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THE CULTURAL AND POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF ZIMBABWEAN WILDLIFE
RESOURCE USE IN THE ZAMBEZI VALLEY: A CASE STUDY OF CHAPOTO WARD

BY

Arthur Richard Patrick Hasler

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State university
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Anthropology

1993

ABSTRACT

THE CULTURAL AND POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF ZIMBABWEAN WILDLIFE
RESOURCE USE IN THE ZAMBEZI VALLEY: A CASE STUDY OF CHAPOTO WARD

BY

Arthur Richard Patrick Hasler

Zimbabwe is undertaking an experiment in the sustainable use of
wildlife for the benefit of local communities. The Communal Areas
Management Program For Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) aims to devolve
control and benefits of hitherto state controlled wildlife, through
locally based wildlife utilization common property regimes.

This study is the documentation and analysis of anthropological
fieldwork spent among the vaChiKunda and vaDema of Chapoto ward. The
focus of the research is the cultural and political dynamics associated
with wildlife resource use relevant to the CAMPFIRE program. Chapoto
ward is a test case for the program, because it has ecological
characteristics which suggest that wildlife utilization could become a
sustainable alternative means of land usage.

Conflicting and ambiguous rights and vested interests in natural
resources emanating from ward, district, national, and global levels
result in multiple jurisdictions concerning use, ownership, access to or
control of wildlife. This militates against the success of locally
based common property wildlife utilization regimes as envisaged by
CAMPFIRE. The cultural and political dynamics of wildlife resource use,
which buttress these vested interests and ambiguous rights include
historical factors, global factors, national policy, system of local
government, ethnicity, chieftainship, indigenous knowledge, marriage

arrangements, micro-politics, ancestral belief systems, settlement

patterns, household cluster economics and decision making and competing
land use strategies including foraging, hunting, and cotton and maize
production.

The social heterogeneity of Chapoto ward and the differentiation
of vested interests and rights in resources makes us question the
analytic potential of common property theory for sustainable wildlife
utilization. The CAMPFIRE emphasis on locally based communal property
regimes may be misplaced because of the multiple levels and
jurisdictions involved. Local bundles of rights in wildlife include
those associated with the safari operator, Department of national Parks
and Wild Life Management, local government, district council, ancestral
spirits, chief, illegal hunters, foragers, agriculturalists, the
wildlife committee, and others. It is argued that a multi-tiered co-
management regime may be analytically more appropriate in dealing with
the complexity of levels and jurisdictions involved. Such a regime
would entail clarification and articulation of these various rights. In
this regard, appropriate institutional arrangements for managing

wildlife at local level are suggested.

Copyright by
IUWTHUR RICHARD PATRICK HASLER

1993

Dedicated to the memory of the late Mr. Mtamawo

This study was conducted while I was employed as a Research Fellow
in the Center for Applied Social Sciences (CASS) at the university of
Zimbabwe. The Research Fellowship was funded by a joint Ford
Foundation/IDRC grant as part of a broader project on socio—economic
issues important for natural resource management in Zimbabwe's communal
areas. I received additional support in the form of a Rockefeller Sub-
Saharan.Africa Dissertation Internship Award. I would like to express
my sincere thanks for this generous support.

My job in CASS was a component of a larger research endeavor
concerning the identification, evaluation, monitoring and implementation
of the Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources
(CAMPFIRE). Four agencies were involved in this collaborative research
agenda. Ecological and economic research was mainly conducted by the
WOrld Wide Fund for nature (WWF) and the Department of national Parks
and Wild Life Management (DNPWLM). Socio-economic research was mainly
conducted by CASS and implementational issues were mainly addressed by
the Zimbabwe Trust (ZimTruSt) and DNPWLM.

Sincere thanks go to the chairperson of my doctoral committee
Professor William Derman of the Anthropology Department, Michigan State
university and to my director, Professor Marshall Murphree of CASS,

university of Zimbabwe. I am indebted to Professor Murphree for

vi

identifying the ward as a suitable research site and offering
assistance, support and feed back. I would like to thank Professor
Derman for visiting me while I was in the field and for assisting in the
development of the study in all its stages by facilitating, and where
necessary, challenging my ideas and helping me to overcome obstacles to
the completion of this work. I also would like to acknowledge the
support of my other committee members, namely, Professor Charles
Cleland, Professor John Hinnant of the Anthropology Department and
Professor David Campbell of the Geography Department, all at Michigan
State University. Sincere thanks to you all.

Thanks also to Mr. Calvin Nhira, Research Fellow, CASS, University
Of Zimbabwe, who introduced me to the ward, in October 1989. I would
like to acknowledge that both Calvin Nhira and Dr. Charles Cutshall, who
was then a senior lecturer in CASS had conducted important survey
research in the ward prior to this fieldwork. In addition, Mr. Alistair
Buchan, a research fellow with the WWF, conducted an ecological resource
Survey while I was in the field. I am indebted to all these colleagues,
Whose work I have drawn on, for laying the groundwork of this study.

Thank you to the former District Administrator for Guruve
district, Mr. T. Maveneke, for giving permission to do the research.
Thanks also to Chief Chapoto and to the ward councillor, Mr. Zekiel
Kanyemba for allowing me to reside in the ward. I am particularly
indebted to' my chief research assistants, Mr. Mathew Chidota Kaputi and

Mr. Prosper Kuyeri. Together we walked and talked many hours of Zambezi

time in sweltering heat.

vii

I am also indebted to all those people in the ward who facilitated
rny'stay, including Headman Mr. Mugonapanja and his family, Mr. Dumba and
Iris family who always offered me food and drink, Mr. Charuma, the
headmaster, Mr. Marisa, the nurse, and the many others who spent time
with me and/or my assistants discussing issues. I would also like to
thuank the late Mr. Mtamawo and Mr. Eria, Mr. Isaac, Mr. Kaberi and Mr.
cariyambo for their time. There are so many others that I should mention
turt.space does not allow me to mention them by name. Thank you to all
Chapoto ward residents.

I am indebted to Mr. Drummond and Mr. Mavi of the Botanical
Gardens in Harare for the identification of all the plants listed in the
<tissertation. I take full responsibility for any errors as the
Specimens that I brought were not the best.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my wife, Andrea Rother,
who participated by conducting research amongst women and edited the
dissertation. Both her intellectual and practical contributions in the
field and during write-up enabled the dissertation to take form. She
Shared in the adventures, the revelations and the excitement of
fieldwork. Net least of her achievements was the manner in which she
was able to cater for our infant daughter in the sometimes rugged

conditions associated with the Zambezi Valley.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page
LJHST OF FIGURES ................................................... xv
C!IADTER.I: INTRODUCTION .......................................... 1
Sustainability .............................................. 4
Rationality .......................... . ....................... 9
Theoretical Orientations Regarding The Study of People

and Wildlife ................................................ 12
Common Property Theory and Bundles of Rights To Wildlife.... 17
Definitions and Justificatory Theories ...................... 17

The Strength of Anthropological Approaches
versus "The Tragedy of the Commons" ......................... 22

Wildlife Utilization in Africa and Common Property Theory... 29

CAMPFIRE .................................................... 38
Perceptions and Discourse Associated With CAMPFIRE .......... 48
CHAPTER II: AN INTRODUCTION TO CHAPOTO WARD - KANYEMBA ........... 64
Methodology ................................................. 64
Geographic Situation and Communication Problems ............. 73
Ecological Profile .......................................... 76
Climate ..................................................... 77
Soil and Land Use ........................................... 77
Tsetse Fly and Sleeping Sickness (Trypanosomiasis) .......... 78

ix

The Wildlife Resource ....................................... 79
Ethnicity and Origins ....................................... 81
Political History Profile ................................... 89

The Political Past in The Spiritual Present: Kanyemba The
War Lord .................................................... 89

Contesting The Chieftainship: The Historical Construction Of
Chiefly Power and Authority ................................. 94

CHAPTER III: AGRICULTURE AND FORAGING IN COMPETITION

WITH WILDLIFE ....................................... 99
Brideservice and Settlement Patterns ........................ 99
Property Relations and Land Tenure ........................... 106

Population Distribution and Its Relationship to Hunting,
Collecting and Protecting Agricultural Practice from Crop-

Raiding Animals .............................................. 109
Overview of Agriculture ...................................... 110
”and; Cultivation ............................................ 11o
pimp; Cultivation ............................................ 112
Foraging and The VaDema (Mynza) Dilemma ...................... 119
Collecting Fruits, Tubers, and Berries ....................... 124
Fencing the vaDema ........................................... 132
Household Identification and Composition ..................... 133
Household/Cluster Agricultural Activities .................... 136
Cotton Growing ............................................... 141
Mr. Samson Dumba - Successful Cotton Grower .................. 141

.A Diversified VaChiKunda Household Economy: A.Strategy
For Survival ................................................. 147

Home Economics and Decision-Making in a vaDema Household -
Past and Present ............................................. 149

Brideservice, Endogamy, Rain, Foraging and Prison: A
VaDema Case History .......................................... 152

x

Household/Cluster Animal Holdings ............................ 154

Household/Cluster Foraging, Hunting and Fishing .............. 156
Subsistence Hunting For the Household Pot ................. ...158
Household/Cluster Decision-Making ............................ 160

m IV: THE CULTURAL AND POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF WILDLIFE

RESOURCE USE IN CHAPOTO WARD .......................... 163
Global Factors ............................................... 167
Historical Factors ........................................... 169

System of Local Government and Rational Policy Towards

natural Resources ............................................ 171
Political and Economic Relations at the Local Level .......... 172
Mr. A of the Animal Police ................................... 175

Drought Relief Dependency: The State Taketh Away and the
State Giveth ................................................. 176

Walking With Mr. Eria: A Case Study of Self Reliance and

Poverty in the Midst of Plenty.... ..... ..... ................. 179
CHAPTER V: COPING WITH WILDLIFE .................................. 188
Construction and Use of 23;; ................................. 191
Fencing ........................ . ............................. 192
Fire ........ . ................................................ 192
Beating of Drums and Tins .................................... 193
Stones and Slings ............................................ 193

,Mgtgpgg (Bark String With Tins) - Used to Startle Animals....194

Scare-Crows.... .............................................. 194
Axes, Spears and Poison ...................................... 194
Catapult ..................................................... 195
Snares. ......................................... . ......... . .195

xi

Guns ......................................................... 197
DNPWLM Guns .................................................. 198

The Distinction Between "Poaching" and Illegal Hunting By
Local Community .............................................. 201

Cultural Beliefs and Practices Associated With Wildlife
Management ................................................... 202

Cultural Conceptions of Natural Resources, Herbs and the

Spirits of the Forest ........................................ 204
The Initial Wildlife Committee ............................... 207
Revenue from Wildlife ........................................ 209
The Problem of Empowerment ................................... 215

Micro-Political Rivalries and Thwarted "Development":

CAMPFIRE and The Grinding Mill ............................... 220
CHAPTER VI: COMPETING BUNDLES OF RIGHTS TO WILDLIFE: ............... 225
The Spirit Medium as Appropriate Authority For Wildlife ...... 229
Problem Animal Control by the Spirit ......................... 234

In Partial Control of Animals and People: The Spirits of
the Land and the Illegal Hunters ............................. 238

Bundles of Herbs and the Right to Hunt ....................... 241

In Partial Control of Animals and People: The Rights of the
Safari Operator and Client ................................... 243

The April 1990 Elephant Kill: Bundles of Rights to
Distribution, Ownership and Control .......................... 247

Comment ...................................................... 2 54

The August 1990 Elephant Kill at Mr. Phineas Charuma's
Home: The Dynamics of DNPWLM PAC Activity in the Ward ....... 258

In Partial Control of Animals and People: The Department of
National Parks Game Scouts and The Anti-Poaching Unit ........ 262

Summary of Argument and Possible Alternatives ................ 265

xii

CHAPTER VII : CONCLUSION ............................................ 270
The Need for a Modified Analysis of Common Property .......... 275

Some Important Components of a Multi-Tiered, Co-management
Regime ....................................................... 279

Identifying Appropriate Institutions for Managing Wildlife

Resources .................................................... 2 8 3
APPENDICES : ........................................................ 2 9 0
3mm : ...................................................... 2 96

xiii

PURSURE

P313023

FIGURE

FIGURE

FIGURE

FIGURE

FIGURE

FISH“!

FIGURE

FIGURE

48:

7a:

LIST OF FIGURES

page
Map of Zimbabwe ....................................... 53
: Map of Chapoto Ward ................................... 54
Map of Local Scenes in Chapoto Ward ................... 55
Abbreviated Genealogy of the Spirit World and
Chieftainship of the VaChiKunda of Chapoto Ward ....... 56
Photograph of vaDema “portable granary" (Eggheads)
made from woven bark, and a clay pot inside a grass
enclosure ............................................. 57

Close up of Magagg; an important edible fruit from the
bush .................................................. 57

Photograph of spirit medium (in black hat) with cooking
oil outside chief's store during a drought relief
distribution of maize ...................... . ........... 58

Photograph of a safari operator (left) with two Spanish
clients determined to hunt buffalo .................... 58

Photograph of a well maintained homestead belonging to
a vaChiKunda cotton grower ............................ 59

Photograph of a VaDema dwelling place, showing
pyramid-like chicken coup, in right foreground, and
thorn-bush fence (behind boy) to keep animals out ..... 59

Photograph of a vaDema gimp; on banks of Mwanzamtanda
river ................................................. 60

Close-up of gimp; cultivation showing round holes in
which maize is grown .................................. 60

Photograph of an ingenious suspended chicken coup,
with spiked deterrents for predators and thorns
underneath ............................................ 61

xiv

FIGURE

FIGURE

FIGURE

FIGURE

FIGURE

FIGURE

9b:

10b

11:

Photograph of a dare: Raised sleeping platform for
guarding field at night. Note bark rope (mutende)
which is tied to tin cans with stones inside them,
to startle buffalo, kudu, etc. at night ............... 61

Photograph of Mr. Samson Dumba, a VaChiKunda cotton
grower, posing with gun ............................... 62

Photograph of the late Mr. Mtamawo (vaDema) with part
of his family. He was a renown herbal specialist,
hidden away from the state ............................. 62

Photograph showing how Mr. Bandera, the blind man, on
the right with the white stick has a member of his

family (left) illustrate how bark rope tied to tins in
the field can startle animals. Thorn—bush in

foreground keeps animals and children away from magggg
tree ................................................... 63

Photograph of a buffalo; the safari hunter's dangerous
prize .................................................. 63

Diagrammatic Summary of the Political and Cultural
Dynamics of Wildlife Resource use in Chapoto ward ..... 164

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The important context of culture, history, economics and politics
is the broad backdrop against which a Zimbabwean natural resource
management program entitled the Communal Areas Management Program For
Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) is being played out. This program
attempts to foster a sense of proprietorship for the sustainable use of
wildlife resources at the local level. It is part of a government
sponsored attempt at decentralization of both the responsibility and the
benefits of wildlife through locally based wildlife utilizationicommunal
property regimes. The Chapoto ward material discussed in this case-
study is central to the success or failure of CAMPFIRE, because along
with its implementational dimensions, it raises a set of problems in the
application of common property analysis. The broader political and
economic context within which CAMPFIRE is embedded, as well as the
unique qualities of the ward under investigation, are both intimately
intertwined in the establishment of the multiple jurisdictions involved
in the use and control of the wildlife resource. An appreciation of the
circumstances under which these rights are expressed (and.accommodated)
are vital for understanding what kind of property regime is appropriate
for wildlife.

The specific focus of this dissertation is on how people in a
remote and relatively isolated part of the Zimbabwean Zambezi valley
(see Figure 1) organize themselves and are organized in relation to

wildlife and other natural resources. This focus raises the general

2
question of the efficacy of communal property regimes in situations
where there is an heterogenous mix of interests and structures involved
in the control, use and management of resources.

An important dimension of the dissertation is how rights to the
use and control of resources have changed over time, especially in the
last one hundred years. This includes a discussion of the inhabitant's
socio-cultural means of maintenance, as well as, the methods of
organizing themselves in relation to the environment and to political
and economic forces. Dynamic processes of organization whose key
elements are centered in the domains of culture, politics and economics
provide the raw material of the study. Knowledge of these dynamics is
vital for an understanding of natural resource use in the area, because
this enables understanding of the vested interests in resources and the
diverse property rights associated with competing land use strategies.

Before we embark on describing and analyzing the case-study
material, we need to reflect why our focus is on the management and use
of wildlife resources, rather than on other resources. We also need to
scrutinize assumptions ensconced in wildlife utilization programs such
as CAMPFIRE. A discussion of these issues precedes and supports the
theoretical framework to this study which centers on a discussion of
common property theory.

The scrutiny of CAMPFIRE in this dissertation is not meant to
cripple the program but to strengthen it. It should be stated from the
outset that the researcher generally supports the idea of the local
utilization of wildlife resources. The case-study material has enabled

the researcher to evaluate the program, based on the Chapoto ward

3
experience between 1989 and 1991. This learning process provokes
thought about the perspectives on the program that may have been learnt
from other sources (media, publications, colleagues, etc.). These other
perspectives may reflect an entirely different set of social, economic,
political and ecological circumstances pertaining in other areas of
Zimbabwe.

From the outset, it must be stated that the focus on wildlife is
in a sense artificial, as a discussion of this resource is intricately
intertwined with other resources and the ways these are being used and
controlled. Such resources include water, soil, mineral and oil
deposits, forests and grasslands. Presently in Zimbabwe, different
agencies are responsible for different resources. Thus, though wildlife
includes both fauna and flora, the Department of national Parks and Wild
Life Management (DNPWLM) has responsibility for the national parks and
wildlife estates. The Forestry Commission is responsible for designated
forest areas. Though the DNPWLM is attempting to decentralize aspects
of their control and use of the wildlife resource, other potentially
valuable resources, such as oil deposits or uranium or water resources,
fall under the jurisdiction of other central authorities and local
communities have no authority in these matters. The implication of this
is that all sorts of contradictions in terms of property rights and
access may emerge in the future, if for instance control of one resource
is successfully decentralized whilst control of other interdependent

resources are controlled from the center.

4

The category "wildlife" is, itself, problematic in that the term
is imbued with specific cultural connotations and values. It may be
argued, that in Europe, both the concept and the category were
historically associated with the privileged classes (Gilbert and Dodds
1987, 2). The notion of wildlife and national parks in the african
context has been historically associated with colonialism. Latterly,
tourist game viewing provides an example of a specific cultural value
attached to wildlife. It is important to note that such values are not
universal and that both the concept and the category of "wildlife" may
be instrumentalized by vested interests in the resource. Let us now
consider the central assumptions concerning sustainability and

rationality which support the CAMPFIRE project.

Sustainability

The key word for describing the kinds of resource management hoped
for in the future is "sustainable" (WOrld Watch 1990, 12). The word is
applied loosely and the idea itself is debatable. Broadly, the term can
be used to describe the homeostasis of a system despite major
disturbances or it can be used to prescribe a goal for how a system can
reach a state of equilibrium through time. Contradictions between
ecological, social and economic sustainability pose problems for
analysts. Despite these different usages, the term is often used in
general to describe a state in contrast to the present unsatisfactory
and unbalanced state of environmental affairs on a global level. There
is a danger that this term prescribes a utopian and unrealistic

situation in which the world arrives at a point of sustainability and

5
thereby ceases to be in dynamic flux and tension, which one could argue,
has characterized the exploitation and evolution of global resources
(particularly wildlife) throughout history.

It is argued that, in order to be helpful, the goal of
”sustainability" of resources should be qualified by the concerns of
human welfare (Redclift 1987). As Chambers has said, "the environment
and development are means, not ends in themselves. The environment and
development are for people not people for environment and development"
(1986, 7). A large proportion of the world's population are not
concerned about the sustainability of many global resources, such as the
ozone layer or the rhino, except in so far as these are perceived to
impinge on their immediate livelihoods. In a world that is rapidly
changing, many societies are concerned about short-term maintenance
through crises such as wars, droughts and famines. In such cases, they
and their children may not be around to witness the possibility of a
sustainable world in the future. This is not to say that such people in
crises situations do not think of the future, but rather to say that
sustainable practices may often be adhered to because they enable
survival. Unsustainable practices, which lead, for example, to
deforestation, overgrazing, and soil erosion, may indeed also be adopted
because they enable short term goals. The notion of "sustainable
practices“ raises a question of reference; sustainable for whom and in
connection with what? Are such practices ecologically, socially or
economically sustainable or unsustainable? What contradictions arise
between different domains of sustainability? For instance, many

ecologically sustainable practices (such as reforestation) may not be

6
socially sustainable. Leonard argues that the real conflict is "often
less between what is good for the environment and what is good for the
poor than between what is good for the poor of today and the poor of
tomorrow” (1989, 4 & 5). Simultaneously, he accepts that "in many
marginal rural areas growing numbers of poor people inevitably have to
degrade the environment a little more each day just to make ends meet"
(ibid, 5)1. Hence the need for "sustainable development.”

Arnold claims that "sustainable development is not yet a theory or
even an approach but more an evolving vision representing the coming
together of a variety of different concerns, disciplines and political
pressures" (1989, 21). Its essence is captured in the Brundtland report
(1997) entitled W151 WhiCh
suggests that sustainable development should "ensure that it meet the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs" (ibid, 21). The problem is often
conceived in economic terms “minimizing regrets rather than maximizing
output" (Goodland 1988, 8) or “the total stock of all forms of wealth

that must not be depleted" (Pearce 1989, 17).

 

1Leonard proposes a number of strategies which address poverty and
environmental degradation simultaneously. These include increasing
production in well endowed areas through intensification, technological
innovation and the provision of infrastructure in conjunction with land
and water management. In addition, he cites a number of environmental
strategies for poor people in marginal areas. Poor farmers moving into
frontier areas are frequently not offered "the economic and physical
infrastructure necessary to move beyond subsistence agriculture"
(Leonard 1989, 33). The scale of successes on which large
infrastructural projects are assessed is too grand, appropriate
conservation technologies need to be introduced for the poor, and
maximizing the agricultural potential of fragile lands need not always
be the primary development objective (ibid, 33).

7

As Redclift points out "economists like Pearce argue that it is
possible to consider the environment within the governing economic
paradigm and that the field of bio-economics has already made
substantial progress" while "the alternative view [in economics] entails
the abandonment of a unitary economic paradigm" (Redclift 1987, 37).
This view is expressed by Noorgaard (1985b) who has suggested that "neo-
classical economics is incapable of fully incorporating environmental
considerations into its methodology without what amounts to a paradigm
shift" away from "the atomistic-mechanical world view" of neo-classical
economics (Redclift 1987, 38). Instead of being interested in the
economist's central question about how scarce goods can best be
allocated, Nborgaard is interested in determining whether resources are
scarce from how they are allocated.

Despite such discussions about appropriate paradigms, the central
ideas behind the concept of sustainable development appear to be
culturally bound within the domain of rationalist western economic
theory. As Redclift has pointed out, "economists are interested in
scarcity as the underlying reality behind human choice.
Environmentalists are concerned that economic growth is the reality
which makes human choice less and less possible under conditions of
scarcity" (Redclift 1987, 38).

The domain of rationalist western economic theory assumes that
individuals will maximize their economic benefits. A broader
application of this is held by CAMPFIRE which assumes that economic
benefits in the form of community projects and/or household dividends

will tend to foster individuals and communities as proprietors of the

8

ecological resource base. A central problem is that the assumptions
that are part of western economic theory are not always accurate for
other cultural settings. Assumptions about maximizing economic benefits
need to be tested in the culture and life-style of the people concerned.
From the point of view of my research context, foragers and
agriculturalists differed widely on what constitutes maximizing of
benefits. For example, some of the more marginalized semi-foragers in
my research context value their own traditional medicine above western
medicine and cannot afford to send their children to school. Proposed
community projects, suggested by more affluent agriculturalists, on
upgrading the clinic or school therefore did not appeal to them.

In Chamber's view,
..sustainable development is a ‘first' concept, the poor are
largely concerned with their immediate livelihoods; it is the
enlightened rich who give priority to sustainability....The
perspective of the poor is at variance with that of most _
economists and biologists, placing the immediate satisfaction of
needs and the avoidance of risk before sustainability or higher
productivity (1986, 35).
"Sustainable development" certainly appears to be the terminology of
managers and is not as yet the terminology of the managed. In regards
to wildlife utilization in my research context, it is a concept that has
arisen from the top and is filtering down rather than being one that has
emerged unsolicited at the grass roots.

