Browsing by Author "Murphy, Carol"

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Basket Cases: Individual Returns from Common Property Resources
(2004) Murphy, Carol; Suich, Helen
"What happens when craft items that use common property resources as raw materials, change from domestic items to commercially marketed art products in an area where there are common property resource institutions? Prior to the implementation of the craft programme in Caprivi(Namibia), palm baskets were made by women for winnowing grain and had little commercial value. The craft programme, which is part of the national community based natural resource management programme focuses on product development, marketing and sustainable use of palm and dye raw materials and there is now a thriving craft industry in Caprivi. "This commercialisation process has generated craft sales income for individual producers and heralded the formation of local, producer cooperatives to handle the demands of commercial production and marketing. Most producers are poor, rural women in remote villages and craft production is a very marginal activity when taking into account the time and effort required. As a result, the craft income is very modest most producers earn less than US$50 per year but still provides a significant contribution to household livelihoods where opportunities for rural women to generate cash are extremely limited. "With palm resources now having a higher value than previously, people's perception of this common property resource has changed. Indigenous common property resource institutions (i.e. traditional authorities) extract a modest fee for use of these plant resources by producer groups in return for protection of the resource from outsiders. Modern common property resources institutions (conservancies) that commonly generate funds collectively for collective benefit (i.e. from trophy hunting and tourism) have questioned the use of common property resources for individual gain by the crafters. Confusion regarding common property theory by some senior government and conservancy members (usually men), has meant that producers (usually women) have had to defend their right to retain individual cash income from craft sales against suggestions that the craft sales revenue should be distributed collectively. "Challenges to both common property resource institutions and crafters in this context, is that any funds used for common property management or collective marketing (i.e. commission taking by marketing institutions) increase the marginality of craft as a livelihood activity. In addition, globalisation and the mass production of woven items in Asia, means that handcrafted, traditional baskets made of indigenous and sustainably harvested raw plant materials have to compete with very cheap products on the international market. "Despite these challenges, craft marketing in Caprivi is characterized by a very successful dual existence of collective marketing and resource monitoring together with individual cash benefit, making craft sales an important contributor to the household incomes of the producers. The success of collective marketing is based on strong NGO support driven by donors agendas for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Conservancy institutions have been beneficial in bringing a strong focus on sustainable use of the raw materials by the producers."
'Big Can Be Beautiful': Ensuring Regional Transboundary Conservation Supports Local Community Resource Management in the Proposed Okavango/Upper Zambezi TFCA, Southern Africa
(2004) Murphy, Carol; Suich, Helen; Slater-Jones, Sandra; Diggle, Richard
"There is global recognition that political boundaries can hinder conservation objectives, particularly in areas where wildlife is highly migratory, as these boundaries often split river basins, watersheds and other ecosystems between countries, as well as dividing human populations. Transboundary conservation initiatives are being heralded as an opportunity to promote biodiversity conservation, bring local socio- economic development and facilitate peace and co-operation. In southern Africa, potential transboundary conservation areas are being given increasing support from a wide range of stakeholders including governments, non government organisations and donors. The Okavango/Upper Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (OUZTFCA) is one such area that encompasses parts of five countries (Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and is of global conservation significance as being, amongst other things, the home to the largest remaining concentration of free-ranging elephants. "However, risks associated with the present practice of transboundary conservation include top-down approaches aimed at securing wildlife habitat, lack of co-ordination of activities, and a negotiation scale that is mainly government-to-government or regional. These risks can prohibit meaningful and lasting local community participation. The challenge to successful transboundary conservation is to ensure that successful local conservation initiatives play a key role. "By reflecting on the development of two Namibian community conservation areas on the Chobe Floodplain within the OUZTFCA, the paper documents the way a field-based NGO has used the opportunity to shape the delivery of transboundary conservation interventions to suit the needs of existing local community based natural resource management. Activities to achieve this included: focusing international, transboundary funding at a community-scale and ensuring strong local participation in wildlife management and tourism planning. By doing this, the risks associated with international resource management and planning will hopefully be minimised, and a stable foundation on which to build future transboundary activities will be built, to ensure that big really is beautiful."
Living in a Global Commons: The Case of Residents of a National Park in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KaZa TFCA), Southern Africa
(2008) Murphy, Carol
"In 2006, five southern African countries pledged their support for the establishment of the Kavango-Zambezi Tranfrontier Conservation Area, also known as the KaZa TFCA. The driver behind this global commons is that it houses the largest population of African elephant left in the world. Sioma Ngweze National Park lies in the far-flung south-west corner of Zambia and is the least developed park in Zambia. Yet from a global commons perspective, it forms the geographic heart of the KaZa TFCA and is a corridor for elephants moving from Botswana into Zambia and Angola. International transboundary NGOs (Peace Parks Foundation and Conservation International) have recently taken a keen interest in the Park's status. "As a result of the Park being inhabited, there is an overlay of three institutions operating an ancient traditional authority, a local government authority (District Commissioner and councillors), with the wildlife authorities being a relative newcomer. "This is ironic considering land tenure in the Park is that of a state protected area. Elephant moving north through the Park need access to water, food and refuges. The Park's main riverfront is however, also home to over 4 000 people living a remote, subsistence existence and needing access to water and land for agriculture. The development challenge is to balance the needs of local people and with that of migrating elephants. Projects promoted by the transboundary NGOs so far include promoting conservation farming and chili production (for sale and use as an elephant deterrent). Human settlement and elephant corridors are also being mapped and there are plans to improve park infrastructure and implement a park management plan. "Appropriate institutional change lies in a co-management agreement between residents of the park and park authorities for benefit sharing. Deproclaimation of key settled areas in the Park to a more appropriate status is also possible."