GREENER JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY AND ECOSOLUTION
ISSN: 2384-6356
Submitted: 19/01/2016 Accepted: 22/01/2016 Published: 09/04/2016
Research Article (DOI: http://doi.org/10.15580/GJEE.2016.1.011916014)
Effects of Human-Wildlife Conflict on Agricultural Productivity, Post Fast Track Land Reform Program in Zimbabwe: A Case of Gwayi Conservancy and Resettlement Areas Bordering Hwange National Park
1Chisango Future Fortune T and 2*Maposa Angela
1 Senior Lecturer Faculty of Agriculture, Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe.
2 Senior Lecturer Faculty of Arts and Education, Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe.
1Email: fchisango5 @yahoo .com
*Corresponding Author’s Email: angelamaposa@ gmail. Com
ABSTRACT
The study aimed at investigating reasons for Human Wildlife Conflict and its impact on agricultural productivity, particularly post Fast Track Land Reform in Zimbabwe, with reference to Gwayi conservancy which borders Hwange national park in Matabeleland North province. Fifty farmers were purposively selected from a ward’s total population of 620 resettled households to generate primary data through a questionnaire and interviews. Secondary data was gathered from records and archival material from responsible authorities such as parks and wild life authority and its partners. The study examined issues relating and emanating from human – wildlife conflict, its effect especially those caused by livestock and crop destruction, sophisticated poaching such as cyanide poisoning: its magnitude and possible effects on extinction of endangered species in Zimbabwe. Generated and analyzed data revealed that for as long as human settlement expand into sanctuaries meant to be the natural habitat for wildlife, finding lasting solution to human-wildlife conflict will pose serious challenges, and aggravating the problem will be the incessant destruction of the environment impacting negatively on agricultural productivity as wild life and man compete for cultivated crops and livestock for food resources. It was therefore recommended that the need for conservation should be emphasized and consolidated through habitat management training and educating the new settlers on the need for conservation and economic gains attached to wildlife, such as tourism and game meat marketing which should foster tolerance and coexistence between wildlife and the new farmers.
Key words: Human Wildlife Conflict, agricultural productivity, Fast Track Land Reform, records and archival material, sophisticated poaching, cyanide poisoning, sanctuaries, natural habitat.
Acronyms
CAMPFIRE Zimbabwe's Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources CBNRM Community-Based Natural Resource Management
CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
EMA Environmental Management Authority FTLRP Fast Track Land Reform Program GDP Gross Domestic Product
GOZ Government of Zimbabwe HWC Human and Wildlife Conflicts
IRDNC Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations
1. INTRODUCTION
The study examined reasons for Human Wildlife Conflict and its impact on agricultural productivity particularly post Fast Track Land Reform Program in Zimbabwe. It is a common phenomenon that conflicts between wildlife and people, particularly those who share the immediate boundaries with protected areas, are a result of farmers’ perceptions, of viewing animals as a nuisance and great liability to their farming activities. Massive dwindling of wildlife resources in newly resettlement areas has been attributed to aggressive human actions , unfriendly to the environment such as resource overexploitation, habitat destruction, pollution and introduction of non - native species into the habitats .
Farmers’ perception of regarding animals a liability is largely triggered by a bitter experience of immense destruction to both crops and livestock, and the huge costs associated which is a direct causation of such losses. Other costs of a greater magnitude are incurred as a result of; loss of access to legitimate and traditional rights, damage to properties, and the risk posed to people’s lives through disease transmission and attacks by animals such as lions and crocodiles. However, it is imperative that farmers need to be educated so that they change attitude and develop a paradigm shift which will make them appreciate the indisputable significant contribution wildlife resources make to the country’s economy and the welfare of the local communities, who, de facto are the ones bearing the costs of conservation, hence deserve monetary rewards through stakeholders such as the CAMPFIRE and the Environmental Management Authority EMA in Zimbabwe. The study therefore sought to inculcate the notion that wildlife resource is not a liability but an integral asset for development of local communities, and tries to lobby for farmers’ tolerance, social acceptability and coexistence, and finally make farmers rank wildlife as an economic viable activity to local communities and a major contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product GDP.
