HARA ,M., S. DONDA & F. NJAYA

Programme for Land Agrarian Studies, School of Government, University of the Western Cape, P/Bag X17, Bellville 7535, Republic of South Africa

Lessons from Malawi's experience with fisheries co-management

Co-management initiatives were launched on Lakes Malombe and Chiuta in Malawi in 1993 and 1995, respectively. The contrasting outcomes of the regimes so far provide important lessons about the introduction of common property arrangements in Malawi. One critical aspect is the created tension around two organisational aspects. The first concerns the struggle for authority and power between the "democratically elected" management bodies, such as BVCs, and the existing undemocratic hereditary traditional authorities. The second source of tension is attributable to the source of initiative and drive for co-management, whether it is top-down from government or bottom-up from the fishers themselves. As a fisheries management institution, the BVC has to achieve a balancing act among three parties namely the Fisheries Department, the village headmen and the fishers, each pulling it in different directions. Crafting local, efficient and independent management institutions is probably the most formidable but necessary task in the reform of the management regime. Other areas of concern are the negative effects of short-term donor funding, ineffective enabling legislation and the prevailing socio-economic conditions.