Settlement and Development in the River Blindness Control Zone

摘要

The Onchocerciasis (Riverblindness) Control Program (OCP) was started in 1974 to control riverblindness in a seven country area in West Africa. Control of the disease has brought increasingly rapid migration to the river valleys, a phenomenon to which national governments have responded with a wide array of settlement policies ranging from highly controlled sponsored settlements to completely uncontrolled spontaneous settlement. Given the budgetary constraints of most governments in the OCP area, assisted spontaneous settlement is recommended as a less expensive alternative to sponsored settlements and a more effective alternative to completely spontaneous settlement. With assisted settlement, settlers make many of the major decisions with much less government intervention, but at the same time government agencies provide essential services and infrastructure.