Chamber's (1986) "sustainable livelihood thinking" is an example
of an attempt to incorporate the perspective of the poor in the
deliberations about the environment and development, by focusing on the

relevance of these for people's better livelihood. An important

question raised by Redclift is "for sustainable development to become a

9
reality it is necessary for the livelihoods of the poor to be given
priority, but how can this priority be pursued at the local level while
the effects of international development systematically marginalizes

them?" (Redclift 1987, 36).

'Rationality'

Rationality refers to the conditions of reason (Habermas 1984)
which are the contexts in which reasoning takes place. The background
context of communicative action, what Habermas refers to as the
'lifeworld', is a set of ideas and concepts which are not amenable to
the empirical analytical sciences but should be approached
hermeneutically (i.e., through studying the interpretations of the
subjective meaning actors give to social reality). According to
Habermas, reflection upon the conditions of reason in the reconstruction
of theory, history and the analysis of society can lead to a kind of
intellectual emancipation. Amongst other things, a discussion of
rationality is important in applied work because scientific ideas upon
which people act are the product of a certain time-period and culture,
and reflect the political and economic forces which predominate.
Scientific ideas often do not address the subjective world of actors in
which communication takes place. Furthermore, as Freeman has pointed
out in his critique of conventional natural resource management science,

The stark reality is that, over time, nearly all current

scientific knowledge will be replaced by new knowledge; the later

knowledge being found in turn to be imperfect. th only are
current scientific facts not the truth, science is unable to say
what form the truth if discovered will take. The clearest
induction from the history of science is that science is always

mistaken .... so then we have no reasonable alternative but to
suppose that much or all of what we vaunt as scientific knowledge

10

is itself presumably wrong (Freeman 1989, 92).

This is not mentioned as a form of attack on current scholarship, but
rather to point out the necessity of humility and self criticism within
disciplines, which an analysis of rationality may offer.

An important trend that follows the goal of "sustainability" is
the idea that people should be actively involved in conserving,
protecting and exploiting resources in a rational manner. The
underlying assumption here is that rational resource management
techniques are identifiable through interdisciplinary research programs
designed to this end. The problem is that the conditions of reason of
program designers and planners may differ radically in themselves
depending on discipline (e.g., ecology and anthropology), theoretical
framework (e.g., stressing "systems“ versus stressing "process" and/or
"conflict'), and methodology (e.g., soft versus hard approaches). These
reasoning processes are seldom those embraced by the various segments
that constitute what academics refer to as ”local people." There .
appears to be little or no homogeneity of rationalities among local
people or planners when it comes to discussing the environment.
Thompson for instance, in reference to the cultural construction of
nature and the natural destruction of culture, discusses "the clash of
plural rationalities each using impeccable logic to derive different
conclusions (solution definitions) from different premises (problem
definitions)" [Thompson 1986, 2]. For instance, different ecological
zones in the african context may partially account for differences in
Inarriage arrangements (e.g., bridewealth and brideservice) influenced by

the presence or absence of cattle, which in turn is influenced by the

ll
presence or absence of trypanosomiasis. These marriage arrangements in
turn may strongly influence attitudes towards livestock which in turn
may influence the contexts and conditions of reasoning about the
benefits and liabilities of wildlife (the host animals for tsetse fly).

When embarking upon the present research, it was clear that
colleagues and participants who advocated CAMPFIRE, including myself,
went through an entirely different thought process from local people.
Residents stated that wildlife should be wiped out in their area, so
that tsetse fly could be eradicated and they could use cattle to plough
their fields. They would then not have to spend so much time on crop
protection from crop-raiding animals. Wildlife ecologists in Zimbabwe
have usefully pointed out the economic and ecological rationale of
managing wildlife as a renewable resource on marginal land where cattle
ranching and dry land cropping alone are likely to have very poor yields
(Taylor and Martin 1983; Child 1984; Martin 1986), but local communities
do not respond to economic and ecological argumentation in a vacuum. As
has been pointed out, local people may be concerned about a number of
contextual, political or cultural factors which may color their
perceptions as to the best courses of action.

It is this picture of the local context which anthropologists
study and which may helpfully locate the larger plans envisaged by
resource managers and ecologists amongst the perceptions, culture,
history and political and economic arrangements of the people affected.
It is well known that cattle do not merely have economic or ecological
significance in isolation from the social meanings attached to them“

For instance, cattle may be a source of prestige, a means of providing

at:

b’

I}

A"

12
bridewealth, or a means of ploughing one's fields. Large african
mammalian wildlife, alienated through protectionism, also has positive
and negative social meanings. Wildlife may be perceived as a menace, a
threat to one's existence, destroying one's crops, raiding one's
livestock, or killing and injuring one's friends and relatives.
Wildlife may also pervasively influence such decisions as the design of
granaries, the design of sleeping platforms in one's field, where one
can safely store one's produce and what time the children leave for
school in the morning. On the other hand, wildlife also has both
material and symbolic positive value. For example, its relevance in
terms of ancestral belief systems, or the secret and illegal hunting

opportunities offered.

Theoretical Orientations Regarding the Study of People and Wildlife

It may be argued that very little work has been done specifically
on the anthropological aspects of “wildlife management" as it is
conceived in western thought. However, the notion of holism in the
anthropological method refutes this idea. Ethnographies are accounts of
ways of life. The use, management, symbolism and cultural significance
of animals and plants are integrated into countless chapters in
ethnographies focusing on issues other than wildlife management.
Therefore, anthropology is no stranger to the subject and the
anthropological lens has enlightened many a wildlife manager (Gilbert
and.Dodds 1987). Interdisciplinary approaches are currently very
necessary and therefore, though I start off with cultural ecology and

the anthropological perspective, I will acknowledge some of the

a-
we

l3
important work done in the field by scholars from other disciplines.

Marks (1984) book entitled The Imperial Lion: The Soeial
Qimenaions ef Wildlife Maaagement provides a cultural ecological
analysis of an indigenous hunting system amongst the Valley Bisa in
Zambia. It is not only concerned with this analysis, as it also shows
how localized wildlife resources in Africa have been exploited by
outsiders (e.g., urban dwellers, the north). The lineage based
management systems of the valley Bisa are the subject of an earlier
study (Marks 1976) entitled Lagge Mammala age A grave Peeple;
§aaa1a;eaee_§aa§e;a_ia_§amh;a. Marks points out that the lineage based
system was sanctioned by ritual process and collective controls. He
claims, that as long as such rural societies remain relatively isolated
with low human densities and technologies adequate to meet local demand
”their environmental resources were usually adequate" (Marks 1984, 104).
However, with the relaxation of previous restraints, collectivist
controls over resources were subverted rapidly and opportunities for
private gain subverted the "traditional wildlife resource processes".
The impact of commerce and state sponsored initiatives contributed to
the situation where "wildlife is increasingly mined (i.e., depleted]
rather than harvested".

Marks' work straddles two theoretical orientations that are
significant for the present study. The first orientation is that of
micro-level systems analysis. valley Bisa hunting constituted a system
which had feed back mechanisms maintaining the status quo. This systems
orientation features in the writing of many cultural ecologists (see,

for instance, Rappaport 1984). It often includes the idea that

14
traditional societies and particularly "hunter-gatherers" have developed
cultural institutions and practices designed to allow them to achieve
equilibrium with their environment. The second orientation is the
broader political and economic processes within which the micro-level
system changes or breaks down. In terms of this orientation, tragedies
of the commons (Hardin 1968) are said to be characteristic of state
systems in which desire for profit or individual aggrandizement motivate
uncontrolled exploitation" (McCay and Acheson 1987, 93).

In reference to the first orientation, despite the many insights
provided by those cultural ecologists who stressed equilibrium,
homeostasis and conservation in traditional society, the notion that
traditional societies are somehow innately equilibrious, homeostatic and
conservationist can be problematic. Apart from the difficulties of
identifying what constitutes "traditional" society in a changing world,
"equilibrium" models in anthropology (and specifically cultural ecology)
have been severely and consistently criticized for being ahistorical,
ignoring wider political and economic issues, tautological, normative
and failing to deal with conflict or change.

Marks attempts to redress the inadequacies of the first
orientation by including political and economic factors in the wider
world. In this regard it is appropriate to refer to the work of Abel
and Blaikie (1986) who, for purposes of this dissertation, represent the
field of political ecology. They present an analysis of the Luangwa
National Parks in the context and history of the Zambian political
economy. In doing so they identify social groups who compete for the

use of wildlife resources. These include subsistence hunters,

15
commercial poachers, wildlife conservationists, tourists, politicians,
the bureaucratic bourgeoisie and safari hunters. Their work reinforces
the view that it is not adequate to look at local communities in
isolation from the historical and contextual factors which impinge on
their ways of life. National parks are edifices of what is now
considered to be inappropriate management strategies from the colonial
past (see Graham 1973) and many people including some of those discussed
in this dissertation have been dispossessed of their land and resources,
when the latter were declared protected areas by the state.

Abel and Blaikie point out, in connection with national parks,
that the "use of natural resources at a particular place and time is the
outcome of conflicting groups of people with different aims. usually
there is no absolute dominance by one group so there are commonly a
number of different ways of using resources at the same place and time"
(Abel and Blaikie 1986, 1). They also make an important point that
official definitions and statements concerning resources are often seen
as "no more than normative statements by one particular interest group"
(ibid, 1) .

In comparing the approaches from cultural ecology and political
ecology, as voiced by Abel and Blaikie, an apt illustration of such
normative definitions might be that ward boundaries (as defined by the
Zimbabwean state) may conflict with cultural land boundaries (defined by
ancestral spirits through their mediums). Rea—functionalist,
equilibrium oriented cultural ecologists may be interested in assessing
the role of the territorial/ancestor cults in the management of

resources from a micro-system.perspective (vayda and McCay 1977). As

he.

NH

O

AK

\\
\h‘

16
Marks, Abel and Blaikie point out in their work, it is not sufficient to
do this, because one must also consider the wider political and economic
influences (e.g., colonialism, land dispossession) and particularly the
various vested interests in the resource. In terms of this dissertation
'these would include the vested interests in national parks and protected
areas.

If one is of the opinion that traditional forms of common property
resource management may have potential roles to play in natural resource
management programs such as CAMPFIRE, such potentials must be seen in
the wider political context. Though much of the writing on the
conservation and management of wildlife resources in the past has seen
itself as being apolitical, it has now been recognized that it is
intricately intertwined with the resolution of conflict over scarce
resources and the vested interests in common property (see below for
more on this). The resolution of this conflict requires an
interdisciplinary and historical approach. This has been recognized by
many ecologists and biologists (Parker 1978; Martin 1986; Bell 1988;
Western 1982) who no longer simply attribute conflict of vested
interests to mismanagement of the parks, but are now looking at the
wider issues in the political economy which influence their work.
Wildlife managers are realizing that the conventional methods of
management are not working successfully and they are searching for
creative ways of solving the many problems and issues that arise out of
the interaction of humans and wildlife. This is the thrust of the

practical initiatives emanating from wildlife biologists and ecologists.

17

One such idea is that local people who live with all the problems
associated with wildlife should directly benefit from these resources.
If both responsibility and benefits from the wildlife resources accrue
to the smallest accountable units, it is thought that this will enhance
the sustainability of the resource whilst simultaneously providing much
needed benefits for local communities. Both theoretically and
practically, the assumptions in this have yet to be rigorously tested.
One major problem in much of the writing on the subject is that the
exact mechanisms by which local communities are to benefit is seldom

spelt out.

common Property Theory and Bundles of Rights to Wildlife

The rights and jurisdictions involved in the use and management of
wildlife need to be understood more broadly as property rights.
Property rights are a concern of such natural resource programs aimed at
achieving sustainable development. Of special relevance is the question
of the commons and common property resource management (McCay and

Acheson 1987).

Definitions and Justificatory Theories

A review of common property literature needs to begin by briefly
contextualizing the common property debate by looking at how scholars
have conceived of property historically and how they have defended or
opposed the property institutions of their time. This debate will lead
us into a discussion of property issues relating to the current

environmental crisis and the aim of achieving sustainability of natural

18
resources.

Macpherson (1978) makes the important point that the meaning of
property is continually changing. As the meaning changes there is
dispute over what it is and what it should be. Conceptions of property
and property institutions respond to political, economic, cultural and
ecological factors and this process of change involves moral
controversy. Historically, there has been a need for justificatory
theories of property, because these theories provide societies with the
belief that their property arrangements are morally defensible. As
Macpherson says,

...property is a right in the sense of an enforceable claim;

while its enforceability is what makes it a legal right, the

enforceability itself depends on a society's belief that it is a

moral right, property is not thought to be a right because it is

an enforceable claim: it is an enforceable claim because it is
thought to be a human right. This is simply another way of saying
that any institution of property requires a justifying theory

(Macpherson 1978, 6).

Conceptions of property and property regimes, therefore, reflect
moral and intellectual discourses associated with particular time
periods. For instance, at the end of the seventeenth century, Locke for
the first time argued for "an individual right of unlimited
appropriation” (ibid, 15). In Locke's view limited government was
necessary to protect unlimited appropriation. His justification of
property rights, according to Macpherson, is implied in the
constitutions of the first modern capitalist states.

He that is nourished by the acorns he pickt up under an Oak, or

the Apples he gathered from the Trees in the Wood, has certainly

appropriated them to himself ...... that labor put a distinction
between them and common. That added something to them more than
nature, the common Mother of all, had done; and so they became his

private right. And will anyone say he had no right to those
acorns or apples he thus appropriated because he had not the

as]
)1”

19

consent of all Mankind to make them his? Was it a Robbery thus to

assume to himself what belonged to all in common? If such a

consent as that was necessary, man had starved, not withstanding

the Plenty God had given him. We see in Commons, which remain so
by compact, that it is the taking of any part of what is common
and removing it out of the state nature leaves it in, which begins
the Property; without which the commons is of no use. And the
taking of this or that part does not depend on the express consent
of all the commoners. Thus the grass my Horse has bit: the Turfs

my servant has cut: and the Ore I have digged in any place where I

have a right to them in common with others, become my property,

without the assignation or consent of any body. The labor that
was mine, removing them out of the common state they were in, hath

fixed my Property in them (Quoted in Macpherson 1978, 15).

Perhaps if labor only referred to personal labor and not to the labor of
others and if the commons was unlimited, Locke would have had a stronger
moral position.

The importance of justificatory theories for property rights in
the context of the political climate of the time is made evident in the
writing of Rousseau. Towards the middle of the eighteenth century,
Rousseau claimed that Locke's ”natural right" approach.was totally
unjustified because it deprived most men of any property at all.
Rousseau's ideas on equality, life, liberty and property were greatly
influential in the French Revolution. Unequal private property, in
Rousseau's view, enslaved some men to others. Rousseau construed the
evolution of property rights within his, now outmoded, unilineal
evolutionary conception of the “advance" from 'savagery' to
"civilization". Despite the biases and limitations of his schema,
Rousseau conceived that rights are not ahistorical nor static and
therefore not "natural".

Unlike Rousseau, Bentham, the English jurist, came forward with a
new theory supporting modern unequal property rights. Bentham was also

‘writing in the revolutionary eighteenth century, but adopted a

20
mainstream position in regard to property. Discarding Locke's case for
the natural right to unlimited appropriation, Bentham claimed that
unequal property rights were utilitarian or functional since they led to
the greatest happiness of the greatest number. His analysis is a cost-
benefit one involving subsistence, abundance, equality, and security.
In his view,

...if all property were equally divided, at fixed periods, the
sure and certain consequence would be, that presently there would
be no property to divide. All would shortly be destroyed. Those
whom it was intended to favor, would not suffer less from the
division than those at whose expense it was made. If the lot of
the industrious were not better than the lot of the idle, there
would be no longer any motives for industry (Quoted in Macpherson
1989, 43).

In opposition to such views, which were considered as buttressing
the dehumanizing influence of industrial capitalism, Marx, writing
during the latter part of the 19th century, argued that the property
relations of capitalism required the reduction of human beings to
commodities. Like Rousseau, he presented the institution of property in
a historical and evolutionary framework. He sums up the moral
imperative of his analysis thus:

The distinguishing feature of communism is not the abolition of
property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property. But
modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete
expression of the system of producing and appropriating products,
that is based on class antagonism, on the exploitation of the many
by the few. In this sense the theory of the Communists may be
summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private

property ......

Continuing in this vein Marx says,

...when therefore, capital is converted into common property, into
the property of all members of the society, personal property is
not thereby transformed into social property. It is only the
social character of the property that is changed. It loses its
class character (Quoted in Macpherson 1978, 65).

21

Marx's forceful, seemingly unambiguous analysis of property
relations, is a gloss over the mechanisms by which common property can
become the property of all members of the society. Pragmatically,
common property involves rights of access and exclusion. Social
differentiation, including class differences, is an intricate part of
the mechanisms by which access and exclusion is established.

In contrast to Marx, Mill, another 19th Century (English)
philosopher, weighs up the implications of different property regimes
(private property versus communism) and argued that the inequity of the
existing system was not because there was anything intrinsically wrong
with private property, but merely because of accidental historical
features which could be rectified. His liberal position therefore
basically defended the status quo of 19th century property relations.

In a different view form either of the above, the American jurist
Cohen, presents a critical analysis of property as sovereignty. In his
early 20th century view, property is a right not a thing. It is a
relationship between persons in reference to things but simultaneously
it is a relationship of power between persons. Property is a power to
impose one's will on others. In examining the various justifications of
property, he concludes that since property means power over others the
state therefore has a right to set limits or to impose duties in terms
of the general welfare.

Following Cohen, Macpherson endorses the view that property is
simply an "institution which creates and maintains certain relations
between people" (ibid, 1). Property is a right, an enforceable claim

and not "things". Property, according to Macpherson, cannot logically

22
be confined to private property. Common property, in his usage, refers
to individual rights to use a common resource or service.

"Common property is created by the guarantee to each individual
that he will not be excluded from the use or benefit of something;
private property is created by the guarantee that an individual can
exclude others from the use or benefit of something" (1978, 5).

An analysis of the above theoretical positions and justificatory
theories in regard to property not only indicates that there have long
been mainstream and critical positions, but it also indicates that early
theorists were mainly concerned with defending or criticizing western
conceptions of private property. The current global environmental
crisis has made theorists re-evaluate their conceptions of property in
the search for appropriate property institutions which deal sustainably
with the environment. In doing so they have drawn on opposing

justificatory theories about property.

The Strength of Anthropological Approaches versus the 'Tragedy of the
commons"

The famous anthropologist and lawyer, Maine, writing forty years
earlier (1884) than Cohen, had first coined the phrase "bundles of
rights" in attempting to describe the complex rights of usufruct that
occur in different cultural conceptions of tenure. Western conceptions
of property rights are bound within a distinct set of cultural values
and constraints. Other cultural systems of tenure can teach theorists
new approaches which do not center on the efficacy or non-efficacy of
Western private property (like many of the scholars quoted above have

done) , but rather on the modes of access to resources and the culturally

23
defined mechanisms of ownership and usufruct. Bundles of rights refer
to the manner in which multiple jurisdictions concerning use, access or
ownership in land and resources can be accommodated. For instance, in
many african societies, women may have rights to use land held by their
husbands. Husbands, in turn, may also have to accommodate the rights of
traditional or spiritual leaders or the state, or other institutions
(such as kinship, political or religious organization) in the same land.
In considering the concept of bundles of rights of use, it is clear that
both the cultural and the political dynamics of a particular social
context need to be understood in order to understand property rights.

In contrast to this approach, Hardin’s (1968) "tragedy of the
commons" model is implicitly a justification of western conceptions of
private property. Hardin, a biologist and human ecologist, asserted
that all resources owned in common will become overexploited and thus
depleted, because rational individuals take for themselves as much as
possible of the resource before other users do likewise. Since everyone
owns the resources, no-one has a sense of proprietorship for them.
Hardin's individualism echoes Locke's individualistic gathering of
apples and acorns from an otherwise useless commons. He tends to ignore
or downplay cultural and political organization by emphasizing the
notion of marginal utility borrowed from rationalist western neo-
classical economic theory. An assumption in this economic theory is
that individuals will always try to maximize individual value. Hardin
based his argument on Lloyd's 19th century text which supported a
Malthusian view of population problems (see McCay and Acheson 1990, 2).

According to McCay and Acheson,

24

Lloyd offered an analogy between the pastoral commons of old

England and the labor market, and between a calf and a human

child. Rights to enter both the pastoral commons and the labor

market are freely obtainable - common rights - and thus pastures
are inevitably overstocked and their resources depleted, and labor
markets are oversaturated, causing the low wages and miseries of

the laboring classes (ibid, 2).

Hardin's model is enshrined at the beginning of modern common
property theory. Much of the anthropological literature contributing to
this debate (e.g., McCay and Acheson 1990) is a reaction or rejection of
Hardin's work by pointing out the complex processes inherent in common
property regimes, which he overlooks in his model. Fortmann and Bruce
indicate that Hardin's model is the best known one which posits a
connection between tenure and the condition of the ecosystem; "Hardin
wrote of tenure as if it could be isolated from the associated system of
land use and the encompassing social system" (1988, 4).

The present socio-environmental crisis, the cost of unsound and
short—sighted resource management, together with industrial growth and
increased populations has prompted a new evaluation and
contextualization of property rights. The justificatory theories of
earlier scholars discussed above (Locke, Bentham, Mill, Rousseau, Marx)
can be seen to fall simplistically into two camps: those who argue for
the efficacy of private property and those who argue for more state
control of property. In the current environmental crisis, jointly used
air, water, stratosphere and other resources all have implications for
the value and status of property. This has prompted a new review of
theoretical positions which may have major policy implications in terms

of the management of natural resources (see foreword in Berkes 1989).

Despite Lloyd and Hardin's model, which is a part of a justificatory

b

.E(

i‘ “
k,

25
theory for the efficacy of private property rights in terms of
sustaining natural resources, relatively new theories and evidence
indicate that largely overlooked "common property regimes" create rules
about the use of common resources, which may be of use in a world
searching for sustainability.

The Qaeeeiea_ef_eae_gemmeae (McCay and Acheson 1990, xiv) reviews
and evaluates the theory of the tragedy of the commons, by bringing a
wide selection of case-study material about fisherman, hunters and mixed
farmers from widely different settings (see works by Bauer, Berkes,
Brightman, Carrier, vondal in this volume). This endeavor is part of a
broader anthropological goal to document and analyze cultural ecology,
social organization, decision—making, cultural institutions, and values
and beliefs. As McCay and Acheson point out, the discussion of the
commons "reawakens and contributes to classical concerns in the social
sciences that go beyond natural resource management and environmental
problems" (McCay and Acheson 1990, xv). Two main concerns which they
mention are, the question of individual behavior and social welfare, and
the broader question of how individual and social systems interact. In
other words, it is a discussion of the relationship between structure
and agency (Giddens 1979).

McCay and Acheson contend that common property resources are
I'embedded in historically specific social contexts" (ibid, 7). They
show that complex features of socio-economic systems and variable
systems of rights, duties, functions and obligations are involved in
common property resource management. This awareness refines and

refurbishes existing theory. For instance, they and others (Ciriacy-

26

Wantrup and Bishop 1975, 714) point out that Hardin's model makes the
assumption that commons situations are always open access situations.
Common property, they argue, should instead be seen as a social
institution and like other social institutions is subject to a set of
norms, values and beliefs which sanction individual behavior.

Comparable common property institutions have been documented by
several of the anthropologists and scholars named above. Birkes and
Farvar, in an endeavour to refine common property theory, have
typologized property rights regimes relevant to common property
resources.
These are:

Open Access: Described by them as "free for all; resource use rights
are neither exclusive nor transferable, these rights are owned in
common but are open access to everyone [and therefore property to
no oneJ'I (Berkes 1989, 10). This is arguably not a property
rights regime at all because people are thought to use the
resources opportunistically but not manage them (Murphree 1991,
4). Furthermore, such opportunistic free use of resources may
seldom occur, as there arerfrequently cultural or political
sanctions, or practical restrictions such as lack of equipment or
transport which effect who has access to resources. An example
might be the historical hunting of Zimbabwean wildlife in remote
unpoliced areas. . .

State Property: Defined by them as "ownership and management control is
held by the nation-state or crown; public resources to which use
rights and access rights have not been specified" (ibid, 10). An
example might be the historical protection of wildlife in Zimbabwe
by the state.

Communal Property: "Use rights for the resource are controlled by an
identifiable group and are not privately owned or managed by
governments; there exist rules concerning who may use the
resource, who is excluded from the resource, and how the resource
should be used; community based resource management systems:
common property" (ibid, 10). An example might be that this is
what is implicitly hoped for under the CAMPFIRE program.

