Abstracts

On the Needs of a Developing Country on the Academic Geomatics Sector for Initiating Sustainable Economic and Environmental Practices

Malawi is a Sub-Saharan African country which has been recognized by World Development Reports as the 5th poorest country on the globe while also facing one of the largest urban growth rates at approximately 4.5% annually. An important consideration to the alleviation or reconciliation of these issues is the development of an educated and skilled survey profession. According to a Malawian Ministry of Lands 2005 study the predicted deficit of survey personnel to handle the countries needs is over 800 professionals and 2000 technicians. Currently, the professional survey society has only twelve full time members from the public and private sector. There are three institutions within the country that train surveyors, two at the Bachelors level (Mzuzu University and the University of Malawi) and one at the diploma or technicians level (Polytechnic). Firsthand experience into the academic Geomatics community has been gained through an internship at Mzuzu University where no graduating class has yet to be produced; however the first will arrive into industry in 2010. This class will bring with it an immediate influx of surveyors that are trained in technical aspects of surveying as well as the aspects of traditional and governmental land tenure issues. With this new task force the country will be better able to handle issues associated with massive urbanization, land security, food security, and environmental management. Issues that require immediate attention are those of a) developing an accurate nation-wide horizontal and vertical datum, b) developing a national cadastre and land titles system especially in urban areas where encroachment is rampant, and c) reconciling law and policy issues between the government and traditional authorities. These problems are being solved through course curriculum and research being performed at Mzuzu University in partnership with the University of New Brunswick and the Centre of Property Studies.