An exploration of the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) in Burkina Faso illustrates the difficulties of sectorial planning for improved natural
resource management. Tracing the history of development planning and the
background of the preparation of environmental action plans in numerous
African countries leads to an assessment of the results and impact of the NEAP
in Burkina Faso. It is argued that the NEAP has played only a marginal role
in tackling the environmental problems of the country. The lack ofparticipation
in preparation, institutional confusion, and insufficient analysis of the main
causes of environmental degradation as well as the failure to identify costs and
benefits of specific resource management improvements are amongst shortcomings of the plan. The article concludes that to encourage more investment in
better resource management, this will require greater integration of environ
mental concerns in economic policy making.
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