A Comparative Analysis of Collaborative Environmental Management of Natural Resources in Sub-Saharan Africa: A study of Cameroon and South Africa:

In Africa, rural communities thrive on social capital and tend to have a number of commonalities which make them share resources including natural, physical and social. It has been a trend in sub-Saharan Africa to have either formal or informal collaborative management agreements to manage common pool resources (CPRs) to accommodate different actors and interests. This paper draws lessons from past and contemporary collaborative schemes in Cameroon and South Africa to enhance the practice and governance processes of natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa in order to promote sustainable development. Using research methods inspired by the tradition of participatory research to collect field-based data and complemented by reflections on previous and existing studies, the paper highlights the importance and benefits of participatory democracy as opposed to representational democracy in co-management of natural resources in rural spaces. It further discusses the need to redefine the roles of national and loca...