2. BACKGROUND OF THESTUDY
Figure 1: People and Wildlife co-existence: a difficult equation
Sébastien Le Bel1, 2010
Human and wildlife conflicts (HWC) pose a serious threat to wildlife conservation and people’s livelihoods in most of Zimbabwe’s rural communities. According to Di-Stefano, (2004) such conflicts are prominent when human settlement due to population explosion overlaps into areas initially regarded a preserve for wildlife such as parks and conservancies as shown in figure 1 above. These conflicts are as a result of interactions that result in negative effects on any human social, economic or cultural life, or vice versa. A scenario which is attributed to human population increases, development expansion, global climate changes and other human and environmental factors exposing people and wildlife in direct competition for shrinking resource base. Human wildlife conflicts encountered in Zimbabwe have largely been attributed to radical changes in the existing land tenure systems where fast track land reform took precedence over the orderly traditional tenure systems. It is therefore imperative that such conflicts have become a common feature particularly in newly resettlement areas near or bordering conservancies and national parks.
Protected areas such as conservancies and national parks have long been recognized as the single most important method of conserving biological diversity worldwide. For most African countries, this practice dates back to the colonial era. The objective of this management system was to protect wild animals and natural habitats through prohibition or restriction of wildlife utilization, and the strategy was centered on the establishment of law enforcement to detect and sentence intruders (Marks 1984, Leader-Williams and Albon 1988, Kiss 1990 , Swanson and Barbier 1992).
However, the continuing poaching pressure in African protected areas has led to a growing recognition that the traditional management system has failed in its goal of preserving wildlife (Kiss 1990, Swanson and Barbier 1992, Martin 1993, Barrett and Arcese 1995, Gibson and Marks 1995, Songorwa 1999). Marks (1984), Kiss (1990) and Swanson and Barbier (1992), among others, claim that the establishment of many protected areas worked against the economic interests of the local communities. The exclusion of the local people, usually without compensation for the loss of property, title and traditional hunting rights, has led to increased antagonism and a disincentive to conserve wildlife (see also Brandon and Wells 1992, Milner-Gulland and Leader-Williams 1992b, Wells 1992, Nepal and Weber1995).
Zimbabwe’s Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) was an agrarian program initiated by the government (GOZ) in the year 2000 to address skewed land ownership patterns, following the failure of the Lancaster arrangement of willing buyer willing seller (Wehnam et al, 2014). Moyo, (1995) cited that it was part of the government’s land reform and resettlement program which sought to address mainly the racially skewed land distribution patterns inherited at the country’s independence in 1980. According to Zikhali, (2008) the year 2000 witnessed major transformations in land ownership and tenure systems in Zimbabwe as the government, in a bid to decongest overpopulated communal areas, engaged in massive acquisition of farms and resettled small holder farmers under the A1 and A2Models.
The new agrarian reform did not respect former holders of property rights literally known as title deeds, hence all land and resources on it became state property. Areas initially meant for wildlife conservation and specialized activities such as conservancies, national parks, game reserves, plantations and estates for tourism attraction were not spared as they were fragmented into smaller farming units for the purposes of resettling the black majority under the designed models of A1 and A2. This resulted in massive devastation of dense forests which initially served as the natural habitat for wildlife. Plantations and estates also suffered the same fate as they were subjected to substantial destruction through massive clearance of vegetation for crop production, the only farming venture famous to the new farmer. As a considerable number of small scale households were resettled and are scattered in the Gwayi conservancies, this compromises the freedom of movement for the wildlife and deprives the animals of their traditional right to descent natural life style and natural social linkage systems hence the eco-system is negatively affected, impacting adversely on the coexistence of humans and wildlife in same communities. Such disturbances on food chain systems are a major catalyst to human wildlife conflicts in these areas, as due to depletion of resources wildlife is left with no better option but to become dependent on agricultural produce and livestock for food resources.
As a response to this government and all partners need to rethink and refocus wildlife management schemes and adopt community based/participatory strategies, where local people are actively involved to gain their maximum co-operation and support. Participation of locals in the planning and management of wildlife will change the current pattern of exploitation and prevent practices that endanger wildlife. It is therefore against such a background that the study which sought to investigate reasons for Human Wildlife Conflict and assess its impact on agricultural productivity particularly post Fast Track Land Reform in Zimbabwe was carried out in Gwayi conservancy and resettlement areas bordering Hwange national park in Matabeleland North province, with the aim of changing farmers’ perceptions on wildlife and promote an appreciation of the economic significance of wildlife which can be vital in fostering community development.
