Publication
Customary Authorities and Environmental Governance in Africa: A Systematic Review
In this article, Jakob Schwaiger, Zaira M. Tas Kronenburg, Andre Auch, Thijs Bosker & David Ehrhardt systematically review 68 English-language articles by exploring the roles of customary authorities in environmental governance in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Author
- Jakob Schwaiger, Zaira M. Tas Kronenburg, Andre Auch, Thijs Bosker & David Ehrhardt
- Date
- 24 April 2024
- Links
- Read the full article here
This article demonstrates the important roles of customary authorities in environmental governance. The authors identify four roles that customary authorities take: a managing role is most common, followed by supporting, enforcing, and rent-seeking roles. These roles often occur in combination (most commonly managing with rent-seeking and managing with supporting) and in many environmental domains, often involving land. Importantly, the impact of customary authorities on environmental governance is more often positive than negative, especially in supportive roles and in the environmental domains of biodiversity and climate change. Rent-seeking is most often associated with negative environmental outcomes, while managing is associated with both positive and negative outcomes. Unclear relationships or legal frameworks between customary authorities and the state are also associated with less effective governance.