculture and forest products, as well as enhanced communication and widespread participation by all stakeholders, should augment the success of broad-scale conservation and development programmes.     

‘Communities of practice’: prospects for theory and action in participatory development

‘The myth of community’ permeates both the understanding and the practice of participatory development. Yet the idea that communities exist as coherent units of people who inhabit bounded geographic spaces and are ready to be mobilised for development restricts the very agency that participation promises. This article offers an alternative model of community: one that is more compatible with the ideal of people-centred, participatory development. Using Etienne Wenger's concept of ‘communities of practice’, and drawing on narrative theory and cognitive approaches to policy analysis, the article argues that community should be created and sustained around shared meanings.     

The role of respect in interactions with police among substance-using African refugee young people in Melbourne,Australia

Racialized policing and substance use are major issues faced by African young people in Australia. In-depth interviews with 18 refugee young people who use alcohol and/or drugs examined interactions with police. Status respect and human respect played important roles in interactions with police. Participants felt unfairly targeted by police and reported that they were disrespected by police through the use of discriminatory language, failing to differentiate between individuals leading to a sense of loss of self-identity, and stereotyping. Development and implementation of programs focusing on building mutual understanding and respect is needed to improve relations between refugee-background youth and police.     

HIV/AIDS prevention: building on community strengths in Ajegunle,Lagos

This paper builds upon field research in Ajegunle, Nigeria, which suggests that effective HIV/AIDS prevention requires a much higher degree of independent community participation. In exploring ways to achieve this, we suggest that assessing community strengths provides positive scope for understanding and utilising a much wider variety of HIV/AIDS responses which have not been previously used in the context of community development. Community-based approaches also encourage a deeper understanding of locally-specific vulnerability issues that surround HIV and AIDS. Such initiatives can be linked to trends that value the knowledge and capacities of neglected local people and build on their resources, including their networks, relationships and trust. However, the connection to, and use of, the resources of international NGOs (INGOs) remain central to success. If an interactive community-based agenda of working with local level resources receives enough acceptance at the higher levels of the INGOs, the results could be very significant. Such international/local agreements, where INGOs seek to work more closely with local community groups and their people on shared agendas, could begin to tackle some of the key structural issues, especially conflict and poverty, that exacerbate HIV/AIDS at the grassroots and are not responsive to purely medical solutions.

Prévention du VIH/sida: développer les points forts des communautés à Ajegunle, Lagos

Ce document se base sur des recherches menées sur le terrain à Ajegunle, au Nigeria, qui suggèrent que, pour être efficace, la prévention du VIH et du sida requiert un degré beaucoup plus élevé de participation communautaire indépendante. Dans le cadre d'une étude des manières d'arriver à ce résultat, nous suggérons qu'une évaluation des points forts de la communauté donne des perspectives positives pour la compréhension et l'utilisation d'une variété beaucoup plus importante d'interventions en matière de VIH/sida qui n'ont pas été précédemment lancées dans le contexte du développement communautaire. Les approches fondées sur les communautés encouragent par ailleurs une compréhension plus profonde des questions de vulnérabilité propres au niveau local autour du VIH et du sida. Les initiatives de ce type peuvent être reliées à des tendances qui accordent une importance aux connaissances et aux capacités des populations locales délaissées et qui se basent sur leurs ressources, y compris leurs réseaux, leurs relations et leur confiance. Cependant, la connexion avec les ressources des ONG internationales (ONGI) et leur utilisation restent essentielles pour le succès. Si un ordre du jour interactif fondé sur les communautés du travail avec les ressources locales reçoit une acceptation suffisante aux échelons plus élevés des ONGI, les résultats pourraient être très considérables. Les accords internationaux/locaux de ce type, dans le cadre desquels les ONGI cherchent à travailler en plus étroite collaboration avec les groupes communautaires locaux et leurs membres sur des ordres du jour partagés, pourraient commencer à remédier à des problèmes structurels clés, en particulier les conflits et la pauvreté, qui ont pour effet d'exacerber le VIH/le sida au niveau de la base populaire et ne peuvent pas être résolus par des moyens purement médicaux.

Prevenção do HIV/AIDS: aproveitando os pontos fortes da comunidade em Ajegunie, Lagos

Este artigo baseia-se em uma pesquisa de campo em Ajegunle, Nigéria, que sugere que a prevenção efetiva do HIV/AIDS exige um grau muito maior de participação da comunidade independente. Ao explorar maneiras para se alcançar isto, sugerimos que avaliar os pontos fortes da comunidade oferece um escopo positivo para se compreender e utilizar uma variedade muito mais ampla de respostas ao HIV/AIDS que não foram utilizadas anteriormente no contexto de desenvolvimento da comunidade. Abordagens baseadas na comunidade também incentivam uma compreensão mais profunda de questões de vulnerabilidade localmente específica que cercam o HIV e AIDS. Tais iniciativas podem ser conectadas a tendências que valorizam o conhecimento e a capacidade de pessoas locais negligenciadas e aproveitar seus recursos, inclusive suas redes de trabalho, relacionamentos e confiança. Porém, a conexão com recursos de ONGs Internacionais (ONGIs) e o uso deles permanecem centrais para o sucesso. Se uma agenda de trabalho interativa baseada na comunidade com recursos no âmbito local obtém aceitação suficiente nos níveis mais altos das ONGIs, os resultados podem ser muito significativos. Tais acordos internacionais/locais, em que ONGIs buscam trabalhar de maneira mais próxima com grupos da comunidade local e suas pessoas em agendas compartilhadas, poderiam começar a lidar com algumas das questões estruturais centrais, especialmente conflito e pobreza, que agravam o HIV/AIDS na base e não são suscetíveis a soluções puramente médicas.

