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Cape Town's African poor
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2004) de Swardt, Cobus
The typical ‘face of poverty’ in South Africa is no longer that of a rural woman engaged in subsistence agricultural production. Poverty today also refers to the large number of unemployed men who wait daily in vain on street corners for a casual job, women suffering from among the highest rates of HIV/Aids infection in the world, large numbers of children living in areas with among the highest crime and murder rates in the world, and poor black communities which continue to be excluded from the economic riches of our country. We can no longer ignore the problem of urban poverty. A large part of Cape Town’s less affluent population live on the Cape Flats, which was relatively unpopulated until the 1960s. Since then, two waves of settlement took place: the period after the 1960s saw the forceful resettlement of so-called ‘Coloured’ people through apartheid socio-spatial engineering, and in the 1980s a then illegal process of large-scale African migration from the impoverished areas of the Eastern Cape began (see Hindson 1987; Tomlinson & Addleson 1987). Numerous studies (see Swilling et al. 1991, for example) demonstrate how the combined effects of social engineering, spatial planning and rural-urban migration have contributed to urban sprawl, the expansion of racialised economic geographies, and the creation of an apartheid city. At present, the townships of Khayelitsha and Greater Nyanga are home to three quarters of a million people. The uniqueness of Cape Town’s urban sprawl is not restricted to its recent and rapid population growth, but also lies in the fact that it reflects a nexus of extremes (DBSA 1998; O’Leary et al. 1998). Cape Town has a strong and relatively varied economy with a monocentric structure, characteristic of South African cities. In a typical centre-periphery fashion, it represents a polarised city centre where affluent suburbs and economic activity present a contrast to the overcrowded, impoverished township periphery (Myonjo & Theron 2003a; 2003b). Whereas the majority of white and wealthy black people live opulent lifestyles, the majority of those on the Cape Flats live in abject poverty. This paper seeks to gain a greater understanding of the socio-economic realities and livelihood challenges facing the residents of Khayelitsha and Greater Nyanga.
Forgotten by the highway: Globalisation, adverse incorporation and chronic poverty in a commercial farming district
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2004) du Toit, Andries
This paper presents key findings from a livelihoods survey of households in four poor neighbourhoods in the Western Cape district of Ceres, one of the centres of South Africa’s deciduous fruit export industry (see Figure 1). It explores the nature and dynamics of the persistence of poverty in the context of continued and relatively sustained economic development and growth, and considers whether the concept of ‘social exclusion’ can help in making sense – especially policy sense – of these dynamics.
Poverty measurement blues: Some reflections on the space for understanding ‘chronic’ and ‘structural’ poverty in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2005) du Toit, Andries
This paper explores the challenge of understanding chronic and structural poverty in South Africa, and questions the dominance of the econometric imaginary in present-day development and poverty studies. It argues that measurement-based, econometric approaches to chronic poverty are dependent upon mystifying narratives about the nature of poverty and how it can be known, that they direct attention away from the underlying structural dimensions of persistent poverty and that understanding structural poverty in turn requires a theorised engagement with the complexities of social relations, agency, culture and subjectivity. Valuable as the recent re-recognition of the need to connect qualitative and quantitative research has been, attempts at ‘qual-quant’ integration often remain tied to positivist assumptions – bringing the risk of a new ‘ordering’ of methodological dissent that leaves problematic aspects of the econometric imaginary unchanged. Underlying this process is the entanglement of poverty research with the ‘government of poverty’: the attempt to constitute poverty as something objectively measurable and scientifically manageable. The paper closes with a consideration of the ethical and political challenges this poses for critical researchers and intellectuals in post-colonial contexts.
Chronic and structural poverty in South Africa: Challenges for action and research
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2005) du Toit, Andries
Ten years after liberation, the persistence of poverty is one of the most important and urgent problems facing South Africa. This paper reflects on some of the findings based on research undertaken as part of the participation of the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape in the work of the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), situates it within the broader literature on poverty in South Africa, and considers some emergent challenges. Although PLAAS’s survey, being only the first wave of a panel study, does not yet cast light on short term poverty dynamics, it illuminates key aspects of the structural conditions that underpin long-term poverty: the close interactions between asset poverty, employment-vulnerability and subjection to unequal social power relations. Coming to grips with these dynamics requires going beyond the limitations of conventional ‘sustainable livelihoods’ analyses; and functionalist analyses of South African labour markets. The paper argues for a re-engagement with the traditions of critical sociology, anthropology and the theoretical conventions that allow a closer exploration of the political economy of chronic poverty at micro and macro level.
