Occasional Papers Series

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Browsing by Subject "Botswana"

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    Devolution and democratisation of natural resource management in southern Africa: A comparative analysis of CBNRM policy processes in Botswana and Zimbabwe
    (Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2007) Rihoy, Elizabeth; Maguranyanga, Brian
    This paper examines the policy processes of devolution and democratisation of natural resource management as they relate to community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) outcomes in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Devolution and democratisation of natural resource management are socially and politically contested issues that reveal interesting insights about the nature of local governance and democratic practices in these two countries. Through an analysis of factors affecting the CBNRM policy process – including the role of key actors, sets of policy ideas and narratives, and political influences – the authors identified evidence of shrinking political and policy spaces for local communities and civil society to effectively influence policy. This shrinking of political and policy spaces reflects a limitation of democratic practice and space in Botswana and Zimbabwe due to authoritarian political practices and socio-political and economic challenges. These factors have stifled opportunities for devolution of natural resource management and positive CBNRM outcomes. Based on primary and secondary data, this study argues that if this impasse is to be overcome, policymaking and implementation of CBNRM should take cognisance of socio-economic and political forces at local and national levels and recognise the intimate links between these levels. Evidence from the two countries indicates that strong and influential actor-networks – which are necessarily locally driven – are vital in mobilising strong political support which in turn is central in the development of an appropriate policy environment. The evidence further suggests that local government can play a crucial role in sustaining CBNRM in the face of threats of recentralisation from political and economic elites in whose interest recentralisation lies. At the national level, local government can play a critical role in maintaining political support and legitimacy for CBNRM. At the local level, it provides essential checks and balances that can prevent elite capture of benefits and provide neutral arbitration services when community polarisation stalls momentum. Ultimately, the paper argues that local government can be a vital element in ensuring democratic outcomes, serving as an effective link between local and national scales. CBNRM implementers and advocates need to ensure that institutional and legal arrangements strike a delicate balance in serving the interests of marginalised communities through devolution and allowing decentralisation to empower local communities to direct their destiny through the creation of democratic policy spaces. This requires paying attention to the political landscape of CBNRM and engaging in innovative and strategic political manoeuvring and dialogue with government bureaucrats, politicians and other relevant stakeholders.
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    Exclusion through defined membership in people-centered natural resources management: Who defines?
    (Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2005) Mosimane, Alfons Wabahe; Aribeb, Karl Mutani
    This paper investigates how community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has determined membership to rights over forestry and wildlife resources in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The legal frameworks in these countries emphasise geographic location, which can be referred to as a ‘community of place’, with the residents determining membership. While recognising the limitations highlighted by CBNRM critics, it must be acknowledged that authority and boundary (‘area of jurisdiction’) are equally important. Any poorly defined link between authority and boundary would invite criticism, and would be seen as an essential flaw in any common property regime. Membership of wildlife and forest management regimes in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe is based on geographic location and residence, the latter being based on social elements such as kinship and marriage, cultural affiliation and social networks.
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    Rangeland tenure and pastoral development in Botswana: Is there a future for community-based management?
    (Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2006) Taylor, Michael
    Botswana has a long history of attempts to ‘rationalise’ land tenure so as to improve livestock production, which remains a mainstay for the rural economy. This paper addresses the profound transformations in land tenure systems that have been prompted by decades of government and donor-driven programmes and policy, resulting in the shrinking of the commonage through the exclusion of extensive tracts of land and their transfer to private interests. In particular, the implementation and impacts of two policies are examined: the Tribal Grazing Lands Policy (TGLP) (1975) and the ongoing National Policy for Agricultural Development (NPAD) (1991). Both these policies envisage improved management of common rangeland resources through allocation to private interests, but have failed to achieve their objectives of improved rangeland management or increased livestock production. The history of land and natural resource tenure in Botswana is reflective of wider trends in Africa, whereby the attrition of collectively- held natural resources under customary tenure is being accelerated by policies that favour individualised tenure. Programmes to decentralise management of specific renewable natural resources such as wildlife have been implemented for two decades, but nonetheless have yet to gain widespread support among policy makers. However, for states unwilling to devolve authority over land even further and accord full recognition to customary rights, approaches such as those established by Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) are one route to promote sufficient recognition of collective rights to prevent further loss of commonly-held lands to private interests. Within this context, this paper also examines a recent initiative by the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism to pilot community-based management of rangeland resources in several community grazing areas, and analyses the challenges that it faces. Unless CBNRM approaches are able to develop beyond the largely protected and semi- protected areas in which they currently operate, and expand into the production landscapes that support the everyday livelihoods of most rural residents in Africa, CBNRM risks irrelevance to most of Africa’s natural resources and its people.