Browsing by Author "Matose, Frank"
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- ItemOpen AccessAccess, use, and regulation practices in Lower Silvermine Wetland. Fish Hoek Cape Town(2019) Dzingwe, Tafadzwa; Matose, FrankA political ecology approach was taken in explaining the context of resource use. Political ecology seeks to understand politics about nature. Where access and regulation practices are political tenets within the commons issue understudy in Lower Silvermine Wetland. Hence they are resources held in commons within the Lower Silvermine Wetland. Where there are multiple users with different claims and interest. The ability to derive benefits from resources known as access is essential as it helps in understanding the perceptions and relation of users to the wetland. Within the two concepts of political ecology and access, it sought to locate and situate access into the Lower Silvermine Wetland by focusing on users use, regulation by authorities and nature. Nature users derive benefits from the Lower Silvermine Wetland. This is shown by the way they relate, use, and perceive the wetland. User access is pivotal to the study as it shows what the Lower Silvermine Wetland means to different users. Therefore nature means different things to different users, and this determines the way they use the wetland. The other part of the study becomes significant because as much there is access into the Lower Silvermine Wetland, regulatory measures are in place to prohibit users from doing other forms of activities into the Wetland Lower Silvermine Wetland. This is controlled through permissible and non-permissible operations that have been put in place by authorities that regulate and control the commons area understudy. It is of concern that some regulatory measures have caused deprivation of access, and some have been weak that an enhancement in regulation should be considered. Access into the Lower Silvermine Wetland has led to a lot of misunderstanding between users and authorities. These misunderstandings are a result of use, regulation, and maintenance. It is important to note that everyone has the right to access wetlands, according to the South African Constitution. This is important to the study as every user has the right to access nature without restriction as long they don’t break the control measures. This will lead to conserving plant and animal diversity also to ensure access is derived without any safety or security threat. At the same time if regulation and control is followed it will lead to a good user nature relationship. Hence ensuring that authorities understand each other and maintain the Lower Silvermine Wetland. Therefore the study becomes pertinent in establishing implications of regulatory practices in the Lower Silvermine Wetland.
- ItemOpen AccessAlternatives to the economic rationalisation of renewable energy transitions: The Tsitsikamma Community Renewable Wind Farm Story(2023) Pressend, Michelle; Matose, Frank; Sitas, AriWithin the climate mitigation discourse, renewable energy technology is understood as vital to reduce coal energy reliance. This discourse which is deeply anthropocentric in its approach understands 'green' energy transitions largely as reliant on reductionist techno-scientific 'solutions' and green economic growth rationalisation. If energy transitions are not engaged with critically, ongoing injustice and extractive relationships are likely to be perpetuated. The aim of this thesis is to show that alternative renewable energy transitions as responses to global warming need to be informed from a relational perspective. Values that are respectful, regenerative, and reciprocal to nature and each other constitute the concept of relationality. This study focused on the Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm (TCWF) in the Eastern Cape (South Africa) as a site to explore the implementation of a renewable energy project. The site on which the wind farm is built has a colonial land dispossession narrative and the return of the Tsitsikamma Mfengu community to reclaimed land in 1994. The community was a willing partner in the investment of a wind energy public-private partnership. While the beneficiaries were promised improvements to their well-being, instead, the material well-being of this community remains unchanged and the commercial agricultural land degraded. The inequalities and the social-ecological relations of the past persist. The so-called 'win-win' rhetoric is an illusion in climate mitigation approaches and largely serves capital accumulation at the expense of community well-being and restoration of the soil. This study drew inspiration from Moore's (2003) world-ecology framing - history is part of rather than separate from the web of life - a non-dualist version of world history. In the research, a multisited ethnography was used and included tracing the relationships that recognised land history, memory (patterns of material nature of the land) and the entangled relationships between humans and non-humans. The conceptual framing and methodology illuminated erasures consistently overlooked in the anthropocentric climate discourses. As a consequence of those revelations openings for more relational and decolonial conceptualisation(s) based on the profound interrelatedness of life became evident. Relational energy transitions are needed in response to the climate crisis that consider the regenerative possibilities of nature-human interrelatedness. Through this argument, the study contributes an important insight for the uptake of methodology and analysis which transcends the 'resource' logic.
- ItemOpen AccessBiodiversity conservation in land reform : the continuities and discontinuities of colonial thought and practice : a case study of the Dwesa-Cwebe nature reserve(2014) Ntsholo, Lubabalo; Matose, FrankOne of the many reasons for the dispossession of the land from black people was the colonial and apartheid regime’s commitment towards establishing nature reserves and national parks for the purposes of biodiversity conservation. The nature conservation discourse has remained strong even after the demise of these discriminatory regimes. Biodiversity conservation and the preservation of ecosystems have occupied a prominent role in the development discourse in South Africa and globally. The more recent approaches to the discourse have been on punting conservation as the basis from which all development springs. But even with this, there has been a lot of effort, wittingly or unwittingly, to craft the discourse in apolitical and ahistorical terms. There has been little effort to dissect the historical colonial thinking that still persists in the biodiversity conservation sector, and the factors that help sustain in thereof. The primary aim of this research therefore was to disentangle these ‘colonial gestures’ in biodiversity conservation and locate conservation within the framework of our colonial present .The main objective of this study is to assess and dissect the presence of the colonial motives and thinking, in the processes of policy development and programme implementation in as far as biodiversity conservation is concerned.
