Neoliberalization, decentralization and community-based natural resources management in Malawi: The first sixteen years and looking ahead

This article reviews the paradoxical gap between theory/policy and reality from 16 years of community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) in Malawi’s fisheries, forestry and wildlife sectors, focusing on influences of imported neoliberal blueprints. The article argues that CBNRM has created shifting institutional hybridities melding neoliberal principles and modern institutions with neo-patrimonial institutions, producing more challenges than opportunities. Recent gains and bias toward revenue generation have not been matched by practical measures for ecological sustainability. Synthesis of trends, challenges, lessons and opportunities through an institutional choice lens contributes to understanding of relative costs and benefits of CBNRM in delivering ecological and socio-economic goals.