Prof Doreen Atkinson
Photo: Johan Roux

Economic potential of arid areas needs attention



Prof Doreen Atkinson introduction: video

“The arid areas of South Africa have a great deal of economic potential, although this is often not widely recognised,” says Prof Doreen Atkinson, Research Associate at the Centre for Development Support, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. She is a C2-NRF-rated researcher.

Her research focuses on the arid areas of South Africa, including the Karoo, the Kalahari, and Namaqualand. In partnership with the Karoo Development Foundation, she has organised several conferences in the Karoo, as well as ‘Karoo Parliaments’.  These are opportunities for Karoo communities, government departments, NGOs, municipalities, and academics to exchange insights.

In terms of the economic potential of the arid areas of South Africa, she says the really difficult challenge is to create synergies between the four provinces which make up the Karoo:  the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, the Northern Cape, and the Free State.  A regional development approach, based on the concept of an ecoregion, is urgently required. “Development efforts have been systematically diverted away, towards the coastlines, and the capital cities,” she said at a conference. With the possible fracking of gas in the Karoo, this area of South Africa needs pertinent attention.

“Fortunately, several Government policies (such as the National Development Plan) and laws (such as the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act of 2013) now recognise this need,” she says.

Her research is both interdisciplinary and intersectoral, including tourism, agriculture, land reform, farm workers, and small-town development.

Prof Atkinson is also manager of the Arid Areas Research Programme, chairperson of the council of the National Museum, secretary and trustee of the Karoo Development Foundation, chair of the Sneeuberg Sustainable Development Foundation, and has served on the NRF selection panel on HESA/IBSA funding.