Study of the incidence and nature of chronic poverty and development policy in South Africa: An overview
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2001) Aliber, Michael
The purpose of this study is fourfold: first, to summarise the current state of knowledge about chronic poverty in South Africa; second, to describe the range of existing governmental and civil society initiatives which address chronic poverty; third, to identify challenges to addressing chronic poverty in South Africa; and fourth, to identify themes for further research. For the purposes of this study, house- holds or individuals are understood to be in chronic poverty when their condition of poverty endures over a period of time. Different researchers propose different time periods as characteristic of chronic poverty (for example, six months, ten years); this is usually taken to mean that the household or individual remains beneath the poverty line for all or virtually all of this period. Alternatively, and perhaps more meaningfully, chronic poverty can be understood as the inability of households or individuals, perhaps for lack of opportunity, to better their circumstances over time or to sustain themselves through difficult times. Chronic poverty can be a function of an individual’s characteristics (for example, elderly, disabled), or of the environment (for example, sustained periods of high unemployment, landlessness), or of a combination of the two. Indeed, a common scenario in South Africa involves the coincidence of poor health, meagre education, and fractured families, on the one hand, with skewed resource distribution, inadequate infrastructure, and scarce employment opportunities, on the other. The combination is more than sufficient to trap many people in poverty. To date, there has been only one set of data collected in South Africa which allows an inter-temporal comparison among the same households. This is the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study (KIDS) which, as the name implies, covers only one of South Africa’s nine provinces. Because this data set and the analyses based upon it are unique, we discuss it at length. One of the important findings from the KIDS data is that 22 per cent of the 1 200 African households that were sur- veyed were poor in both 1993 and 1998. This represents about two thirds of all households that were poor in 1993, and one half of those that were poor in 1998, showing that at least half of those households that are poor, are chronically poor. Another interesting finding is that ‘ultra- poverty’ is not synonymous with chronic poverty. In other words, a household that is just below the poverty line in one period is no more likely to move above the poverty line in the next period than a household that started off much further below the poverty line. A key determinant of whether a household stays in poverty, escapes from poverty, or falls into poverty, is how that household fares in terms of employment. One of the surprising findings from the KIDS data set was the degree of employment volatility experienced by households. Notwithstanding the contribution of household income sources other than formal sector employment, employ- ment apparently makes the difference between survival and total destitution, but less commonly associated with the difference between being poor and not being poor. Income sources outside the formal sector may make the difference between survival and total destitution, but are less likely to determine whether an individual or household is poor or not. The KIDS-based studies as well as other poverty analyses allow us to identify groups especially likely to be chronically poor. These include rural households, households headed by women, households effectively headed by elderly people, and households headed by former (retrenched) farm workers. Over the next 10 years, however, AIDS orphans and households directly affected by AIDS will probably figure as the most prominent category of people trapped in chronic poverty.
State, market or the worst of both? Experimenting with market-based land reform In South Africa
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2007) Lahiff, Edward
The concept of ‘market-based land reform’ (MBLR, also market-assisted land reform, or market-led agrarian reform) has been central to the ‘new wave’ of land reform that has been in evidence internationally since the early 1990s. This so-called new wave followed a lull in land reform in most regions of the world during the 1980s, which marked the end of a long run of (capitalist and socialist) reforms in the decades since the end of the Second World War. This history, and the theoretical positions developed around it, have been debated extensively elsewhere, and will not be repeated here.2 Rather, this introductory section will focus on the relatively recent emergence of MBLR internationally and how the concept has been interpreted and applied in the southern African context. The subsequent section will look in detail at the case of South Africa, while the conclusion draws out key lessons for the region and their implications for land reform policies more generally.