Private Property: Where the claim rests with the individual or the
corporation (Berkes,1989 24). An example might be the rights of a

27

Zimbabwean safari operator2 in his concession for the duration of

the lease. However, these rights are also subject to other sets

of rights (see below).

As illustrated by the example of Zimbabwean wildlife, the authors
point out that many resources are used in overlapping mixtures of these
ideal types and they state that instead of "emphasizing the ownership
status of a resource, it may be more useful to examine the diversity of
relationships involving property and access conditions under which a
resource is held" (Berkes 1989, 38). This statement supports the
analysis of multiple jurisdictions concerning wildlife emphasized in
this dissertation. In regard to this complexity, they classify four
different combinations of property regimes and ownership types. These

are :

1) Open access - commonly owned resources in which tragedies of
the commons are likely to happen.
2) Limited access - commonly owned resources in which resources
are managed as:

A) communal property; or

E) state property; or

C) joint jurisdiction/co-management regimes.

The latter is the category of property which we will be

dealing with in this dissertation.
3) Privatized resources - held under limited access conditions;
4) Privatized resources - held under open access conditions in
which rules of exclusion have broken down (Berkes 1989, 38).

According to Gibbs and Bromley, who define common property regimes
in terms of the communal property definition, such regimes ensure

(through rules of access) that the resources on which people depend will

 

2In Zimbabwe, safari operators may lease hunting concession areas for the
consumptive use of wildlife. These areas may be on state, communal or
private land. Such lease agreements usually entail a hunting quota
which is set down by DNPWLM. Operators may sell their quota as hunting
safaris to overseas clients. Clients have the right to hunt animals and
acquire trophies in terms of the hunting concession agreement and the
agreement between the operator and client.

28
1M3 available sustainably (ibid, 43). They claim that the distinguishing
features of a well functioning common property regime will be:

1) a minimum of disputes and limited effort necessary to maintain

compliance (efficiency);

2) a capacity to cope with progressive changes through adaptation

(stability);

3) a capacity to accommodate surprise or sudden shocks

(resilience);

4) a shared perception of fairness among the members with

respect to inputs and outcomes (equitability) [from Berkes 1989,

26].

It is argued by both Berkes (1989) and McCay and Acheson (1987)
that traditional resource management practices may often include the
components of such common property regimes. They claim that such
practices, often tested and adapted through time, have been the chief
way in which human beings have obtained access to resources in a
sustainable fashion. So often in the past these practices have been
overlooked or underestimated in terms of development projects and plans.
Recently these common property practices have been promoted as a means

for "institutional innovation towards sustainable development" (Berkes

1989, 19).3

 

3Such resource management systems and common property regimes are
associated with a number of resources including water, pasture,
rangeland, forests, wildlife, fisheries and agriculture. Examples
include: the figpak system of irrigating rice studied by Geertz (1972) in
Bali; the common of pasture system studied by Cox (1985) and Dahlman
(1980) in England; the aggal system of range/pasture studied by Giles
et. al (1986) in Morocco; the Japanese igiaiehi system of using forests
and meadows (Mkean 1986); Japanese coastal fishing (1:21) studied by
Ruddle (Berkes 1989); the jeep swidden agriculture practiced in Worth
East India (Atal 1984) and the nigihuechi; hunting territories of the
Cree (Berkes 1989). Many comparable systems have therefore been
identified, but many also have been identified as breaking down or
adapting because of socio-political changes (see McCay and Acheson
1987).

29

In ending this section, we briefly recap and draw a tentative
theoretical conclusion. We have noted that historically western
scholars tend to identify property either in terms of it being private
or in terms of it belonging to the state. From this perspective, common
property is those resources which are not amenable to private
appropriation, nor collectively owned by a group but are open access,
freely available resources such as western conceptions of marine
resources (Berkes 1989, 7). This is the way Hardin thinks about common
property. In contrast to this use of common property is the idea that
common property should be restricted to communally owned resources where
rules exist about access to the resource (see Gibbs and Bromley in
Berkes 1989). Both concepts of common property are subject to property
rights regimes within which the resource is used. It is, therefore,
important to distinguish between the common property resource and the
property rights regime under which the resource is used (Berkes 1989,
9).

The idea of bundles of rights, of rights nested within other
rights, seems to have significance for the meaning of common property
and for the way in which property regimes interact. From this
perspective common property is best seen as not restricted to communal
property nor open access, since various property regimes may be involved
in claiming differential access to the same resource. As Berkes
observes, many resources are held in overlapping resource regime
categories (1989, 26). As described in this dissertation, a resource
like wildlife is held under multiple jurisdictions emanating from an

array of property regimes. There is still, however, a sense among

30
planners that common property only refers to situations where communal

property arrangements exist.

Wildlife Utilization in Africa and Common Property Theory

According to Berkes, wildlife is considered a common property
resource because it has two characteristics: control of access to these
resources is problematic and secondly, users may subtract from the
welfare of other users (1989, 7). Though the property regimes which
deal with this resource fall across the spectrum of regimes identified
above by Berkes (i.e., open access, state, private and communal
property), the emphasis of development planners dealing with wildlife
utilization in Africa has often been on communal property regimes and
community based management systems. The state and private interests in
the common property are sometimes analytically underestimated, as
illustrated in the following paragraphs.

Lawry points out that though effective policies for managing
common resources are urgently needed for Sub-Saharan Africa where most
rangelands and forests are used communally, he questions the
effectiveness of policies which rely solely on local level common
property arrangements, which he appears to conceive in terms of Berkes'
(1990) definition of communal property. He argues that “such policies
are built on theoretical foundations which do not consider significant
constraints on the emergence of local collective action" (Lawry 1990,
404). He claims that establishing local common property arrangements
may be associated with a number of difficulties. Lawry cites the

Changing nature of village economies and social relations, and growing

"1

g:

fa"

5”.

,«z

A?

31
pressure on local resources as factors which make it difficult for
common property regimes which existed under former social conditions to
function under contemporary circumstances (ibid, 406). Other critiques
claim that "obtrusive state action" is responsible for the breakdown of
local common property management systems (Bromley and Cernea 1989).
Lawry argues that this breakdown is a result of modernization, and
national economic and political integration. These factors have reduced
incentives for individuals to participate in such regimes, have undercut
the economic viability of common property institutions, and have reduced
‘political legitimacy of local management authorities. Economic
incentives are often not sufficient and for many users the returns will
be negative or marginal.

A second problem is that of authority. Lawry claims that
interests are often heterogenous and strong support for the desired
resource use are not forthcoming. He argues that in Africa local
authority is giving way to state authority and that traditional
authority, such as chiefs, are losing or have lost their legitimacy. He
claims that natural resources used in Africa are both private and
individual and that "villages" are part of larger economies which bring
other political and economic forces to bear on situations where rules
exist about who has access to resources (in his terms this is a minimum
definition of common property). This integration into the larger
economies results in the political marginalization and dependency of
Villages. Simultaneously, while there is a breakdown of local
flunagement systems, direct state management has not worked either.

States lack information about resource use practices. States often

32
ignore local inputs and initiatives and policing activities are often
arbitrary. Thus neither state nor local control of resources can work
by themselves.

Lawry thus proposes a system of "co-management" of resources which
addresses both the weaknesses of state and community control (see Berkes
classification of limited access and commonly owned resources). He
states that government action can help create the conditions of local
action by assigning "group rights to a specific territory," providing
technical guidance, and providing the economic environment for co-
operation (Lawry 1990, 421). His ideas are particularly useful in
helping to resolve the current tension which exists between state
property regimes and community level property regimes. Though not
always consciously advocating co-management, many natural resource
programs, are in fact creating such regimes.

In.Africa, where colonial state intervention has often alienated
resources from people whose tenure systems involve aspects of communal
use of resources, several countries have developed wildlife natural
resource management programs or adapted resource management techniques
which build on assumptions in common property theory in the attempt to
develop co—management models. The key assumptions are:

1) that participation of local "communities" in decision-making

and control concerning resources is important for the

sustainability (or conservation) of such resources (participation,

decentralization);

2) that the benefits arising from such resources should accrue to
the "communities" who manage them (devolution of benefits);

3) that a system of rights of access and exclusion, building on
existing property regimes (mainly centered on political
structures, processes and institutions reinforced by cultural
beliefs and institutions) may be the foundation for institutional

33

development of such common property regimes (defined rights); and

4) that multiple levels of participation are important in the

making of common property because of the historical legacy of

state control of the resource and the various private and
entrepreneurial vested interests in the resource, as well as the
participation by the incipient or established communal resource
management regime at the local level. In other words, common
property regimes can and perhaps should be multifaceted and multi-
tiered. Planners are less explicit about this assumption, see
conclusion for more on this (multi—jurisdictional regime).

In terms of wildlife utilization, we will briefly consider the
attempts toward the making or remaking of common property in five
countries. We will bear in mind the above assumptions in considering
the programs concerned.

In regard to Zambia, Cumming (1990) reports that Game Management
Areas (GMA) (160,488 square km or 21.3% of Zambia), which are mostly
next to National Parks (63,590 square kilometers or 7.9 8 of Zambia) are
sparsely settled subsistence farming areas where wildlife is planned to
be a major form of land use. Three wildlife management initiatives in
GMA's include: the national Parks and Wildlife Service Administrative
Design (ADMADE) project, the Luangwa Integrated Rural Development
Project (LIRDP) and the Wetlands Project. All of these Zambian projects
work with the four assumptions mentioned above. They base their
proposed common property management regimes on traditional authority
(chiefdoms) buttressed by government agencies. All attempt to involve
the participation of local political structures in the attempt to
involve local people in decision-making and the benefits associated with

the resource, whilst simultaneously initiating co-operation between the

State, private interests, and local people.

34

These projects attempt to reinforce a system of rights of access
and exclusion by reviving traditional authority over resources in
conjunction with government institutions. They operate at or involve
many bureaucratic levels and are subject to what Bell refers to as
'Murphree's Law" which is that, "each level of an organization strives
to wrest power and the control of funds away from the levels above it,
and strives to resist the devolution of power and control of funds to
levels below it" (Bell 1990, 4).

Bell (1990) states that LIRDP consists of steering (national),
executive (provincial), technical, and local leaders committees (chiefs,
ward chairmen, and one woman's representative per chieftainship), plus a
revolving fund. ADWADB is operated through the National Parks and
Wildlife Services and centers on wildlife management authorities in each
GMA. This authority is chaired by the district governor, includes
district level civil servants as well as local representative's such as,
chiefs and ward chairmen. The LIRDP summary report for 1989 states that

...the major factors contributing to the success of the wildlife

management program have been the active participation and support

of the local leadership, the establishment of direct revenue
collection from wildlife utilization and the non-confrontational

approach to law enforcement (Bell 1990, 7).

naturally, support and participation of local leadership in itself
does not constitute a well functioning common property regime as
envisaged by Gibbs and Bromley above. As McCay and Acheson stated,
property regimes are embedded in specific social contexts. Local
leadership's relations between natural resources, the diverse people

they govern, and the process of establishing their rights of access to

resources amongst competing state and private rights is a crucial

3S
dynamic deserving close attention of planners.

In Kenya, the Maasai Mara and Amboseli District Council Game
Reserves were specifically established to involve local communities in
conservation. Conceived and established thirty years ago, they provide
important lessons in terms of common property management. In Amboseli,
a development plan was established (Western and Thresher 1973) which was
adopted within the traditional political and cultural framework
associated with the Maasai, in conjunction with the existing
administrative structures of the Kenyan state. This plan worked towards
the integration of livestock and wildlife economies to reduce conflict
between these land use strategies. Revenues were to accrue from tourist
development, such as the establishment of tourist lodges, which would
involve the payment of wildlife utilization fees to Maasai group ranch
holders next to the park. These ranches were to accommodate migratory
wildlife herds, be involved in leasing out hunting and tourist
concessions, develop water resources for their cattle herds, and
establish a communal center. The Maasai had historically resisted the
establishment of the reserves as they felt it was an attempt to
appropriate their land. Despite the success of changing conservative
attitudes to wildlife utilization, in the late seventies the plan met
with a number of obstacles which included the Kenyan government ban on
hunting, depriving ranches of significant revenue, and the flagging
tourist market. A significant problem was that resource benefits were
being co-opted and mismanaged at national and district levels by the
councils, departments and ministries involved in wildlife management

(Hamilton 1992). In regard to a similar plan in Mara, administered by

36
the Narok district council, Hamilton points out that revenue generation
for Maasai landholders is the critical issue. Despite the 444 million
Kenyan Shillings generated in the area during 1987, only ten percent
remained in the district and less than one percent went to local group
ranches (Hamilton 1988). Inequity of revenue sharing and the co-opting
of local resources by local, district and national elites is therefore a
crucial problem in common property management. The Kenyan case employs
the assumptions about participation and devolution of benefits to local
communities through both culturally based and state institutions, but
underlines the need to clarify local communities' rights of access to
these benefits in such a multi-jurisdictional context.

In Tanzania, projects have recently started in attempting to
involve local communities in the management of wildlife resources.
Baldus (1989) discusses village participation in the Selous Conservation
Area and other projects underway in the Loliondo and Hgorongoro
Conservation Area. The International union for Conservation of nature
and Natural Resources (IUCN), in collaboration with the International
Trade Centre (ITC) and the appropriate Tanzanian ministries have been
actively studying wildlife utilization options. Two professed goals in
their 1988 report indicate that they are searching for common property
arrangements. Firstly, they mention "the need to involve local
communities in the conservation of the resource should be recognized in
view of escalating people and wildlife conflicts in the country" and
secondly, they mention the need to ”integrate local communities into
formal, controlled wildlife utilization, so as to provide a higher

return to local communities and thus reduce the existing conflict

”It

I“

I.

bu»-

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37
between people and wildlife" (ITC;IUCN 1988, 38).

In Namibia pastoral herdsmen in Damaraland have been involved as
an auxiliary game guard service and would like to "resuscitate their
wildlife populations and use them sustainably" (Cumming 1990, 4).
According to Cumming, attempts to involve these communities in wildlife
utilization and eco-tourism have started. Potential also exists in
Bushmanland, Kaokoland, Owamboland, Kavango and Caprivi. They point out
in their project paper for the Namibian ministry responsible that

...the key legal and policy issues to be addressed are probably

those of custodial rights and the distribution of benefits.

Because the interactions between land, common property issues,

benefits, traditional customs and state responsibility.for

resource conservation are complex, a consultative, participatory

and flexible approach will be needed (Cumming 1990, 14).

In Botswana, citizen hunting schemes involving draws have not
achieved a sense of local proprietorship for the resource. The
government is now developing community based wildlife management
utilization schemes. In yet another report on the identification of
wildlife utilization projects, Cumming and Taylor (1989) state that
their terms of reference for their proposed pilot projects are as
follows:

...[they] will be of direct material and economic benefit to those

communities living in the Wildlife Management Areas or Districts

in which Wildlife Management Areas are situated, of benefit to the
citizens of Botswana generally, economically viable and thus
capable of promoting rural employment and income generation,
structured in such a way as to involve the district residents and
local authorities in project development, implementation and
decision-making, capable of being replicated so that other

communities can also benefit (1989, 54).

This brief overview indicates that there is considerable interest

in the co-management of common property through wildlife utilization

resimes in southern and eastern Africa. Such initiatives stress

38
community based common property regimes, but in fact, usually describe
co-management of multi-jurisdictional wildlife with state, private and
community interests being exerted simultaneously.

Common property theorists (Berkes 1989; McCay and Acheson 1987)
have called for further in-depth case-studies to unravel the complex
social contexts within which common property may be held. This
dissertation is an attempt to unravel the range of social issues
important for understanding wildlife resource use, in a Zimbabwean
social context. In doing so the mechanisms of access, participation,
benefit and decision-making are looked at largely from a perspective of
cultural and political practice at the local level in relation to the
CAMPFIRE program. Having considered other african experiences in
wildlife utilization, which employ similar assumptions about common

property issues, we now address the CAMPFIRE program itself.

CAMPFIRE

The CAMPFIRE program is specifically concerned with the
decentralization of management of wildlife resources to the community
level and has attracted growing international recognition as a unique
experiment in natural resource management (Peterson 1991; Muir 1992).
In arid or semi-arid areas, dry land cropping and/or extensive cattle
grazing pose problems for both the environment (deforestation, soil
depletion) and people (low yields, lack of economic development).
Wildlife resource utilization, often in combination with these other
forms of land use, has been gaining currency as a sustainable,

ecologically sound and economically beneficial land use strategy.

39

In terms of research, CAMPFIRE has adopted a multi-disciplinary
collaborative approach by incorporating research from wildlife managers,
ecologists, social scientists, technicians, economists, and legal
experts. It has also adopted a multi-institutional approach to
implementation by working laterally within and between government
departments, NOn-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) and the private
sector, and by working vertically through ward, district and national
institutions.

The rationale behind this government sanctioned and ZANU(PF)
[governing party] endorsed program, is that wildlife (and other)
resources in the communal areas of Zimbabwe will become more sustainable
if local people are responsible for and receive the benefits from these
resources. At present, benefits include rural development projects such
as the building of schools and clinics and household dividends funded
from safari operation revenues.. CAMPFIRE's goal, therefore, is
sustainable development through resource utilization at ward, village
and district levels. One objective of this voluntary program is
increased institutional management capacity and empowerment at these
levels, since participation of the local community is crucial for
meaningful development. Conservation of natural resources is not seen
as an end in itself, instead, CAMPFIRE argues, conservation can come
about through resource utilization.

During the Rhodesian era, communal areas were known as the Tribal
Trust Lands or Native Reserves. Many of these impoverished areas are
situated in the less agriculturally productive lowveld areas of the

country where there is low rainfall and poor soils. In these lowveld

40
areas are often also found the main tracts of the national parks
estates. In contrast, the commercial farming areas occupy the most
fertile land up on the escarpment.

Since colonial times wildlife resources have been legally
protected, controlled and administered by the Department of National
Parks and Wild Life Management (DNPWLM) under what was then the Minister
of Natural Resources. Changes in legislation, particularly the Parks
and Wild Life Act 1975, have enabled the emergence of decentralized
"appropriate authorities" for wildlife, which can use wildlife as an
economic resource in areas outside the wildlife estate. A group of
commercial farmers were the first to have attempted managing wildlife
for profit under this new legislation and their endeavor has become
extremely successful. Seven years later, amended legislation enabled
CAMPFIRE to develop in communal areas. According to Thomas (1991), the
1982 amendment to the Parks and Wild Life Act made provision for the
Minister of Environment and Tourism to designate appropriate authority
status upon district councils which gave them both the statutory
authority and the responsibility for wildlife on lands under their
control. Such authority was not divorced from the overreaching
custodianship of the resource at national level by the DNPWLM, who
continued to set quotas and retained the right to revoke or amend the
authority if it was abused. Furthermore, in theory if not in practice,
the authority was to be conditional upon the devolution of benefits and
responsibility for wildlife to lower institutional levels. Murphree
(1992) explains that, since district councils themselves are not the

producers or managers of the resource, a conflict of interests is

$1

.4.

5
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41

created between this institution and the people who it represents.

CAMPFIRE uses and modifies mechanisms and institutions deployed by
the existing system of local government as its institutional framework.
District councils are local government authorities, which also have
certain statutory rights over land and natural resources within their
district. Their powers include the generation and expenditure of
revenues from the land and natural resources under their control, within
the constraints placed upon them by overlapping pieces of legislation
such as the Parks and Wild Life Act, the Forest Act, the Communal Land
Forest Act, the Communal Land Act and the Mines and Minerals Act
(Murphree 1992). District councils are legally in a position to enter
into joint ventures or other undertakings for the benefit of their
constituents. The role and jurisdiction of district councils is further
qualified by the fact that they are intimately involved with the
Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development. The district
administrator is the senior local government official at district level.
He is also the chief executive officer of the district council and he is
the chairman of the district development committee, which is composed of
government ministries and departments but does not have any democratic
representation from lower level institutions. As this committee is
responsible for coordinating the district development plan, there is a
strong tendency towards top-down planning of development in most
districts (Thomas 1991, 21).

Local government is centered on two main institutions, the
district administration (formerly the district commissioner's office)

and the district council. District council is an elected body drawn

42
from an entire district. A district is made up of a number of wards,4
usually defined in terms of the number of voters. Each ward is made up
of villages. A 1984 government directive (Thomas 1991) suggested that
six villages should make up a ward. Within each village a Village
Development Committee (VIDCO) is elected to represent the problems and
needs of the village and to communicate district and ward decisions to
households within the village. VIDCO chairmen, secretaries and selected
governing political party officials (from ZANU‘PF' Women's League and
Youth Brigade), together with a ward councillor, form what is known as a
Ward Development Committee (WADCO). The ward councillor is the chairman
of the WADCO and represents it at district level. Ward councilors
represent their ward's interests at council meetings and convey council
decisions to the WADCOs and VIDCOs whom they represent. The council has
an elected chairman and government appointed executive officers, who run
the day to day affairs of the council. The district administrator, as
chief executive officer of council and as chairman of the district
development committee plays a powerful and pivotal role in district
affairs and decision-making.

In a somewhat similar fashion to local government institutions,
CAMPFIRE has established the election of ward and village level wildlife
committees whose representatives sit on a district wildlife committee.
The district wildlife committee, which is a sub-committee of the

district council, includes the ward councilors, representatives from

 

4In more remote, less populated areas, wards may coincide with
chieftainships. In the colonial and Rhodesian periods, district
commissioners used an administrative system of indirect rule through
local chiefs and headmen.

43
ward wildlife committees, and the executive officers and chairman of the
district council. In my research context it also included the district
administrator or his representatives.

The district wildlife committee is, in theory, accountable to both
the top (DNPWLM, other ministries) and the bottom (ward and village
wildlife committees) . The committee's responsibilities include:
distribution of the revenues from the resource, negotiating on how the
resource should be used or distributed (e.g., safari operators, joint
ventures, subsistence hunting), and negotiating with various
governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in the program.
Some matters addressed during my research were: safari operator leases,
Possible joint ventures with other entrepreneurs, collection and
distribution of revenues, problem animal control, implementing poaching
control, and the maintenance of any capital equipment such as fencing.

It should be noted that an earlier attempt at incorporating local
PartiCipation from communal lands in the management of wildlife
resources in 1978 entitled "Project Windfall" (Wildlife Industries New
bevelOpulent for All) [Martin 1978] failed for a number of reasons, some
°f Which may be important factors in the success or failure of CAMPFIRE.
03° reason for the failure of Windfall was lack of accountability for
the reSource. The goal was that revenue and other benefits, such as
meat from culls, were to be given to comunities bordering national
parks through their district councils, but the communities themselves
were, not involved in managing wildlife nor were they accountable for
them. A second reason for failure was that financial and other benefits

did not always find their way to local "cotmmmities', so the connection

44
between revenues and wildlife was not apparent to local people. People
in Chapoto ward still remember the disappointments associated with
foiled attempts to get money sent back to the ward under Project
Windfall. The funds, when and if they were released from central
treasury, were simply absorbed by the district council in Guruve which
had too big a constituency to be concerned about remote Chapoto. Most
of the wards in the district did not have the quantities of game found
in the more remote wards, yet it is alleged by people in Chapoto that
these non-producer wards attracted most of the development in the
district. The aim of the CAMPFIRE program is to devolve responsibility
and benefits of wildlife to the lowest levels in the producer wards and
villages, that is those wards and villages which have significant
quantities of wildlife.

One of the first steps taken in this process of devolvement was to
identify appropriate authorities to accrue revenues and administer
wildlife management at the district level. There is at present no legal
mechanism by which wards themselves can act as appropriate authorities
for wildlife and they have to work under the auspices of the district
councils. At the time of writing, the number of district councils which
had volunteered to participate in the CAMPFIRE program outnumbered the
number of wards which were actively participating and benefiting from
the program. Having the locus of administrative, political and economic
vested interest (i.e., the appropriate authority status) at the district
level may contradict the aim of the CAMPFIRE program and is at the heart
of a number of problems identified in this case study. Amongst other

reasons for not identifying appropriate authorities at ward or village

45
level was that these levels were deemed not to have the organizational
capacity to run such an enterprise. It was also because district
council and district administration together form a strong political
force in these outlying districts.

Chapoto ward is a significant test case for the viability of
CAMPFIRE because it borders on two large tracts of uninhabited land set
aside for the consumptive use5 of wildlife resources known as safari
areas, and therefore has an abundance of diverse wildlife populations
(see Figure 2a). However it must be emphasized that CAMPFIRE is in its
very early stages in the ward and it is still not clear whether it will
be successful there.