- ItemOpen AccessColonial and Post-colonial Rangeland Enclosures amid Climate Uncertainty: The Case of Maasai Pastoralists of Kajiado County, Kenya(2022) Mugambi, Munene Mutuma; Green, Lesley; Matose, FrankThe enclosure of common resources in Kenya's rangelands became more pronounced after Kenya's independence because of adverse land reform policies, which proved ineffective in addressing the prior injustices of the forceful dispossession of Maasai pastoralists by the British colonial authority. The ongoing enclosure of common resources by both state and private capital for economic gain has left the herder community exposed to the adverse effects of climate change. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the adaptive capacity of Maasai to the intersecting stresses of climate change and resource enclosure. It examines the implications of common-resource enclosures for the Maasai livestock economy and the coping mechanisms they have undertaken to build adaptive capacity to changing climate conditions. The analysis employs an ethnographic approach using interviews and participant observation to collect data from field research in Ildamat-Oloyiankalani, Kajiado County, Kenya. The study is embedded in the daily herding and resource foraging practices of Maasai that took place during the prolonged drought period of 2017 and 2018 and in their ongoing experience of the intersecting stresses of climate change and common-resource enclosures. The study unveiled three major insights. First, that a tightening grip over common resources by private property growth has undermined the consensus-based democratic governance of resources, disrupted herders' access rights and exposed them to climate risks. Second, that pastoralists developed collective grazing arrangements and acquired exclusive grazing rights as mechanisms to improve herd mobility and resource access to cope with the intersecting stresses of climate change and the enclosure of grazing commons. Lastly, the study found that the implications of growing resource pressure and climate risk have driven pastoralists to actively assemble to disrupt further enclosure of their commons and to protect their rights. These insights confirm the importance of pastoralists' access rights to rangeland resources. In conclusion, the thesis broadly argues that facilitating extractive capitalism by disrupting pastoralists' access rights through common-resource enclosures adversely affects their ability to cope with the intersecting stresses of climate and environmental change. Therefore, it is critical that resource governing policies facilitate the democratisation of grazing and water resources to protect the commons from further enclosure and to ensure equitable access. This would restore the commons approach and protect the remaining herders' access rights, lowering their vulnerability to the intersecting stresses of climate and environmental change.
- ItemOpen AccessCommunity-based natural resource management: The case of Community Forest Management Areas in Pete, Zanzibar(2017) Dabo, Dina; Matose, FrankThe shift from centralised conservation to Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) was the highlight of the conservation discourse across the world during the late 1980s and early 1990s. CBNRM efforts were believed to have the potential of successfully merging biodiversity conservation simultaneously with local development efforts. However, the increasing critiques against the applicability of CBNRM interventions in different contexts is threatening the viability of the approach. Extant literature on CBNRM interventions focuses on the theoretical aspects of such efforts at the expense of the practical and context specific elements. This thesis intends to fill such a gap in literature by focusing on the practical and contextual elements of an example of this approach in Zanzibar. In an attempt to conserve the isles' natural forests, Zanzibar has adopted Community-Forest Management Areas (CoFMAs) bordering its natural forests. In this study, focus is placed on Pete's CoFMA, a village bordering the isles' last remaining natural forests- Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park (JCBNP). Pete provides an ideal site due to the conflict that exists between residents and the CoFMA intervention. By using the political ecological framework, this study is able to examine the political, social, historical and economic elements that play a significant role in the practice of CBNRM efforts. Narratives from residents are relied on to elucidate on such elements in relation to the existence of the CoFMA in Pete Village. Narratives gathered through interviews and participant observation concluded that while CoFMAs have been set up with the optimistic goal of conserving the forest and providing development to community members; in practice, the conservation intervention has proved otherwise. In spite of the achievement of some developmental goals, the overall findings indicate that the CoFMA has failed to protect the forests and its natural resources from degradation. At the same time, community members are facing difficulties to live a sustainable life.
- ItemOpen AccessConstruction of personhood within Xhosa ethnicity: critical perspectives mediating state and community conflict over natural resources(2021) Magadla, Aphiwe; Matose, Frank; Green, LesleyThis study examines the navigation of structural pressures, limitations and conservation policies by the community of Hobeni Village in the practice of traditional rituals within the context of nature conservation. It considers how ceremonies such as uKuqatywa komntwana, Intonjane, Ulwaluko, ukunikezelwa ko-Mkhontho, and Umcimbi/ Umgidi play a vital role in the construction of personhood among small groups of men, women and teenagers identifying as Xhosa people in the Hobeni Village in the Eastern Cape. The qualitative research drew insights from indigenous knowledge already known to the researcher, current research, participatory observation and semistructured interviews conducted on twenty-four members of the community. The ethnographic study found that systemic methods of nature conservation Vis a Vis symbolic oppression, sit in tension with the rituals performed by members of the AmaXhosa at Hobeni village. It argues that for Hobeni residents, accessing the natural resources placed under conservation is a vital aspect of their identity formation, which is impacted by conservation. The research found that current conservation practices pose a threat not only to AmaXhosa practices of identity formation and sense of belonging but also to the maintenance of their culture. The connection of the Hobeni people with nature is limited by conservation methods that force them to adapt their traditional practices that attempt to find congruence with their belief systems, but that strain the relationship between these villagers and their ancestors. In the search for alternative methods to preserve natural resources and maintain the culture of Hobeni village, this dissertation calls for the establishment of a different approach to conservation that is context-specific and community-centred. A transformative approach to conservation could advance environmental justice without compelling the community to negatively negotiate, as is currently the case, their cultural practices or erode their entanglement with nature. The contribution of this study lies in challenging the narrative or ideologically laden discourses that perceive people as a threat to nature and the environment. This dissertation concludes that people possess diverse knowledge systems and resources that enable them to coexist and conserve nature in their surroundings or living environment.