‘People are not happy’ – Speaking up for adaptive natural resource governance in Mahenye
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2007) Rihoy, Elizabeth; Chirozva, Chaka; Anstey, Simon
This paper explores the ongoing events surrounding the CAMPFIRE project of Mahenye in Zimbabwe within the context of the recent discourse of crisis within community based natural resource management (CBNRM) and crisis within the country itself. Despite Mahenye’s geographical isolation and small size, it has played an influential role in the history and practice of CBNRM nationally and internationally over the last two decades. Through an analysis of the perspectives and stories of the people of Mahenye and other stakeholders, it explores whether the current problems encountered in Mahenye are manifestations of crisis or whether they represent positive evolution and resilience in the face of adversity. The evidence suggests that CBNRM is a process of applied and incremental experiments in democracy, which is of particular value because of the interaction of tiers of governance over time in an adaptive process. Despite the manifest problems within Mahenye, evidence suggests that CAMPFIRE has had a positive impact in terms of empowering local residents, providing them with incentives, knowledge and organisational abilities to identify and address problems and constraints and to identify where external interventions are required. This analysis illustrates that CBNRM is a political process and that implementers and policy advocates need to appreciate power relations and political landscapes in the quest for better governance. The paper concludes that there are two critical elements requiring further attention by implementers. Firstly, there is need to restructure the economic mechanisms of CAMPFIRE in the face of the current national economic crisis. Secondly, there is a need to focus on and develop mechanisms that tackle the practical governance arrangements between the first and second tier institutions, in order to break down the existing social and politically constructed stalemates.
Constituting the commons in the new South Africa
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2000) Isaacs, Moenieba; Mohamed, Najma; Ntshona, Zolile; Turner, Stephen
This set of papers results from participation by staff members of the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies in the eighth biennial conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, held at Bloomington, Indiana, from 31 May to 4 June, 2000. We are grateful to IASCP for accepting our proposal for a panel on 'Constituting the commons in the new South Africa', at which these papers were presented. We are also grateful to Dr James Murombedzi and the Ford Foundation for their role in stimulating and funding our participation in the conference, and their support for work at PLAAS on community-based natural resource management. However, we take full responsibility for any inadequacies in these papers, and for the opinions expressed in them.
CBNRM, poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods: Developing criteria for evaluating the contribution of CBNRM to poverty reduction and alleviation in southern Africa
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2004) Jones, Brian TB
This research paper has been prepared as part of the Centre for Social Studies (CASS), University of Zimbabwe/ Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape (PLAAS) programme ‘Breaking New Ground: People-Centred Approaches to Natural Resources Management in Southern Africa’. It explores the relationships between community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), poverty reduction/alleviation and rural livelihoods. CBNRM is often promoted by governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and donors as a means of addressing poverty issues in rural communities, particularly in terms of generating income from various natural resource-based activities. For example, in Namibia, the goal of the US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) Project during Phases I and II was to improve the quality of life for rural Namibians through sustainable natural resource management (LIFE 2002). CBNRM is increasingly being adopted as a means of poverty reduction in the national development strategies of southern African countries (Jones 2004a).
The impact of community-based forest management and joint forest management on the forest resource base and local people’s livelihoods: Case studies from Tanzania
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2004) Kajembe, GC; Nduwamungu, J; Luoga, EJ
In recent years, there has been a move in eastern and southern African countries from centralised and state-driven management of natural resources towards decentralised and people-centred based regimes. In Tanzania, the inception of the 1998 national forest policy has led to institutionalisation of community-based forest management (CBFM) and joint forest management (JFM). A number of years later, it is worth assessing the impact of this policy on the resource base and people’s livelihoods. This paper uses two case studies of forest reserves under participatory forest management to explore this issue. Secondary data was gathered from various studies conducted in those two forest reserves. In addition to the analysis carried out by the various authors, further analysis involving content and structural analysis and synthesis of documented information was done. The results of the study revealed that CBFM at Duru-Haitemba had a positive impact on the resource base and people’s livelihoods – the forest is healthier than before and people are satisfied with the products they collect from the forests. On the other hand, the impact of JFM at Kwizu Forest Reserve has not yet produced desirable results since illegal activities are still rampant and, apparently, forest exploitation has increased instead of decreasing. The reasons behind the success at Duru-Haitemba and relative failure at Kwizu are varied, but are most probably linked to ownership of resources and law enforcement. Clear definition of rights, returns and responsibilities and adequate incentives are important for sustainability of people-centred management of natural resources.