La prevención del VIH/SIDA: confiando en las fortalezas de la comunidad. Una experiencia en Ajegunie, Lagos

Este ensayo se centra en una investigación de campo realizada en Ajegunle, Nigeria, la cual demostró que para conseguir una prevención efectiva del VIH/SIDA se requiere de una profunda e independiente participación comunitaria. En su investigación sobre cómo lograr este objetivo, los autores sugieren que valorar las fortalezas comunitarias puede ser una base sólida para concebir y utilizar una gama de respuestas ante el VIH/SIDA más amplia de la que hasta ahora se aplica en el contexto del desarrollo comunitario. Los métodos basados en la comunidad también contribuyen a que se entiendan mejor las vulnerabilidades específicas y locales ante el VIH/SIDA. Estas iniciativas pueden contribuir a valorar más los hasta ahora ignorados conocimientos y capacidades de las personas locales, los cuales se basan en sus recursos propios como sus redes, sus relaciones sociales y su confianza. Sin embargo, el acceso a, y el uso de, los recursos de las ONG internacionales (ONGI) siguen siendo factores importantes para lograr el éxito. Si las directivas de las ONGI consideraran una agenda de trabajo interactiva con las comunidades utilizando los recursos locales, los resultados podrían ser muy significativos. Con este tipo de acuerdos internacionales/locales en los que las ONGI intentan trabajar más estrechamente con los grupos comunitarios y las personas a nivel local compartiendo estrategias, podrían comenzar a atajarse algunos de los principales problemas estructurales, en especial en situaciones de conflicto y pobreza, que agravan el VIH/SIDA entre personas de la base y que no pueden resolverse únicamente con soluciones médicas.     

Attitude counts: engaging with rice farmers in West Africa

An international project called PADS promoted participatory learning and action research with inland valley rainfed rice farmers in West Africa. All countries received the same training, similar funding, and the same leadership. Although the staff in Ghana were conscientious and gave much training to the farmer beneficiaries, the Mali staff explicitly encouraged farmers to experiment. Farmers in Mali responded to this favourable attitude by experimenting more than those in Ghana, and in qualitatively more interesting ways. Long-term engagement with grassroots organisations may be as conducive to changing public servants' attitudes as the actual participatory approach promoted on the ground.

L'attitude compte: travail avec des riziculteurs en Afrique de l'Ouest

Un projet international appelé PADS a favorisé l'apprentissage participatif et la recherche-action avec des riziculteurs pratiquant la culture pluviale dans les vallées de l'intérieur des terres en Afrique de l'Ouest. Tous les pays ont reçu la même formation, un financement similaire et le même leadership. Alors que les membres du personnel du Ghana étaient consciencieux et dispensaient une formation considérable aux agriculteurs bénéficiaires, le personnel du Mali encourageait expressément les riziculteurs à faire des expériences. Les riziculteurs du mali ont réagi à cette attitude favorable en faisant plus d'expériences que ceux du Ghana, et ce de manières plus intéressantes sur le plan qualitatif. L'engagement à long terme avec les organisations de la base populaire peut être tout aussi propice à la modification des attitudes des fonctionnaires que l'approche participative même promue sur le terrain.

As atitudes contam: Engajamento com produtores de arroz na África Ocidental

Um projeto internacional chamado PADS promoveu uma pesquisa sobre aprendizado e ação participativa com produtores de arroz irrigado com água da chuva no interior do vale na África Ocidental. Todos os países receberam o mesmo treinamento, financiamento semelhante e a mesma liderança. Embora os funcionários de Gana estivessem cientes e oferecessem bastante treinamento aos produtores beneficiários, os funcionários de Mali incentivaram explicitamente os produtores a experimentar. Os produtores de Mali responderam a esta atitude favorável experimentando mais do que aqueles de Gana e de maneiras mais interessantes em termos qualitativos. O engajamento de longo prazo com organizações de base pode contribuir para mudar as atitudes dos servidores públicos tanto quanto a abordagem participativa real promovida na base.

La actitud cuenta: el trato personal con campesinos arroceros de África Occidental

Un proyecto internacional llamado PADS promovió el aprendizaje participativo y la investigación-acción entre campesinos que cultivaban arroz de secano en los valles centrales de África Occidental. Todos los países participantes recibieron la misma capacitación, un financiamiento similar y las mismas orientaciones. Si bien el personal de Ghana era muy diligente y transmitió muchos conocimientos a los campesinos beneficiarios en capacitaciones, el personal de Malí se centró más explícitamente en animarlos para que experimentaran. Los campesinos de Malí respondieron a esta actitud estimuladora realizando más experimentos y de maneras cualitativamente más interesantes que los campesinos de Ghana. El compromiso de largo plazo con organizaciones de base puede ser tan importante para lograr un cambio en la actitud del servidor público como el método participativo que se promueve en la actualidad sobre el terreno.