- ItemOpen AccessExamining the Experiences of Smallholder farmers in Malawi towards Farm Input Subsidies(2022) Tambala, Henry; Green, Lesley; Matose, FrankThe author of this dissertation is the last born in their family. He was born and grew up in the rural area of the Blantyre district of the beloved country Malawi which is also popularly known as the warm heart of Africa for its friendly people. Our African belief states that one's strength is made manifest by the number of children. Like arrows in the pouch of a hunter, so are one's children. They will be able to defend him when his strength is gone in his old age. That led families to have many children even though there were not enough resources for their sustenance and upkeep. Our community consists of agrarian community. When growing up, we prepared our fields between August and September in readiness for the next planting season. Afterward, we could eagerly wait to hear the heavenly voice of thunder and rumblings that announced the coming of the first rains marking the beginning of the new agricultural season. One could catch the distinct earthy flavor of the smell of rain from miles away when rain falls after a long dry spell of weather, and soon, everything would come alive. The land which had been dry, dusty, and barren would turn to beautiful fields covered in green vegetation. Birds could sing beautifully, and livestock could graze as they lazily chased away flies on their backs by the use of their tails. That was usually between October and November, and soon after planting our seeds which maize is a king of all crops, we could count days before enjoying the first fruits of our labors. Those were days when rainfall patterns were predictable and the harvest sure. Close to our village, there was a river that flowed throughout the year. That was where we got water for all our domestic purposes. It was called the Ntengera River, and that means the river that carries all sorts of things. They say that water is life. This river brought all manner of life-giving resources for us. When it flooded during the rainy seasons, it could bring us all sorts of things such as sugarcane and other crops uprooted elsewhere from upstream. It also provided us with delicious chambo and other different varieties of fish. At times, we could go fishing when nsima (mealie pap) was about to be cooked, and within a few minutes, we could come back home with a good catch of fish. Sometimes, we could put poisonous plants into the river to contaminate its waters. That could poison fish and make them grasp in need of fresh air, and in that way, we could easily catch them. It is in this river where we also learned how to swim and play water sports games. When the harvesting period was over, we used to plant vegetables along this river for both home consumption and sale in the urban sector of Blantyre. We could apply pesticides such as Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) to prevent pests from attacking our crops to enhance vegetable production. No one could pronounce this name in our village, and everybody opted for its abbreviation. The pesticide is a general name that refers to a wide range of other compounds aimed at promoting crop productivity and regulating other unwanted herbs, fungi, insects, rodents, molasses, and many other pests. Ideally, the intention was to kill pests and leave the crops uncontaminated. However, with pesticides such as DDT, this has not always been the case. Such pesticides targeted other organisms such as insects and other invertebrates. Organisms such as insects and earthworms act as agents of cross-pollination and natural recyclers for the soil ecosystem. No wonder that some of our arable lands are no longer productive as they used to be. Even though the banning of DDT pesticides from using it happened as early as the 1960s in the developed world, most developing nations continued to use them due to a lack of alternatives. Eventually, these pesticides have found their way into the environment and human bodies with devastating impacts. Our late grandfather used to tell us that some chronic diseases affecting people nowadays were unheard of during their youthful days. In search of more land for cultivation and better access to water sources, we used to cultivate close to the river banks, and sometimes we went as far as clearing off plants and vegetation that grew along the river banks. For us, there was nothing wrong with that. Everyone was doing it. Little did we know that with all these Anthropocene practices, we were squeezing the life out of our beloved river and fast-pacing it to dry up. The more we stripped off the dressing for that river, the more it became naked and thus vulnerable to direct tropical sunshine. Trees and vegetation are part of the water cycle and, without their presence, leave the water cycle with some gaps. This river that used to flow throughout the year has become a seasonal river with waters flowing through it only during the rainy season. Topsoil washed away from upstream has now filled up natural water reservoirs. That makes the rainwater rush through the Ntengera river on its way to the Shire River and then disappears into the mighty Zambezi river. The concentration of washed-up nutrients has not only helped to contaminate the water quality, but it has also raised fecal coliforms and other sediment loads that have promoted the damage of aquatic ecosystems. Is this the sixth mass extinction after the fifth extinction of dinosaurs? Can environmental pollution be reversed? Can there be restoration or repair of the broken water cycle for that beloved Ntengera river and all other water bodies and the entire ecosystems? Can we travel back to the future through our actions to make right what went wrong? What about the disrupted livelihoods of the rural communities now displaced from their original places of habitation in search of better livelihoods? The disruption of their rural economies was due to anthropogenic environmental changes of modern globalization practices? This study is a story of those changes—stories of how the landscape and the environment have changed. These are stories of change that have ended up transforming non-human and humans in our community and our neighbours and their neighbours to a national, regional, and continental level. That is an ethnographic story of rural communities both for humans and nonhumans. It is a story about the supremacy of human beings over nature and the ecological trap that humanity has set for itself and the entire ecosystem. It is a story of rural communities whose livelihoods have been disturbed by rich developed nations and how they continue to exploit local people and extract their only last resource and means of livelihood - subsistence farming through agricultural intensification and promotion of new technology.
