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About ENCAP

ENCAP's purpose is to strengthen environmental review, management and monitoring capacity of USAID missions, contractors, grantees and host country collaborators in Africa.

Encap carries out three primary types of activities to achieve its mission:

Environmental training for small-scale development projects

Principal ENCAP-supported training includes: Environmental Assessment and Environmentally Sound Design and Management for Small-Scale Activities (ESDM) Improving Success Rates for Micro-, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Through Cleaner Production, and Mission Environmental Officer Training.
Development & dissemination of resource materials

Principal resource development activities under ENCAP include the Environmental Guidelines for Small-scale Activities in Africa and the Environmental Procedures Training Manual.
Professional development of African EIA practitioners

ENCAP also supports the professional development of African environmental assessment practitioners--both by funding membership of key professionals in international associations, and providing internships and other on-the-job learning opportunities.

In each case, the principal focus is small-scale development activities.

Why a focus on small-scale activities?

Traditionally, environmental assessment and review were functions reserved for expatriate professionals and targeted at large-scale infrastructure, agriculture and industrial projects. Further, environmental review often occurred after project design was substantially complete.

There is a critical need, however, to apply the principles of environmentally sound design to smaller-scale activities--and to integrate the environmental review function early in project design. Doing so reduces dramatically the possibility of project failure arising from environmental causes, and thus increases the probability that a particular development activity will prove sustainable. Failures of small-scale projects are no less devastating at the local level than failures of the large-scale projects to which environmental assessment and review techniques have historically been applied. To take one example from the course: what if a new health post contaminates the community water supply, because the project contained no training in nor consideration of proper waste disposal?

USAID recognizes these principles in its environmental review regulations and policy. Directly funded small-scale activities are subject to USAID's Regulation 216, and sub-grant activities in Africa are subject to a streamlined environmental review process consistent with regulation 216. Environmental expertise at the mission level is particularly critical as USAID continues to devolve responsibility from headquarters.


History, Funding, and Institutional Background

Achievements, Lessons, and Future Directions: A review of USAID Africa Bureau's Environmental Capacity Building Program, 1995-2003 DRAFT ENCAP was initiated in 1994/95, and is now carried out via the EPIQ II Environmental Policy and Institutional Strengthening Indefinite Quantity Contract.

Supervisory offices in USAID are AFR/SD (Africa Bureau's Sustainable Development Office) and REDSO/ESA (USAID's Regional Economic Development Support Office--Eastern and Southern Africa.)

For information about ENCAP implementing organizations and the encap core team, see the ENCAP contacts and management page.

This web site was made possible through support provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Africa Office of Sustainable Development, under the terms of Contract No. EPP-I-00-03-00013-00, Task Order No.7. The information provided on this web site is not official U.S. Government information and may not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government. To read ENCAP's Privacy Policy, click here.