A sustainable strategy to mitigate the ban of hunting on local communities in Botswana L. Mokgalo orcid.org/ 0000-0002-2339-9611 Thesis accepted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Tourism Management at the North-West University Promoter: Prof. P van der Merwe Graduation: May 2020 Student number: 27817822 DECLARATION STATEMENT I, Lelokwane Lockie Mokgalo, of Passport number BN0053744 and student number 27817822 declare that this thesis registered as “A sustainable strategy to mitigate the ban of hunting on rural communities in Botswana” submitted as fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Tourism Management at the Potchefstroom campus of the North West University is original work and complies with the code of Academic integrity, as well as other relevant policies, procedures, rules and regulations of the North West University. The thesis has not been submitted before to any institution by myself or any other person in fulfilment (or or partial fulfilment) of the requirements for the attainment of any qualification. I understand and accept that this thesis that I am submitting, forms part of the university’s property. Signed: _____________________ ____________________ Lelokwane Lockie Mokgalo Prof. P. van der Merwe i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The PhD journey has been a roller-coaster of emotions. From lows, during challenging situations to the highs experienced with the assimilation and discovery of new knowledge. The journey was worthwhile at the end as it culminated in growth on my part and I would like to express profound gratitude to the following for helping me on this path; The Almighty, who through our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, gave me strength and believe that I can do all things through the One who strengthens me. My study supervisor, Professor Van der Merwe, who was steadfast in his support and guidance. I couldn’t have asked for a better promoter, thank you Sir. My family, especially my wife for standing with me and often travelling with me on my various travels during my study, I love you. I thank my kids for the sacrifice they had to endure during my various engagements on this journey, love you guys. I hope my journey become an inspiration to you. I thank North-West University for the financial support through their bursary provision. It was very helpful and came in handy in situations where I couldn’t have pulled through. I thank my parents for the supporting they gave since my youth and the sacrifices they made. I extend a special thanks to my grandmother who helped raise me from when I was toddler to my adulthood. Though you passed on as I was finishing this PhD journey, your contribution to the man I have become will forever stay with me. Rest in eternal peace and I will forever miss you. ii ABSTRACT Wildlife tourism is a component of the tourism industry which has experienced growing demand in certain regions of the world. There are various sub-components within the sector which represent specific interests, of which hunting tourism is one. In Botswana, hunting tourism has been practiced over the years and in 1995 became one of the natural resource utilization avenues that drove Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programmes. Hunting helped accrue revenue for communities until 2014 when the government of Botswana imposed a ban on the practice. The ban resulted in loss of income and employment for the communities. The aim of the study was to formulate a sustainable strategy to mitigate the ban of hunting on rural communities. Therefore, five objectives were formulated to drive the aim. The first objective was to conduct a critical literature analysis on the contextualization of hunting tourism in Botswana. The literature revealed that hunting tourists are classified in a variety of ways, that the sector has both negative and positive impacts and that there are various management frameworks that are used to manage hunting as well as the broader wildlife tourism segment. This objective was achieved in Chapter 2 of the thesis. The second objective was to analyse literature on the sustainable development of tourism. The analysis demonstrated that, sustainable tourism is guided by principles that strive to strike a balance between economic, environmental and socio-cultural elements. However, to achieve this balance between the triple bottomlines, various tools are used to sustain development of tourism. The second objective was achieved in Chapter 3. The third objective was to conduct a critical analysis of literature on Community-Based Tourism (CBT). The analysis revealed that there was a link between sustainable tourism and CBT as they share aspirations of community participation, economic benefits and conservation of resources. The literature also demonstrated that, CBT projects that were deemed successful presented certain factors which defined their success. These were participation in decision-making, capacity building, economic viability and benefits sharing. Furthermore, nine models of CBT development were reviewed, which revealed core aspects prevalent within the models. These aspects included a determination of a development approach (bottom-up/top-down), a phase to plan for certain aspects of development such as collaboration, setting agreed goals and community participation as well as making a choice of a CBT venture type. The objective was achieved in Chapter 4. The fourth objective was to present empirical results on effects of hunting ban on communities and conservation. The objective was achieved in Chapter 6. The fifth objective was to draw conclusions and make recommendations for the study which was achieved in Chapter 7. The achievement of all the objectives also facilitated the formulation of the strategy to mitigate the ban of hunting. The study utilised a qualitative action research design called ‘action science’. This design allowed the study to harness the subjects’ knowledge for action in the form of an actionable strategy to address iii the problem. The participants in the study were drawn from five populations; the community, community trust, former hunting employees, businesses and public organisations. The participants were drawn from two communities; Sankuyo village (located in northern Botswana) and Mmadinare (located in the east of Botswana). The communities were selected due to their prior participation in hunting tourism before the ban as well as their close proximity to major urban centres for ease of access. The study then used a key informant strategy within the purposive sampling method to select Community trust leaders (n=3) and one (n=1) participant from a public tourism organisation. A snowball sampling method was also used to select four (n=4) former hunting employees and two (n=2) businesses. Community members (n=46) were also selected for participation through quota and convenient sampling methods. Two qualitative data collection instruments were used. A structured interview instrument was used to collect data from community members, while a semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect data from the rest of the other participants in the study. The data was analysed using thematic, descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation analysis methods. The results revealed that hunting tourism benefited various sections of the communities during the time when it was practiced. The trusts accrued revenue that was used in community projects, community members employed by hunting operators developed skills, craft traders expanded their product range due to use of animal by-products and community members benefited through financial dividends, sale of game meat and employment. These tangible benefits, were considered factors responsible for the success of hunting tourism along with community participation. Nevertheless, hunting tourism also presented challenges as observed by participants. There was lack of expertise in pricing quotas of wildlife resources across various stakeholders involved in hunting. Furthermore, hunting tourism availed limited employment opportunities as few community members were needed to serve few tourists in hunting camps. This also meant that businesses (craft traders) had few potential clients to market their products to which culminated in low income. The results of the study further revealed that reasons for the ban of hunting as given by government authorities were doubted by participants mainly because there was lack of consultation and they viewed the reasons given as inconsistent. However, the study revealed that there are numerous challenges experienced since the ban of hunting. Communities are experiencing an increase in wildlife numbers which lead to an escalation of the Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) and destruction of raw material used by craft traders. The communities further bemoan lack of involvement in decision making owing to an increase in bureaucratic challenges and there is also loss of revenue, regulatory impediments and problems in the relationship with current ecotourism operators in Sankuyo where ecotourism is practiced. Therefore, to address these challenges, the results demonstrates that there is need to improve management of HWC, lift the ban of hunting, increase tourism products using available natural and cultural resources and allowing communities to operate their own facilities. A strategy was also iv formulated to mitigate the ban and address the challenges. The strategy advocates for an enabling environment