Chapoto ward falls under Guruve district and the Guruve district
council was one of the first councils to have the status of "appropriate
authority" conferred upon it (November 1988). Effectively "appropriate
authority“ means that the district council, within the limitations and
controls (notably the setting of hunting quotas) placed upon it by the
DNPWLM, has the responsibility to manage and use wildlife within the
district. This is accomplished through the various ward and district
wildlife committees formed for this purpose. Currently, revenue from
wildlife is mainly obtained from safari operations. Commercial safari
operators have to negotiate with council for leases of hunting
concessions in the district. Alternatively, district council may opt

for other revenue generating schemes, including running their own safari

 

sChapoto ward has an extremely valuable asset in its section of Zambezi
river frontage. At the present time revenues are mainly accrued from
safari operations but photographic safaris, walking safaris, canoe
safaris and other non-consumptive use of resources may, in the long run
bring in even more revenue than hunting.

46
operations or entering joint venture contracts with the commercial
tourist trade.

For comparative purposes, it is important to remember that in
Zimbabwe there is currently a diversity of representative CAMPFIRE
experiences being carried out in different districts. Peterson (1991)
has documented the experiences of five district level programs. Though
a thorough description of the ecological and social characteristics of
these other programs falls beyond the scope of this dissertation, it is
worth briefly outlining the administrative characteristics of these
programs in order to compare what is happening in Chapoto ward, Guruve
district.

Nyaminyami (situated near Lake Kariba) district opted to manage
its wildlife potential through a district trust. The trust is composed
of elected and appointed officials including ward councilors, chiefs,
representatives from government ministries and NGO's. According to
Peterson, the trust emphasizes economic development at district rather
than ward level. Participation by ward spokesmen and linkages to the
ward level through the district council are weak.

In contrast to Nyaminyami, the Guruve district runs its wildlife
program through its council. The council established the Guruve
district wildlife committee which includes district level officials as
well as councilors and chairmen from the five wards claiming to have
wildlife, but in fact only three of these (Kanyurira, Chisunga and
Chapoto) have significant quantities. In Kanyurira, the district)
council opted to run its own safari operation, while in Chapoto and

Chisunga the concession is leased. Though Kanyurira has handed out

47

household dividends, sub-district level participation in the other two
producer wards was negligible.

A third example of a CAMPFIRE potential is in Gokwe district.
Here there is a chronic problem of in-migration and a general lack of
support for the CAMPFIRE idea. In contrast to other districts, this
district council, while not rejecting CAMPFIRE, has not provided
leadership concerning wildlife as an alternative land use strategy.
According to Peterson, people seem more interested in increased cattle
production (after the planned eradication of tsetse fly), increased
cotton production, and employment in a new coal mine (1991, 52). All
these activities clash with wildlife resource use.

Bulalima Mangwe and Tsholotsho districts have started the first
multi-district project, with a joint wildlife committee but face serious
difficulties in planning the identification and fencing of a wildlife
area and to date, not enough benefits have accrued to those wards
experiencing the most wildlife damage (Peterson 1991, 57).

Last but not least, Beitbridge district has been able to make
considerable progress without the donor assistance which other districts
received. This district council has led the way by actively initiating
their own program at ward and village level. Beitbridge is the first
district to allocate revenues to both ward and village level. Since 87
percent of district revenues from wildlife are from a single VIDCO. the
district wildlife committee opted to distribute funds at the village
level and allow village residents to decide on what to do with them.
District council revenues from the 1990 season totalled Z$50,23S, of

which 2$45,000 was allocated to the wards and villages where animals had

48
been shot. Of this total, Z$43,930 accrued from Chikwarakwara VIDCO and
Z$40,000 was actually allocated. Each household in this VIDCO was

allocated Z$400, of which 25200 was set aside for community projects.

Perceptions and Discourse Associated With CAMPFIRE

It is appropriate in discussing the meanings attached to the
pragmatic implementation of CAMPFIRE to mention the ways in which the
program is seen from both the bottom and the top. These perceptions are
important because they are evidence that people think about wildlife
quite differently depending on context.

In the 1989 International Convention on Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) debates and meetings held concerning the banning of the
ivory trade and the placement of the African elephant on Appendix One,
Zimbabwe used the examples of the Guruve and Nyaminyami districts, the
two districts who then had appropriate authority status, to illustrate
the point that the economic value of wildlife acted as an incentive for
managing it well. It was argued that banning the trade of ivory would
only make matters worse, as trade would be forced underground, as has
happened in the case of the black rhino. Zimbabwe and other Southern
African countries argued that their relatively high populations of
elephant were a result of good management of renewable and economically
valuable resources. Programs such as CAMPFIRE illustrated the fact that
local people were now becoming involved in the successful management of
these valuable resources, because the economic benefits potentially
outweighed the crop damage, and threat to life and property posed by

such animals. These disadvantages could lead to a decrease in the

49
numbers of animals, if local people do not receive benefits. Therefore,
it was argued the ivory ban was a bad management strategy.

The argument hinges on three related assumptions; the one is that
involving local people in the economic benefits and management of
wildlife will tend to make the resource more sustainable. A concomitant
assumption is that local people will actively participate in decision-
making and benefits as they will become the proprietors of the resource.
They will do this despite the many jurisdictions and vested interests in
wildlife emanating from other levels such as CITES debates, DNPWLM
custodianship, district level appropriate authority and private sector
interest. A third and related assumption is that, economic benefits
targeted for local communities through district councils will actually
reach ”the local community", which as we will see in Chapoto ward, is
not as simple as it may appear, since there are a series of different
interests and political structures at the local (and other) level(s)
which are competing for these resources. Net all of the people in the
ward will necessarily benefit and some may actually have further
restraints imposed on their way of life.

Rationalizations like those above about sustainability being
brought about by economic benefits are rationalizations of planners and
administrators, ecologists, social scientists and wildlife planners -
the outsiders. Insiders have a series of other rationalizations about
wildlife, including the notion that some animals may be spiritual
beings, some may be useful in providing powerful herbs, some are merely
a menace to life and property, some are edible and some are not.

However, these values do not always concur with those of outsiders and

SO
neither do they necessarily concur with the values of other groups of
insiders.

Attitudes towards wildlife emanating from the top and the bottom
attest to this. Most local people see little or no aesthetic value in
large mammalian wildlife, especially crop-raiding animals which usually
attract tourists (e.g., elephants, buffalo, kudu).. Apart from the fact
that these are a source of meat, they are merely regarded by the
majority of people as a threat to their existence (Cutshall 1990).

Most outsiders think this form of wildlife is very valuable for a
wide range of reasons stretching from the economic to the aesthetic. An
important set of assumptions in the CAMPFIRE program is that those who
reap the economic benefits from this wildlife are more likely to be
positive towards wildlife in some way, and that this will foster a sense
of proprietorship for this resource.

Despite the inception of CAMPFIRE, during the research period,
wildlife in Chapoto ward was largely publicly regarded as a liability
with no benefits for those who compete with animals for a meager
sustenance. The hopes expressed for wildlife utilization in Zimbabwe,
however, emphasize that rural communities will be the ones who suffer
the most from the recent ban on the ivory trade.

At this admittedly early stage of the idea that wildlife
utilization might be conducted by rural communities on a sustainable
basis, in my research context in the years of 1989 and 1990 and the
first part of 1991, the locus of administrative and political control of
the resource and the effective control of the distribution of revenues

lay largely in the hands of outsiders. This has been the case for at

51
least the last one hundred years and probably for a lot longer before
that. However, political mileage has been accrued by claiming that
rural communities such as Chapoto are going to benefit from and control
their own resources.6 Despite the views maintained in the wildlife
lobby media which tend to reify the CAMPFIRE program, the record on the
ground in my research site was not as impressive as it sometimes appears
on paper.

The "wildlife lobby" includes what Murphree describes as
sentimental conservationists, safari operator interests and those who
believe that ecologically and economically wildlife is the most rational
of land use strategies in many marginal areas (Murphree 1988, 6). Only
one ward in Guruve district (Kanyurira) has at the time of writing had
any significant locally perceived benefit from wildlife resources. Yet,
part of the wildlife lobby argument for local participation in the
management of the resource is that this is a useful strategy in the
rhino war, where a daily tally is kept of "poachers" killed compared to

rhinos killed.7 W reports that

Zimbabwean conservationists favor the introduction of limited
sport hunting (of rhino) on several counts, of which the most
important is that of enabling rural communities to benefit from
rhino populations in their areas, and hence to provide a
significant incentive to abandon poaching or assisting foreign
poachers (March 1990, 17).

 

6ZANU(PF), for instance, endorsed the CAMPFIRE program in its 1990
manifesto. '

7In mid-July 1990 the ratio was "more than three poachers killed for
every rhino lost“ (Ine_§g;§;§, Harare, Wednesday July 18, 1990).

52

In the context of Chapoto ward this statement makes little sense
since during the bulk of the research period the majority of local
people did not participate in the deliberations on the wildlife resource
despite the hope of participation expressed by planners. The discourse
of conservationists, lobbyists and planners does not always mirror what
is going on at the local level at this stage of the program.

For some of the marginalized ex-foraging groups that I was
observing in Chapoto ward, "sustainability" often meant "where will we
obtain our next meal?" "Wildlife utilization" meant digging out worms
from the bark of a tree, collecting tubers and berries or to the more
courageous who could risk their own safety for the temporary relief of

their children's malnutrition, setting the dreaded snare.

\)l
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Figure 1: Map of Zimbabwe

Source: Herbst, J. 1990 State Politics in Zimbabwe.

University of Zimbabwe Press.

Harare:

 

     

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General:
Source: Western Dande [Department of the Surveyor

Harare:1978]

55

2mm .0:-
;L""Iln. ZAMBEZI mm.” '
‘ ~~ 0..L.~..-.lllllll‘;’ |

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1 inch = 5 kilometers

Figure 2b: Map of Local Scenes in Chapoto Ward

   

HOZAHBIOUB

633 22.55 ho 353.223 9: co chSSEG use 253 them 9.: ..o Ame—mg 3235.: m 959....
a... .. e
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57

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FIGURE 43. Photograph of VaDema "portable granary" (Chibande) made

from woven bark, and a clay pot inside a grass
enclosure ..........................................

 

FIGURE 4b: Close up of Masawo; an important edible fruit from the
bush

58

y r r

. .
(:1) mn- "

 

FIGURE Su: Photograph of spirit medium (in black hat) with cooking
oil outside chief' 5 store during a drought relief
distribution of maize. ....... ...................

 

FlGURB 5b: Photograph of a safari operator (left) with two Spanish
clients determined to hunt buffalo..................

59

 

FIGURE 63: Photograph of a well maintained homestead belonging to a
VaChiKunda cotton grower............................ '

 

FIGURE 6b: Photograph of a VaDema dwelling place, showing pyramid-
like chicken coup, in right foreground, and thorn-bush
fence (behind boy) to keep aninmls out................

60

 

FIGURE 7a: Photograph of a VaDema dimba on banks of Mwanzamtanda

r1ver.................................................

 

 

FIGURE 7b: Close-up of dimba cultivation showing round holes in which
maize is

grown.......................................

 

spiked deterrents for predators and thorns underneath.

\‘ . v.

   
    

l f ' \ ‘ . . ‘ » ‘~',"

   

' ' _. .‘~_~'.-o- ~ . '
Photograph o! u duxu. Raised sleeping platform for
guarding field at night. Note bark rope (mutende) which
is Liud to tin cans with stones inside them, to startle
bullulo, kudu, etc. at night.........

-.-....-......-

62

 

 

- — e , __._rv‘ ’ .
FIGURE 9a: Photograph of Mr. Samson Dumbo, u VaChiKunda rotton
grower, posing with gun ......................... ..

 

“up-—

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Photograph of the late Mr. Mtamawo (VaDema) with part of
hi». family. lh.» was .1 runown herbal specialist. hidden
.nmy from Lhu stale ................................

63

 

..‘4‘7

FIGURE 10a: Photograph showing how Mr. Bandera the blind man, on the
right with the white stick has a member of his family
(left) illu trate how bark rope tied to tins in the field
can startle animals. Thorn-bush in foreground keeps

aninwls and children away from Masawu tree............59

    

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FIGURE 10b: Photograph of a buffalo: the safari hunte

prize.................................

r's dangerous

CHAPTERII

AN INTRODUCTION TO CHAPOTO WARD - KHNYEHBA

Methodology

In Chapoto ward, as in many other areas of Zimbabwe, there is a
feeling that both the individual and the community are subject to the
whims of power and authority elsewhere. This has been the case for at
least a hundred years and probably a great deal longer. Today, despite
the democratic facade provided through the formal political organization
consisting of VIDCOs, WADCOs, and other committees, people feel
relatively powerless in the face of what is seen as monolithic and
whimsical officialdom. This, I believe, is not only true of government
departments, but also of NGO's and other outsiders who in general rely
on bureaucratic processes and formal procedures. These procedures are,
in my opinion, often seen as puzzling if not intimidating and they have
a momentum and significance which extend into the dim areas of the
unknown. This is important to realize in one's methodology, because it
may influence what research instruments one might use. What is
appropriate, formal questionnaires, open-ended conversations, direct
questioning, observation, etc.?

The central method used in the study was that of extended
observation.8 It is realized that "participant observation", the
corner stone of the anthropological method, can be a pretence on the

part of the observer. In the context of Chapoto ward, there were many

 

I am grateful to Professor Murphree for having clarified this issue. I
do not mean to attribute my choice of methodology solely to the
powerlessness of Chapoto ward. It is a disciplinary preference.

64

65
situations where the degree to which I was a participant is highly
questionable. I did not join in hacking at elephants carcasses for
meat, I did not set snares, I collected fruit and tubers, but not out of
hunger. I was not grossly intimidated by the safari operator's
personnel nor by the game scouts. I did not grow cotton, maize or other
crops, neither did I have access to a piece of land for cultivation. I
did not marry into the community, consult the spirit medium on a regular
basis, nor did I work for anyone there. I was the only person in the
community who had a vehicle. There were many activities in which I did
not or could not participate.

On the other hand, I certainly did participate in other
activities. At night, if woken by the sound of a buffalo grazing near
by, or if woken by the rhythmical drumming on tins of my neighbors, I
too would do as they did and tap lightly on my metal bucket. Amongst
other things, I participated in sleepless nights if my neighbors were
worried by leopards. I participated in the gossip and the daily run of
events. I attended meetings. I visited homesteads. I consulted the
spirit medium. I observed the distribution of meat from kills. I
walked the twenty-five kilometers from one end of the habitation to the
other frequently. I observed the wide range of activities and ways of
doing things that constitute a way-of-life, and I also walked with
people in the forest on collecting trips. I talked to people. In
short, I lived in the community, usually for a month at a time.
Sometimes I would go down for a shorter period of time (usually not less
than ten days) if, for instance, I went down to attend a meeting or to

meet someone. I might add, that I did not restrict my studies to the

66

ward itself and later in my research schedule I spent time meeting and
talking to people at the safari operators camp, the DNPWLM camps in the
protected areas, as well as following up leads and enquiries in Harare.

I lived in and visited the community from October 1989 to October
1990 as my initial data gathering exercise. This covered a full
agricultural season. During that time I spent approximately eight
months in the field. Later in 1991, I returned to the field on a number
of occasions to maintain contact with the ward. I employed three local
research assistants, two men and one woman who came from the area. My
wife and child were also very significant methodologically speaking.
People said it was quite clear that I was not a safari operator, as
safari operators do not bring their wives "on patrol". My research
assistants acted (amongst others) as key informants and I set them
various tasks. Initially, I simply walked with them all over the ward.
After discussing the range of issues that anthropologists are interested
in, and after they realized that I was a bgg§_§1gg researcher, we
developed good relationships over time. Concomitantly, we developed our
mutual interest and understanding of CAMPFIRE through exchange of ideas.
Having been employed as a Research Fellow in the Center for Applied
Social Sciences (CASS) at the university of Zimbabwe and having been
funded by the Ford Foundation and IDRC, I had a briefing to carry out
socio—economic research relevant to the CAMPFIRE program. This included
the monitoring, evaluation and facilitation of the program. The
dialogue with my research assistants gradually extended to the community
and, amongst other things, I was asked to speak at ward meetings on this

issue and was instrumental in bringing the Kanyurira wildlife committee

67

down to Chapoto to discuss these issues.9

In general, this made many
people inclined to be more open to me, though of course, one only shares
one's secrets with one's loyal friends and trusted relatives.

It was often pointed out to me by my research assistants, whenever
they conducted open-ended interviews on kinship, brideservice, household
decision-making etc., that the range of issues concerning hunting was a
secret and they themselves had had people terminate the conversation
when it went in that direction. Thus, it is important to understand
that the "secret" is not merely a secret kept from outsiders; it is also
a secret amongst trusted insiders to be kept from those who are not
loyal. To complicate matters, however, the "secret" has a public and a
private face. The public secret is that everyone knows that everyone
else is potentially hunting. The private secret is that, although
people may know I am a hunter, I will only share the meat and the
information with a select few. The secret protects me from having to
share with many people and the limited spread of information protects me
from being reported by my enemies or the indiscretions of drunkards or
the jealousies of my neighbors. By saying this I do not want to give
the impression that the residents of Chapoto ward engage on a grand

scale in illegal hunting, I certainly found very little evidence of

 

91 also was instrumental in arranging a meeting between the local safari
operator and the councillor of the ward and the secretary of the
wildlife committee. This was extraordinary as the safari Operator who
had flown down from Harare, refused to speak to the councillor or any
local people because he had expected the district administrator to be
present and he did not want to do any thing that might be seen as going
behind his back. This might be better understood if one considers that
the safari operator had handed over Z$168,000 to the district council
for 1989 hunting revenues. Uhder the CAMPFIRE arrangement, a big chunk
of this money should have been distributed at the ward level. Decisions
concerning its distribution should have been in the hands of the ward.

68

this. What I do mean to state is that such issues are highly sensitive.

A central methodological issue for me was the sensitive nature of
issues to do with wildlife. The resource was essentially alienated from
the local people and tight controls had been placed on illegal hunting.
Many people in the community had been harassed or arrested by the game
scouts patrolling the area or by the local safari operator's assistants
who policed the hunting concession area, part of which is Chapoto ward.
In addition, the only white men that the local people regularly saw in
Chapoto were the safari operators and their clients. As a result, I was
immediately cast in the role of safari operator's spy, wildlife
department's spy, expressed in the term Maggmnglo In this situation
it was very hazardous sometimes to ask even the most innocuous of
questions and it certainly was not a good idea to plunge into questions
about wildlife. My wife tried this on three occasions with women, after
I had been there for some time, enquiring what women thought about the
safari operator. The women ignored the question or just walked away.

Previous researchers from CASS (Nhira 1989; Cutshall 1990) had
carried out surveys in the area. These surveys were immensely helpful
to me and provided very useful, and largely, accurate information. I
later received quite a lot of feed back on them from local people.
People wanted to know what was behind our questions and what motivated
these researchers. They were not satisfied with the account given to
them. They felt powerless and worried that the information might be

used to arrest them. As a result, I was told that some of this

 

10My research assistants were also once accused by a drunk man of being
involved in the CIO (Central Intelligence Organization).

69

information was not accurate. Some people would make themselves scarce
when they knew that the researchers were approaching. Information
given, for instance, on the enumeration of livestock holdings would not
always reflect the truth as some people feared that the veterinary
services were going to confiscate their livestock for being diseased,
not being inoculated and other problems posed by officialdom. Others
feared that if they were truthful about the number of children they had
they might be arrested for not sending these children to school. In
general, inhabitants were not sure whether their life-style was lawful,
as the state prohibited stream bank cultivation, hunting, fishing with
nets and other activities. In the face of officialdom and the
apparently whimsical nature of powers up on the escarpment, an important
strategy used by many inhabdtants is to give inaccurate information
wherever possible, until such time as one is sure about the agenda of
the person concerned. Once this is established, then local responses
become colored with what they perceive as the agenda of the official or
visitor. Thus, though vaChiKunda would normally protest that they are
not vaDema, when evangelists from America arrived (briefly by plane)
with food and clothing for the impoverished VaDema, this ceased to be an
issue. A congregation of about seventy or more vaChikunda were
addressed in English as "you the Doma people." Only a handful was
actually’vaDema.

First impressions are powerful and a series of items that I had
led people to believe that I was associated with a safari operation. I
was told that the khaki hat that I wore was the same kind of hat that

safari operators used. Secondly, for those who could read English,

7O
unfortunately, the model of my vehicle was a Datsun "safari". Worst of
all, in my opinion, was that in the first week, ironically in order to
"fit" in, I wore two overhauls, one was colored blue which did not cause
a problem but the other was khaki. The color and the suit was similar
to the one worn by skinners and trackers in Zambezi Hunters, the local
safari operators. Given the sensitive nature of this enquiry, and the
set-backs associated with these first impressions, my personal style in
dealing with the situation was multi-stranded. In general, I played
down my interest in wildlife and seldom asked direct questions
concerning it. On the other hand, I emphasized my interest in
agriculture, collecting of fruits and tubers, religion, marriage,
brideservice, local politics, ancestral spirits, kinship, household
decision-making, history and "the way-of-life'. As these domains are
all permeated with wildlife issues, I was able to achieve many valuable
insights about wildlife issues in this manner.

To avoid the hazards involved in asking direct questions
concerning sensitive issues, such as illegal hunting, entry into
protected areas, collecting, etc., another method used was walking,
listening and watching with people. Walking with people I found was
very useful in that it provided a relatively neutral activity. A series
of other activities would often spontaneously co-occur; a conversation
would start on the nature of brideservice, animals might be seen, a
snare might be passed, or a cigarette lit with a traditional lighter.
Walking allows people to see you and for you to see them. People
walking together share thoughts, and may discuss or experience meanings,

codes, symbols, events or objects in the environment. This learning

71
process is the raw material of this study. Thus, the observation of a
wild fruit may lead one to discuss the difficulties of collecting in
protected areas, where anti-poaching units may threaten one's life.
This may lead on to a discussion on someone who has been arrested for
illegal entry into the Chewore safari area. .At some stage a direct
question might be hazarded but one would have to be extremely sensitive
in order not to damage the rapport. Thus, an object in the environment
leads one to a conscientizing political discussion, increasing awareness
of those involved in the conversation. Methods like this have been
explained more rigorously by Freire (1978), but I am not suggesting that
this should be the only approach used.

An important issue for discussion in the methodology is the nature
of the interactions which I had. .The bulk of people in the ward are
ChiKunda speakers and ChiShona is usually, but not always, a second
language (especially amongst men). Though I had studied ChiShona before
entering the field and had a grasp of it, I found that I could discuss
basics but could not converse in the depth that I would have liked to.
I, therefore, often used the interpretive skills of my ChiKunda research
assistants. However, sometimes people would insist on conversing with
me in the largely despised ChiLapalapa (a colonial language used for the
master servant relationship, in the kitchen, the mine, etc., but also
reportedly used between co-workers who mdght not share a common
language). Initially, when someone switched from ChiShona to this
language, I was faced with the dilemma of whether to continue in
ChiShona or to follow the initiative. When alone with an informant, I

found that this was easier than to do than in the presence of others.

72
This was because by using the language both of us could be opening
ourselves up to perceived ridicule and I, in particular, was concerned
not to be perceived in the role of "white boss" with which the language
is often associated. Again my approach to these dilemmas was multi-
stranded and I would use English, a poor version of ChiShona, and when
the context required, it ChiLapalapa. One important vaDema informant
approached me after seven months of fieldwork and asked me if I could
speak ChiLapalapa. He felt that we would be able to communicate better
with the use of this tool.

Though I have mentioned that extended periods of field research
have been carried out, I did not mention that three quite different
areas in the ward were used as sites for my research camp, where I lived
in a tent and wrote up my notes under a canvass awning (see Figure 2b).
The first site was near the chiefs place and I purposely lived next to
his messenger so that a watchful eye could be kept on me. The second
place was the new school site where the "democratic" forces embodied in
the VIDCOs and WADCOs usually assemble and where the ward meetings are
usually held. This site is symbolic of a small, but significant victory
over the chief's power, who had opposed the building of this school in
the geographical center of the ward. The chief wanted the school to be
built near the old school, which was near his homestead, but far away
from the bulk of habitation. The last camp that I established was near
the southernmost edge of habitation. It afforded easier access to a few
remote vaChiKunda and vaDema families living away from the bulk of
habitation and it provided very useful insights into how people live and

think when, for the most part, quite hidden away from the state.