Challenges of co-management on shared fishery ecosystems: The case of Lake Chiuta
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2005) Njaya, Friday
Fisheries co-management initiatives have been implemented in various water bodies of southern Africa since the 1990s (Geheb & Sarch 2002). A Participatory Fisheries Management Programme (PFMP) was introduced on Lakes Malombe, Chilwa and Chiuta in Malawi between 1993 and 1995 (Bell & Donda 1993; Hara & Banda 1997). In Zambia and Zimbabwe, the co-management arrangement has been implemented on Lake Kariba since mid-1990s (Hachongela et al. 1998; Malasha 2003), while Mozambique and South Africa are implementing the initiative in selected areas along the coast (Lopes et al. 1998; Sowman et al. 1998). Community participation in decision-making processes regarding resource monitoring and control through formulation and enforcement of fisheries regulations is a key element in these initiatives. On the other hand, the state is involved in promulgation of a legislative framework and, in some cases, assists the user community to enforce the regulations. The initiation process of these co-management arrangements varies from place to place. In some areas, the state initiated the co-management regimes, while in others user communities started the process. Consequently, outcomes – like equitable access to resources and cost-effectiveness – also vary. Evaluation studies conducted on some small water bodies such as Lake Chiuta and Lake Kariba show that the user community has potential to contribute to sustainable resource management if enabling conditions are created. While most of the previous studies have centred on resource attributes, behavioural patterns and decision-making processes, very little work has focused on the implementation of co-management arrangements in shared water bodies, which is one of the complex factors (Knox & Meinzen-Dick 2001). There has been an emerging interest in transboundary natural resource management (TBNRM) initiatives since 1990, with some countries like South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, and Botswana already advanced in creating enabling conditions (Griffin et al. 1999). However, the approach has mainly been applied to wildlife and forestry sectors. It is against this background that this study was designed to identify some of the major challenges of implementing co-management in shared fishery ecosystems. Lessons will be drawn from Lake Chiuta, which is shared between Malawi and Mozambique.
Dialogue of theory and empirical evidence: A weighted decision and tenurial niche approach to reviewing the operation of natural resource policy in rural southern Africa
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2005) Mandondo, Alois
Considerable research has been conducted on community-based natural resource management in rural southern Africa. Many interesting insights have accumulated from the literature on the research issues of earlier generations. The challenge is to break new ground by unraveling insights relevant to later generations. This study identifies the issue of scale in complex natural resource management systems as one of the more important among emerging issues in the sector. The study develops a theoretical framework implying trade-offs between deciding for others, deciding with others and deciding for oneself in the operation of natural resource policy. This weighted decision framework is used to critically interrogate the human ecology of land and resource use across a variety of tenurial niches in rural southern Africa. The study argues that in arriving at decisions regarding the operation of natural resource policy, the emphasis needs to shift from what should be done, to how it should be done. The study suggests that the ‘how it should be done’ of policy operation is a calibration problem. The calibration problem concerns itself with reconciling diverse preferences through the medium of decisions made for others, with others and for oneself. It is concluded that negotiation provides the most appropriate basis for calibration since it reconciles the contradictions within and among decisions made for others, with others and for oneself.
People-centred environmental management and municipal commonage in the Nama Karoo
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2005) Atkinson, Doreen
Land reform is a key part of government policy, spurred politically by the claims of the landless, as well as the land reform pressures in countries like Zimbabwe. It is clear to national and provincial governments that land reform should be speeded up. Municipalities are, therefore, being placed under a lot of political and governmental pressure to increasingly make their commonage land available to emergent farmers. The effective management of municipal commonage can contribute to land reform, food security, local economic development and sustainable natural resource use. Commonage land is, in many towns, the only natural resource available to poor communities. The issue of resource utilisation in the Karoo is becoming ever more pressing, to address the question of ‘how the vast and biologically diverse, but unproductive Karoo region should be used in a country with a growing land-hungry population’ (Dean & Milton 1999:xxii). This sets the stage for an urgent inquiry into land-people interactions – particularly with reference to some kind of people-centred development – but as yet, this issue has not been confronted systematically in an interdisciplinary way. This paper makes the following argument: Municipalities need assistance with establishing viable commonage management systems; such systems need to be based on the voluntary and committed participation by the users (that is ‘people-centred’); and this, in turn, requires an understanding of the emergent farmers’ knowledge base of the environment. This paper considers the prospects for commonage use in the arid areas of South Africa, notably the Nama-Karoo, or non-succulent Karoo, characterised by small shrubs and grass species. This geographic area should be differentiated from the Succulent Karoo of the Namaqualand and southern Cape areas, which have different rainfall and vegetative patterns. The Nama Karoo is the northern part of the Karoo, and is the largest biome in South Africa. It is characterised by low and variable rainfall, mainly in the summer months. It stretches up to the southern Free State. This geographical demarcation is also significant because of its land tenure characteristics. The phenomenon of ‘commonage’ in the Nama-Karoo area refers to municipally-owned land, whose overriding purpose has been for the use of urban residents.
