Wamkelekile, Welkom
Nature’s role in economic development
11 October 2019 | Story Niémah Davids. Photos Je’nine May. Read time 5 min.
Developing some of the most beleaguered economies in the world doesn’t rest solely with reducing unemployment and breaking the cycle of inequality; the environment has a massive part to play too.
This was Professor Edwin Muchapondwa’s message during his inaugural lecture at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on Wednesday, 9 October, hosted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. Muchapondwa, a professor in UCT’s School of Economics, delivered the sixth and final VC’s inaugural lecture for 2019.
His research focus area homes in on economic questions around the interaction between protected areas and adjacent communities. He pointed out that economic role players the world over tend to prioritise people-centred objectives like poverty and inequality.
Yet, he said, nature conservation and the environment are not prioritised equally.
“Economics is important, and we need to talk about it, even though my main interest is around nature and the environment,” he quipped.
Spending money wisely
“Suppose you had half-a-million rand; how would you spend the funds?” Muchapondwa asked the audience.
He limited the spending options to two activities, and an overseas holiday wasn’t one of them. Instead, he asked attendees to choose whether they would spend the money on a youth unemployment reduction programme or installing waterholes at a national park.
“[Most people] would think youth unemployment is a major problem and doing something to solve it would take precedence. But think about it carefully.”
“[Most people] would think youth unemployment is a major problem and doing something to solve it would take precedence. But think about it carefully.”
If installing the waterholes will provide water to roughly 100 elephants that would otherwise have crossed a village in rural Limpopo to get their water, and in the process ruined the crops used to feed about 1 000 people, should the youth unemployment reduction programme still be the most popular choice, he asked.
“Think about it, without the waterholes there will be destruction to crops. But with the waterholes, the villagers’ source of [sustenance] will be saved. Therefore, it is important for those who work in the environmental sector to show the relevance of other economic issues [such as this one].”
Environmental goods and services
Environmental goods and services include the air we breathe, recycled nutrients in the soil, and even the weather we’re exposed to every day, Muchapondwa explained.
“These are important services; they come from the environment and should not be ignored. Economists should know that the environment produces goods and services which will help satisfy the wants of people.”
He told the audience that treasuries and finance ministries in developing nations around the world are fixated on the formula for reducing poverty and inequality, and growing gross domestic product (GDP). Almost all the time, the measures they come up with to get this right are “devoid of nature”.
“Poor households depend heavily on environmental and natural resources. Nature is making a huge contribution [to the way they live their lives].”
He encouraged economists to think differently.
“Poor households depend heavily on environmental and natural resources. Nature is making a huge contribution [to the way they live their lives]. This means nature tends to help poor people more, so it is important to invest in it. There are many unreported and unrecorded contributions already made,” he said.
Government has a role to play
Developing nations might not invest too much into, or care too much about nature and the environment, he said. But marginalised communities in developing nations do. It’s how they secure their livelihoods.
He urged national treasuries and finance ministries to think less about the dollars, or rands and cents when making decisions about resource allocation, and more about the environment and the role it has played and continues to play in various sectors.
“Conservation has a meaningful and inevitable role to play, and government must play its part and allocate the necessary resources to this sector,” Muchapondwa said.
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The UCT Inaugural Lecture Series
Inaugural lectures are a central part of university academic life. These events are held to commemorate the inaugural lecturer’s appointment to full professorship. They provide a platform for the academic to present the body of research that they have been focusing on during their career, while also giving UCT the opportunity to showcase its academics and share its research with members of the wider university community and the general public in an accessible way.
In April 2023, Interim Vice-Chancellor Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy announced that the Vice-Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture Series would be held in abeyance in the coming months, to accommodate a resumption of inaugural lectures under a reconfigured UCT Inaugural Lecture Series – where the UCT extended executive has resolved that for the foreseeable future, all inaugural lectures will be resumed at faculty level.
Recent executive communications
2024
Professor Susan Cleary delivered her inaugural lecture on 14 March.
14 Mar 2024 - 5 min read
2023
Prof Lydia Cairncross’s inaugural lecture provided a snapshot of the career path of a surgeon and community activist whose commitment to social justice means her work doesn’t end in the operating theatre.
02 Nov 2023 - 8 min read
2022
Professor Linda Ronnie is in UCT’s Faculty of Commerce.
28 Sep 2022 - 6 min read
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2021
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2019
2018
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2016 and 2015
No inaugural lectures took place during 2015 and 2016.