73

Contrasting uses of different resources were observed including cotton
growing in the riverain belt, stream bank cultivation, foraging and
hunting. In this situation I lived under the protection and guidance of
a headman, with whose family I developed a good rapport.

My policy to safeguard informants and residents was not to include
their names when discussing sensitive issues. However, in cases where I
do not think that the informant needs to be protected, I have provided
full details. In general, both my research assistants and myself were
as candid as possible about the research. We explained, in as much
detail as necessary, what the purpose and uses of the research might be
and what its possible effects might be. As far as the ward as a whole
is concerned, I do not believe that there was organized illegal activity
on anything but a small subsistence hunting scale. As will become clear
from a reading of the dissertation, the authorities in charge of
enforcing game laws were aware of this long before I entered the field.
If anything, I hope this dissertation serves to show how
counterproductive some of the enforcement strategies were whilst

negotiations about the CAMPFIRE program were taking place.

Geographic Situation and Coununication Problems

Chapoto ward (which is also known as Kanyemba) is a 3002km area
situated along the northern border of Zimbabwe, where the Zambezi river
exits Zimbabwe and enters Mozambique to form Cabora Bassa Dam (see
Figure 2b). The ward is bounded on two sides by the international
borders of Zambia and Mozambique. Vehicle access to Chapoto ward is via

the gravel road down the Zambezi escarpment. The trip is six to seven

74

hours by four-wheel drive vehicle from Harare to Kanyemba, four of which
are on the dirt road. When descending from Guruve, the tar ends shortly
before making the descent into the valley and the gravel road that
traverses the valley floor is very badly corrugated in the dry season
and can be impassable in the wet season. When the road is not
impassable, the area is serviced by one or two buses a week, which
together with the police and District Development Fund (DDF) vehicles
are some of the few vehicles that use this road. The Zambezi river is
not used by Zimbabweans as a means of transport except by canoe safaris
that end in Kanyemba and by the police patrol speed boat. There is no
telephone service in the area; at the present time the only means of
direct communication is by radio. The nearest Zimbabwean center is at
Angwa Bridge, which is situated approximately seventy kilometers away.

The area between Kanyemba and Angwa Bridge is the unpopulated
Dande safari area. The Dande safari area is unusual in that it is one
of three safari areas in Zimbabwe which were formerly designated as
native Reserves. The Dande safari area was formerly part of, what is
now referred to as, the Dande Communal Area which includes Chapoto ward.
The area on the western side of the ward is the Chewore safari area.
Safari areas are protected areas for controlled consumptive use of
wildlife resources, mainly in the form of safari operations.
Historically, they have been administered by the DNPWLM and constitute
Part of its estate. Areas that were formerly part of the communal
areas, such as the Dande safari area, were designed (amongst other
things) to bring revenues back to the surrounding areas. Prior to the

attainment of "appropriate authority'I status by the district council,

'75
funds from these areas would end up in the central government treasury,
where the council could submit proposals for local development. After
attaining notice of "appropriate authority" status, these funds accrue
directly to council for disbursement to the wards. The council,
however, has to pay a nominal lease to the DNPWLM and wards have no
legal proprietorship of these areas. Therefore, ultimate control of
these areas remains at the center.

On the northern Zambian side of the river is the town of Luangwa
Boma. On the Mozambican side is the former provincial capital of Zumbo,
which is now in ruins. There are two air strips in the area, one of
which was used to land larger military aircraft during the liberation
war (1972-80); both are presently used for canoe safari planes. The
nearest petrol station is at Guruve, approximately five hours away by
vehicle. The area is spatially extremely remote from the economic and
political powers that exist on the escarpment.

One of the more significant extensions of the political and
economic power of the state is the Mid-Zambezi Rural Development Project
(MZP). The entire valley is being cleared of tsetse fly, and the area
between the Manyame and Muzengezi Rivers have been pegged out for
resettlement under the MZP. thhing on this scale is being attempted in
Chapoto ward as it is well outside the MZP area. However, as will be
shown in the body of the study, this project has influenced ward level
discussions about what should happen in Chapoto ward.

There are a number of issues that are perceived by outsiders as
possible dangers in visiting Kanyemba. Local people do not share these

fears to the same degree. The first perceived danger is the possibility

76
of contracting a chloroquine resistant strain of malaria said to be rife
in the area and to which visitors from the escarpment and elsewhere are
particularly prone. The second perceived danger is the possibility of
an attack by the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR) who attacked the
nearby Mozambican center of Zumbo in July of 1989. The third perceived
danger is the threat of attack by wild animals.

In the event of an emergency or vehicle breakdown, the remoteness
of the area and the poor condition of the road could mean extended
delays. In the rainy season there is the possibility that one could be
rained in for a month or more at a time. These concerns have a direct
bearing on the neglect of the area in terms of development.

Local people, however, have an additional set of fears. The Most
prevalent are, drought and malnutrition and crop-raiding activities of
wild animals. Generally, local people feel that their area is neglected
in terms of development, which they feel emanates from above, that is,
the escarpment. They feel that the road is bad, the health services
insufficient, and the bus service erratic and expensive. Local people's

perceptions of the area will be elaborated on in the text.

Ecological profile

In terms of the ecological argument why wildlife utilization is
appropriate in this area of the valley, four factors are the most
important. These are: climate, soils, the presence of tsetse fly, and

the presence of wildlife.

77
Climate

According to the Department of Meteorological Services, Kanyemba
falls into the temperature region "excessively hot" (Buchan 1989, 3).
According to Buchan, the mean maximum daily temperatures remain above 30
degrees centigrade throughout the latter part of the growing season,
inhibiting effective pollination of Zea Mays (1989, 3).

The mean annual rainfall figure for Kanyemba is 691mm. However,
as Buchan points out, rainfall is variable "one in four years being
below 510mm and one in four above 833mm" (1989, 1). Most of the rain
falls in the months of December, January, and February, though the main
rainy season starts in November and ends in March. Mean annual
evaporation in this area of the valley (Chirundu) is approximately

2004mm.

Soils and Land use

Chapoto ward is classified in Agritex land use classification as
class IV, where rainfall is considered too low for cash-cropping except
in very favorable areas. The best agricultural land in the ward is
along the alluvium terraces of the lower sections of the Mwanzamtanda
river (see Figure 2a). The remainder of the ward has very low potential
for agriculture, due to steeply dissected land with skeletal soils,
rolling to hilly terrain with stony soils, undulated and dissected land
with shallow soils and level to undulating terrain with fine grain sandy
soils (Anderson 1987). In summary, the agricultural potential of the
ward, except for the alluvium terraces is extremely low because of poor

soils low rainfall and high evaporation.

78
Tsetse Fly and Sleeping Sickness (TTYPanosomiasis)

The presence of large numbers of tsetse fly has meant that there
are veterinary restrictions on movement of cattle into the area.
Trypanosomiasis and the presence of large predators, such as lion and
leopard, restrict the viability of keeping cattle in the ward.12 This
has had an important effect on the cultural ecology influencing marriage
and settlement arrangements, in that brideservice has in the past been
an alternative to bridewealth transactions involving cattle. The lack
of draught power has influenced the nature and form of agricultural
production especially amongst the vaDema who, to my knowledge, have
never owned cattle. For example, VaDema fields are seldom stumped to
enable tractor ploughing. In recent years, tractors have been funded by
the World Vision organization. Yet, these service a minority of the
total households (Cutshall 1989, 26).

A veterinary fence exists approximately thirty kilometers from the
southern boundary of the ward. This is to prevent additional wildlife
moving into areas which have been or are being cleared of tsetse fly and
which are currently inhabited by cattle. According to Buchan, the
planned eradication of tsetse fly in the ward, which is part of a larger
tsetse eradication campaign throughout the Zambezi valley, is not likely
to occur before 1993 (1989, 19). Given the large populations of
wildlife in the ward and its neighboring safari areas and national

parks, this may be an optimistic assessment. If this occurs, it would

 

12According to elders, cattle were kept in Kanyemba in the early
part of this century, but as game and tsetse fly populations increased
in the protected safari areas, it became more and more difficult to keep
them alive.

79

enable people in the ward to have cattle. As Chief Chapoto said to me
when I first entered the field and asked him about possibilities for
future development: "We want a fence around the whole ward. We want to
kill all the wild animals, wipe out tsetse fly, so that we can keep
cattle. Our fields will be safe and we will have cattle to plough."

Tsetse flies have, in one sense, protected game in the competition
with cattle production. Historically, the presence of tsetse fly has
often led to the decimation of game in large quantities, since game are
the host animals for the tsetse fly. Decimating host animals was used
as a strategy for controlling tsetse fly in those areas where the early
white settler ranches were established (Masons 1987, 53). Chief
Chapoto's aspirations do not differ substantially from the early white
settlers. They started ranches in tsetse infested areas, decimating the
wildlife which it is now argued can have higher yields and is more
ecologically suited to ecological regions with low rainfall and poor

soils, such as much of the Zambezi valley.

The Wildlife Resource

Historically, it is reported that, towards the latter part of the
nineteenth century, large numbers of elephant in the area facilitated
the Portuguese ivory trade (Buchan 1989, 17). Local accounts verify
this. However, the resource was reportedly over exploited and prior to
the 1920's there were few elephants in the area (ibid, 17).

Considerable seasonal variation currently exists in both the
numbers and diversity of animals in the ward. Mobility of animals may

be affected by a number of factors, but the most significant ones for

80
Chapoto ward appear to be movement in search of water and food, and
movement away from poaching activities in neighboring war-torn
Mozambique.

Two aerial surveys done in 1988 and 1989 indicated estimated
numbers and densities of large herbivores in Chapoto ward. In 1988, it
was estimated that there were 198 elephant, 1250 buffalo, 13 rhino and
123 sable. In 1989 it was estimated that there were 85 elephant, 225
buffalo, 64 impala and 21 greysbok. No detailed assessments of the
smaller game were done in the area.

Annual quotas of animals are set by DNPWLM for the hunting
concession area and Chapoto ward forms 19 percent of the total
concession area. In 1989 twenty-eight animals were shot in the ward
which included: 2 elephant, 1 lion, 5 buffalo, 1 kudu, 4 bushbuck, 1
klipspringer, 6 impala, 1 duiker, 4 hippo and 3 crocodiles. Local
people could name at least thirty different species of large wild animal
regularly present and this should give the reader an idea of both the
diversity and number of animals whose presence fluctuates within the
ward. The most significant animals, in terms of safari hunting, during
my presence in the ward were buffalo, elephant and hippo.

Chapoto Ward appears to be ideally situated for an alternative
land use strategy based on wildlife use. This is supported by the
presence of relatively large numbers of wildlife and its unique, remote
situation wedged between two safari areas and a large tract of
wilderness area in Mozambique, cut off from the rest of the country by
Cabora Bassa Dam. This study argues that this potential is dependent on

cultural and political dynamics. We, therefore, now turn to the people

31

who could use this potential.

Ethnicity and Origins

In Chapoto ward there are currently at least three broad
constellations of ethnic identity: VaChiKunda, vaDema and KoreKore.
People also have combined identities which they use situationally. Thus
ethnic affiliation is made more complex by the instance of some people
simultaneously claiming to be vaChiKunda/Korexore or vaDema/KoreKore.
During the bulk of the research period, there were two main
constellations of identity centering on the vaDema and vaChiXunda.
Towards the end of the research period a new group of KoreKore migrated
into the ward. Each of the three groups mentioned can be identified in
terms of a set of significant ancestors, the royal ancestral spirits
(thQQQEQ-See below), but there is considerable ambiguity and overlap in
these constellations.

The majority of people in the ward are vaChiKunda, which means
conquerors. They descendants of a slave army loyal to Kanyemba, an
indigenous war lord under the tutelage of the Portuguese towards the end
of the last century. Kanyemba was a pragg (plantation or farm) holder
and his Portuguese name was Jose do Rosario Andrade. According to
Beach, by 1884 his family took all the territory from the Musengezi
river to the present position of Chapoto ward, west of Zumbo (1980,
153). vaChixunda regard themselves as owners of the land through their
founding ancestor's military exploits. According to both oral and
written records, vaChiKunda displaced both the raiding Ndebele, who came

as far as Zumbo, and the former inhabitants (KoreKore and Vasoli) from

82
the vicinity of the Zambezi river (Beach 1980; Isaacman 1976).
Kanyemba's sphere of influence along the Zambezi stretched as far as the
Sanyati river (near Lake Kariba).

The vasoli and KoreKore were affected by a series of upheavals
towards the end of the last century, including raids by the Ndebele from
the South, the vaChiKunda\Portuguese from the east and local wars. The
Mutapa State, which had resisted the Portuguese and their vaChiKunda
armies before, finally relented with the ascendancy of Portuguese power
in the late nineteenth century. These upheavals affected movements of
the older autochthonous groups (Lan 1985). According to oral tradition,
they fled across the Zambezi into what is now Zambia in the course of
the.upheavals (e.g., Chief Mburume). The vaChiKunda, who speak
Chikunda, are a linguistic and cultural assemblage of many river basin
groups with origins in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe (Ntsenga, Tanda,
Tserere, KoreKore amongst others), brought together as slaves and
warriors to defend the Portuguese pggggg.

A second major grouping in the ward is the ChiShona-speaking
vaDema, also variously referred to as the Doma, vaDema and Deme
(Mozambican usage) and more correctly referred to by their mgtgpg or
totem mung; (water\rain).12 This group now regard themselves as

basically an offshoot from the main KoreKore grouping under the ancestor

 

12Among ChiShona speakers, totems or clan names are inherited from
the father and are usually names of animals or parts of the body.
Normatively, people are forbidden from eating their totem animal and it
is also regarded as incest to have sexual relations or marry someone
with the same totem. In the case of the Mvura, in the past, it was
usual to marry within the totem. In the text I refer to the Mvura as
VaDema in order to be consistent with other scholars (Nhira 1989,
Cutshall 1990).

83

N'yamapfeka,13

although informants say they originally came from Songo
near Cabora Bassa. Many of them do not like to be referred to as vaDema
or Doma, but prefer to identify themselves with the KoreKore. Their
origin may be Vanyai (low status dependent men/messengers-see Lancaster
1974b, 77) brought into the area by Hyamapfeka, the KoreKore chief, or
his descendants in the later part of the Mutapa state. At the time of
the fall of the Mutapa state (1868-84), it was defended by dependent
young men from minor lineages who, because the Zambezi valley was
inhospitable in terms of making a livelihood, were forced to become
dependents, bondsmen or even slaves of the wealthier (Beach 1980, 150 a
151). These 2:323; "drew their status from their mothers rather than
their relatively lowly fathers," because through marriage women could be
absorbed into the economy, but not men (ibid, 151). Such men would only
serve as Eggygi until they were able to marry, after which time they
were also absorbed as low status dependent families. Beach claims it is
difficult to understand why these vanyai did not break away from the
state like the vaChiKunda or why they did not become independent
cohesive communities. He claims that this may be because the valley
lowlands were so poor that the vanyai were not able to subsist on what
they hunted or raided and, therefore, remained dependent on their parent

communities. During this period of upheaval, it is likely that the

 

13The Hyamapfeka dynasty has a tradition of descent from the
mainstream Mwenemutapa dynasty under Mutota, its founder. This ChiShona
speaking state existed from the 15th Century to early 20th century.
Wyamapfeka was of the figgg;§amapy§nga (elephant-keepers of the tusk)
totem; the ultimate rulers of the state. According to Beach, Hyamapfeka
is seen as a descendant of Mutota's daughter who stole magical powers
from his mother's brother in order to conquer the Angwa river area
(1980, 67). That is, there were associated lineages such as
Hyamapfeka's which became incorporated in the Mutapa state.

84
hilly remote areas, with their gullies full of luxuriant growth, in and
around the western part of Dande (including Chapoto ward and the Chewore
safari area) afforded dependent men of the Nyamapfeka lineage an
opportunity to conduct a relatively, isolated, protected and independent
existence based on foraging. This mode of existence, amongst other
strategies, persisted throughout the colonial period and the ensuing war
for liberation, until the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980.

These vaDema have historically and mythically been set apart from
other ChiShona speaking people by adopting a nomadic and reclusive
existence, which allowed them to resist the influence of the Mutapa
state, the vaChiKunda/Portuguese invasion and the colonial state. Today
they are geographically and culturally in closer proximity, but marked
differences in life-style between them and other Zambezi valley dwellers
exist. The option for them to continue living in the post colonial
state, as they did in the past, clashes powerfully with the increased
vigilance of the protected wildlife areas (their former home) by
militarized custodians of wildlife (who themselves are under threat from
organized international poaching operations). Ironically, in my view,
vaDema hunters and foragers could play an important role in providing
information about poachers, if they were given access to the protected
areas for limited use themselves.

The vaDema trace their descent from Hyamapfeka's daughter, (i.e.,
they are an appendage to a significant and powerful patrilineage rather
than being a significant powerful patrilineage themselves). Chiguhwa,
also known as Semwa, and her second husband Chimhako (her first husband

was Chimombe) are regarded as their royal ancestral spirits (mggngggg).

85
They possess spirit mediums (svikirg) who reside outside the ward among
the other grouping of VaDema under Chief Chisunga (KoreKore). Chimhako
is reputed to have been the vaDema chief, but informants claimed that
this institution no longer existed when colonial authorities were
conferring chieftaincies on local people.

Chiguwha is said to have been a very beautiful daughter of
Wyamapfeka who won the heart of Chimombe (Chief of the VaSoli, renowned
magician and rain maker), also known to this day as the iron god and
sender of the rain. She beguiled him into marrying her and killed him
for the sake of her father, who was his rival. Torrents of blood ensued
from the murder and drained into and formed the Musikoti river (a
tributary of the Chewore). Chimombe’s body floated down the Chewore
river and up another tributary where he disappeared. In his place was
found the iron God, a figure of iron (mounted on ivory) which, according
to informants, is reputed to have one eye, one leg and one arm.
Chimombe, also known as the iron god, is the most important rain-making
ancestor in the area.

Chiguwha was banished for this crime and went to live in the east
(i.e., in the direction from which the vaDema are said to come) and it
was said that she and her descendants would not be allowed to marry.
vaDema report that they regard Chimombe as an extremely important
mhgnggrg and currently still prepare ceremonial salt destined for him
via the less exalted spirits as a plea for rain. Lan provides a
thorough analysis of this myth in the context of the KoreKore migration
into the valley in search of salt and their symbolic negotiations with

the autochthonous inhabitants (such as Chimombe) for control of rain

86
through spirit mediums (Lan 1985). Depending on the political currents
of the day (i.e., the degree of authority of local spirit mediums), the
KoreKore will either claim rain making powers for themselves, or will
defer to the mediums of the original inhabitants. In a similar way, the
vaChiKunda who arrived in the area long after the KoreKore, currently
appeal for rain by making offerings of salt and beads via the spirit
mediums of the Korexore (Nyamapfeka, Chikwamba) and the vaDema
(Chiguhwa, Chimhako), who in turn appeal to Chimombe, autochthon and
rain-maker.

If we are to believe Lan's analysis that conquerors defer to the
rain-making powers of the original inhabitants, this in itself is good
evidence that the vaDema preceded the vaChiKunda into this area.
Versions of oral history that imply they were brought here from Chicoa
(Mozambique) by Kanyemba as slaves (see Mombeshore 1987; Nhira 1989;
Cutshall 1990) may not be the whole truth. However, some of the
dependent families, descendants of those who were with Nyamapfeka, may
at one time have been attached to the vaChiKunda conquerors and in the
course of the upheavals, returned to their nomadic way of life. The
headman of the VaDema, for instance, talks about a time when Chief
Mburume made war on Chief Mpuka (both currently in Zambia). Kanyemba
was drawn into the war and the vaDema fled into the hills to avoid the
upheaval. As Nhira (1989) and Cutshall (1990) have pointed out, there
is an ambiguity about the exact origins of the vaDema, but my research
supports the version that they are descendants of a low status lineage,
connected to the many lineages associated with the latter days of the

Mutapa's and the ensuing and subsequent upheavals prompted them to adopt

87
a nomadic way of life.

Little has been written about the VaDema people. There lives and
life-styles have been shrouded in mystery, racist mythology and other
misconceptions. Falsely referred to as the two-toed tribe of Africa,
they have also frequently been referred to as pursuing a hunter-
gathering existence. This is an inaccurate assessment of their life-
styles, both now and in the past. According to local informants,
shifting cultivation has always been an important mode of production.
However, as Nhira (1989) points out, the term vaDema designates a way of
life more than just an ethnic differentiation. Perhaps we should say it
designates a former way of life marked by nomadism, foraging, storing of
cultivated grains to see them through the planting season, reliance on
the forest for the rest of the year, and lack of modern technological
input. Lan implies that they adopted this life-style in response or
resistance to both the Mutapa and the Rhodesian state. Local informants
mention the upheavals discussed earlier as a reason, but it is also, in
my view, a response to environmental conditions (availability of fruits,
tubers and small game in.remote hilly terrain) in this remote part of
the valley.

Many vaDema informants were unwilling or unable to specify how

14 and many

their ancestral spirits were related to each other
informants claimed that their most significant royal ancestral spirits
were now those of the VaChiKunda (i.e., Kanyemba and his brothers).

They claimed this was so because they were presently living in

 

14This tendency of not being able to elaborate on one's ancestry
is, according to Lan (1985), not uncommon amongst low status lineages in
the Zambezi valley.

88
Kanyemba's area and therefore dependent on him for bountiful resources.
There is, however, no ambiguity about vaDema claiming descent from
Chiguhwa, identifying themselves more closely with the KoreKore than the
vaChiKunda.

The little that has been written about vaDema describes them
accurately as shy and retiring (Mtamayi 1959; Bullock 1930). In these
earlier accounts, frequently, the difficulty of making contact with
people from these groups is described and their lives are shrouded in
considerable mystery. This seems to be a result of their reputed
uncanny bush craft abilities, their semi-foraging way of life, and their
knowledge of plants and herbs for medicinal, food and supernatural
purposes. The myth of two-toedness adds to this otherness. Hughes
claimed, in his notes on Chewore history (undated report for DNPWLM),
that the vaDema were by far the most mysterious group living in the
area.

According to Cutshall, who enumerated household ethnic
affiliations in the ward, 70.9 percent of households claimed to be
vaChiKunda, only 14.1 percent claimed to be vaDema, 10.3 claimed to be
KoreKore and 4.7 claimed to be other (1990, 11). At the time of
Cutshall and Nhira's study, and for the first eleven months of my
research period, I think one could argue that there were two main
constellations of ethnic identity gravitating towards the vaChiKunda and
vaDema poles. However, in August 1990, a new segment (about 15
households) of the KoreKore population moved away from Chief Chisunga
(Angwa Bridge area). They claim to have formerly come from within the

Chewore safari area and wanted to be closer to their former home. They

89
followed the lead of their spirit medium, Chikwamba, and have settled
next to the vaDema. However, though they recognize the VaDema as
relatives, they state that they are different from them, both in life-
style and in background. Indeed they seem to have more in common with
vaChiKunda, in the sense that they are more involved in the cash economy
and the broader political and economic dispensation. This reinforces
their ethnic identity arising from their former semi-foraging way of
life, which is perceived as having a low status. It is only since the
end of the liberation war in 1980 that many vaDema have partially
settled down within the ward. Before this time, they were living
isolated and non-sedentary lives in the hills of the Chewore safari
Area. Both the vaDema and the VaChiKunda constitute small minorities in

the broader political economy of Zimbabwe.

Political History Profile
The Political Past in the Spiritual present: Kanyenba the War Lord
Since the majority of people in the ward are vaChiXunda (at least
two thirds) and the chief, councillor and senior local officials are all
VaChiKunda, they are likely to lead the CAMPFIRE program, if it should
develop in this ward. It is, therefore, appropriate that I should spend
some time in emphasizing and describing their history and spirit world
in describing Chapoto Ward. The installation of the spirit medium.of
Kanyemba took place shortly before I entered the field and this is an
important political, religious and potentially ecologically significant
event which will be returned to in later chapters. The installation of

Kanyemba, was preceded by the death of the spirit medium of Chihumbe

90
(his brother), after being gored by a buffalo. This incident will also
be returned to.