2.1 Statement of the Problem
Protected areas such as conservancies and national parks have long been recognized as the single most important method of conserving wildlife in Zimbabwe. The Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) initiated by the government (GOZ) in the year 2000 to address skewed land ownership patterns, following the failure of the Lancaster arrangement of willing buyer willing seller however created numerous challenges for the management and descent survival of wildlife in their original sanctuaries. As the new agrarian reform did not recognize the significance of protected areas initially designated for wildlife. Areas initially meant for wildlife conservation and specialized activities such as conservancies, national parks and game reserves were fragmented into smaller farming units for the purposes of resettling the black majority under the designed models of A1 and A2. As a considerable number of small scale households were resettled in the Gwayi conservancies, this compromised the freedom of movement for the wildlife and such disturbances in animals’ natural social linkage systems agitated human-wildlife conflicts in these areas. Worsening the situation is the depletion of food resources which finally forces wildlife to be heavily dependent on agricultural produce and livestock, hence intensifying the conflict.
2.2 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study was to examine reasons for Human Wildlife Conflict and establish its impact on agricultural productivity particularly post Fast Track Land Reform Program in Zimbabwe, but with particular reference to Gwayi conservancy and resettlement areas bordering Hwange National Park.
Specific Objectives
To identify the common causes and forms of conflicts occurring between humans and wildlife in Zimbabwe with particular reference to Gwayi conservancy and resettlement areas bordering Hwange National Park
To assess the impact of Human Wildlife Conflict on agriculture productivity and other livelihood systems
To identify and outline coping strategies being adopted by affected communities in the area understudy
3. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
3.1 Causes of Human-Wildlife Conflict in Zimbabwe Corruption
Zimbabwe has had the problem of corruption for years and generally this impacted negatively on the wildlife sector, in particular. Zimbabwe has over the years done very well to protect wildlife. The efforts of conservationists have been commendable. But corruption in the sector has been rampant and demand in China and other Asian markets have actually fuelled more poaching, leading to the use of cyanide in the cruel massive killing of wildlife, with elephants and rhinos being the main targets. Nonetheless cyanide poisoning has had disgusting multiplier effects on all animals that use the watering points and thus harming the entire ecosystem. The major driving market for poached products, China, is itself known for corruption, too, it is therefore assumed that the illegal ivory trade is illustrative of an unhealthy and exploitative relationship between China and Zimbabwe in terms of exposing wildlife at risk. With such a friendship it is assumed that Zimbabwe’s elephant poaching problem is only going to escalate in the coming years, unless government demonstrates seriousness and a commitment to stamp out corruption. Wildlife conservation, one of Zimbabwe’s success stories is fast disintegrating and losing its worthiness. And while the rest of world bows to China for economic leverage, failure to condemn its role in the illegal trade of ivory will continue to pose a huge threat to the precious elephant herd in Zimbabwe and Africa, as a whole, under its banner ‘win-win’ economic friendship.
Organized Poaching Syndicates
Syndicates comprising police officers, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers and Asians have been noted to be behind the latest spate of elephant killings in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. According to the local media (herald, 20th November 2015) the syndicate killed around 55 elephants for their ivory tusks since early 2015 through cyanide poisoning. The Sunday Mail, November, (2015) indicated that the Asians mainly the Chinese were the kingpins behind the indiscriminate poaching, whose funds sometimes end up oiling other international criminal networks. Globally, poaching and wildlife trafficking are highly lucrative businesses estimated to earn between US $23 billion and US$47 billion yearly. They are jointly ranked fourth on the list of large-scale illegal trade worldwide after drug trafficking, counterfeiting and human trafficking. Surveys conducted by the local media established that rangers and police officers were working with powerful syndicates of Asian businessmen who were sourcing cyanide from gold mines. Cyanide is a classified and relatively expensive chemical hence ordinary villagers around local national parks cannot afford it. It is assumed that in a period of two years (2014-2015), about 300 elephants were killed via cyanide poisoning in Hwange National Park alone, portraying the danger of possible extinction faced by the jumbo.
