The trend in monitoring and evaluating progress in regional integration has been towards measuring success or failure on an exclusive trade integration framework.

The Political Economy of Regional Integration in Southern Africa (PERISA) project highlights the ongoing successful areas of trade integration, and examines the reasons for their success. It identifies the
actors involved in driving co-operation and integration; and reasons for the success of these processes at the same time that trade integration has become stagnant. The project also considers whether the reasons for success or failure can be found in political interest groups, private-sector interest, or a strong history of co-operation in certain fields.

The case studies highlighted in this paper that form part of this theme focus on these four areas. The management of land and water, as with forestry and wildlife management, is an essential component of sustainable and equitable development. Power is a critical growth driver in the region and the management of regional forests an important agenda item on climate change debates.