Policy and institutional dimensions of integrated river basin management: Broadening stakeholder participatory processes in the Inkomati River Basin of South Africa and the Pangani River Basin of Tanzania
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2005) Chikozho, Claudious
In recent years, water governance has undergone a remarkable paradigm shift. Old notions of water resources management dominated by a supply-orientation and reliance on civil engineering science and technical solutions to water problems have been discarded in favour of a ‘softer’ governance regime that embraces stakeholder participatory processes. This new regime is strongly underpinned by neo-liberal approaches that emphasise, inter alia, decentralised management structures, a ‘rolling back of the state’ from the frontiers of management and development, and treating water as an ‘economic good’. Consequently, most countries (including Tanzania and South Africa) have initiated water sector reform programmes that stress comprehensive river basin management based on integrated water resources management (IWRM) principles, user involvement in management, cost recovery and sustainable resource use. Within this new paradigm, many elements of conventional community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) approaches are quite apparent. Drawing mainly from the assessment of secondary data, this paper uses case studies from the Inkomati River Basin of South Africa and the Pangani River Basin of Tanzania to scrutinise the IWRM paradigm and its relevance to the evolution of CBNRM. It questions the strength of policies and policy-making processes which have led to the emergence of IWRM as the dominant discourse in the water sector. It identifies critical factors for genuine stakeholder involvement in decision making at the basin level in order for more relevant and effective policies to be made. It focuses on conflict resolution as an important issue around which dialogue and negotiation platforms can revolve. Stakeholder participation in river basin management is depicted as a complex, socio-political process that must consider and reconcile a range of interests across sectors and users in the basin. This paper posits that while forums for dialogue are often presented as fair and inclusive, there is a need to note that when they are designed and controlled by those in positions of power, they may become artificial – including certain stakeholders, and excluding others.
Contested fishing grounds: Examining the possibility of a transboundary management regime in the Lake Kariba fishery
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2005) Malasha, Isaac
Community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) programmes in the southern African region emerged as a reaction to colonial ‘fortress’ conservation policies that criminalised and marginalised local people, preventing their use of natural resources. These colonial approaches did not lead to the sustainable use of the resources. They merely contributed to continued conflicts between government agents and local users. In the immediate post-colonial period very little was done to rectify these policies. It was only in the mid-1980s that a paradigm shift towards CBNRM began to occur. The political integration brought by the formation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) presented favourable conditions for the scaling-up of these CBNRM initiatives. Transboundary natural resources management (TBNRM) projects began to be implemented in the joint-management of resources that straddle international boundaries.
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.
Natural resource management and land reform in southern Africa
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2006) Manjengwa, Jeanette
Throughout southern Africa, land holdings have remained significantly skewed between rich and poor, with discriminatory land tenure systems reflecting the land and agricultural policies adopted in colonial times and after independence (Fortin 2005; Moyo 2005a). Moyo (2000) indicates that, for countries in the southern African region, the land problem is characterised by contradictory tendencies towards irrational land use patterns through both over-utilisation in communal lands, and under-utilisation of land in commercial farming areas. Governance of land use is one of the most important political and economic issues in most southern African countries and land remains the basic source of livelihood for the majority (Kloeck-Jenson 1998), as well as the basis for agro-industrial development. Land reform is currently a significant process throughout southern Africa that is unfolding rapidly on continuously shifting ground. Land reform is a long-term process that aims to enhance agricultural production. However, to be successful, land use options within land reform programmes should incorporate not only social and economic viability, but environmental sustainability as well (Mohamed 2000). Environmental considerations of land reform are generally inadequately conceptualised, despite being a central consideration of sustainable land use. The challenge for land reform programmes is therefore to redistribute land and reform tenure rights ensuring productivity and ecological sustainability of the rural economy.
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.
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.
Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa : Land redistribution
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2003) Jacobs, Peter; Lahiff, Edward; Hall, Ruth
Land dispossession during the colonial era and the decades of apartheid rule produced a highly unequal pattern of land ownership and widespread rural poverty in South Africa. When a democratically elected government came to power in 1994, it adopted a land reform programme to address the problems inherited from the past and the challenge of development in the rural areas. The land reform programme of the South African government is conventionally described as having three legs: restitution, tenure reform and redistribution. While restitution deals specifically with historical rights in land, and tenure reform with forms of land holding, redistribution is specifically aimed at transforming the racial pattern of land ownership.

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