- ItemOpen AccessFast track land reform and belonging: examining linkages between resettlement areas and communal areas in Zvimba District, Zimbabwe(University of Cape Town, 2020) Marewo, Malvern Kudakwashe; Chitonge, Horman; Matose, FrankThis study examines whether beneficiaries of Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) of 2000 in resettlement areas maintain linkages with communal areas of origin. Present studies about the FTLRP provide limited in-depth attention to the importance of understanding linkages with places of origin. The study sought to explore the extent to which beneficiaries of the FTLRP are connected to their communal areas of origin, as well as the implications of the ties. Analysis of linkages is through social relationships and labour exchanges between people in resettlement areas and communal areas. This was done through a conceptual framework of belonging, which helped explain the various attachments to places of origin. The study was guided by a qualitative research approach. A case study of Machiroli Farm, an A1 villagised settlement, and Zvimba communal areas (Ward 6), Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe was utilised. The study's main finding is that beneficiaries of the FTLRP in the A1 model on Machiroli Farm retain linkages with communal areas of origin; beneficiaries of the FTLRP acquired new land without discarding ties and relations with places of origin. Most respondents attached clear importance to maintaining linkages with places of origin. Some respondents did not maintain ties with places of origin because of conflicts and breakdowns in family ties, highlighting that belonging is not static. Evidence from this case study shows that maintenance of linkages assists with agricultural production and enhancing social relations. Another important finding is that belonging enforced the maintenance of relations through factors, such as familial relations, burial sites, clubs, ceremonies and labour exchanges with communal areas of origin. The study argues that belonging is an aspect that ties people together despite physical translocation. Thus, this study's contribution is that, within land reform debates, physical translocation does not break the bonds with, or ties to, places of origin. Belonging enables several functions, such as access to labour, mitigation of economic challenges and enhancement of social relations, as demonstrated by this case study. For scholarship, the study contributes to land reform debates by applying the concept of belonging, which has mostly been applied to border and migration studies policy. The framework of belonging within land reform reveals the importance of social, cultural, religious and economic effects in accessing labour and enhancing agricultural production in agrarian settings. The study draws the conclusion that beneficiaries of land reform desire to remain relevant to a host of political, economic, spiritual and social aspects anchored in places of origin. Therefore, resettlement does not break ties which people have with places of origin, people embrace the new without discarding the old relations.
- ItemOpen AccessGovernance, informality and agency in the making of cross-border mopane worm livelihoods in Southern Africa(2022) Sekonya, James George; Wynberg, Rachel; Matose, FrankThe utilisation of wild products is a mainstay of household livelihoods for millions of forest and rural dwellers worldwide. While many are used for subsistence purposes, some wild products are also exploited commercially. Commercialisation has often coincided with state-led conservation strategies that have brought previously unregulated resources under state regulation. Mopane worms are a caterpillar phase of the Imbrasia belina moth, used as a household food source and, increasingly, part of a lucrative cross-border trade in southern Africa. Across Botswana and South Africa, the statutory regulation of these resources is overlaid upon customary forms of governance that continue to regulate resource access and use. The effectiveness of such interactions is important for the success or failure of different governance arrangements and resource-based livelihoods. Using the cross-border trade of mopane worms as a lens, this research examines the ways in which actors navigate different governance systems, including the complexities of informal trade. In doing so, the research aims to improve understanding of the implications of the interplay between different governance arrangements and informality and their influence in configuring access to resources and cross-border markets. A key finding is that the inadvertent consequence of integrating multiple forms of governance and resultant interactions has led to the emergence of constraints that impact resource users across the cross-border trade chain. Interactions between statutory and customary governance systems have, in turn, led to the emergence of informality as an adaptive strategy across the trade. The study demonstrates that the informal and cross-border nature of mopane worm trade compels actors to use their agency to adopt multiple strategies to navigate complex governance arrangements. This in turn results in an uneven distribution of constraints and opportunities across the trade chain. Power imbalances shape diverse and complex forms of social relations, affect access to resources and markets, and marginalise destitute actors. Fragmented governance arrangements benefit actors with privileged access to market information, knowledge, capital, and resources, enabling them to navigate the constraints and incompatibilities that characterise informal cross-border trade. The study underscores the need to streamline statutory, customary, and informal governance approaches particularly as the three systems are not separate but dynamic, and to pursue an unambiguous, pro-poor agenda, focused on safeguarding informal, resource-based livelihoods and the sustainable use of mopane worms.