Habitat Factors and the Fast Track Land Reform
Zimbabwe’s Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) resulted in fragmentation of areas initially meant for wildlife conservation and specialized activities such as conservancies, national parks, game reserves, plantations and estates for tourism attraction into smaller farming units for the purposes of resettling the black majority under the designed models of A1 and A2. The gradual loss of habitat has led to increasing conflict between humans and wildlife. As wildlife range becomes more and more fragmented and wildlife is confined into smaller pockets of drier and unsuitable habitats, humans and wildlife are therefore increasingly coming into contact and in conflict with each other as they compete for water and food resources. In areas bordering Hwange National Park and Gwayi Conservancies, the forest area available to elephants has drastically reduced since the late 1990s when FTLRP commenced, thereby resulting in increased crop-raiding activities as cited by (Barnes et al., 2003). This explains why conflicts are particularly common in these areas which mainly occur when wildlife populations stray from the protected areas into adjacent cultivated fields or grazing areas.
Hostile Human Activities
Human activities such as husbandry, agriculture, fishing, the development of infrastructure or even of tourism or wildlife protection itself, can dramatically modify wildlife habitats either directly or indirectly. In Zimbabwe Pre-Fast Track Land Reform, the fencing of farms, plantations and estates to keep wild animals away created physical barriers for migratory species. Conflicts erupted when migratory species such as elephants, zebras and wildebeest, which had previously migrated without any hindrance, destroyed fences and crops in a bid to reclaim their traditional routes from dispersal areas to the parks. Fast Track Land Reform ushered a new set of challenges as land-use, fragmentation resulting from the development of small-scale farming has intensified the human-wildlife conflict in many areas where wildlife is abundant. Similarly, elephant conflict in Zimbabwe has largely been attributed to the overpopulation of elephants, in most national parks which have totally swamped the wildlife land provided for them and other animal species, and eventually overflowed into the adjacent communal lands. It is in such areas where most of the elephant-human conflicts had been reported.
Natural Factors
Droughts, floods, climatic change and other unpredictable natural hazards can contribute to a decrease in suitable wildlife habitat and therefore affect the occurrence and extent of human-wildlife conflicts (Clerici, Hugh and Grégoire, 2005), and similarly, the seasonal modification of habitats due to rainfall can also have an impact on human-wildlife conflict. One of the main consequences of such loss of habitats is the decrease in natural resources available for wildlife. The destruction of natural vegetation around protected areas and in some cases the total disappearance of buffer zones force herbivore species to feed in cultivated fields. This phenomenon is on the increase because the growth rate of cultivated areas due to FTLR is increasingly becoming high at the periphery of national parks and conservancies in Zimbabwe, forcing some animal species to encroach on cultivated areas and residential places when the availability of natural food diminishes, as demonstrated in the case of baboons seen roaming and snatching food from tourists in the resort town of Victoria Falls. The decline in numbers of natural prey is one of the major reasons why carnivores shift their diets to livestock, which are easier to capture and have limited possibilities of escape (Mishra et al., 2003; Patterson et al., 2004). Indeed many authors recognize that when native prey is abundant, wild predators consume it in preference to livestock.
3.2 Universal Causes of Human-Wildlife Conflict
A set of global trends relating to human populations, habitat evolution and animal distribution and behaviour has contributed to the escalation of human-wildlife conflict worldwide.
Human Factors
The following factors are among the main causes of human-wildlife conflict in Africa.
The Requirements of Human Development
The main cause of human-wildlife conflict worldwide is the competition between growing human populations and wildlife for the same declining living spaces and resources. The transformation of forests, savannah and other ecosystems into agrarian areas or urban agglomerates as a consequence of the increasing demand for land, food production, energy and raw materials, has led to a dramatic decrease in wildlife habitats. This is particularly true in Africa where the human population came close to tripling in the four decades from 1960 and where, in consequence, settled agriculture has spread to more marginal rangelands leading to encroachment into wildlife habitats. Under these conditions, conflict between wildlife and local communities has inevitably increased (Siex and Struhsaker, 1999; Muruthi, 2005; Tjaronda, 2007). This is perfectly illustrated by the conflict between humans and elephants. It is estimated that about 80 percent of elephant range lies outside protected areas. This habitat is rapidly being eliminated and fragmented by intensified agriculture, and is resulting in one of the most serious human-wildlife conflicts. Another consequence of the opening of new lands and villages into areas that were once private wildlife refuges is the creation of new bush paths between these settlements. This generates a greater traffic of pedestrians, increasing the risk of contact with wild animals. Other activities organized around the new settlements such as the daily collection of wild fruit, berries and fuel wood, fishing, and poaching further expose the inhabitants to encounters with wildlife. Access to water is another essential human requirement. Permanent settlements are developed close to a source of water, but this prevents access to wildlife. Despite efforts to develop alternative water supplies, in rural Africa water is still most frequently drawn from natural or man-made surface waters, i . e . rivers , lakes and dams . People are dependent on access to these water bodies for their daily needs: collection of water for domestic use, washing clothes and utensils and bathing. Many of these water bodies are habitats for crocodiles and with growing human populations needing to make use of water “the scene is set for increasing human-crocodile conflict” (Fergusson, 2002).
