IMrLEME1ITlN<:;tCAMPFIRE AS A SUSTAINABLE LAND-USE STRATEGY: AN CULTURAL-HISTORICAL ANAL YSIS OF WILDLIFE IN ZTh1B~~WE'~ COMMUNAL LANDS by Kristin B. Dwyer A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE (Geography) at the tThTJ:VERSITY OF WISCONSIN--MADISON 1998 Table of Contents List of Figures IV Introduction 1 Chapter One: Historic Land-Use Patterns Geography 8 Agro-ecological Characteristics 9 Pre-Colonial Land-Use 14 Conceptualizing Community 15 Local Institutions GovernIng Land Use 17 The Early Colonial Years: Disempowerment, Expropriation and Changing Land-Use Patterns 21 Resettlement and the Communal Lands Dilemma 27 Land-Use Since Independence 29 Chapter Two: Devolution of Wildlife Management: the Birth of CAMPFIRE Devolution of Resource Management 33 Operation Windfall 35 Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources CAMPFIRE 37 11 Chapter Three: Regional Political Ecology and the Role of Common Property Tenure 42 Land Tenure Systems 45 Common Property Resources, Collective Action Institutions and CAMPFIRE 47 Chapter Four: CAMPFIRE in Nyaminyami District: the Case of Omay Communal Lands 54 Administration 55 Appropriate Authority and Wildlife Management 58 The Omay Communal Lands 62 Wildlife Utilization 65 Institutional Viability 76 Chapter Five: Discussion and Conclusions 79 References 84 iii Figures 1. Zimbabwe Map 7 2. Agro-ecological Regions of Zimbabwe 10 3. Land-Use Distribution in Zimbabwe 13 4. Protected Areas, Natural Regions and Land-Use in Zimbabwe 41 .10 5. Design Principles Illustrated by Long-Enduring CPR Institutions '+0 6. Organizational Structure of the Nyaminyami Wildlife Management Trust 59 7. Map of Omay Communal Land 64 8. Revenues from Wildlife Management Activities in Nyaminyami District 73 9. Trophy Hunting Quotas and Fees in Nyaminyami District 74 IV Introduction During the 1980s, much of Sub-Saharan Africa suffered a series of droughts which profoundly disrupted the production systems throughout the region. The social and ecological ramifications of these drought events were often catastrophic, and as ecologists began responding to the crisis, the debate over appropriate land-use in dryland ecosystems intensified. State-managed programs promoting technological fixes revealed themselves as maladaptive to much of the Sub-Saharan drylands region, exacerbating the very land-use pressures they were intended to relieve. Given the many constraints to land-use, alternatives to conventional development schemes became a priority of many African governments and international development agencies. The government of Zimbabwe provides an example of how this priority has been implemented into a conservation-based development program, known as CAMPFIRE, through its current process of natural resource devolution. This thesis addresses the concept of CAMPFIRE, the acronym for Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources, as a sustainable land-use option in Zimbabwe's ecologically marginal Communal Lands, and in so doing explores the strengths and limitations of devolution in practice. As an alternative to centralized resource management, CAMPFIRE is evaluated from three conceptual points of reference: 1) the failure of state-controlled coercive conservation programs; 2) the 2 subsequent trend in resource management devolution in Africa; and 3) CAMPFIRE as an appropriate model for effective devolution of natural resource management. The colonial government of Zimbabwe has a long history of coercive conservation policy, involving the expropriation of land from native farmers and a total ban on indigenous hunting. In effect wildlife became, and still is, the property of the state. Programs implemented for the conservation of wildlife had very little success due to the mistrust and resentment native people have for government initiatives, and also because of the centralized, top-down nature of natural resource management. After Independence in 1980, CAMPFIRE emerged from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management (DNPWLM) in response to Zimbabwe's concern for its wildlife resources, which have become increasingly vulnerable to poaching. However, the Zimbabwe government, like those of so many other developing countries, has been hard-pressed for the funds to effectively manage natural resources and rural development. In response to this dilemma a new model for resource management has emerged, devolving responsibilities for natural resource management to rural communities "in the name of decentralization and popular participation" (Ribot, 1996; p. 40). As Ribot argues, "[t]his movement is based on efficiency, equity and development arguments in which community management is seen to improve performance in each of these spheres" (Ribot, 1996; p. 40). Devolution represents the current trend in natural resource management in much of Africa today. 