- ItemOpen AccessHippopotami in a liminal space: a multi-species ethnography of Lake Tanganyika in Bujumbura(2022) Maksudi, Bakenga; Solomon, Nikiwe; Matose, FrankThis thesis explores how human encroachment has significantly altered Lake Tanganyika's freshwater ecosystem and riparian zone in Bujumbura, the capital city of Burundi, which affects the daily life and interactions between humans and hippopotami (hippo). Societal development agendas have favoured economic growth and infrastructural development with little regard for the well-being of multi-species communities. The study contrasts the ideas that drive economy-based approaches to development and environmental management with the many engagements with the lake, and how this in turn affects human-hippo relations on Lake Tanganyika's riparian zone. Environmental protection and management discourses are frequently portrayed as a unified, single, objectivist practice, however, their contextual enactment differs from discipline to discipline and across municipal interventions and service delivery. The study investigates how the current settlement developments affect human-hippo relations. Specific research questions include, what are the intersecting human-hippo interactions that exist in Bujumbura's lakeshore neighbourhoods? What impacts do these interactions have on people and hippos? What interventions can help restore the degraded environment and foster kinship? I respond to these questions by engaging with current debates in environmental humanities, cultural, and environmental anthropology on human-multi-species entanglements. Both grounded theory and multi-species ethnography approaches were used as data collection and analytic tools in this study. I trace nutrient and energy flows to foreground the interdependencies between the “human world” and “natural world”, a separation that is no longer viable in the time of the Anthropocene. Triangulated data sets are used to narrate stories and critically discuss the current environmental challenges using ecocentric, and actor-network theory as the conceptual frameworks. Although population growth is considered a key factor in environmental degradation, I argue that the deterioration of the environment, particularly the coastal landscape, may be attributed to improper and unclear land-water management. The findings of this study indicate that land acquisition on the riparian zone for settlement development in the Gisyo and Kibenga is associated with power and affluence by some members of society. Potential land-water insights and spatial planning approaches for a human-and-hippo-friendly riparian zone are proposed.
- ItemOpen AccessHow has environmental violence been experienced during the Cape Town water crisis using the Newlands Spring as a case-study(2019) Swain, Meagen Courtney; Chitonge, Horman; Matose, FrankFour million residents of a major modern city faced the very likely existential and physical threat of running out of water. The water crisis continues to be an extremely complex threat with many complicated aspects to the drought, which resulted in residents of Cape Town reacting with intensity to this danger. The crisis is an example of how ignoring environmental issues can lead to catastrophic outcomes for society. For South Africa, which is characterized by a turbulent history, Homer-Dixon (1999) predicted there would be violent conflict in the future over resource scarcities. The drought was not a shock, it was a stress; what the drought fashioned were instances of shock which mostly related to the media campaign for Day Zero. Although no violent conflict on a mass scale has transpired as a result of the ongoing water crisis, there have been cases of civil violence. From protests at the greater Cape Town scale to physical altercations witnessed at Newlands Spring, the results of the present study demonstrate that mass violent conflict is not a far-off consequence of water scarcity. This research aimed to determine whether environmental violence was a lived experience for the residents of Cape Town due to the water crisis. One of the objectives was to understand whether the water crisis-induced feeling of distress and anxiety and whether indicators of slow violence and “Solastalgia” could be identified; a concept put forth to provide clarity to distresses which are environmentally caused (Albrecht et al., 2007; Higginbotham et al., 2007). Over the course of October 2018, semi-structured interviews were conducted with security and informal workers and a public survey was conducted with 100 residents who collect water at the Newlands Spring. The outcomes observed in this research is that when people feel as though their security is threatened, people tend to respond violently to the scarcity of a vital resource. The key finding of this study is that environmental violence was experienced over the crisis period. This leads to the conclusion that Solastalgia was likely to be experienced by those engaging within this Newlands Spring environment and elsewhere. The Structural violence and Supply induced violence have meant that people across South Africa experience water crises of different scales. Climate change is to aggravate these existing forms of violence and produce more complex psychological, social and economic impacts on those affected by water scarcity. Furthermore, this research contributes to the knowledge that droughts and water scarcity pose immeasurable threats to humanity.
- ItemOpen AccessHuman and nature at conflict: a case study of Mauritius flying fox, Pteropus niger(2022) Naiken, Tavinia; Matose, FrankThe flying fox, Pteropus niger, an endemic old world bat species on the volcanic island of Mauritius, has been subjected to several culling initiatives since 2015. Government of the Republic of Mauritius, reacting to pressures from fruit producers opted for culling while conservationists argue that non-lethal strategies be adopted to deal with fruit damage caused by the fruit bats. This thesis presents qualitative research aimed at investigating this societynature conflict in Mauritius. Interviews about the culling of the flying fox were carried out in 2017 in Mauritius, with a few conservationists and small-scale fruit growers. The significant findings were that despite each stakeholder having valid arguments, miscommunication and lack of mediation resulted in ineffective actions. A need for more eco-centric approaches that allow for sustainable development was identified. Reforestation and biodiversity conservation need to be included in the political and economic plans for the inclusion of the flying fox as part of the Mauritian environment. There seems to be a disconnect from Nature on the island on a cultural level that needs to be addressed as a long-term solution. Environmental humanities concepts such as multi-species thinking, political ecology, ecocentrism versus anthropocentrism, storytelling to create new ecological narratives and urban ecology are used to frame the discussion of this case study.
