Is Mozambique the New South African Frontier?
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA DOTTORATO DI RICERCA QUALITÀ AMBIENTALE E SVILUPPO ECONOMICO REGIONALE Ciclo XIX Settore scientifico disciplinari di afferenza: M-GGR/02 IS MOZAMBIQUE THE NEW SOUTH AFRICAN FRONTIER? THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE GREAT LIMPOPO TRANSFRONTIER CONSERVATION AREA ON THE LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES OF BORDER COMMUNITIES IN THE PAFURI ADMINISTRATIVE POST. Presentata da: Dott.ssa Clara Bocchino Coordinatore Dottorato Relatore Chia.mo Prof. Carlo Cencini Chia.mo Prof. Carlo Cencini Esame finale anno 2008 To my parents who have supported me this far, trusting I would make the right choices and come up with the best results, thank you. CONTENTS Executive Summary.............................................................................I Introduzione.....................................................................................I L’imperialismo in Africa: il declino delle civiltà e delle etnie africane..........IV Il Nazionalismo Africano e il mantenimento dei confini coloniali.................VI La politica della conservazione sudafricana: i parchi transfrontalieri..............X Metodologia di ricerca......................................................................XIV Le fonti primarie e secondarie........................................................XIV La cartografia.............................................................................XV L’analisi di terreno: metodologia qualitativa.......................................XVI L’analisi di terreno: metodologia quantitativa....................................XVII Area geografica di studio...................................................................XIX Analisi dei dati..............................................................................XXIII La demografia..........................................................................XXIII I legami transfrontalieri: migrazioni per lavoro...................................XXVI I legami transfrontalieri – migrazioni sociali.....................................XXVIII Pafuri: la frontiera par excellence divisa fra stato e nazione.....................XXX Conclusioni................................................................................XXXVII List of maps......................................................................................i List of tables....................................................................................ii Acknowledgments.............................................................................iii Acronyms........................................................................................iv 1. Introduction..................................................................................1 1.1 Key research themes....................................................................2 1.1.1 The Political geography of Africa and African conservation.................3 1.1.2 Transfrontier conservation and socio-economic development..............4 1.1.3 Borders in between: conservation and livelihoods in Pafuri.................7 1.2 Theoretical foundations.................................................................9 1.3 Conceptual Framework................................................................11 1.4 The study area..........................................................................13 1.4.1 Mozambique as a case study: justifications...................................17 1.4.2 Physical geography and ecology of Pafuri.....................................18 1.4.3 The human geography of Pafuri.................................................20 1.5 Research outline........................................................................22 1.6 Terminology and general considerations............................................23 1.6.1 Transfrontier Conservation: policies and acronyms..........................23 1.6.2 Native languages and populations..............................................26 1.6.3 African toponyms and history...................................................28 1.7 Thesis structure.........................................................................29 2. African borders from myth to reality.................................................33 2.1 Borders as symbols of the nation state..............................................35 2.1.1 The sovereign state: areas of influence and buffer zones..................36 2.1.2 Nationhood and sovereignty: subverting the ancien régime................37 2.1.3 Consecrating the Nation-state: the Concert of Europe......................38 2.1.4 Focussing on the world: the Concert of Europe in Africa...................40 2.2 The scramble for Africa: finalising African political geography.................42 2.2.1 Civilisations and states in pre-colonial Africa.................................43 2.2.2 Changing geographies: from colonialism to imperialism....................45 2.2.3 Borders in Africa: the Congress of Berlin......................................47 2.3 Maintaining the status quo at independence: internal conflicts................50 2.3.1 The rise of African Nationalism.................................................51 2.3.2 The implementation of African Nationalism..................................54 2.3.3 The multi-national state.........................................................56 2.4 The Peace Parks: open borders across Southern Africa..........................58 2.4.1 From conservation to natural resources management.......................58 2.4.2 Origins and objectives of the Southern African Peace Parks...............60 2.4.3 The security challenge of Peace Parks.........................................63 2.5 Conclusion...............................................................................65 3. The border wars: national struggle or civil disobedience?.......................67 3.1 The impact of Apartheid in the region..............................................70 3.1.1 The first Border War: Rhodesian defeat.......................................71 3.1.2 South Africa’s total war: the geopolitical contexts..........................77 3.1.3 The Angolan and Mozambican fronts of South Africa........................79 3.1.4 The ‘Total war’ along the Mozambican border...............................83 3.2 The peace process and regional independence....................................85 3.2.1 The last two years of a decade: international geopolitics and regional impact......................................................................................86 3.2.2 South Africa withdraws from the frontier and protects its borders.......88 3.3 Permeable borders in east southern africa.........................................90 3.3.1 The Limpopo River: a natural border or a cradle for settlements?........91 3.3.2 Migration Patterns in the Limpopo River Basin: needs and traditions....94 3.3.3 Modern migrations across a permeable border...............................98 3.3.4 The informal sector across permeable borders.............................101 3.4 Supporting migrations in the Great Limpopo TFCA?.............................104 3.4.1From GKGTFCA to GLTFCA: a history of names and place.................104 3.4.2GLTFCA: aims and objectives of a Peace Park and its TFCA...............107 3.4.3Security and migrations in the GLTFCA.......................................109 3.5 Conclusions.............................................................................110 4.Research methods for the case study................................................112 4.i Aim and objectives.................................................................112 4.ii Mixed methodological approach.................................................113 4.iii Field work: timing and localities................................................114 4.iv Chapter outline....................................................................115 4.1 Selecting the case study: core and periphery....................................115 4.1.1 The historical and political geography of a frontier........................116 4.1.2 Geographical core and development periphery.............................119 4.1.3 Dumela, where the informal blends with the cultural.....................122 4.2 The need for quantitative data.....................................................124 4.2.1 Scoping visits: placing the researcher into perspective...................126 4.3 The contribution of qualitative data...............................................132 4.3.1 Creating the occasions to mingle..............................................134 4.3.2 Unstructured meetings for a comprehensive perspective.................136 4.3.3 Research in Pafuri and Dumela................................................140 4.4 Placing data into context............................................................143 4.4.1Planning the research............................................................144 4.4.2 Quantitative research...........................................................145 4.4.3Qualitative research..............................................................145 4.5 Conclusions: an overview of Mozambique.........................................147 5.Crooks’ corner, the heart of the GLTFCA...........................................150 5.1 The history of a legendary spot.....................................................151 5.1.1 Tracing back the people of Pafuri.............................................152 5.1.2 Crooks’ Corner: the cultural melting pot....................................155 5.1.3