In analyzing the ancestral and territorial cults which are found
in Southern Africa, we look at the past in order to understand the
present. The present can perhaps only be understood by contextualizing
and recreating the discourse concerning the past. Likewise, the past is
understood or embellished by looking at the present. There is a
politically and ecologically important dialogue going on between the
past and the present. This dialogue is centered in the belief in
ancestral spirits. -Schoffeleers (1979) refers to the ancestors as the
guardians of the land. Through death good people become spirits
(muggimg) who know the future and can cure bad things that happen. Bad
people can not become mugzimg (ancestral spirits), either because they
are witches or because they have no descendants who can act as their
mediums. Conventionally, chiefs in this world are the designated
controllers of the land and its people through their ancestors and when
they die they in turn become royal ancestors (mhggggzg - ChiShona).
sometimes referred to as phgnggrg (ChiKunda). These ancestors are the
owners of the land and the ecology in a specific spirit province
(Garbett 1963) whose boundaries are defined by the mhgngp;9.- In
conjunction with the spirits of their neighbors, they can control rain,
fertility of the soil, pests, crop-raiding animals and the abundance of
fruit and other resources in the forest (e.g., honey). They speak to
their descendants through the offices of a spirit medium, who himself or
herself is usually not related in any way to the lineage of the chief or

to the spirit in possession. Furthermore, the spirit medium is often a

91
stranger geographically. In order to understand the dialogue between
the past and the present in Chapoto ward, we need to begin with the
influential historical figure of Kanyemba who now exerts influence
through the spirit world. This dialogue is important in understanding
the relations between people and their natural resources and it is
therefore also central to CAMPFIRE.

Isaacman (1976) explains that during the scramble for Africa, when
Europeans were drawing up boundaries and cutting up territories, it was
pointed out to the Portuguese that in order to claim Mozambique as their
territory they needed to demonstrate that they were in control of it.
Though they had a presence there since the fifteenth century, the prazo
system15 had taken on a momentum of its own and was no longer
accountable to Lisbon, except in name. This was partly because in some
areas, the vaChiKunda war lords with their slave armies who originally
were formed to protect the prazos from outside aggression, were
basically in control.16 They themselves had often taken over the role
of pgggzggg (entrepreneur/manager), which had formerly been in the hands
of individual Portuguese or their sons, through marriage/cohabitation
with the indigenous women. Towards the end of the last century, a
number of semi-independent secondary states existed in Mozambique some
under the control of vaChiKunda war lords. The most westerly of these

states along the Zambezi river was under the leadership of Kanyemba and

 

15The prazo or farm/plantation was both an administrative,
political and economic unit.

16Isaacman argues that this was a form of pre-nationalist
liberation movement.

92
was named after him. According to Isaacman, the Portuguese conferred
the rank of sergeant on Kanyemba in the hope of bringing his activities
under their tutelage and thereby extending their influence.

It is said, that his badge of office or other medals are kept in
the angemarg (shrine of the royal ancestral spirits [mhgnggrgl in
Chapoto ward) and establishing there whereabouts is one of the tests
which the incumbent spirit medium had to complete in order to be
verified as "Kanyemba". Of interest, is the fact that the correct way
to address Kanyemba in the penggmagg is 'Bon Dias Signore", because, as
several informants pointed out, "Kanyemba and his family are like white
men."

In 1877, Selous the hunter and explorer, described the
VaChiKunda’s as ”freed slaves or runaway slaves of the Portuguese-most
of whom possessed flint muskets and owed allegiance to Kanyemba, a black
man who held some official position under the Portuguese" (Hughes
undated). Selous describes a visit to Senhor Joaquim Mendonca,17 a
Portuguese trader who had a large house, a flagstaff flying the
Portuguese flag, many outbuildings and a large village occupied by
dependents. During his visit, Kanyemba paid a visit "in full dress with
a large cavalry sword" (Hughes undated). Selous described him thus:

...a full blooded black man [and] came originally from the

Zambezi, somewhere, I believe in the district of Tete (western

Mozambique); he has a great deal of power in these parts, having a

great number of men all armed with flint lock muskets, over whom
he seemed to exercise the most despotic power. From that Mendonca

 

170f interest to me was the incidence of historical Portuguese
names, often distorted through time, which the present vaChiKunda
population bear. For instance, the father of the chairman of the
wildlife committee was named Mindoka, which I assume to be derived from
the name mentioned in Selous' account.

93

told me, he seems to be constantly making raids upon any people in

the neighborhood of the Zambezi who have anything to be taken.

Kanyemba, on his island of that name, had a large barrack—looking

house and at the back, and enclosed with a high palisade, were

residence of the members of his harem, who to judge from the size
of the enclosed space must have been pretty numerous (Hughes
undated).

It is usual for the present spirit medium (a woman), when
possessed by Kanyemba, to adopt a chastising and domineering manner in
line with these historical notes. It is also remarkable that one of my
research assistants, whose great grandfather had been a personal slave
of Kanyemba and who it is said used to shave his hair, was immediately
recognized as such on a first visit to the shrine and ordered to salute.

It would be incorrect to imply that ancestral spirits bear all the
same qualities that they had when they were alive. It is true, that
Kanyemba is remembered as the historical figure of a war lord, but his
role as a spirit goes a long way beyond this. Primarily, he looks after
his children, his descendants and all those who live within his spirit
province or realm. Like a parent, he can withdraw his support if his
rules are not obeyed. These rules are not static, they change in
response to the changing ecological, political, economic and cultural
situation.

The institution of spirit mediums among the Shona is of political
significance. The spirit medium speaking with the voice of the royal
ancestor, may on the death of a chief identify and authorize the "true"
chief from the contesting houses, usually made up from the descendants
of brothers. However, among the vaChiKunda of Chapoto ward, spirit

mediums appear not to have played a significant role in legitimizing

chiefs, instead the state has historically adopted this role. See the

94
genealogy, Figure 3 and the account that follows it for evidence of

this.

Contesting the Chieftainship: The Historical Construction of Chiefly
Power and.Authority

The institution of Chief, is a central one for understanding why
the entity of Chapoto ward exists at all. Early in the twentieth
century, through the inception of colonial indirect rule policies, a
chieftainship was established in this border area. This is not to say
that Kanyemba and his brothers did not come from a chiefly family, but
rather that the confirmation and recognition of a chieftainship of a
defined area, as part of a broader British colonial dispensation
involving district commissioners, was part of the process of subjugation
to the colonial state. Likewise, the arbitrary identification of
international boundaries bordering the ward was due to political and
economic factors emanating largely from Europe, rather than from the
local scene. However, the local scene responded to these political and
economic forces with an interesting dynamic. Kanyemba, the war lord who
had been co-opted/used by the Portuguese for purposes of their
expansion, was not appointed chief.

Versions of oral tradition support the idea that the chieftainship
had been "usurped" by the sons of Chihumbe (see Figure 3). At the turn
of the century, during the demise of the Mutapa influence, the rise of
Portuguese expansion, and the advent of colonial rule through the
British South Africa Company, Kanyemba realized that valuable resources,
particularly ivory, were available in the mid-Zambezi area. As he had

armed soldiers loyal to him, he decided to co-operate with his father

9S

Chaufombo, chief of the VaTanda, in plundering the area. He and his two
brothers, Chihumbe and Nyanderu, with the help of his lieutenant
Chikohwa, succeeded in expanding their area of influence as far as the
Sanyati river. A consequence of driving out the Ndebele, according to
oral tradition, was that the local KoreKore would hand over control and
ownership of the land to Kanyemba. As a result of these expansions, he
set up various forts along the Zambezi and built his base near the
junction of the Mwanzamtanda and Luangwa rivers, at the western end of
the present Cabora Bassa dam. By the time British colonial rule
extended its influence into this part of the world, Kanyemba was quite
old. His nephew, Chihumbe's son, had warned him that the white man was
after him and would punish him for his military activities in the area.
Kanyemba temporarily fled back to Mozambique but promised to return. In
his absence, the British colonial authorities implemented indirect rule
by appointing Chapoto no. 1, his nephew, as chief. Chapoto claimed
right to this position in a pretence to safeguard Kanyemba from their
enquiries as to his whereabouts. When Kanyemba returned, he was upset
by the trick played on him by his brother's (Chihumbe) son. He
protested, but he could not regain the chieftainship, as it had already
been conferred, together with pith helmet, walking stick and chain, by
the ceremonious and expeditious hand of British colonial power.
However, the authorities did claim that in future generations this fault
could be rectified and the chieftainship could move back to the house of
Kanyemba.

The district commissioner's delineation report for Chapoto ward

(1965) boldly states that at the time that the present chief (Chapoto

96
no. 3) assumed power, there were no other individual contenders for the
position. As informants pointed out, it also assumed that the
chieftainship should stay within the house of the sons of Chihumbe
rather than being circulated to the sons of his brothers (Kanyemba and
Nyanderu). As a colonial document, prepared by the district
commissioner's offices who were interested in maintaining indirect rule,
it conferred authority on the present chief and described him as
benevolent dictator, shrewd but guided by the best interests of his
people. The later view is not unanimously held by informants recounting
what occurred in the colonial past, in fact, it is alleged by some that
the chief was exploitative, even tyrannical. Despite these allegations,
the chief still has a considerable influence over current events, though
these powers have decreased since independence.

The pageant of the past, and the contending houses, play an on-
going role in present local politics over the distribution of scarce
resources and the waning of the present chief's power18 in competition
with the more modern VIDCO and WADCO processes. Shortly before I
entered the field, two previous ward councilors had come to logger-heads
with the chief over development issues. Both of these councilors
claimed descent from the house of Kanyemba.

Symbolic of the decline of the chief's power is the sitting of the
new school. Contrary to his wishes, it was not built at his home
(conveniently near his store), situated in the northernmost area of

habitation, which would have been an extremely long walk for school

18The present chief is in his eighties, and has held office for
'almost fifty years.

97
children living in the most southern area of habitation. Instead it was
built half-way between these two extremes, in the most densely populated
area, which happened also to be the area where the core descendants of
Kanyemba are located. The councillor responsible for arguing for the
"new site", however, decided to move out of the ward soon after this
"progressive" victory over chiefly power.

Other councilors and senior party members have accused the chief
of being anti-development. Sometimes in the course of inspiring his
wrath, it is rumored that they have fallen prey to his alleged herbal
and psychical powers resulting in impotence, crippling of the legs, eye
problems and other misfortunes. These powers, particularly those
acquired from herbs, are said to have originated from the chief's
travels to Malawi.

In general, those who support the chief and/or benefit from his
power and authority usually live near him. It is interesting that the
present councillor, a relatively young man in his early twenties, lives
near to the chief and is related to him. However, like the previous
councillor, he has come into conflict with the chief over the sitting of
the new school and the fate of the old school, which it has been
suggested should be torn down and rebuilt at the site of the new school.
Also of interest is the conflict over the renaming of the schools. The
Ministry of Education recommended that schools should not bear the names
of individuals in the community as their descendants would regard them
as their property (e.g., Chapoto school is the current name of the
school, Kanyemba school is also held to be unacceptable for these

reasons). These issues are symptomatic of the conflicting interests

98
between competing lines of descent between factions of the so-called
"traditional"19 authorities. The conflict is further compounded by
the newly introduced "democratic" structures of the VIDCOs. This
complex politico-religious relationship between chief, contending
houses, spirit medium, WADCO and people is further complicated in
Chapoto ward by ethnic and religious differentiation (not everyone
publicly honors the ancestors). It is also complicated by competing
land use strategies, which further fragments cohesive tendencies. All
these factors will be considered in the chapters that follow, as they
have direct bearing on the potential for identifying common property
regimes, as envisaged by CAMPFIRE. As argued throughout the
dissertation, these cultural, historical and political factors help us

to understand the multiple jurisdictions involved in resource use.

 

191 place both "traditional" and "democratic" in inverted commas to
indicate that these are glosses or labels attached to a range of
meanings. They can refer to widely different situations and are
hackneyed terms.

CHAPTER III

AGRICULTURE AND FORMING IN WHICH WITH WILDLIFE

Brideservice and Settlement Patterns

Agriculture and foraging practices compete with wildlife in many
ways. vested interests, in particular land use strategies, are
reflected in the way people use resources. Their rights to and
jurisdiction over these resources are enveloped in their social
organization and culturally defined ways of making their livelihood. In
this chapter, brideservice and settlement patterns are shown to reflect
the pervasiveness of this competition, in what might appear to be,
unrelated social factors. Also, population characteristics, in terms of
the dynamics and principles of household and cluster organization and
distribution, are shown to be important for the analysis of wildlife
resource use since it places such mechanisms as, community projects and
the distribution of household dividends, proposed by CAMPFIRE, in the
local context.

The population of the ward was enumerated at 1290 residents in 213
ward households (Cutshall 1990, 3). Since then, approximately a hundred
and fifty new residents, or fifteen new households (Korexore), have
moved into the ward from Chief Chisunga's ward. Following the lead of
their spirit medium, Chikwamba and in consultation with the spirit
medium of Kanyemba and the local councillor, they have settled as of
August 1990 on the western bank of the Mwanzamtanda river.

The population in the ward does fluctuate as people move to and

from the ward. There is also considerable movement of households and

99

100
household clusters within all segments of the community. This has
obvious implications in terms of setting up the possible CAMPFIRE
"wildlife resource area". As will be shown below, the distribution of
the population is indirectly an outcome of the presence of wildlife in
the ward.

People regularly move place of residence, both seasonally and
semi-permanently, to protect existing or new fields from wildlife, to
establish new fields (munga) or to protect dry season river bank
cultivation (dimbgl from wildlife, to pursue hunting and gathering
activities and to move away from or closer to the changing river course.
Throughout the ward is abundant evidence of abandoned household sites.
A look at previous maps of the area underlines the fact that people have
moved in the past and continue to do so in the present. Contingency
appears to determine frequency and distance of major household moves as
opposed to seasonal movement associated with protecting fields and
gardens from wildlife. At least three major factors have influenced
moves involving large portions of the community in the last twenty-five
years.

A.major move of the population occurred because of the guerrilla
war (1972-80). People moved away from the Zambezi River, where cross
border incursions were taking place, and settled up stream on the
alluvium deposits of the Mwanzamtanda dry river bed. Towards the end of
the war, most of the population were relocated in "protected villages”
in Mashumbi Pools. The vaDema were not relocated instead, they

retreated into the hills, conducting both foraging and cultivation.

101

In the course of these upheavals, many VaChiKunda people moved
from the western bank to the eastern bank in order to be closer to the
school, the clinic, the bus route and to exploit the available
cultivable land on that side. Latterly (1988), the Mwanzamtanda river
has flooded its banks and this has resulted in people moving to high
ground, close to the bus route and the school, which is currently the
center of many ward activities.

The bulk of the population currently live on the rich alluvium
soils on either bank of the Mwanzamtanda river, where they compete with
wildlife to harvest their crops. The majority of the population, an
estimated 900 (mainly VaChiKunda), live on the eastern bank, while
approximately 400-500 people (mainly VaDema), live on the western bank.
Though Nhira (1989) and Cutshall (1990) identified ten discrete
residential clusters, it may be helpful to stress that these clusters
are neither permanent, static nor monolithic. Some of the ten clusters
referred to by the above authors, in my opinion, might be better thought
of as constellations of clusters.

A cluster may be usefully defined in terms of a smaller grouping,
based on stated kin and friendship relationships. For the vaDema, the
VaChiKunda and the KoreKore, the cluster usually centers on a group of
brothers and/or brothers-in-law, or more important, males who together,
with selected affinal and consanguineal kin and trusted friends, live
loosely in the same area and exploit the resources to make a livelihood.
Constellations of clusters may break up and fuse with each other in a
relatively short period of time, but clusters themselves tend to move

with each other.

102
The smallest unit in the cluster can probably be referred to as a
household (see discussion on problems in defining household in this

chapter). Typically, a group of brothers and one or two brothers-in-law

may live in the same area exploiting contiguous gimp; (river-gig;
gaggeggl and mugg§_1§;§;g§1 plots and/or foraging, but they will each

have their own homestead, as will their parents and their married sons
and daughters.

Knowledge of marriage arrangements is crucial information, in
understanding settlement patterns and household/cluster composition
dynamics in relation to resource use. Amongst the VaDema, a
preferential marriage in the past affecting settlement patterns has been
that between mother's brother's daughter and father's sisters son.
Another historically preferential marriage, currently frowned on by
spirit mediums20 and the broader society, is the marriage between a
man and his biological and classificatory sister's daughters or
granddaughters. Informants state that this happens because individuals
cannot afford bridewealth to obtain a wife from elsewhere, but it also
makes sense in terms of brideservice and the expectation of uxorilocal
residence after marriage, since the bridegroom's services will not be

lost to his own group.

 

20Several vaDema informants claimed that these prohibited marriages
used to take place more frequently in the past (i.e., when they were
living isolated life-styles in the hills), but nowadays many of them
frown on these practices and point fingers at one cluster which is
particularly renown for them. In my view, such practices may have
developed largely out of necessity, as outlined in the text, in terms of
a shortage of marriageable women. Beach also claims that a possible
factor influencing the degree to which dependent men, such as the
vanyai, could form communities of their own, was availability of women
(1980, 151).

103

In the case of marriage between a man and his mother's brother's
daughter, his father may still be in the process of performing his
brideservice duties, having adopted a uxorilocal residence. In this
situation, it may be more convenient for the son to obtain a wife from
his mother's kin and to continue the work and the reinforcement of
established ties, which his father may have achieved in supporting his
affines. Alternatively, the father may have already performed his
brideservice duties and given bridewealth to his affines, which would
enable him to bring his wife and children home to his patrilineage. If
the son, in this situation, were to marry his mother's brother's
daughter and were to go to reside with his affines in order to perform
brideservice, this would entail the loss of his services to his own
patrilineage. However, if a man were to marry his sister's daughter or
granddaughter, this would resolve the problem of having to go elsewhere
to perform brideservice and possibly abandoning his own family to
starvation.

Simultaneously, this type of marriage would consolidate the
cluster, which in this case, is centered on a brother-in-law doing
brideservice for his affines. This would give incentive to stay with
the cluster, or a part of it, either in the affines area or to move the
entire cluster, or a part of it back to his own patrilineal group.

Both of these forms of marriage can reinforce or split the ties
within the cluster. What adds further complexity to the situation is
that, though common, these are not the only marriage relationships that

exist among the vaDema.

104

I recorded instances of marriage to sisters' daughter, mother's
brother's daughter, levirate (as well as the expectation to marry the
mother's brother's wife), father's sister's granddaughter and others.
Instances of levirate may make sense in terms of brideservice and
bridewealth. If a man has performed extensive brideservice duties his
wife and his children "belong" to his own patrilineage and they have a
concomitant responsibility to look after them. The expectation to marry
mother's deceased brother's wife, may be an extension of the idea that
men who have successfully completed bridewealth and or brideservice are
to gain the credit of having descendants living after them, who are
associated with their own lineage, thereby reinforcing them as a mggzimg
(spirit). If no brothers are available to do this, then the father’s
sisters (yagggg) son is the next best person.

In general, I would describe the vaDema as a relatively, though
not strictly, endogamous group in the sense that they prefer to marry
within the clan totem (gauge) [also see Nhira 1989]. This may relate
back to Chiguhwa's murder of Chimombe and her banishment from the area,
and the allegation that there was a prohibition on marriage with her or
her descendants. This prohibition would effectively mean that her
descendants would have to marry each other.

Despite the usual practice of endogamy, there are instances of
marriage between vaChiKunda and VaDema, but the bulk of marriages take
place between the two groups of vaDema, one living near the Mwanzamtanda
river under Chief Chapoto and the other living near the Angwa river

under Chief Chisunga (KoreKore).

105

The vaChiKunda, also a patrilineal grouping, appear to have more
social mobility in their marriage arrangements. This may simply be
because they are economically better off and come into contact with more
of the outside world. One of my vaChikunda research assistants, for
instance, had married a woman from Masvingo (four or five hundred miles
away). In general, I believe Nhira is correct in pointing out that a
son-in-law can choose whether to stay with his in-laws, his own lineage
group, or to establish a new home of his own (Nhira 1989, 4). These
options may be negotiated with the affines, but each will have its own
obligation. If the son-in-law takes the wife back to his own home, or
starts a new home of his own, he will usually be expected to pay
bridewealth in full, but if he resides with his in-laws and does
brideservice he can put off payment of bridewealth to a future date.
Informants claimed that brideservice and uxorilocal residence and the
bond that develops between brothers-in-law, was more pronounced in the
older generation than in the present one. However, many of the existing
clusters were centered around a significant set of elders, brothers-in-
law or brothers, whose children and grandchildren may have set up
households nearby.

Constellations of clusters fall into three VIDCOs (see Figure 2b).
Nyaruparu VIDCO is made up of Chapoto, Pondo and Chimata/Chipese/Black
constellations, while Chiramba VIDCO is made up of Kasinjere/Chagaruka,
Chiramba and Brad Bria Mtamawo (Mambure, Hugarirahonye) constellations.
Chansato VIDCO is made up of Arizhibowa/Zhuwao, Mubinzi/Stone,
Chiyambo/Mugonapanje/Bandera and Koranzi/Chaukura constellations. There

was talk that the new constellation of Chikwamba will have to form its

106

own VIDCO, but though geographically it is presently part of Chiramba,
(mainly vaDema VIDCO), they have been incorporated into Chansato VIDCO
(mainly vaChiKunda). The residential cluster of Kuhwe, identified as
such by both the above authors, should be renamed ("Dumba" is the
influential male in this cluster) since Mr. Kuhwe and his family have
moved his house and fields across the river to join Koranzi and
Chaukura. This is a minor point, but it serves to illustrate the
changeable nature of settlement patterns in the ward.

kasinjere/Chaguruka is mentioned as part of Chiramba cluster by
these authors but local people do make the differentiation between
Chiramba and Kasinjere/Chagaruka. Similarly, what these authors have
referred to as Chimata cluster can be broken down into a number of

smaller clusters.

Property Relations and Land.Tenure

At the center of the competition between wildlife, foraging and
agriculture is the competing claims to land. These are exerted by the
state, the erstwhile protector of wildlife, but claims are also exerted
by the ancestral spirits, who are the historical and cultural owners of
the land and also the proprietors of the ecological health of the area.

All fields and riverside gardens are clearly and unambiguously
demarcated. Outsiders might not be aware of the line of demarcation but
neighbors will know the exact markers. A resident's field may end at
the magagg tree in the west, the path in the east or there may be a
stone between neighbors in the north. In the case of ward residents,

contiguous uncultivated land is claimed by clearing and once a piece of

107
land has been used, it remains the property of the user until such time
as someone else negotiates for its use and obtains permission from the
original user. These general rules apply to ward residents who are
cultivating plots near their established place of residence. If someone
were not a long term ward resident, or if someone in the extreme south
of the ward decided to cultivate a Quad; and a gimp; in the extreme
north of the ward, different arrangements would have to be made.

Outsiders wishing to settle in the ward, and residents wishing to
move their place of residence a long distance within the ward, should
consult and request permission from the spirit medium on the wisdom of
their intention (e.g., the place they intend to move to might be plagued
with crop-raiding animals). Simultaneously, they should request
permission from the local councillor, who is the representative of local
government at ward level. While negotiating with the councillor, they
should also confer with the chief or headman in whose area they would
like to live. Once all these people have been consulted and the land is
cleared, the new resident is regarded as a member of the community with
rights to land.

Amongst the vaChiKunda, when a man dies his widow and his sons
will inherit all his property together with his rights to his fields.
The widow and her sons, living in the ward, will manage the estate until
such time as she dies. When this happens, the property will pass on to
the sons who remain in the ward. In the case of levirate (especially
among the VaDema) , a man's brother will inherit both his wife and
portions of his property, which may also include rights to field and

garden sites. Thus, rights to land are closely linked to patrilineal

108
affiliation, and this in turn is an elaboration of ancestral history.
The owners of all land in the ward are the royal ancestral spirits;
patrilineages claim affiliation with these ancestors through paying
homage to them if they are outsiders or by claiming descent, if they are
related. Those who, for religious reasons, do not honor the ancestral
spirits may obtain land by requesting permission from the councillor and
headmen/chief, but they also inherit through the patrilineal line of
descent.