- ItemOpen AccessInfluences of customary and statutory governance on sustainable use and livelihoods: The case of baobab, Chimanimani District, Zimbabwe(2018) Kozanayi, Witness; Wynberg, Rachel P; Matose, FrankScholars have engaged actively with the link between customary practices and ecological conservation in Africa as part of a broader debate on governance approaches for natural resource management. To a large extent, this is in response to a growing voice articulating the need to integrate traditional institutions and customary practices into a more contemporary form of governance for Africa’s democratic and socio-economic transformation. To date, however, the integration of customary and statutory approaches to governance has yielded only modest progress in the forest sector and knowledge remains limited about the interface between these governance systems and the effect of this dualism on natural resource management. Using the lens of the baobab tree, this research set out to address these gaps and to elucidate understanding of the interplay between customary and statutory governance in managing natural resources; the influence of such interactions on ecological sustainability and livelihoods; and the contextual factors that shape such approaches. Uses of the baobab tree as well as factors affecting access were analysed. Two study sites were selected on the basis of similarities in resource endowment and contrasting use patterns and forms of governance. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Quantitative methods included an ecological survey to examine the relationship between different indicators of ecological sustainability and different tenure regimes. A household survey was also carried out to examine the extent to which households use and benefit from baobab products. Qualitative methods included focus group discussions, institutional mapping, ranking and scoring, and oral histories. The study engaged with debates around governance, bricolage, non-timber forest products, bifurcation, livelihoods and access. Findings show that the baobab tree is used in multiple ways by households, and has both consumptive values as well as intrinsic values which are typically overlooked in the discourse of natural resource governance. The study illustrates that the interest of traditional institutions in regulating baobab use and access has been informed by reasons relating to sustainable livelihoods, ecological sustainability and the need to maintain a delicate link between environmental sustainability, the spirits of the land and resource users. Local arrangements are robust, dynamic and are entrenched in the day to day lives of the resource users. These arrangements may not fit into existing technical toolkits or environmental blueprints, and policy from the top may not be connecting with reality on the ground. Although traditional authorities and customary practices have remained relevant for local people in the realm of resource governance, they are weakening in the face of commercial baobab use. Where statutory forms of governance are overlaid onto existing customary forms of governance without due regard for local practices, unintended consequences arise. A key finding is that history profoundly informs the way local people harvest and use resources due to the long trajectory of the interplay between customary and statutory forms of governance that spans back to the colonial era. The main conclusion from the study is that both customary and statutory systems of governance are important, but need to be used in a graduated manner. Statutory forms of governance can be introduced to assist customary practices on a demand-driven basis. Results emphasise the importance of considering seemingly peripheral forms of governance such as customary practices within the continuum of resource governance in rural areas.
- ItemOpen AccessMilitarisation of conservation, violence and local people: the case of Sikumi Forest Reserve in Zimbabwe(2018) Mushonga, Tafadzwa; Matose, FrankViolence in protected areas has become more pronounced in the last decade due to the increasing use of military practices in conservation. This study examines the texture and nature of everyday militarisation and violence effected in protected areas different from national parks and wildlife conservation. It also examines the consequences of militarised conservation on people living in, or adjacent to, these protected areas. The analysis takes a case study and ethnographic approach. It is embedded in daily patrol activities of the state paramilitary unit responsible for conservation enforcement and in experiences, with the practice of militarisation, of people living around Sikumi Forest Reserve in Zimbabwe. The study demonstrates that the form and texture of militarisation in conservation are dependent on the type of protected area, and the nature of resources under protection. It is additionally dependent on the political-economic context, and the capacity, of the state authorities responsible for protected area management, to execute military practices. Thus, protected areas that are different from national parks and, or, managed by organisations without resources to implement militarised conservation policies, may paint a different picture of militarisation. They can enforce militarised policies and strategies but only in a symbolic manner towards halting armed poaching activities. These insights reflect an alternative pattern of militarisation, which this study frames as symbolic green militarisation. Symbolic green militarisation is developed to provide alternative thinking to the idea that use of paramilitary personnel, strategies and technologies transforms protected areas into war zones or deadly landscapes. The study presents evidence that while symbolic green militarisation may not result in high-level violence, it is sufficient to expose local people, who depend on protected areas for subsistence, to particular and diverse forms of direct and indirect violence. These forms of violence are often facilitated and perpetuated by factors beyond immediate conservation practice. The study broadly argues that, regardless of the texture and nature of militarisation, demonstration or use of any amount of force in protected areas has rather significant consequences for local people who need such spaces to support their development. Overall, the resurgence of fortress conservation coupled with the adoption of military practices represents hope deferred for local people.
- ItemOpen AccessPlanet, people & prosperity : an exploration of sustainable microfinance practices in South Africa : a case study of the Kuyasa Fund in Cape Town(2011) Larsen, Jenna; Matose, FrankThis dissertation explored sustainable microfinance (SMF) practices in South Africa through an investigation of the microfinance sector nationally. Since recipients of microfinance largely depend on local ecosystems and natural resource bases for sustaining livelihoods and improving quality of life (QOL), microfinance has been identified as an important development strategy for reducing the vulnerabilities associated with changing environmental conditions for impoverished people. A framework for SMF consisting of four principles was assembled based on the sustainable development theory and microfinance literature. The qualitative methodology encompassed two main approaches: (1) a literature review that located examples of SMF practices found internationally, which contributed to understanding the concept and provided insights for South Africa and; (2) a case study where a sample of organisations across the country and an in-depth look at one housing microfinance institution (MFI) offered insight into SMF practices. Data was collected from the sample by way of interviews and personal correspondence with key players from eight organisations from four provinces. Data gathered from the housing MFI was through 20 interviews with management, staff, partnering organisations and loan recipients; as well as through direct observation of the loan collections process and by reviewing organisation documents. The main finding was that SMF does not yet exist in practice but that it is emerging although it is not yet recognized by the industry at large. Four organisations were beginning to consider the environment in practice through exposure, awareness, environmental initiatives, renewable energy (RE) and by promoting SMF. The evidence was analysed against the SMF framework, which found that two-thirds (2/3) of the criteria supported the framework while the other one-third (1/3) did not. This suggests that more research is needed; since finding relevant organisations was challenging, the housing MFI was a ‘loose’ fit for the framework where not all aspects of SMF were integrated and the sample organisations were not investigated with enough depth. If sustainability continues to be sacrificed in microfinance practice, it is apparent that loan recipient’s lives and the industry will face many challenges and microfinance runs the risk of becoming another development failure.