Migration of Peoples for Reasons of Security or Food Safety
Drought, floods, civil unrest, natural disasters or war disrupt the normal production and distribution of food, resulting in famines. This phenomenon is on the increase; the number of food emergencies in Africa each year has almost tripled since the 1980s. Across sub-Saharan Africa, one in every three people is undernourished (McCarthy, 2006). These factors spur the continuing migration of rural people into areas where resources could be available, and which are frequently occupied by wildlife. The resultant occupation of the habitat of wild animals by humans leads to conflict.
War and civil unrest force people to seek shelter in protected areas where they exert a strong pressure on natural resources and enter into competition with wildlife. Political upheaval can also have indirect repercussions on the human-wildlife conflict situation.
Funding for the Campfire organization in Zimbabwe, which acts as custodian for wildlife in communal areas, has been seriously depleted as a result of the current crisis in the country. With the launch of FTLR rural populations were made to take laws into their hands hence resort to the illegal hunting of problem species with incorrect and highly un-prescribed methods such as the use of cyanide where ruthless gangs pour cyanide into watering holes strewn around the park, where elephants are known to frequent. Cyanide is a highly poisonous chemical, used in processing gold. It kills in the most cruel and painful, yet silent fashion, a method that helps poachers to avoid the attention of game rangers, whose mandate is to guard the animals from danger. In some cases the use agricultural pesticides to control lions, leopards and to some extent baboons, is also common.
In Zimbabwe, the human population occupying fishing camps along the shore of Lake Kariba doubled during the 1991–1992 drought and subsequently increased again as people were displaced by land reforms and economic collapse. More people are exposed to the risk of attacks by crocodiles now that the numbers of residents drawing water directly from the lake, and the numbers of people informally engaged in subsistence and commercial fishing in the area, have increased. Successive droughts and the subsequent desertification of the land have led to the substantial migration of northern populations southwards. These migrants often settle near the last pockets of natural resources within protected areas where they are particularly exposed to human-wildlife conflict. Conflict is most acute in zones in which a wide range of species coexists with high-density human populations (Ogada et al., 2003).
Attitudes and Perceptions
In general rural Africans have little sympathy for wildlife and see animals purely in terms of their meat value. This is illustrated by the fact that, in several Bantu idioms, the word nyama used for wildlife also means “meat”. Rural communities consider wildlife, particularly large mammals, as threats to their safety and food security. This adverse perception is particularly strong near protected areas where the presence of wildlife populations inflicts daily costs on local communities, which can erode local support and tolerance. In turn, local people can develop a negative attitude towards reserves and wildlife, exacerbating conflict and undermining conservation efforts. The new landowners ‘beneficiaries of FTLR,’ and even wildlife managers still sometimes deliberately kill species they consider a threat – from elephants to birds such as Quelea sp. The continued negative attitude of communities towards wildlife emanates from losses (including human life, property, crops and even agricultural land set aside for conservation purposes) incurred due to wildlife. The association of wildlife with damage is now so integrated in the minds of local populations that they will even blame beneficial species. For an example, farmers in Zimbabwe display “deep-rooted hostility” to elephants, which are regarded the “focus of all local animosity toward wildlife” (Wunder, 1997). In the minds of most rural communities in Africa, lions are considered a pest that should be eliminated.
Specific Activities
Some activities particularly expose local populations to human wildlife conflict. Growing interest in ecotourism and the increasing presence of humans in protected areas are exacerbating conflict between humans and wildlife. The local capacity to manage and regulate public access and large-scale use of protected areas is weak. Equally, tourists are unaware of the dangers of wild animals. Each year, tourists are killed or injured by elephants, crocodiles, lions or other wildlife in protected areas. In 2004 an American tourist was killed by a crocodile while in a canoe at Mana Pools National Park (Zimbabwe) on the Zambezi River (United States Department of State, 2007). Two British tourists were killed and another seriously injured by a rampaging elephant in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park on 2 4 March 2007 (Vasagar, 2007).