3 CAMPFIRE is considered by many as a model for the devolution of natural resource management, with particular emphasis on wildlife (Child, 1991; King, 1994; Murphree, 1991; Murombedzi, 1994; Peterson, 1991; ZimTrust, 1990). The proponents of CAMPFIRE claim that the program's sustainability lies in the legal access local communities are given to wildlife. Making wildlife accessible to local people offers them the opportunity to profit from wildlife use, usually through carefully managed safari contracts, photographic safaris and wildlife ranching operations. CAMPFIRE is rationalized on the basis that if local people view wildlife as an economically valuable resource, they will have a vested interest in its protection. This approach toward conservation reflects current trends in rural development seeking to redress the equity issues undermining previously failed conservation and development attempts, and the belief that economically-driven programs are sustainable. This research traces CAl\1PFIRE's departure from mainstream conservation and development projects, and evaluates the program's success at meeting its objectives for providing a sustainable land-use option based on indigenous natural resources in Zimbabwe's marginal Communal Lands. In the process of understanding the current situation in Zimbabwe, it is important to remember that present conditions in Zimbabwe are the product of its colonial past. Chapter I introduces the geography and social structures of pre-colonial and colonial Zimbabwe within an historical framework, addressing specific factors such as the distribution of arable land, the availability of 4 natural resources and the socio-political structures as they related to patterns of settlement and resource use during pre-colonial and colonial eras. This historical approach traces the changes in the relationship between local people and wildlife as colonial structures governing land use evolved. With the arrival of the European settler, a tripartite division of land-use emerged between natives, settlers and wildlife. From this discussion, the juxtaposition of social constraints onto a drylands ecosystem elucidates Zimbabwe's current land-use concerns in terms of access to and control of resources -­ specifically wildlife. In Chapter II, CAMPFIRE is identified as an alternative conservation methodology, fusing indigenous resource use into a sustainable development package. Its role as a sustainable land-use option is explored in terms of the conservation philosophy underpinning the program's conception. The significance of CAMPFIRE's institutional role is facilitated by the recent process of natural resource devolution currentiy underway in Zimbabwe. Chapter III applies the current regional political ecology framework to analyze Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE program, emphasizing the importance of local institutions to their success. Central to the regional political ecology literature are the various pressures placed on local land-users, and the interaction of these pressures within particular tenure systems, tenure being an instrument of state power. Employing this perspective involves three foci: 1) local emphasis on the land user and the social relations impacting land use 5 decisions; 2) exploring the broader context of these local linkages, socially and geographically; and 3) situating the study into a historical analysis for clarification of the present predicament (Neumann 1992). Theoretically, political ecology carries with it a vast array of interpretations, none of which are mutually exclusive as most of the literature is grounded in the political economy discourse (Bassett, 1988; Painter, 1987; Watts, 1985). However, the literature is vast and for the purposes ofthis study, Blaikie and Brookfield (1987) provide an appropriate framework, describing it as a combination of "the concerns of ecology with political economy." The inclusion of a regional specificity yields Blaikie and Brookfield's "regional political ecology," which is the approach taken in this work. Inherent to the political ecology discourse is the dynamic between the state and various social classes regarding the use of natural resources, including the role oftenure as a means of controlling access to and use of resources (Drinkwater, 1991; Neumann, 1992; Peiuso, 1992; Ranger, 1993). In this thesis, the relationship between tenure and natural resource degradation is explored through the current common property theory literature, particularly as it shapes the environmental perceptions of local peoples. Incorporating elements of common property theory helps to describe the nuances of control and resistance