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THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE OKAVANGO DELTA, BOTSWANA

Joseph E. Mbaiwa Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre. [e-mail]

Abstract

The growth of tourism in the Okavango Delta in the last 10-15 years raises obvious questions about its role in promoting rural development. These questions include: To what extent is tourism contributing to the improvement of rural livelihoods and sustainable development? What is the role of local communities in tourism development and natural resource use and management? This paper argues that local groups can meaningfully participate in monitoring and in the sustainable use of the Okavango Delta if they derive direct socio-economic benefits from tourism, which is the main economic activity in the wetland. Instead of being the main actors and beneficiaries of the growing tourism business, the local population has become a pool for the provision of cheap labour to a tourism industry largely owned and controlled by foreign companies and individuals. As a result, tourism development in the Okavango Delta is largely enclavic in character. Attempts to promote local community participation in the tourism through the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme are not yielding any significant results as most projects are performing poorly. This is because local communities lack the necessary entrepreneurship and managerial skills, experience and training to run tourism businesses. Because of its enclave characteristics, tourism in the Okavango Delta cannot be described as being socio-economic sustainable. The co-operation and participation of all stakeholders particularly the local communities is vital if effective monitoring and sustainable management of the Okavango Delta are to be achieved.

INTRODUCTION

Tourism is arguably the world’s largest and fastest growing industry, accounting for about five percent of the world’s Gross National Product and six percent of the employment (Glasson et al, 1995). Most governments encourage tourism for its ability to spread economic development and reduce inequalities in income distribution by providing jobs (Pearce, 1988; Coccossis and Parpairis, 1995; Wahab and Pigrim, 1997). For poor countries, regions, towns and cities, tourism is seen as the fast track to development (Glasson et al, 1995). Tourism is therefore viewed by government as a catalyst for national and regional development, bringing employment, exchange earnings, balance of payments advantages, and important infrastructural developments benefiting locals and visitors alike (Glasson et al, 1995).
In Botswana tourism as an economic sector was almost non-existent at independence in 1966. However, by 2002, it had grown to become the second largest economic sector in the country, contributing 4.5% to the Gross Domestic Product (Mbaiwa, 2002). Tourism is described by Botswana’s Tourism Policy of 1990 as the new “engine of growth” of which the main aim is to diversify the country’s economy through the promotion of tourism (Government of Botswana, 1990). Botswana’s tourism industry rapidly grew from the 1990s largely relies on the abundance of wildlife resources and the scenic beauty in the northern parts of the country, especially the Okavango Delta and the Chobe regions. The Okavango Delta, a wetland of international importance and a Ramsar site is home to 5, 000 insects, 3, 000 plants, 540 birds, 164 mammals, 157 reptiles, 80 fish and countless micro-organisms (Rothert, 1997). It is also home to over 100,000 people who live within and around it. Over 95% of them directly or directly depend on the natural resources found in the wetland to sustain their livelihoods (Mbaiwa, 2002).
Tourism in the Okavango Delta involves both consumptive and non-consumptive activities. It has stimulated the development of a variety of allied infrastructure and facilities within and around the Okavango Delta such as hotels, lodges and camps, tarred roads, an international airport and 27 airstrips. Through its backward linkages, wholesale and retail businesses have been established, especially in Maun, to offer various goods to the tourism industry. As a new and fast growing industry, obvious questions can be raised about its role in rural development. These include: a) To what extent is tourism contributing to the improvement of rural livelihoods? b) To what extent are local people participating and benefiting from tourism development? c) What is the contribution of tourism to sustainable development? d) Who owns and controls tourism facilities and activities? e) What is the role of local people in natural resource use in the Okavango Delta? f) What is the role of local communities in the monitoring and management of the Okavango Delta? Answers to these questions should determine whether tourism is contributing to sustainable development by promoting rural economic development and ensuring ecological sustainability.
This paper assesses the socio-economic sustainability of tourism development in the Okavango Delta by focusing on the questions above. It also identifies strategies that can be employed to promote socio-economic sustainability of tourism in remote areas such as the Okavango Delta. Finally, the paper examines the role that tourism can play in promoting long-term monitoring and management of the Okavango Delta. The paper is based on results of a survey conducted by the author between January and April 2001. The study used both primary and secondary data sources. Primary data collection involved informal interviews with Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) project and Village Development Committee members in the villages of Khwai, Seronga, and Ditshiping. It also involved interviews with government officials at the Departments of Tourism, Wildlife and National Parks and the Tawana Land Board. Interviews were also carried out with safari company managers and staff in Maun and the Okavango Delta. Secondary data collection centred on the use of the available literature such as government documents, reports and other published and unpublished documents.

SUSTSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM

The increased global environmental concern of the 1980s led to research on the meaning of sustainable tourism in the 1990s (Pigram, 1995). Because tourism has cultural, economic, and environmental impacts, it “contains the seeds of its own destruction. Tourism can kill tourism, destroying the very environmental attractions which visitors come to a location to experience” (Plog, 1974). Glasson et al. (1995) state that tourism is, by its very nature, an agent of change. Some of the impacts of change may be controlled, regulated, or directed. If properly managed, tourism has the potential of being a renewable industry, where resource integrity is maintained or even enhanced. If mismanaged or allowed to expand within short-term goals and objectives, it has the capability of destroying the very resources upon which it is built. To ensure that tourism does not negatively impact on natural resources it relies on to improve livelihoods, tourism development should adhere to the principles of sustainable development. In other words, it must be economically viable, ecologically sensitive and culturally appropriate (Wall, 1997). A basic principle of sustainable development is intergenerational equity: development is sustainable only to the extent that needs today can be fulfilled without prejudice to those of the future generations. The present generation should leave for the next generation a stock of quality-of-life assets no less than those we have inherited (Pearce et al., 1989). According to Angelson et al. (1994), and Munasinghe and McNeely (1995), the concept of sustainable development is hinged on three broad approaches and concerns: (a) economic efficiency, (b) social equity, and (c) ecological sustainability.
(a) Economic efficiency. Economic efficiency aims at the optimal use of natural resources (Serageldin 1993; Munasinghe and McNeely 1995). The aim is to produce the maximum output in order to achieve a high standard of living of the people within the constraints of the existing capital (Markandya 1993; Paehlke 1999). Although economic sustainability implies meeting the economic needs of everyone through the use of natural resources, Ndubano (2000) states that the experience of Kenya has shown that it is possible to have a booming tourist industry while the majority of the local people live in poverty. This, therefore, suggest that tourism development in the Okavango Delta should meet the needs of all stakeholders particularly the rural communities in an attempt to promote rural development.

(b) Social equity. Although they are often overlooked, social and cultural aspects are crucial for sustainable development. Social equity is concerned with the conservation and promotion of socio-cultural diversity (Sachs, 1999). It advocates fairness and equal access to resources by all user groups. This is aimed at ensuring equity in the distribution of costs, benefits, decision-making and management, which in theory will eradicate poverty (UNCED, 1992). Tourism development should show that tourism is a socio-cultural event for both the host and the traveler. Cultural tourism should thus be promoted for the sustainability of the industry (Murphy, 1985). Cultural tourism broadens the scope of the industry, promotes appreciation of the industry among locals and thus ensures a greater community involvement and a more equitable share of the prosperity brought about by tourism (Murphy, 1985).

(c) Ecological sustainability. Ecological sustainability emphasizes that the rate of renewable natural resources use should not be faster than the rate at which the natural process renews itself (Serageldine, 1993). This is based on the assumption that the dynamic processes of the natural environment can become unsustainable as a result of stresses imposed by human activity (Munasinghe and McNeely, 1995). Ecological sustainability therefore refers to maintaining a system’s stability, which implies limiting the stress on ecosystems central to the sustainability of the global system (Perrings, 1991). Paehlke (1999) writes that environmental (ecological) sustainability includes conservation of ecology, air, water, and biological diversity in terms of both quality and quantity. Any assessment of tourism in the Okavango Delta should establish whether its development is carried out such that it does not pressure ecosystems beyond their inherent processes of renewal.