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study which sought to examine reasons for Human Wildlife Conflict and establish its impact on agricultural productivity particularly post Fast Track Land Reform Program in Zimbabwe, was carried out in Gwayi conservancy and resettlement areas bordering Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North province. Fifty farmers were purposively selected from a ward’s total population of 620 resettled households to generate primary data through a questionnaire and interviews. Secondary data was gathered from records and archival material from responsible authorities such as Parks and Wild Life Authority and its partners such as the CAMPFIRE and the Environmental Management Authority EMA in Zimbabwe, as well as partaking Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive statistics such as use of Tables, frequency counts, mean and percentages. A cost and benefit analysis was also employed to evaluate the profitability of wildlife to the newly resettled communities in areas bordering the gigantic Hwange National Park.
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Forms of Human Wildlife Conflicts Common in Areas Bordering Hwange National Park and Gwayi Conservancy
Figure 2: Farmers’ perceptions on prevalence of human wildlife conflicts in the area under study
Key
1 Destruction of infrastructure,
2 Disturbance of other livelihoods 3 Killing and injury to wildlife
4 Disease transmissions,
5 Livestock predation
6 Crop raiding
All interviewed participants ranging from farmers who were purposively selected from a ward’s total population of 620 resettled households, responsible authorities such as Parks and Wild Life Authority and its partners such as CAMPFIRE, Environmental Management Authority EMA as well as partaking Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs admitted that human-wildlife conflict is indeed a reality in the area. They indicated that such conflicts manifested in various forms such as crop raiding, livestock predation, destruction of infrastructure, disturbance to other livelihood activities etc. Summarily it has been observed that crop raiding and livestock predation as coded 5 and 6 respectively have the highest percentages showing that these were the most prevalent forms of human wildlife conflicts in the area, where livestock predation and crop raiding inflicted by lions and elephants were common. It was however observed that, disturbance to other livelihood activities and infrastructure were insignificant contributory factors to human wildlife conflicts in the region.
Most of the participants held a strong perception that human-wildlife conflicts have indeed contributed significantly to critical food deficits and insecurity in the entire province. Ndlovu, (2005) alludes to the fact that when such a perception holds people have a tendency to view wildlife as more of a liability than an asset, hence they likely seek to destroy or eradicate the wildlife than conserve it. Duffy, (2003) concurs by stating that, unless local farmers have a genuine interest in the maintenance of wildlife it is unlikely that wildlife conservation can be sustained on a long-term basis. It was therefore generally agreed that the trade-off must be balanced, as the people's livelihood is always at stake or jeopardized when wildlife conservation is threatened and such a reaction is natural.
In table 1, shows that during the period under study a wide range of farm animals were attacked by wildlife, and the order of significance signify that the most affected were goats at 260, followed by poultry at 200 birds attacked mostly by baboons. This occurred throughout the year implying the level of damage inflicted on the farmer was so severe. Considering the severity of attack on both crops and livestock, and nonpayment of compensation by responsible authorities to affected families, human wildlife conflicts were inevitable as farmers sought ways to avenge.
Noted Common Problematic Animals
Table 2 illustrates the common problem animals in the period under study, where investigations established that, Elephants, buffalos and porcupine were a big nuisance during cropping season with carnivores like lions and hyenas being common throughout the year, attacking livestock. The study revealed that some of the carnivores attacked both livestock and crops; such was noted in jackals and hyenas which caused substantial damage on crops.
Impact of Human Wildlife Conflict to Agriculture Productivity
Figure 3: Impact of Human Wildlife conflict to agriculture productivity
Key
A= loss of draft power as 8%,
B = disease transmission to animals with 13%, C = reduced crop yield with 13%,
D = unplanned slaughter of livestock due to attacks by carnivores with 7%, E= loss of market value with 11%,
F = increased human labour requirements with 13%, G = loss of nutritional value with 13%,
H = increased prices of commodities with 11% and lastly I = increased poverty levels with 11%.
