Integrating governance and socioeconomic indicators to assess the performance of community-based natural resources management in Caprivi (Namibia)

The achievements of community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) in southern Africa over the past 20 years have been hampered by the struggle to develop institutions of good governance. This paper explores what good governance is, how it can be measured and why it is relevant to communities' socioeconomic development goals. Horizontal accountability, used as a proxy for good governance, and people's perception of CBNRM benefits were documented through 236 individual interviews in five conservancies in the Caprivi Province (Namibia). These complex concepts were captured in order to strengthen performance assessments of CBNRM. Horizontal accountability was weak across the five conservancies studied and conservancy leaders could transfer more information to their constituents. Smaller and older conservancies displayed higher rates of information transfer, but horizontal accountability was not linked to different levels of socioeconomic benefits. In order to properly study the potential connections between good governance and the provision of socioeconomic benefits within CBNRM, the measures used in this study require further refinement.