The Chad Pipeline Project: Local Ecologies and Health

拟议的研究审查了乍得-喀麦隆石油开发和管道项目对乍得家庭经济、生产活动、决策和健康的影响。该管道项目是由乍得和喀麦隆政府、世界银行以及以埃克森美孚为首的石油公司财团共同承担的。该项目耗资37亿美元，是非洲大陆最大的建设项目。该项目引起了相当大的注意，不仅因为它的规模，而且还因为三个主要行为体在保健、环境和援助当地社区方面商定的参与条款和条件。作为参与管道项目的条件，世界银行规定乍得政府将项目收入的大约70%专门用于投资卫生、教育、农村和基础设施发展。此外，还要求该财团进行环境影响评估，并编制一项环境管理计划，其中包括社会和经济方案的规定，以减轻项目对当地人口的影响。以前关于大型基础设施项目对当地社区影响的许多调查都是狭隘的，侧重于变化的特定部门或方面；有权使用汇总数据或简要指标；并且具有回溯性。这项为期两年的研究将为管道项目发展对家庭影响的纵向小组研究奠定基础。这项研究将通过跟踪至少120个家庭来进行，这些家庭来自距离管道项目不同的地方；他们的生产基础；她们获得保健服务的机会；以及他们融入现金经济。

The proposed study examines the impact of the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project on household economies, production activities, decision-making, and health in Chad. The Pipeline Project is a joint undertaking of the governments of Chad and Cameroon, the World Bank, and a consortium of oil companies headed by ExxonMobil. At a cost of $3.7 billion, it is the largest construction project on the African continent. The Project has drawn considerable attention, not only for its size, but also because of the terms and conditions of engagement agreed upon by the three principal actors in regard to health, the environment, and assistance to local communities. The World Bank, as a condition of its participation in the Pipeline Project, stipulated that the government of Chad earmark approximately 70% of its revenues from the Project for investments in health, education, and rural and infrastructure development. Further, the consortium was required to conduct an environmental impact assessment and to prepare an environmental management plan that includes provisions for social and economic programming to mitigate the effects of the Project on local population. Many previous investigations of the impact of large-scale infrastructure projects on local communties have been narrowly conceived, focusing on a particular sector or aspect of change; have privileged the use of aggregate data or summary indicators; and have been retrospective in character. This two-year study will lay the groundwork for a longitudinal, panel study of the impact of the development of the Pipeline Project on households. That research will be carried out by prospectively following at least 120 households from localities that differ in terms of their proximity to the Pipeline Project; their productive base; their access to health care services; and their integration into a cash economy. Households will be followed through the construction phase (anticipated to reach completion by 2004) and into the exploitation and revenue-generating phase of the Project. The research involves the collection of survey data, narratives on therapeutic regimens, anthropometric data, and water quality testing. The study also brings together a multi-disciplinary research team from medicine, public health, political science, economics, environmental sciences, and nutrition, from Chad, other parts of Africa, and the United States. Capacity-building is an integral part of the proposed work.