These three concepts of economic, social, and ecological sustainability are inter-related. Impacts on one are likely to affect all others. For example, the failure to meet socio-economic needs of stakeholders, particularly local communities, in tourism development is likely to negatively affect the ecological sustainability of the wetland. Poverty as will be noted later in this paper is relatively higher in the Okavango (ACORD 2002a, 2002b, 2002c, 2002d) area among rural communities, failure by these communities to derive direct socio-economic benefits from tourism may result in negative environmental impacts on the wetland. Therefore, the power of the sustainable development concept lies in its dual benefits—it both opens up new opportunities and avoids the trap of trading off environmental goals against economic growth (Darkoh, 1996). In this paper, focus is on social equity and economic efficiency of tourism development as the two necessary conditions needed to achieve an effective monitoring and sustainable management of the Okavango Delta. The paper argues that these are the necessary conditions needed to achieve an effective monitoring and sustainable management of the Okavango Delta.

Economic aspects
Ownership of tourism facilities.
Tourism facilities, such as hotels, lodges and camps, are largely owned by foreign investors and companies. Table 1 shows that about 81.5% of the lodges and camps in the Okavango Delta have foreign influence. Of these, 53.8% are 100% foreign owned and about 27.7% are jointly owned. Only 18.5% are fully owned by citizens.

Table 1. Ownership of Tourism Facilities in Maun and the Okavango Delta, 2001

Ownership
Frequency and Percentages
Tourism facilities
Data from Department of Tourism
Citizen Owned
Jointly Owned
Non-Citizen Owned
12 (18.5%)
18 (27.7%)
35 (53.8%)
16 (15.5%)
36 (35.0%)
51 (49.5%)
Totals
65 (100.0%)
103 (100.0%)
Source: Mbaiwa (2002)

In a related study, Ndubano (2000) found that about 95% of the accommodation and transport sectors in Maun have foreign involvement, with 60% of them being 100% foreign owned, 35% jointly owned between locals and expatriates, only 1% is fully owned by citizens. Licensing data from the Department of Tourism confirms these findings. In 2000 out of 103 tourism related businesses registered in Maun and operational in Maun and the delta, 16 (15.5%) were citizen owned, 36 (35.0%) were jointly owned (between Batswana and non-citizens) while 51 (49.5%) were non-citizens owned. Thus 87 (84.5%) of the tourism related companies registered in Maun and operational in the Okavango region have some foreign ownership.
Foreign investors and companies also dominate concession areas leased by the Tawana Land Board in the Okavango Delta (the Tawana Land Board is the government institution charged with land allocation and management for the Okavango region). As shown in Table 2, out of 15 concession areas leased by the Tawana Land Board, 4 (26.7%) are leased to citizen companies, 6 (40.0%) to joint venture companies, and 5 (33.3%) to non-citizen companies. Non-citizen companies are thus directly involved in 11 (73.3%) of the 15 concession areas under the control of Tawana land Board.

Table 2: Concession Areas Leased by Tawana Land Board in Ngamiland, 2001

Ownership
No of CHAs
Percentage
Citizen
Jointly
Non-Citizens
4
6
5
26.7
40.0
33.3
Total
15
100.0
Source: Mbaiwa (2002)

Based on the evidence above, it is obvious that the tourist industry in the Okavango Delta is now dominated by foreign companies who own most of the tourism facilities and have concessional rights to wildlife areas. Glasson et al. (1995) note that the dominance of the tourism industry by foreign investors and the non-local investment can reduce control over local resources and that this loss of local autonomy is the most negative long-term effect of tourism. A local resident may also suffer a loss of sense of place, as his/her surroundings are transformed to accommodate the requirements of a foreign-dominated tourism industry. Informal interviews with community