- ItemOpen AccessPlanting trees, planting hope: an analysis of the role of urban forestry in addressing environmental inequality in Cape Town(2015) Gauld, Zoë; Matose, FrankThe presence of trees in urban spaces has been identified as providing numerous environmental, psychosocial, and economic benefits. However, rather than being an equally distributed resource which all city residents share, tree cover in Cape Town, South Africa tends to be a marker of environmental inequality and racism, with trees being significantly more prevalent in wealthy, predominantly white, areas as opposed to poor, predominantly black, ones. The present study aims to analyse the potential for urban forestry to address this inequality. In order to gain in-depth understanding, a case study of an urban forestry project at the Lathi-Tha School of Skills in Khayelitsha is conducted. Within this framework, semi-structured and photoelicitation interviews are undertaken with 5 learners and 4 staff members in order to determine participants’ experiences and perceptions of their urban forestry project. The findings suggest that urban forestry does have the ability to redistribute the environmental, economic, and psychosocial benefits of tree cover to poor communities. Additionally, participation in urban forestry in South Africa is shown to have the capacity to tackle social inequalities that continue to recreate green-space inequality.
- ItemOpen AccessRethinking relationships with nature: human – wetland connections in Marlborough, Harare, Zimbabwe(2022) Sigauke, Esther; Green, Lesley; Matose, FrankThis thesis is an ethnographic study of the intricate relationship between humans and the wetland in Marlborough, Harare. It focuses primarily on poor urban farmers and the wetland environment in which their activities are criminalised. Data were collected by means of interviews, observations and design thinking-augmented focus group discussion. The thesis problematises the notion of criminalising urban agriculture on wetlands by exploring the underlying factors that push the farmers to engage in practices deemed illegal. The analysis is done in relation to other stakeholders, such as property developers – who, despite causing more harm to the wetland, navigate their way to implement their activities. This raises ethical questions on the selective application of the law, as the elite and those connected to the people yielding power use the wetland as they wish, but poor farmers striving to earn a living find themselves at the receiving end of the law. This invokes issues of democracy, capitalism, social justice and the legacy of colonialism. It emerged in the study that the farmers are strongly connected to the wetlands as the source of their livelihoods. Although they have no property rights and take the risk of farming on the wetlands, they are not criminals. A harsh economic environment, characterised by unemployment and negligible income, makes them dependent on the wetland for their livelihoods. They use simple tools for farming that do not cause harm to the environment, and they apply farming methods that are compatible with conservation ethics. Their main challenge is that they do not contribute to economic development as measured by the gross domestic product, so their voices are not heard when decisions are made, and they fall into line with decisions made in a top-down manner. Accordingly, this thesis positions the conflict between the wetland farmers and other stakeholders as an interplay of power dynamics. When such a situation unfolds, the poor farmers bear the full brunt of the law in an uneven playing field, further condemning them to extreme poverty in an environment with no safety nets. The study used an innovative and hybrid method of public engagement, using design thinkingaugmented focus group discussion. Being human-centred and empathetic to the users, the method was instrumental in engaging poor farmers in the design and implementation of customised solutions to their problems. Several solutions were generated, tested and iterated to meet the underlying needs of the users and a win-win situation for the farmers and the wetland emerged, suggesting that a humanistic approach to environmental management has the potential to produce desirable results. The study recommends that future scholarship focus on how to disentangle capitalism and ensure that control and ownership of the environment is not left in the hands of private owners for profit, but that the state puts checks and balances in place to cater for marginalised and underserved communities.