It is through the ancestors, therefore, that rights to the
protected areas of the Chewore and Dande safari areas are claimed by
many vaDema and vaChiKunda in the ward. Some vaChiKunda families recall
how their parents were cultivating river-side gardens inside the Chewore
safari area in the sixties. vaDema recall the places where they and
their parents lived in the past and there is a sense that their
ancestors are still there. As has been stated, late in the fieldwork a
group of KoreKore, who previously lived in the Chewore safari area,
moved down into the ward ostensibly to be closer to their ancestors.
This emphasizes the fact that, ancestral belief systems are
territorially based and are used as a powerful lever in terms of
establishing land tenure claims. The politics of the present land
tenure system, where large portions of the Zambezi valley are protected
for wildlife by the state, may in the future have to come to terms with
conflicting and competing claims over land derived from the ancestral
past and land scarcity in other areas. Such claims may become more
apparent, if the proprietorship of wildlife in buffer areas next to the

wildlife estate succeeds and if income is generated from such

109

proprietorship. Such an eventuality may encourage many people with
former ties to the protected areas to appeal to live next to these
areas.
Population Distribution and Its Relationship to Hunting, Collecting and
Protecting Agricultural Practice Prom Crop-Raiding.Animals

As has been mentioned, both the vaChiKunda and VaDema homesteads
can be described as a series of clusters. These clusters are usually
centered around: a) a headmen/gabhukg; and b) economically rich or
resourceful male heads of homestead who have attracted other families
(frequently affinal or consanguineal kin); and c) individuals,
particularly brothers in-law doing brideservice, who can be described as
"sharing" in the exploitation of resources of a particular area. It is
worth emphasizing the relationship between brideservice and hunting.
The practice of brideservice,21 I argue, has important significance in
terms of wildlife resource use in the ward. In the past, amongst both
the vaChiKunda and the vaDema, a marriageable daughter would attract a
husband who would settle near to his in-laws and who would provide
services to them in the form of agricultural labor, crop protection,
building of huts and granaries, and hunting. Through hunting the son-
in-law would be able to fulfill his obligations to his wife's family and
would also be able to attain much prestige (see appendix A). However,
hunting was and still is considered a secret. Reliable informants have

pointed out that, despite and perhaps because of, the generalized

 

21The absence of cattle because of trypanosomiasis meant people did
not readily have appropriate "bridewealth". Brideservice can,
therefore, be seen as a cultural mechanism in coping with the presence
of tsetse fly.

110
expectation to share resources individual clusters of relatives
(especially brothers-in-law) and close friends (e.g., people who one
trusts to hunt with, people who are loyal) keep hunting resources to
themselves, as others will be a drain on scarce resources and will
obtain power over them through their knowledge that they are engaging in
illegal activities.

This is a partial explanation for the many discrete clusters that
exist in the ward. Other more obvious explanations for the geographical
distribution of the population refer to the system of agricultural
production and the measures taken to protect agriculture from crop-

raiding animals.

Overview of Agriculture

There are two main methods of crop production conducted in Chapoto
ward: mung; or field, wet season cultivation and gimp; or gggg, dry
season cultivation. Both vaChiKunda and vaDema currently practice
mung; and gimp; cultivation, as well as foraging.
W

”and; or field cultivation refers to the wet season crop. Both
cotton and maize production carried out by the vaChiKunda, and shifting
cultivation carried out by the vaDema fit into this category. flung;
cultivation entails the clearing and sometimes stumping of fields. In
general, vaChiKunda tend to cultivate their fields for longer than the
vaDema; many of whom prepare new fields or add on to existing fields

every year.

A large proportion of vaDema practice shifting cultivation of

111
mixed grains during the wet season (maize, sorghum, mhunga) on an annual
basis, unlike vaChiKunda farmers who use fields for much longer periods
and some of whom grow cotton as a cash crop, and/or maize, sorghum,
groundnuts, rapoko (cash crop) and rice. Wor Re our e 1 -1 1, a
report on the state of the world's natural resources, claims that
shifting cultivation "can sustain agriculture indefinitely, even in
harsh conditions if fallow periods are long enough" (World Resources
Institute New York 1991, 70). Though VaDema have very poor yields from
their fields in general, their agricultural practices have elements in
common with some of the most progressive ideas emerging on inter-
cropping.

Since many vaDema do not stump their fields, fields are allowed to
recover more quickly from cultivation. Ironically, this is condemned as
being a backward agricultural practice by extension agents and by the
vaChiKunda, since stumping is required if tractors are to be used. Many
vaChiKunda stump their fields to enable ploughing with a tractor for
mono-cropping to pay for use of the tractor.

. Another feature of VaDema practice is that they do not plant in
straight lines, but in patches or clumps. Each clump of seeds might
include a variety of grain (maize, mgngha, sorghum, ggpgggg) and not
just one type. This mixed grain strategy involves less labor than
ploughing up an entire field, and the diversity is said to be good for
pest and crop raiding animal control, and provides for a degree of
drought resistance. According to Cutshall, vaDema households were far
more inclined to grow a "rational" mixture of grains than their

VaChiKunda counterparts (1990, 32). However, Cutshall also identifies

112
the anomaly that, vaDema households are amongst "the smallest
agricultural producers in the community, are especially vulnerable to
crop failure and in the event of drought, are quite likely to be hardest
hit by subsistence deficits" (1990, 30). While I was in the ward some

vaDema households obtained no harvest from their wet season crop.

W

pimp; or 292;, dry season cultivation, refers to cultivation that
takes place at the rivers edge, if not in the river bed itself. This is
possible because the dry river bed deceptively holds significant
quantities of water which permeate the sand. It is also possible,
because the alluvium deposits brought down by the river are frequently
found at the rivers edge where they are covered with a shallow layer of
sand. Crops such as maize, beans, groundnuts, vegetables, bananas,
sugar cane, tobacco, cassava, rice, pawpaw, mangoes, sweet-potatoes,
groundnuts, beans, sunflower and others are planted in shallow pits.

Amongst the vaDema,_gimbg sites are generally much smaller and
less developed than VaChiKunda sites. There is a marked seasonal
migration between gimp; and mung; sites, which may be as far as a mile
or more apart. In the gimpg, temporary grass enclosures are built near
to the river bank. Below the bank, mainly maize and other grains are
grown in small pot-shaped holes. The well established banana groves and
vegetable gardens of the VaChiKunda are a stark contrast to the more
meager cultivation that goes on in the vaDema gardens.

Lush gimp; sites are particularly attractive to crop-raiding
animals. Animals and people compete directly for the sustenance which

the dry river bed can provide. Near to the confluence of the

113
Mwanzamtanda and the Zambezi, there is a problem of crop-raiding hippo,
while further south down the Mwanzamtanda buffalo cause a lot of damage.
Both of these species are highly valuable in terms of safari hunting.

The gimp; or dry season stream bank cultivation is extremely
important as a strategy to survive the extraordinarily harsh weather
conditions where the evaporation rate far exceeds the average annual
precipitation. In the gimpg, it is possible to cultivate crops during
the long dry season, which otherwise would be impossible. Thus the
gimp; is relatively scarce and in former times the population appears to
have spread out along the course of the river and set up habitation near
the gimp; sites. The reason people want to live near their gimp; is to
be able to protect them from the various wild animals attracted to the
crops. Cutshall reports that of the 213 ward households, 185 households
reported 678 individual crop damage incidents for the 1987-1988
agricultural year (Cutshall 1990, 56). thable amongst these animals
are buffalo, elephant, hippo, wild pig, bushbuck and baboon which are
always looking for new pastures and good supplies of water during the
dry season.

As has been pointed out, people (mainly vaChiKunda) also grow cash
crops and food crops in mind; (fields) on the slightly higher alluvium
terraces. These are planted at the beginning of the rainy season
(NOvember/December) and are harvested in April. These crops also need
to be protected from wild animals notably bush buck, wild pig, kudu as
well as those already mentioned. Thus farmers ideally want to have
residential sites that are near to both the mung; and the gimba, as it

is difficult to be in two places at the same time to protect one's

114
produce. Small livestock such as chickens, rabbits and goats are
usually kept at the main residential site and these also need to be
protected from predators. In this regard, Cutshall reported that 136
households reported 206 separate incidents involving domestic animal
loss for 1987 (Cutshall 1990, 58).

In practice the Quad; is frequently a fair distance away from the
gimhg, and at the present time it is not unusual for people to live part
of the year near the gimp; and part of the year near the muggg. The
tension created over protecting one's gimp; and mung; sometimes results
in a division of labor within the family. For instance, the husband
protects the munda, while women and/or children protect the other fields
and/or livestock at the main homestead. As will be elaborated on,
agricultural practice and population distribution can be seen as a form
of wildlife management. Social organization is a response to the
competition between agriculture and wildlife. The building of a ntggka
(hut/shelter) and dare (shelter on stilts to facilitate identification
and protection from crop-raiding animals) in fields is symptomatic of
this competition between wildlife and agriculture. The point is
emphasized that residents are actively managing wildlife through
protection of their agricultural practice.

not everyone has access to a figmbg. Ironically, the reason some
vaDema claimed they did not have a gimp; to grow conventional crops was
because they had been told by a safari operators assistant22 that the

potentially available areas were to be kept for animals. Amongst the

 

22The man had argued that Zambian poachers were better than local
poachers because they at least killed animals for money whilst the
locals merely killed animals for meat.

115
VaDema those who do not have access to a gimp; during the dry season,
channel their productive activity into.exploiting the available fruits
berries, roots and tubers, as well as clandestinely obtaining protein
from hunting. A commitment to foraging therefore reduces the potential

labor to work in the dimba. There is considerable variation in the

 

degree to which people exploit these resources. Those who are highly
dependent on illegal hunting and illegal collecting23 activities, have
good reason not to live in close proximity with many other people.
Firstly, the resources in the immediate area would have to be shared
amongst all the inhabitants of the residential area and secondly, people
should only allow those whom they trust to know that they have access to
resources which are obtained illegally. Rivals and enemies can use this
information against each other by reporting these activities to
authorities or by threatening to do so.

This set of pragmatic arrangements, which has influenced
residential pattern, contrasts markedly with ideas about consolidation
of homesteads into a single consolidated village. These ideas have been
put forward by government as a panacea for many ills, including the lack
of "development" in the area and the assumption that the illegal river
bank cultivation is detrimental ecologically in the case of the
Mwanzamtanda.

One or two members of the community (e.g., an ex-councillor and a
teacher) regularly advocate at meetings the idea implicit in the MZP

that progress will only take place if people consolidate their land

 

23People have been arrested for collecting (e.g., mpgma and honey)
in the Chewore safari area, besides the many arrests for illegal
hunting, mainly in the form of snaring.

116
holdings, consolidate their dwelling areas, and move away from the life
giving river. This entails them moving up onto the higher less fertile
land above the river. In one section of Chapoto ward (Nyaruparu VIDCO)
people have done this for two main reasons: to be closer to the new
school site and bus route, and to avoid the flooding river. However, it
is well known in Chapoto that the land away from the river is not
fertile.

People live on the western side of the Mwanzamtanda river (mainly
vaDema), I argue, because they have historically had access to resources
and a way of life (a combination of gathering, shifting cultivation,
hunting, gimp; cultivation, exchange and employment) that would be
denied them on the eastern bank. If the vaDema are resettled on the
eastern bank, as has been suggested by government officials, this would
make them more dependent upon food for work in the vaChiKunda fields, as
most of the arable land is already being used on this side. The ward
councillor at one time had in mind that they should be moved up on to
the infertile land away, from the river. The idea of moving them has,
amongst certain influential people at the ward and district level,
become associated with both progress and CAMPFIRE. It is associated
with progress, because supposedly the vaDema will settle down to a
"civilized" agricultural practice, with all its dubious benefits in this
impoverished ward (see the case-study of the “successful cotton grower"
below). Moving the population has been associated with CAMPFIRE, ‘
because the creation of a wildlife resource area on the western bank is
seen as a rational response to maximize revenues from wildlife, since

the western bank is rich in these resources and it is argued that a

117
minority of people should not interfere with aspirations of the
majority.

If the vaDema were resettled on the eastern bank, it would make
hunting and gathering activities more inaccessible for them and it would
also create competition over land between vaDema and vaChiKunda
households. The few vaChiKunda households who have stayed on the
western bank (Mambure, Mugarirahonye and Dumba) argue that the land is
much more fertile and readily available on this side. Living on this
side also offers hunting and gathering opportunities and two of these
households own guns. These vaChiKunda balance these advantages against
the dubious advantages of living on the eastern bank. These include
being closer to the school, the road (bus access), the clinic and the
extension of the power and authority structures of the state (the chief,
the police, the vaChiKunda VIDCO, the agricultural extension officers,
etc.).

In the case of the vaDema, if one does not have the means to
obtain clothes for a child (often exchanged for honey or labor with the
vaChiRunda), or can not adequately feed her/him, sending that child to
school is hardly a priority. Besides, even amongst the generally more
affluent vaChiKunda, children provide an important source of cheap
labor. Living on the western bank, away from authorities, provides a

degree of autonomy which appears to be valued highly.

118

Reliable sources from Chiramba24 (the vaDema VIDCO on the
western bank of the Mwanzamtanda river) told me that if the government,
in the name of development or as part of an alternative land use
strategy (e.g., wildlife utilization), forces people to be resettled on
the eastern bank, they will not succeed. All those vaDema living on the
western bank will flee into the hills to pursue foraging activities, as
they did when the Rhodesians attempted to force people into "protected
villages" in order to reduce contact between guerrillas and locals
during the guerrilla war. I have visited the site where Chiyambu, the
headman of the vaDema, lived during this time. It is in a thickly
wooded stream valley, not far from present sites of habitation. There
is a water source there and flood plain besides the stream that was used
for cultivation. Honey collection, mpgmg (a tuber) and other tubers,
fruits and berries, as well as hunting, are all accessible. Chiyambu
was only discovered living there at the end of the war. I believe there
are many such sites in the area and since the vaDema have few fixed
assets and receive few benefits from the present situation, it is easy
to see how they could move on at a moments notice.25 ‘At present, they

move seasonally within their present location. Historically, as will be

 

24The argument against moving to the eastern bank is couched in the
agriculturally biased value system of the broader society. The argument
is stated in terms of there being a lack of fertile land on the eastern
bank. On probing, it was discovered that the real reason why people
wanted to stay was, because they would have access to the resources
within the forest. In the past these have sustained them through the
drought years, before the advent of drought relief distribution or other
aspects of "development".

25After the onset of the widespread drought in Southern Africa,
with the failure of the 1991/92 rains, it was reported in the local
newspaper that many VaDema had returned to their former way of life.

119
explained in more detail later, VaDema often practiced shifting
cultivation during good rainy seasons. They stored their grain harvest
in bark containers and hid them, while they foraged during the dry
season. The grain would then be used up during the next planting

3638011 .

Foraging and the VaDema (mire) Dilema

In the past, the vaDema had a number of different strategies which
they used to survive in their mountain fortress home, known as Chiramba
kaDoma.26 These can be described as collecting, hunting (usually
small game), shifting agriculture and other employment and exchange.
Today, the range within which they can pursue their hunting, collecting,
and subsistence activities has been greatly reduced. This is because of
the implemented controls on illegal entry, hunting, and collecting in
the protected areas (in this case the Chewore safari area, and the
hunting concession area, which includes Chapoto ward), which used to

provide them with their range.2'7 Their way-of-life is a casualty,

 

26The eastern part of these mountains form the boundary of Chapoto
ward, and most of the vaDema in the ward now live at the foot of these
mountains.

27The Harare newspaper, gh§_gggalg, had a spate of articles on the
plight of the vaDema people in mid-1990. One editorial comment stated
that, "drought, in the majority of cases has a devastating effect on the
lives of people, especially those with no history of agricultural
practice and the impact is disastrous. This is how the famine is likely
to effect the Dema people who last received, what they say is
insufficient drought relief, more than two months ago. These people
have no idea of how to cope with a drought situation" (Ihg_g§;§l§, 14
September, 1990). The irony in the last statement is that the knowledge
of coping with a drought situation is patently very strong amongst the
vaDema. The reason they are presently suffering is not because of lack
of knowledge, but because there is a paramilitary operation (anti-
poaching activities) preventing them from implementing their knowledge

120
clashing, as it does, with the powerful vested interests in wildlife.
Particularly, they are caught in the cross-fire in the war over the
protection of the rhino and the african elephant. Anti-poaching units,
with legal indemnity to shoot and to ask questions later, have instilled
in the vaDema a fear of pursuing activities that are vital for their
sustenance.

A letter written from the provincial headquarters of the DNPWLM to
the district administrator's office, underlines the way the problem has
been perceived in the past by this authority. The letter explains that
yet another family of vaDema had been apprehended by the national parks
scouts and points out that the individuals involved were engaging in
subsistence activities (i.e., foraging). ‘It requests the administrator
to provide more drought relief to the vaDema, in order to prevent them
from engaging in such activities. The assumption is that provision of 1
drought relief would prevent people from engaging in cultural
activities, such as hunting and collecting. This serves to illustrate
that while DNPWLM is, on the one hand looking for progressive and
innovative ways of using resources sustainably for the benefit of local
people (e.g., CAMPFIRE), there are quite different perspectives and

interests exhibited both within and between different government

 

on how to cope successfully with the harsh valley environment, through
hunting and collecting strategies. So often whilst in the field I heard
vaChiKunda cotton growers or agricultural and other extension officers
say of the vaDema, "they do not know how to practice agriculture." I
then thought of a conference I had attended in the US on sustainable
agriculture. I realized that many ideas in the vaDema practice would be
endorsed by progressive agricultural thinkers. As outlined in the text,
some of these might be: mixed grain strategies, not using hybrid seeds,
not ploughing with a tractor but using a hoe and thus causing less
oxidization of the soil, and not stumping trees.

121
departments. This is a key stumbling block in the CAMPFIRE program and
it is well illustrated by the relations between the Ministry of Local
Government (district administration) and the DNPWLM, whose agendas do
not always cohere.

Honey collecting and the collection of a wide range of fruits,
berries, tubers, worms and other items has been a very important feature
of the 23259; way-of-life in the past and it continues to be an
important mainstay of life in the present. However, in Chapoto ward
there is considerable variation in the degree to which individuals rely
on collecting (and hunting and fishing for that matter). In general,
both hunting and collecting are limited within the ward itself and the
richer resources of the Chewore are beyond the reach of many who would
like to have access to them. This is not because they are incapable of
getting access to these resources, but because they fear being arrested
by game scouts and anti-poaching units active in this area.

In general, there are two categories of collecting. Firstly,
there is the collection of the most accessible resources within the ward
itself. Secondly, there are those who take the risk of arrest and enter
the Chewore safari area or venture further into the hunting concession
area, protected by law and by the game-scouts and anti-poaching units.
Local informants reported that game scouts had warned them about
entering the hills that border the Chewore (i.e., the massif- a portion
of these are well within the ward). Rumor has it that there is the
possibility of, at worst, being shot on sight, and, at best, being
arrested. vaDema are, therefore, apprehended or arrested for illegal

entry into the Chewore safari area, as well as collection, fishing,

122
hunting and snaring within the ward itself. Considerable fear therefore
exists among the VaDema population about being apprehended whilst moving
around, even within the boundaries of the ward. Few people in the ward
know where the boundaries of the ward are and these boundaries are
artificial as in real terms they can be arrested for snaring and hunting
within the ward (often by the safari operator's personnel who are
protecting his concession).

Within the last fifteen years, vaDema had been living inside the
Chewore or near to its boundary, and according to local informants, had
been issued with snares by the Rhodesian government. After 1980, when
it became possible to implement stricter controls on the management of
protected areas, the VaDema were wooed by politicians and government
officials down from the hills with promises that there was a new and
better way of life for them in the new Zimbabwe. The assumptions behind
this included the notion that this would entail their embracing a
settled more civilized way-of-life. The corner stone of this, of course,
would be an increased reliance on settled agriculture, a potent bias in
the broader Zimbabwean value system. Implicitly, foraging, the life-
style which had enabled them to resist the influence of the state would
be forfeited and "development" would replace it. This might include
health care, education, participating in the democratic processes at
village and ward level, and benefitting from the various extension and
other services available from government. These would include: drought
relief and proposed programs concerning water and sanitation, or

incorporating them in such programs as CAMPFIRE.

123

unfortunately, Chapoto ward is one of the badly neglected parts of
Zimbabwe, and the quality and quantity of what might be referred to as
development are sadly lacking. The promises and hopes of "development"
may prove to be false hopes. In general, the VaDema have attempted to
benefit from the little that is available in both the foraging and
development worlds. However, from their point of view, it is not yet
clear what the benefits of "development" are. The WOrld Vision program
in the ward, for instance, has built a number of boreholes. All these
boreholes exist on the eastern bank of the Mwanzamtanda river and are
much too far away from vaDema households to be of any use. Almost all of
them are too saline to be used for drinking or even cooking. Besides,
vaDema have adequate supplies of water from the natural springs at the
foot of the massif and from shallow wells in the dry Mwanzamtanda river
bed itself. The latter is also the source of the drinking water for the
vaChiKunda population on the eastern bank of the river.

A small portion of vaDema children attend school.28 This means
that they are not involved in other activities that might be more
necessary for short term survival, such as working in the fields of the
vaChiKunda for as little as a bowl of maize meal a day, collecting
available fruits and berries and small game, or guarding their own
fields from crop-raiding animals.

. Another prominent symbol of development, or rather the lack of
development, in the ward is the clinic, situated between fifteen and

eighteen kilometers away from the furthest vaDema households and

 

28CAMPFIRE community projects funded from wildlife revenue often
focus on schools and clinics.

124
relatively far away from the other residents in the ward. It is hoped
that this clinic will be moved to a more central location where people
will be able to make use of it with more ease (funded by wildlife
revenue). However, when one considers that there are a number of well
known herbal specialists among the vaDema and that they do not place
much faith in western medicine, we might well ask what is the perceived
benefit of a new clinic for them. In contrast to development, foraging

if allowed, offers the tangible necessities of survival.

Collecting Fruits, Tubers, and.Berries

The forest is not what it seems, neither is the apparent vacuity
of vaDema life. By this I mean that outsiders have judged the vaDema to
be poor, lacking in knowledge about how to farm, and to be somewhat
inferior and uncivilized. Many vaChiKunda have said to me, of the
vaDema, "they are too shy to stay with people like myself” or "we have
tried to tell them the importance of the clinic and school, but they
don't understand. Their children run away from school because they have
no clothing." A visit to one of the vaDema make-shift shelters, a look
at the limdted material resources they have, and their meager untidy
fields (see section on agriculture), might reinforce the bias that they
need to be told how to live. However, the ink in which their knowledge
is written, is for the most part, invisible to us and it is only when we
try to see through their eyes that we realize the richness and potential
of it. Walking with vaDema was like taking a pair of glasses which
allowed one to see things, for the first time, which one had passed by

daily. For example, within a radius of five hundred meters from his

12S
abode, a VaDema informant could identify most of the following edible
plants and describe how to prepare them. I present them here because
this indigenous knowledge is as important, if not more important than
the more recent agricultural practices of maize and sweet potatoes
cultivation introduced to the area as late as the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. The following account is not comprehensive, but
it gives the reader a sense of the importance of indigenous knowledge in
regard to the most important edible tubers fruits and berries, and gives
ecological flesh to the essentially political nature of the presentation
so far.

1. .The 3333393399 (pods) of the Mpakasa plant (Lonchocarpus capassa)
are ready in October. Pods are emptied and boiled in water. They are
prepared in the same way as beans.

2. 39393939 (Aerva leucura) leaves are boiled as relish with tomatoes.
These are not available in the dry season but are ready in
December/January. These plants are not weeded in the fields of the
vaDema because they are known to be relish.

3. 3933; (vangueria infausta) is a tree which provides fruit. It is
sometimes used as a porridge sweetener.

4. 33933333 (Piliostigma thonningii) is used to cure flu. The leaves
are boiled with water and it is drunk as a tea. The ancestors knew that
it could cure.

5. The M39939 (Stryehnos madagascariensis) plant has a fruit like a
hard shell which one has to break open to eat. It is ripe during
January and February, one usually takes the inner kernel and roasts it
on the fire.

6. The fruit of the 3399399 plant (Cordyla africana) is known as
3939399. It is yellow and sweet like a mango. One waits until the
fruit drops from the trees before picking. These are not cooked but are
'eaten “on the way". They are ready in December and January.

7. 5999 and Q3333; (Taka leontopetaloides) are poisonous but edible
tubers. The toxic substances in these tubers may be leached up to four
times in boiling water. An agent for aiding this process is the
Kapikira plant (Amplocissus africana).

126

8. Ma3a39 (Ziziphus mauritiana) is widely collected as a staple by both
the VaChiKunda and VaDema population. It is a small but very tasty
fruit. These fruits are both eaten "on the way" and collected and dried
for later use during the hot dry months before the rains come. People
will usually not cut down a 333339 tree if one happens to be in their
33393. The fruit is also used to make an alcoholic drink. My fourteen
month old daughter developed a healthy appetite for these.

9. 3399339 (Azanza garceana) is also a fruit which exudes a sweet brown
mucus. Some years the tree does not bear fruit as occurred in the
1988/89 season when heavy rains fell.

