WILDLIFE UTILIZATION ON PRIVATE LAND: UNDERSTANDING THE ECONOMICS OF GAME RANCHING IN SOUTH AFRICA By JESSICA MUSENGEZI A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2010 1 © 2010 Jessica Musengezi 2 To my mother 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Laila Racevskis, my advisor for her guidance and feedback and patience. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Brian Child, for his feedback in developing the research idea and for his guidance in the field; Dr. Jeffery Burkhardt and Dr. Renata Serra, for their encouragement and constructive reviews. I like of express my gratitude to Brian Child This research study was made possible with funding from Animal Human Health for the Environment and Economic Development - Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (AHEAD-GLTFCA) program. Mike Peel provided research support in South Africa, without which this study would not have been possible. A special thanks to all of the game ranchers and conservancy managers for taking time to participate in the study and share their experiences. Lastly, I’d like to thank my Food and Resource Economics Department graduate family for listening and giving encouragement in the ‘dark hours’. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. 9 ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 11 1.1. Wildlife Utilization on Private land ..................................................................... 11 1.2. Wildlife Utilization in Southern Africa ................................................................ 13 1.3. South African Approach to Wildlife Utilization................................................... 16 1.3.1. Importance of Wildlife in South Africa .................................................... 18 1.3.2. Issues and Challenges ........................................................................... 18 1.4. Research Objectives .......................................................................................... 20 1.5. Study Area ......................................................................................................... 21 1.6. Summary ............................................................................................................ 22 2 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 25 2.1. Financial and Economic Analysis ...................................................................... 27 2.1.1. Financial Analysis ................................................................................... 28 2.1.2. Gross Margin Analysis ............................................................................ 28 2.1.3. The Policy Analysis Matrix ..................................................................... 29 2.1.3.1. Financial profitability .................................................................. 30 2.1.3.2. Economic profitability ................................................................ 31 2.1.3.3. Impact of market failure and government policy ...................... 31 2.1.3.4. PAM analytical ratios ................................................................. 32 2.1.3.5. Limitations of PAM .................................................................... 34 2.2. Shadow Prices for South Africa......................................................................... 35 2.2.1. Pricing Tradable Goods .......................................................................... 36 2.2.2. Pricing Non-tradable Goods ................................................................... 36 2.2.3. Domestic Factors of Production ............................................................. 37 2.3. Policy Analysis ................................................................................................... 40 2.3.1. Institutional Analysis ............................................................................... 40 2.3.2. Stakeholder Analysis .............................................................................. 41 2.4. Data Collection ................................................................................................... 42 2.4.1. Producer Survey ..................................................................................... 43 2.4.2. Sampling and Participant Selection ....................................................... 44 2.4.3. District Game Farm Statistics ................................................................. 45 5 3 THE POLICY ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................. 49 3.1. Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................... 49 3.2. Situation ............................................................................................................. 51 3.3. Structure ............................................................................................................. 52 3.3.1. Stakeholder Analysis .............................................................................. 52 3.3.1.1. Wildlife production stakeholders ............................................... 53 3.3.1.2. Provincial regulatory environment ............................................ 58 3.4. Performance....................................................................................................... 60 3.4.1. Impact of Policy and Regulation............................................................. 60 3.4.2. Impact of Veterinary Regulations ........................................................... 62 3.4.3. Market Restrictions ................................................................................. 62 3.5. Conclusions........................................................................................................ 67 4 GAME RANCHING IN LIMPOPO PROVINCE .......................................................... 74 4.1. Economic Benefits from Wildlife Utilization on Private Land ............................ 74 4.1.1. Market Values ......................................................................................... 74 4.1.2. Non-market Values ................................................................................. 78 4.2. Case Study Area: Mopani District ..................................................................... 81 4.3. Farm Case Studies ............................................................................................ 82 4.3.1. Farm A: Ecotourism – Small Unfenced Property ................................... 82 4.3.2. Farm B: Ecotourism - Small Fenced Property ....................................... 84 4.3.3. Farm C: Ecotourism- Small Fenced Property ........................................ 87 4.3.4. Farm D: Ecotourism – Small Fenced Property ...................................... 88 4.3.5. Farm E: Breeding – Small Fenced Property .......................................... 90 4.3.6. Farm F: Ecotourism- Small Fenced Property ........................................ 91 4.3.7. Farm G: Mixed Use- Large Fenced Property ........................................ 93 4.3.8. Conservancy Profiles .............................................................................. 95 4.3.9. Comparative Policy Analysis Matrix Results ......................................... 99 4.4. Financial Analysis ............................................................................................ 100 4.4.1. Operating Costs .................................................................................... 100 4.4.2. Revenue Sources and Profitability ....................................................... 101 4.4.3. Employment .......................................................................................... 103 4.5. Farmers’ Perspectives ..................................................................................... 105 4.5.1. Financial Values of Wildlife Based Land Use ...................................... 105 4.5.2. Explaining Rancher Behavior: Motivations for Game Ranching ......... 107 4.5.3. Motivation Behind Wildlife Enterprise Types ....................................... 108 4.5.4. Changing Views and Future Plans ....................................................... 109 4.5.5. Business Opportunities and Challenges .............................................. 111 4.5.6. Collective Management ........................................................................ 112 4.5.7. Ecological Management ....................................................................... 113 4.6. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 115 6 5 CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................ 125 5.1. Game Ranch Performance .............................................................................