Impact of Human Wildlife Conflict to Agriculture Productivity
According to the results obtained the majority of the respondents harvested inadequate food from their fields, the problem was even worse with the families lacking stable sources of income, generating meager income through bartering petty items such as river reeds, thatching grass, firewood, craft work, wood carvings, construction poles, thus fetch insignificant incomes. For an example, the study revealed that a 50kg bag of mea-lie meal lasts for fifteen days with only two meals a day for a family/household of 5 people. This means that 24 bags per year are required per family at $25 (United States dollar) per bag, equivalent to $600.00 per year. This directly translates to 2 beasts sold per year on an average price of $300 each to sustain life only towards maize which is the staple food. It was therefore observed that cash supplements were essential to sustain other livelihood activities.
Assumed Main Causes of Human Wildlife Conflicts in Zimbabwe Post FTLRP Habitat Destruction
Zimbabwe’s Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) resulted in fragmentation of areas initially meant for wildlife conservation and specialized activities. The resultant gradual loss of habitat has led to increasing conflict between humans and wildlife. As wildlife range becomes more and more fragmented and wildlife is confined into smaller pockets of drier and unsuitable habitats. In areas bordering Hwange National Park and Gwayi Conservancies, the forest area available to elephants has drastically reduced since the late 1990s when FTLRP commenced, thereby resulting in increased crop-raiding activities as cited by (Barnes et al., 2003). Table 3 below, portraying a case in Tanzania signifies a similar scenario in Zimbabwe where the new tenure systems have given rise to mediocre farming practices leading to massive destruction of the natural habitat, hence fuelling human wildlife conflicts. It is assumed that habitat loss in Tanzania is estimated at about 45% (Silkiluwasha, 1998), and desertification has been reported to occur at a rate of 2.5% per annum. Such rates are far below those of Zimbabwe where the ordinary farmer has taken the law into his own hands of settling wherever he desires and destroys the environment as he wishes. This implies that if deliberate measures are not taken to reverse the trend likewise, the whole country may also turn into a desert in less than a decade to come.
Table 3: Habitat Extent and Loss in 1980s
Table 4: Zimbabwe Ivory Smuggling Activities for the Period September-November 2015
As shown in table 4 above, during the last quarter of the study period the South China Morning Post reported that 2 Zimbabwean smugglers were caught at Hong Kong International Airport carrying 36kg of ivory worth US$46,450. And back in September, another Zimbabwean had been stopped at the same airport, with 13kg of suspected ivory products worth almost US$16,800. Earlier that same month Hong Kong officers had intercepted 51kg of suspected ivory products worth us$65,805. They were in 2 airmail parcels from Zimbabwe. A few days before, 24kg of ivory worth US$30,970 had also been discovered hidden in a parcel, also from Zimbabwe. It is therefore plain from the figures that there is something big and criminal going on between Zimbabwe and China. China is said to be the biggest consumer of smuggled ivory. And as cyanide is a controlled and expensive chemical, which ordinary villagers cannot afford, the study therefore assumes that blaming the poaching on poor villagers is merely scape goating.
Mitigation strategies implemented by stakeholders and the local communities
Responses generated from the participants indicated that there were programs designed and put in place to help those affected by the wild animals. The majority cited the quota system where each household was given an unspecified amount of United States dollars per year as proceeds from the hunting of some animals in areas bordering their farming communities as prescribed by the Parks authorities. It was observed that the accrued amounts from such hunting operations were shared equally among the villagers regardless of the extent of damage suffered by individual farmers. This was a bone of contention as most farmers felt that the authorities should have developed a formula which would facilitate the payment of such compensation on sliding scale based on the magnitude of damage incurred by the farmer. They however acknowledged that this was difficult to implement as there was need to keep proper inventory of crop damage assessment records by the relevant ministry of agriculture which is hardly hit by shortage of skilled manpower in the area. Farmers however felt that the payouts were inadequate as they could not match the damage incurred in most circumstances. Duffy (2003) in his critique of the CAMPFIRE program cited that the way the revenue is distributed within the wards is a fundamental factor in the success or failure of CAMPFIRE programs. He alluded to the fact that it is crucial for communities to see the link between the revenue resources received and the wildlife in the area. There was even the feeling among some respondents that since legal hunting was not yielding meaningful benefits they preferred communally initiated killing of the animals for their own consumption to boost household food security. Ndlovu (2005) when evaluating the impact of CAMPFIRE programs in Zimbabwe alluded to the fact that high levels of poaching in African communities was a clear indication of how local farmers have come to prefer illegal hunting and prioritize it as an option for income generation.
