EDITORIAL NOTE
 The articles contained in this volume of PULA were selected from among
 numerous presentations made at the 17th Southern African Universities
 Social Sciences Conference (SAUSSC), which was hosted by the University
 of Zimbabwe, at the Oasis Motel, from 5th to 9th December, 1994, in
 Harare, Zimbabwe. The selection of papers for publication was an extremely
 difficult task due to the number of excellent papers that were presented at the
 1994 SAUSSC. We wish to take this opportunity to thank those whose
 papers appear in this volume for their cooperation. We would like to urge
 scholars to prepare equally excellent papers for presentation at the
 forthcoming 18th SAUSSC to be hosted by the University of Swaziland from
 4th to 5th December, 1995.
 The theme of the 17th SAUSSC was "Environment and Development in
 Southern Africa".       The sub-themes included: Environmental Policies;
 Environmental Justice; Sustaining People and Nature; Family and
Environment; Gender Population and the Environment; Health and the
Environment; and Urban Environmental Problems. The critical nature of the
environment in relation to development cannot be over emphasized. The
theme of environment and development is about human action and survival.
The theme is both topical and timely. It is discussed at a time when
individual African countries are beginning to seriously examine their policies
and development strategies in relation to the environment.
Until recently, the environment was not accorded serious attention in the
development debate, the world over. The world's forests, soils, waters, air,
organisms, etc., have been exploited in the name of development without due
regard to the long-term effects of such exploitation. Countries throughout
the world have launched development activities and programmes without
consideration for their adverse effects on the environment or the negative
long-term impact of such activities.
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Southern African countries have experienced mass poverty, hunger, disease,
illiteracy, etc. As a result, they have tended to conceptualize their
development priorities in terms of economic growth. Economic growth ~
been perceived as the supreme objective that would bring about progressIve
reduction and eventual elimination of mass poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy
disease and squalor. Economic growth, however, has often led to the
uncontrolled exploitation of the environment, which has led to deforestation,
soil erosion, pollution of water, air and soil.
While there has been some concern about the environmental effects of many
development projects, there has been little attention paid to the relationship
between developmental policies and resource depletion. But development
need not be destructive. In stead, it must be sustainable. The catchphrase,
"sustainable development" has been associated with economic growth since
the debate on the environment and development began. Despite its many
usages, sustainable development is associated with environmentally friendly
development policies. The basic philosophy behind this concept is, simply,
that present needs and aspirations should be met without necessarily
compromising the abilities of future generations to fulfil their needs and
aspirations. Secondly, it is imperative to maintain an acceptable relationship
between the population and the economy of any given country.
The debate in this volume relates to policies and practices of development
as they impact on the environment. There is need for social scientists to
search for environmentally friendly development policies and practices.
While the Southern African region should act decisively to combat poverty,
hunger, etc.,     the measures employed must reflect a concern for
environmentally friendly, sustainable development.
The 17th SAUSSC could not have taken place without the financial support
from the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with developing
countries (SAREC), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), the Council for Development and Social Research
in Africa (CODESRIA), the Organization for Social Science Research in
Eastern Africa (OSSREA), and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We
are immensely grateful to all of them for their support of the SAUSSC. We
look forward to their continued encouragement and support.
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We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the University of
Zimbabwe and the SAUSSC local organising committee for hosting the
conference and providing logistical support.
Finally, we wish to express our sincere thanks to the Editorial Board of
PULA: Botswana Journal of African Studies for accepting to publish this
selection of articles. Their willingness to assist the SAUSSC has been a
source of tremendous inspiration and encouragement. We greatly appreciate
this kind gesture and hope that this spirit of cooperation will continue and
lead to further collaboration.
L-K. J. Mwansa
T. T. Fako
K. Frimpong
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