A Case of Mopane Worms (Amacimbi) Harvesting
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Incorporating Traditional Natural Resource Management Techniques in Conventional Natural Resources Management Strategies: A case of Mopane Worms (Amacimbi) Management and Harvesting in the Buliliamamangwe District, Zimbabwe Johnson Maviya and Davison Gumbo Abstract Strategies for poverty alleviation in much of Africa have been driven from outside in communities concerned. Potentials of natural resources under the jurisdiction of communities and their local level institutions have never been factored in these strategies. This paper explores the traditional natural resource management techniques by the Kalanga people of Bulilimamangwe District of Zimbabwe so that these could be incorporated in conventional management strategies by extension agencies. Currently, the level and extent of incorporating traditional management techniques in conventional resource management is low and restricted to Wildlife, yet management and harvesting of non-timber forest products such mopane worms could benefit from this research. The research reveals that certain specialized groups of families among the Kalanga people possess important knowledge in management and harvesting of the mopane worms which however has not been for incorporated into scientific resource management strategies by extension agencies. It is argued therefore that if such knowledge is factored into the scientific resource management techniques, the community, as well as the ecology of the area stand to benefit a lot. Introduction Strategies for poverty alleviation in much of Africa have been driven from outside the communities concerned. The potentials of the natural resources under the jurisdiction of the communities and their local-level institutions have never been factored into these strategies. Case studies emerging from southern Africa show otherwise. For close to a decade now communities with viable wildlife populations have benefited through community based natural resources management (CBNRM) approaches which allow such communities to receive tangible benefits for living with wildlife (Shaw et al 2003; Campbell and Shackleton 2002). Buoyed by successes in the wildlife sub-sector, where local communities receive substantial returns for their contribution towards wildlife management, NGOs and governments alike have been actively replicating this approach in other sub-sectors e.g., commercial timber (Forestry Commission 95 1998). The successes in the two sub-sectors have been driven by a state and high return quota or concession system linked to national and global markets. Recently, a shift has been observed towards non-timber forest products (NTFPs) e.g., crafts (Forestry Commission 1998), edible worms (Hobane 1995; SAFIRE 2002; Taylor 2003). Two reasons can be advanced for the difference in the value between a given NTFP and some charismatic wildlife species. Firstly, the level and extent of use of conventional management techniques is limited to wildlife but less so, to NTFPs. Secondly, the market niche for NTFPs is limited to local and itinerant tourists while wildlife is linked to the global markets. For most NTFPs based enterprises located in the rural areas management techniques are largely based on traditional knowledge and to a lesser extent formal ones. Further, the commercialization of traditional knowledge centered on a key local resources is often vested in some specialist households and this often fragments communities, creates conflicts over the resource, and raises critical issues vis-à-vis resource access and use at commodity level. In this paper, it is argued that the sustainability of harvesting of NTFPs at community level for commercial purposes is threatened by inter and intra-community conflicts generated by the enterprises. Often involving a specialized group of knowledgeable households who will be extracting common pool resource such initiatives of will market a resource also used by other members of the community to meet their livelihoods demands. While the benefits to the community of a given venture could be negotiated at community level, the management aspects may not be so easily resolved. The critical issue, which arises, is that management of the resource base as well as that of the key resource e.g., mopane worm is not geared for the market and is wholly based on traditional knowledge and experience. With no quantifiable database, monitoring system, or sound biological knowledge, traditional knowledge may not be able to support a sustainable harvesting regime. It is required to meld traditional knowledge with conventional formalistic knowledge. Background The livelihoods of the majority of rural people in Africa are based forests and woodlands as sources of agricultural land, firewood and charcoal, as well as non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as food, fibre, and medicines (Dewees 1996; Gumbo 2002). In general, NTFPs are often referred to tangible goods of biological origin, other than timber and firewood, from forests or land under similar use that are harvested by communities for purposes of meeting their livelihood demands. Often undervalued and not included in national statistics NTFPs are gradually being recognized as a key component of rural livelihoods systems. Increasingly, the wide variety of flora and fauna species, which form the basis for livelihoods for rural societies in 96 most of Southern African countries are now being exploited for economic gain (Gomez 1988, Wilson 1990 and McGregor 1991). In the past the exploitation of some natural resources in the rural areas in countries like Zimbabwe (e.g., wildlife) was strictly controlled by the state but the acceptance of community based natural resources management (CBNRM) approaches led to and enabled a shift towards community involvement (Murombedzi 2003). While the involvement of communities in the wildlife sub-sector under a CBNRM arrangement vis-à-vis benefits wildlife the shift towards the use of a similar construct for NTFP products has been fraught with difficulties. The harvesting of some of these NTFPs e.g., mopane worms which have not been placed within the basket of formally regulated and controlled resources is largely based on local knowledge, beliefs, and local-level institutional frameworks of control. There is often a very limited contribution from the conventional science as well as policy frameworks. Among the many NTFPs that being exploited for commercial purposes is the mopane worm. The mopane worm, the edible larvae of the Saturnid moth Imbrasis beilina has become one of the most economically important forestry resource products of the mopane woodland in southern Zimbabwe, Botswana and the northern Transvaal (Taylor 2003; Timberlake 1996; Bradley and Dewees 1993). The distribution of the mopane worm in the Southern Africa follows closely on that of the primary host plant, the mopane tree (Colophospernum mopane). The mopane tree occurs in a broad band extending from the northern parts of South Africa into southern parts of Zimbabwe and Botswana, extending west into Namibia. The mopane worm is now a basis of a multi-million dollar trade in edible insects, providing livelihoods for many harvesters, traders, and their families (Toms et. el., 2003). Contributing largely to rural household economies through nutrition and health contributions and as an important household food security resource the mopane worms have assumed a new role as a commercial commodity in a number of countries in the region. In Zimbabwe, trade in mopane worms has become lucrative activity where some districts such as Gwanda, Chiredzi and Bulilimamangwe are attracting buyers and harvesters from right across the country (Hobane 1995; SAFIRE 2002). The increased levels of trading translate into high quantities harvested, which could be viewed as a leading to the overexploitation of the worm. Alarm bells have started to ring in southern Africa over the potential overexploitation of the worm. For example, Roberts, (1988) noted that the abundance of the caterpillars was declining owing to increased exploitation coupled with a decline in selective harvesting and a general increase in pressure on the mopane woodlands. There have been reports of the disappearance of the worm in some parts of Botswana following heavy harvesting (Barlet 1996). Suggested threats range from over-harvesting, fire to deforestation of the woodlands (or loss of the host tree) during harvesting and processing of the worms. Research conducted by Toms (2003) on the mopane 97 worm harvesting techniques in the Limpopo Province of South Africa indicated that the concept of sustainable harvesting was not practiced but rather traditional myths play a strong role in determining harvesting strategies used. For example, beliefs such as that if young worms are harvested, then the older individuals will leave the area are still rife in the Limpopo Province. Further, when the larvae leave the trees and burrow into the ground, they are going to die. What is known is that burrowing into the ground is part of the life cycle of the mopane worm and clearly there is a need to enrich traditional knowledge with some of the more formal biological information. At present, in spite of the importance of mopane worms to rural livelihoods there is currently no management information on the management of the worm in formal extension systems. The purpose of this paper is to explore how some families of the Kalanga people of Bulilimamangwe District of Zimbabwe, through traditional knowledge have set out to manage and harvest the mopane worm