It was noted that communities believed, there has to be benefits emanating from the sacrifice of the people who coexist with the animals and suffer extensive crops and livestock damage yearly or else all efforts to resuscitate wildlife conservation would hit a snag and eventually fail. It has been established that CAMPFIRE programs elsewhere in the province have not been spared from numerous challenges hence have failed to effectively address the problem of human-wildlife conflict. The communities acknowledge that due to lack of modern initiatives from responsible authorities and other stakeholders, locals resort to traditional indigenous technologies such as light up fires at night, drum beating, use thorny species in fencing of kraals and erect kraals nearer human dwellings as a way of scaring away animals. The general feeling was however that these strategies are no-longer effective as animals have become adapted and used to them. Some have designed improved livestock structures to deter wild animals such as lions especially on goats housing where proper grass thatched huts with raised floors are used to secure goats from predators such as hyenas, jackals and lions which follow from their habitats and attack the livestock in pens.
6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
6.1 Conclusions
Human-wildlife conflict has been a common and significant phenomenon in Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole. Human-wildlife conflicts have impacted negatively on local populations sharing borders with natural habitats, threatening people’s; food security, safety and well-being, income generating activities, as well as wildlife conservation itself. Considering the current human population growth rate, unemployment levels in Zimbabwe, the increasing demand for agricultural land and the increasing demand for natural resources for sustainable livelihoods in the resettlement areas, it is clear that the human-wildlife conflict will not be eradicated in the near future. On the contrary, it will continue to grow as African economies continue to be driven by the production of resources for supply to more industrialized nations (Friedman, 2007). This has particularly become true for Zimbabwe where recent government policies have favoured a switch from modern commercial agricultural practices to a return to subsistence agriculture through the launch of the fast track land reform program. The chaotic program, which saw the establishment of human settlement in areas bordering national parks and conservancies, has given rise to manifestation of new forms of human-wildlife conflicts where organized syndicates comprising police officers, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers and Asians have taken center stage in wildlife poisoning in Zimbabwe.
6.2 Recommendations
A series of measures are available to prevent or mitigate human-wildlife conflict. Well-designed human-wildlife conflict management plans which integrate different techniques and are adapted to the nature of the problem can be successful. Potential solutions can be selected based on their effectiveness, cost and human and social acceptability.
According to Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations FAO, (2009) the most sensible approach in addressing human-wildlife conflict is to implement a combination of short-term mitigation tools alongside long-term preventive strategies. In this way immediate problems are addressed while the rapid development of innovative approaches is fostered to address future issues and eradicate the problem in the long term. When low environmental impact strategies and traditional low-cost deterrents are not successful, some invasive approaches, such as regulated harvesting, wildlife translocation or human relocation may need to be implemented.
Of the various strategies available, settlement of rights, benefit sharing, Community-Based Natural Resource Management CBNRM, insurance programs and land-use planning seem to be the most sustainable. Conflict alleviation is a two-sided equation. Both wildlife and people are in conflict. The goal is thus to enable coexistence and sharing of resources at some level. This is best achieved by addressing both sides of the equation and finding a balance between conservation priorities and the needs of people who live alongside wildlife. Increasing tolerance levels of local communities for wildlife and adapting the human landscape are essential goals, but will always be the most difficult.
The GOZ should revisit its participatory management strategy where the locals used to manage their natural resources and conservation areas. This can be achieved by resuscitating Zimbabwe's Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE), a community-based natural resource management programme in which Rural District Councils, on behalf of communities on communal land and resettlement areas, are granted the authority to market wildlife resources in their districts and share the proceeds.
It is of paramount importance that reducing conflict between wildlife and people is certainly a key means of bringing sanity in Zimbabwe’s agricultural productivity and as suggested by FAO, (2009) will improve both food security, by reducing the impact of wildlife on crops and livestock, and biodiversity conservation, by modifying the negative attitudes of many communities including the newly resettled farmers towards wildlife.
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Cite this Article: Chisango FFT and Maposa A (2016). Effects of Human-Wildlife Conflict on Agricultural Productivity, Post Fast Track Land Reform Program in Zimbabwe: A Case of Gwayi Conservancy and Resettlement Areas Bordering Hwange National Park. Greener Journal of Ecology and Ecosolution, 3(1): 001-012, http://doi.org/10.15580/GJEE.2016.1.011916014