- ItemOpen AccessThe role of social capital in the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) of Zimbabwe: a case of Rouxdale (R/E) Farm, Bubi District, Matabeleland North Province(2018) Ncube, Senzeni; Chitonge, Horman; Matose, FrankThis study investigates the role of social capital towards the realisation of the positive benefits of land through the A1 crop-based villagised model of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP), which has been largely viewed as successful in academic literature. The study emerges out of a large gap in scholarly literature, which largely side-lines social outcomes of the FTLRP while focusing mostly on material outcomes. The study contributes to limited research on the non-material outcomes in the Matabeleland North Province, an under researched area in the subject of land reform in Zimbabwe. Thus, social capital was selected to investigate these non-visible outcomes of FTLRP. A qualitative research design was used, with semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, observation, archives and secondary literature being the main sources of data. The study focused on a single case study, beneficiaries of Rouxdale (R/E) farm in Bubi District. The study brings the following insights: first, social capital played a pivotal role in accessing land. Second, ordinary people acquired land. Third, women were empowered through access to land. Fourth, land is an asset whose benefits far surpass livelihood creation. Fifth, land reform models have an impact on social capital. The main contribution of the study is that social capital promotes solidarity and the tackling of collective problems in land reform models with a communal component. The study illustrates that social capital creates a conducive environment for the attainment of the benefits of land. This is facilitated by beneficiaries’ effort to maintain healthy social network relationships. The study demonstrates that various decisions of the state have a potential of hindering social capital in resettlement areas through the destruction of social network relationships, such that its positive impact becomes limited. This portrays the fragile nature of social capital, which can easily be destroyed by external negative factors, regardless of the length of time taken in establishing it. Social capital can be applied in different spheres. However, its outcomes are directly informed by different contexts, thus making it context specific in nature. The study stresses that governments that use social capital in land reform should be conscious of local contextual dynamics before developing programmes that affect beneficiaries, in order to preserve existing social network relationships. The fragility and context specific nature of social capital is missing in the conceptualisation of its main scholars, yet they emerge as important aspects in this study. The study points to the need for these to be incorporated into the core elements of the concept of social capital to create a more holistic framework of analysis. The study therefore argues that social capital is vital in land reform and the post-settlement phase.
- ItemOpen AccessTraditional authorities and co-management of protected areas in South Africa: the case of Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape(2022) Tsawu, Simphiwe; Ntsebeza, Lungisile; Matose, FrankThis thesis examines the role of traditional authorities in the post-land claim co-management of protected areas in the former Bantustans of South Africa, using the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve (DCNR) in the Eastern Cape as a case study. The DCNR was one of the first successful land claims involving a protected area under South Africa's post-1994 land restitution policies, and one of the earliest communities to create new landowner institutions under tenure reform policies. Two theoretical debates – the critical and the supportive perspectives – provide the framework for this study and help in assessing how theorists viewed the role of traditional authorities in the context of protected area management in rural areas. I argue that traditional authorities should not be regarded as guests in their areas of control; instead, a nuanced understanding of their role in postland claim co-management of protected areas such as Dwesa-Cwebe is required as they, in turn, are held accountable by communities that they “govern”. Such contexts require mechanisms that recognise both traditional authorities and elected representatives as equal partners in the post-land claim co-management of protected areas. The accommodation of traditional authorities is unavoidable because many inhabitants of former Bantustans continue to respect them. Furthermore, the state increasingly empowers them. The people of Dwesa-Cwebe held their traditional authorities accountable for their former roles in land dispossession and in enforcing brutal state restrictions on access to the natural resources in the DCNR. This they did by excluding traditional leaders from the land claim process and the land tenure and management institutions – the Land Trust and Communal Property Associations. However, when problems arose with the Land Trust, traditional authorities stepped in and removed the Trust, effectively holding that body to account. During this process, the state came out clearly in support of traditional authorities. The thesis concludes that as long as traditional authorities are empowered by the state and enjoy popularity in rural communities such as Dwesa-Cwebe, their role in the co-management of protected areas will remain significant and necessary. In examining and assessing the role that traditional authorities play in rural areas, particularly with regard to communal land in protected areas, I employed a qualitative approach. I mainly used a combination of semi-structured interviews, informal conversational interviews and participant observation to compile and gauge the views of people in the area, as well as official government documentation, minutes of meetings and a range of secondary sources.
- ItemOpen AccessUnderstanding the Impact of Green Violence on Ndali Village, Zimbabwe(2021) Konono, Tichayana; Matose, FrankThe rise in poaching of wildlife such as the rhino and elephant in the Greater Limpopo Transboundary Park (GLTP) has led state actors to implement strict security measures to eradicate the ‘problem of poachers.' A solution to that problem has been to adopt violent measures that coerce local communities around protected areas to conform to the regulations drafted by park authorities in the name of conservation. This research investigates the different forms of violence that are produced on communities around the Gonarezhou National Park which forms part of the GLTP. The research explored how conservation practices carried out by the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust impacts the lives of people around Ndali Village. The study uses the concept of green violence to highlight the violent nature of the conservation practices of protected areas. Secondly, the study uses political ecology approach to examine the relationship between villagers and the GNP in relation to the new arrangement of the management of the park and its impact on access to natural resource use. The results of the study were based on in-depth interviews carried out with a select group of participants and insights gained through informal conversations with villagers and participant observation. The findings of the study reveal that there is a sense of loss from most of the respondents particularly when it comes to the issue of accessing grazing resources and the redrawing of park boundaries that takes away parts of their communal land. The study also illustrates that in relation to accessing natural resources from the park, the villagers' use of wildlife for subsistence is not permitted and leads to prosecution when caught by park authorities. This has had a negative impact on the people of Ndali because subsistence hunting has been an important part of their lives. The restriction from hunting has seen members of the Ndali Village rely on agriculture and livestock rearing which is not improving their wellbeing because of the constant droughts in the area. The study presents evidence that while green violence may not result in direct physical violence, it takes different forms and poses risks for the people in Ndali Village who are dependent on GNP for subsistence and exposes them to indirect violence. This study contributes to debates on the impact of green violence on communities by presenting stories of how the violence manifests together with colonial dispossession.