10. The Mn9n99 tree (Xeroderis stulmannii) bears pods which contain
edible beans. These are ripe in August. They are boiled and cooked in
the same way as beans. They are only eaten in dire famine.

11. The 393933 (also 3393933, B9r9h93i3 discolor) bears a fruit that
ripens in February, which is often eaten by monkeys. It is used as a
porridge sweetener. One boils it and then takes out the pips. The
residue is used as a sweetener or relish.

12. 3333;3339993933 (Cleistochlamys kirkii) is a black fruit, which
ripens in February and can be used in the same way as 393933.

13. 3939393 (Friesodielsia obovata) provides a sweet fruit which ripens
in February. The fruit should be peeled, the juice can be squeezed out
and it can be used as a porridge sweetener.

14. 33939 (Sclerocarya birrea) provides a fruit that is ready in
October. One cuts out the inner parts that are hard, and grind them to
make a peanut butter like substance. I have seen the plant unweeded in
the fields of the vaDema.

15. $9933 (Cerototheca triloha) provides a relish, similar to okra. It
can be used throughout the year. Tastes best when boiled with tomatoes
and salt.

16. 333339939 (Achyranthes aspera) is used during the summer season.
The leaves are boiled to make relish.

17. 9339939 (Coccinia adoensis) provides a tuber similar to sweet
potatoes but not as sweet. It is not poisonous and people can eat it
raw. It can be obtained anytime, but in October it shrinks.

18. 9339393993939 (Dioscorea asteriescus) provides a white bulb. This
is troublesome to prepare as the juice within is poisonous/toxic. It
should be left overnight to soak in water, and the juice should be
squeezed out in the morning. If in a hurry it can be squeezed out in
water twice. The residue is left in the sun to dry, it is then pounded.
The meal is white and is cooked in the same way as sadza (maize meal).

127

19. 3939319 (Diospyros kirkii) provides a fruit ready in
September/October which, like most of the fruits mentioned, is collected
by both men and women, and taken home raw, where it is stored in gourds
for the next day's use. It is sweet, the ancestors used to eat both the
buds and the outer shells of this fruit.

20. 39333333 (Ximenia americana) provides a relatively large fruit
which is ready in December. It is sweet "like Coca Cola", and eaten raw
”on the way" or is taken home for the children.

The following fruits tubers and leaves (amongst others) can be found
within a days walk of my camp at Mr. Mugonapanje's. Some of them can
only be found on the higher massif (e.g., 39333), but many can also be
found in the lowlands:

21. 39333 (Dioscorrea odoratissima) has long been known as one of the
staple foods of the VaDema. It is a tuber which grows, amongst other
places in the gullies and streams banks, on the western sides of the
Massif that forms a border with the Chewore safari area. It is of great
interest because those who exploit these resources replant a section of
the lower stem to be used in future years. The tubers are large and
have to be boiled four times to extract the toxic juices. The outer
skins have to be peeled and the substance is then ground, dried and
cooked in a similar way to maize meal. Small groups of three or four
men and/or women will usually collect a sack full each. If they do not
have food they will prepare 39333 before returning home, but if
available they will have made 333393 (cakes of green mealies/groundnuts
and maize) to sustain them on the journey. The preparations can then be
done at home. ‘

22. 339333939 (Commiphora mossambicensis) is a root used as a fertility
drug/aphrodisiac but can also be used as a means of obtaining water, or
to obtain its "sweetness" while out walking in the forest. Generally,
one uses one's ubiquitous small axe to unearth and peel the tuber, one
then chews a portion of it and spits out the residue. A common ailment
among many vaDema is extremely enlarged testicles (the size of ostrich
eggs). It was claimed that this ailment was a result of taking too many
fertility/aphrodisiac drugs.

23. 339333939 (Emminia antennulifera) is a tuber/root used for
obtaining sweet water. According to a scientific paper (Skelton and
Matanganyidza 1978), it also has amylolytic qualities and can be used to
stop fermentation in beer.

24. 931333; (Ipomoea Shupangensis) provides a very sweet non poisonous
bulb. After the skin is peeled it can be eaten raw. It does not loose
water during the dry season and can be eaten at any season.

25. 333393 (Cissus trophae) provides a fruit which can be eaten raw and
which is usually ready in April.

128

26. 39939933 (Ximenia caffra) provides a red fruit which is used as
porridge sweetener.

27. Ca9a§e3a (Cucumus hirsutus) provides a cucumber which is ready in
February or March. It is found in both the high gullies and the lower
lying territory.

28. Mu9h99he3i (Ziziphus abyssinica) is similar to ma3awo. It provides
a fruit that ripens between August and September.

29. 33933993 (Eriosema shirensi) provides a small bulb which can be
eaten any time, one usually peels the outer skin with one's teeth.

30. 393933 (Flacourtia indica) provides a fruit that is red when ripe
in October and November. It is bigger than 333339.

31. 3339939 (Vitex payos), in vaChiKunda it is known as 933333.

This provides a black fruit when ripe and it is frequently eaten by
school children, who may have no other form of sustenance with them on
the 15 kilometer walk to school. It ripens in March, April or May.

The forest is not a homogenous barrier to successful agriculture
as it is to many of us. It is full of known and named resources that
have practical uses. It is the vaDema supermarket. In order to be
operational and effective, individual foragers require access to a wide
range of goods. It is not sufficient to be confined to the one shelf,
as we all know. According to a key informant, this generation of vaDema
eat mainly memes. Baggage. m. Mike. w. W: M
(honey) and 333339.

Informants claimed that people were not collecting as many fruits
as they used to in the old days. Some claimed there was no need to,
since "long back there was not enough maize, nowadays there is no reason
to collect fruits because maize is available." Patently, however, maize
was not available in the quantities required to maintain relative health
and of course, maize by itself is not sufficient to do this. It was

pointed out that people are getting more sick these days than in the

past. But the informant concerned did not know why. In his mind, it

129
was not related to diet. It was recognized that it was best to have
maize and the other cultivated grains, as well as fruits of the forest,
as it was pointed out that these fruits were drought resistant.
However, lurking in the minds of many, is the idea that foraging is
dangerous, that it is unsafe for women to go by themselves to collect
39333 because they might be apprehended by the national parks game
scouts and they would not know what to say to them. A further irony is
that, in the eyes of the state, foraging in protected areas is illegal,
hunting is illegal, fishing is illegal, stream bank cultivation is
illegal or the areas are allegedly restricted for wildlife. vaDema do
not produce enough food from their wet season crop to see them through
the year, hence their earlier dependence on foraging. Systematically,
though perhaps not with intent, the state apparatus is reducing people's
survival options and instead of foraging many vaDema now work in the
mono-cropped fields of the vaChiKunda. In my opinion, this is a far
less sustainable practice than their own limited exploitation of
resources.

In the past, the vaDema accrued surpluses from their foraging and
hunting activities. It is claimed that, exchange of meat, 3399 (clay
pots) and other items for maize and clothes took place between VaDema
and vaChiKunda. According to vaChiXunda informants, it was very easy to
obtain a bargain from vaDema who did not realize the value of the
resources they were exchanging. Exchange still continues but, needless
to say, the exchange of meat for other items is not spoken about.
Instead, everyone talks about exchanging maize for a 3399. usually a

pot is exchanged for the amount of grain which it holds. As it becomes

130
more difficult to conduct foraging activities, vaDema have become a
source of cheap labor in the fields of the VaChiKunda. Thus foraging
has been replaced by providing labor to the vaChiKunda maize and cotton
fields.

There is an opposite side of this picture of exploited,
intimidated, starving people at the whim of minor officials and people
with guns. The picture has been documented to a certain extent (Bullock
1927, 35; Mtamayi 1959) and it is reinforced by myth and limited
empirical evidence. It is the picture of the vaDema tracker who can not
be tracked. "He who cannot be tracked" does, I believe, exist. Some
vaChiKunda say that the vaDema can disappear if there is danger in the
forest by holding up their forefinger. AfvaChiKunda research assistant
and I both marvelled at the manner in which we were guided through
remote parts of the forest with buffalo lurking under thickets and
amidst other dangers. We noted how little noise is made when the
individuals involved walk through the forest. Walking is culturally
defined and walking silently and sure-footedly and slowly, and knowing
what noises are possible threats and which are not, is a skill developed
from youth. Remarkable, also, is the sense of being "at home". Here is
a hidden spring (39333933), source of sweet and drinkable water. Here
is a tree which holds the treasure of three fat worms (3399393) to be
taken home as a treat for the children. Here is a root which bears
water, a life saver in the dry heat of October and NOvember. But best
of all, here is plump young bush buck or a kudu calf that has lost its
way. When you have not eaten meat or other sources of protein for a few

weeks, when your children are starving and have distended kwa3hi09kor

131
stomachs, who would not cast a spear, carried of course in self-defence,
at such treasures provided by the forest and the caring hand of one's
own ancestors in their land?

If one knows that one cannot be tracked, the decision is easier to
make. In the remote parts of the Zambezi valley, there are no scribes
as such, few if any people have access to the daily newspaper. News,
evidence and events are frequently transmitted in quite a different way.
The sand, the soil, and the dust bear the marks of almost all activities
of interest. Where did one's neighbor go this morning? His tracks lead
in the direction of his 99333. Has Chidota gone to the meeting? Yes,
there are his tracks, but they are walking with someone else...Ahh those
are the shoes of Mary Charuma.... A Buffalo was here this morning, but
it is safe now as it went in that direction. The record of events on
remote paths or passes may stay for a month or more (in the case of a
kill they may stay for years), and thus documentation is provided for
all those interested to know what animals or humans have done. The
tracks mean nothing to the uninitiated, they may mean the difference
between life and death for those who depend on them. The difference
between the two views is essentially a cultural difference.

Some VaDema bragged that they follow the game scouts tracks and
know when they enter the area. They can pursue them and embark on their
own activities when the scouts have finished their patrol. Others
explained how they would wear a common brand of shoe (police issue) and
then remove them before entering a path which bore many other foot
prints on the way home. Others boulder hopped down river beds or stood

only where there was grass so as to leave no record of their presence.

132
It is interesting that one does not merely have to be concerned about
the present, that is, whether a game scout catches one in the act, but
also about the future, in the sense that those tracks will be a vivid
visual picture of what has happened in the past and may lead the cunning
scout on to further information which may convict the unsuspecting
illegal hunter and collector. There are core bases or 333333 (grass and
thorn scrub scherms) which are used by vaDema entering the Chewore, as
well as hidden base camps. Fires may be lit at night to roast meat,
etc., so that the smoke can not be seen. Fires may be made in pits so
that no light escapes from them. It was rumored that the DNPWLM had a
machine which could detect fire from a long way away. Young men, under
the tutelage of a widely experienced hunter, may go into these areas for

a month or more at a time.

Fencing the vaDema

Given this situation, it is not surprising that many vaDema are
not convinced about the benefits of a possible CAMPFIRE fence to keep
wildlife out of their productive areas. The first fear, is that the
fence would be to keep them out of the areas where they go to collect
and hunt. The second fear, is that they would be fenced in, that is,
imprisoned, as was attempted by the Rhodesians. If a fence is to be of
benefit to them, they claim it should go along the boundary of the ward
and cross the Mwanzamtanda just before it enters the hills in the south
west. It should have many gates to provide them with access to their
collecting and hunting activities. In a sense, this is largely

defeating the object of the fence which is to protect agricultural

133
practice, in order to have a community resource area for the management
of wildlife. The question is, will they effectively be deprived of
their land, in the name of wildlife resource management as has happened
to them in the past when they were living in the Chewore safari area? A
possible alternative to fencing is that they play a role as custodians
of the Chewore, in exchange for access and limited hunting in that area.
This might be a strategy to overcome the many biases toward the vaDema.
A precedent has been set for this in the relatively culturally
homogenous Mahenye ward, Gazaland district, where negotiations have
started between DNPWLM personnel and local people who want to form a
hunting club or guild (pers com Child). This raises the question of how
one could control and implement such an idea in the culturally
heterogenous Chapoto ward. In the present climate of antagonism and
distrust that has emerged between these people and the official
militarized custodians (the anti-poaching units, safari operators,
wildlife scouts), the prospect seems unlikely. Furthermore, as Nhira
(1989) points out, any specialized treatment of the population based on

ethnicity is likely to create ill feeling.

Household Identification and Cbmpositian

Up to this point the competition between the various land use
strategies in Chapoto ward has been described in general terms. Since
the CAMPFIRE program attempts to involve the smallest accountable units
in the proprietorship of wildlife resources, we now turn to the specific
questions associated with agriculture, foraging and wildlife in specific

households.

134

Households are often taken as the basic units in rural Zimbabwe.
This term has acted as a key concept in survey research conducted in the
ward (see Cutshall 1990). However, it is sometimes difficult to
identify what a household constitutes. If the household is to be a
basic unit of analysis, we need to have some idea of what it refers to.
An example of a working definition of what constitutes a household,
might be the group of people who regularly eat together at the same
hearth, engage co—operatively in food production or other forms of
economic activity, and share enduring commitments to mutual social
welfare. Household often implies a reference to physical features such
as buildings, structures, or enclosures, these may explicitly or
implicitly be equated with the ”household". The physical and relatively
permanent feature of "the house“ is an important connotation of
"households", and we would not be regarded as wildly wrong if we made
the assumption that households live in houses or huts or even shanties
with some degree of permanence. However, would we accept that a
household constitutes a structure used for crop protection in one's
field or garden? Similarly, in what sense do the grass scherms in which
some vaDema live during the dry season constitute households?
Definitions of "the household", in the case of Chapoto ward, have to be
sufficiently broad to encompass the marked degree of movement of
households or parts of households that occurs within the ward.
.Assumptions about the relative permanence of physical dwelling
structures, as indicators of households, has to be carefully reviewed.
1MB Cutshall points out in his baseline survey of community households,

"though a concerted effort was made to contact and interview every

135
existing household within the community, it must however be admitted
that a few households were omitted from the present survey either
because the households were "abandoned" during the survey periods or
because the households had no fixed residential locus where they could
be contacted by members of the survey team" (Cutshall 1990, 2). Of the
two hundred and thirteen households in the community identified by
Cutshall, 72.8 percent of them comprised a single family unit (i.e.,
parent[s], their progeny, or married/unmarried adults without children).
The remaining 27.2 percent, according to Cutshall, were "composite"
households containing from two to six discrete family units. A
relatively small portion of these households were polygynous, the
remainder consisted of married or divorced household progeny, who were
considered by the household head to be regular residents of his or her
household. There is room for ambiguity here, as married or divorced
household progeny could claim that they form separate households within
the proximity of their kin and are likely to do so when presenting
themselves for drought relief distribution or other benefits (wildlife
revenues?) designed for households. Furthermore, the fairly common
observance of the institution of brideservice means that sons-in-law
initially go to live with their wife's patrilineal kin and may remain
living in the proximity of such kin after brideservice has been honored
(uxorilocal residence). In this manner, clusters of affinal and
consanguineal kin emerge. In this sense then, household is a loose‘
segmentary identification depending on whether people choose to identify
themselves as constituting a discrete household or part of a larger

cluster constituting a larger grouping which can break down depending on

136
circumstance. The mean household size according to Cutshall was 6.06.

Cutshall correctly points out that although composite households
are widely distributed (existing in all the major constellations of
clusters except for one), VaDema households are more likely to be
composite households than VaChiKunda households.

A relatively large percentage (24.4) of the total number of
households were identified by Cutshall as female headed. "These were
usually older widowed or divorced females who had established an
independent household in the proximity of a male kinsmen or females
whose husbands were regularly resident in areas outside of the
community" (Cutshall 1990, 5).

In regard to migrants, Cutshall enumerated 93.8 percent of the
individual household members as regular full time members of the
community. The bulk of the remaining group were males engaged in

seasonal or wage labor activities outside the community.

Household/Cluster Agricultural Activities

Cutshall identifies 97.2 percent of the population as having
reported some kind of agricultural activity for the 1988 season. He
observed that size of plots varies in accordance to size of households
(larger/composite households have larger fields), available labor
resources, household ethnicity (VaDema have smaller agricultural
operations), season (mung; cultivation is larger than gimp;
cultivation), and method of cultivation (fields which are cultivated
with the aid of mechanical inputs are generally larger than those fields

cnfltivated by hand) [Cutshall 1990, 25]. The average size of fields is

137
relatively small (five to eight acres) [Cutshall 1990, 25].

Differential access and use of tractors was marked. As Cutshall
has pointed out, only one vaDema household used tractors in the ward.
This is explained by Cutshall both in terms of geography and in terms of
ethnicity. Geographically, since VaDema live on the western bank of the
Mwanzamtanda, it would not be wise to attempt to take a tractor across
the river when it floods. However, if the river floods, it is likely to
flood only during the peak of the rainy season and there are many bone
dry months prior to the onset of rains when it would be very easy to
cross the river. During the two rainy seasons when I was in the field,
it was possible to cross the river except at the height of the rainy
season. This would indicate that the geographical explanation is not an
adequate one and I was led to believe that the reason was essentially a
political and economic one. The higher status families, on the eastern
bank, largely monopolized the use of the tractor. These could afford to
pay the costs set down by the World Vision committee for use of the
tractor, and were more involved in decision-making regarding the
tractor. Cutshall also observes that female headed households were less
likely than their male counterparts to use mechanical inputs.

Cutshall reports that during the 1988 season 91.3 percent of the
population reported they cultivated both.gimp§ and mung; in the dry and
wet seasons respectively (1990, 28). Those households who did not
conduct both types of agriculture included, vaDema clusters who were
used to relying on foraging and\or providing labor during this period,
and new migrants who may not have had access to riverside plots because

the available land has been used by the households that were already

138
there.

The following crops were identified as having been grown by
households during the 1988 season (in rank order of the frequency
distribution in terms of households): maize, vegetables, mhuunga,
bananas, groundnuts, cotton, sorghum, beans, sugar cane, rapocco,
tobacco, cassava, rice and sunflower. The actual proportions grown for
each crop and the average yield per household was not collected by
either Cutshall or myself. Cutshall points out that such information
requires an accurate assessment of acreage under each crop, which would
be an extremely time consuming exercise unless one had access to an
aerial survey. Informants were not able to make accurate assessments on
acreage. Furthermore, harvests were not bagged, so no quantitative data
was available on this. Perhaps the most important reason why one would
hesitate to collect this information is, because annual yields are
extraordinarily varied, depending on the extremely erratic annual
rainfall and data for a single year would not give the reader an
accurate idea of agriculture in the ward. 95.8 percent of households
grew maize and Cutshall points out that only 7.4 percent of the
households which planted maize reported that they sold any of their
maize crop. Thus maize is the most important crop for cultivation
purposes, in that most households plant maize. My observations support
the notion that maize is the most important part of the household diet,
except in those households which harvest little or no maize. th
surprisingly, Cutshall found that maize is also the food crop that has
the most reported crop damage incidents from wildlife. 558 incidents

were reported of damage to maize out of a total of 678 for the 1987/1988

139
year. Interestingly, Cutshall identifies vegetables as the next most
common crop grown by households and indicates that 67.5 percent of
households plant vegetables. This of course does not tell us anything
about the quantity of vegetables planted, merely that many households do
plant vegetables. Many of the vegetables are grown during the winter
season in the dimba. Thus, for most people in the ward, the summer wet
season provides them with their staple maizemeal from which gagga (maize
porridge) is made. The river-side gimp; cultivation, amongst other
things, provides them with vegetables to make relish for the gggzg. In
many of the more wealthy households, sadza and relish is eaten twice a
day, while other households may substitute sweet potatoes or beans as a
meal in themselves. Those more impoverished households, which did not
have enough maize or beans to see them through the season, may have to
resort to foraging/drought relief and/or food for work to supplement
their food supply. Cotton growing households frequently purchase maize
with the cash they receive from their crop to supplement their own maize
crop.

Cutshall also, interestingly, points out that cotton was only
grown by 15.5 percent of the wards households (1990, 33). Cotton
production appears to be on the increase, both in terms of the sizes of
plots under cotton and in terms of households entering cotton
production. The donation of the World Vision tractor may be one
incentive to plant more cotton. As I have pointed out earlier, shortage
of labor is a more serious limitation to crop production than shortage
of land. However, shortage of capital outlay to pay for ploughing is a

crucial restraint amongst the less wealthy families. This may be a

140
relevant factor in assessing the possible impacts of household
distribution of dividends from wildlife in the community. Some of these
revenues may be used in paying for increased agricultural production
(ploughing, clearing, etc.). One of the results of increased
participation in wildlife resource utilization by the local community
may, ironically, be to increase agricultural production (especially
cotton) in areas of the ward.

Cutshall makes some important points about household variation in
using mixed grain strategies as a means to combat the risks of drought
(ibid, 29). He argues that grains such as sorghum and mhunga (unlike
maize) are drought resistant and that it would appear to be rational to
plant a mixture of grains rather than relying solely on maize as a
staple. As has been pointed out, maize, unlike millet and sorghum is
not indigenous to Africa. However, during the period (1988 season) for
which he asked the question, 52.5 percent of the total number of
households in the ward at the time planted only maize (ibid, 213). 22.7
percent planted maize, sorghum and mhunga, while 72.2 percent planted
maize and mhunga and 5.2 percent planted maize and sorghum. As has been
pointed out, Cutshall underlines the fact that VaDema are more likely to
have a mixed grain strategy than their vaChiKunda counterparts, but also
points out the anomaly that vaDema are more likely to need drought
relief assistance.

A number of factors may be involved in explaining why so many
people rely exclusively on maize. Cutshall mentions the ethnic
differentiation, the emphasis of the agricultural extension officer and

dietary preference as possible explanations. I emphasize that the

141

variety of foods grown in the dimba. may offset the risks of solely
growing maize as a wet season crop and this may be an important factor
in explaining why more people do not diversify their grain production.

Though maize is sold locally, there are very few households who
produce surpluses of maize. As has been pointed out, those wealthier
vaChiKunda households who do have surpluses can exchange them for vaDema
labor. Most crop production is for domestic consumption, not for cash
cropping. The main exception to this is, of course, the cotton crop
which is grown exclusively for cash. Bananas and tobacco are also sold
for cash and I came across instances of the sale of magggg. However,
the main source of cash income from agriculture is cotton production.
This is an important source of cash used for paying school fees and
buying necessities. The following account of the most successful cotton
grower in the ward in 1990, illustrates many of the dilemmas associated
with competing land use strategies involving the balancing of cash crops

and food crops.

Cotton Growing

Hr. Samson Dumba - Successful cotton Grower

Mr. Dumba was the most successful cotton grower in Chapoto ward in
1990. In total, he produced 10 bales of cotton and received a cheque
for just over one thousand seven hundred Zimbabwean dollars
(approximately four hundred U.s. dollars), for his families pains, from
the cotton marketing board. This figure was unusually high for many
farmers who I knew produced two or less bales. Out of fourteen cotton

producers in the southern portion of the ward, the average was 3.1

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bales. Cotton is evaluated according to grade and paid by the kilogram.
Some bales, therefore, weigh more than others. Mr. Dumba's cotton was
graded as: one bale of grade B, five bales of grade C and four bales of
grade D. The highest price he received per kilogram was $1.18 for the
grade B bale.

Cotton was first introduced into the ward in 1985 and some farmers
are tending to mono-crop cotton in their mind; (the gimp; still provides
a diversified source of food) in the hope of obtaining larger cash
takings. Basically, this is a switch from maize production to cotton
production. Maize meal can, if necessary, be bought at the subsidized
rates, thus achieving the food supply forfeited from the losses in the
often unreliable maize crop. However, many farmers do plant both cotton
and maize.

In working out his profits, Mr. Dumba withdrew the amount charged
for transport (Z$30 per bale before the gulf crisis), plus the amount
paid out for pesticides and the hire of the pesticide sprayer from his
neighbor, the cost of hessian bales and string, but did not include any
payment for his own labor or that of his wife and her children. Family
labor was not considered a cost, though the enlisting of vaDema to work
in the field is, I believe, more likely to be considered a cost.
neither did Mr. Dumba factor in the inflation rate in Zimbabwe.
According to some sources, this is said to be an alarming 30—40 percent
per annum and is exacerbated by the drastic rises in fuel cost. Even
prior to these drastic increases, which have increased the price of
production of all commodities in Zimbabwe, if we use the minimum.wage

for labor as an indicator of the value of labor, it was clear that Mr.

143
Dumba's family was making no profit on his 1990 cotton crop. The
implication is that the majority of less successful cotton growers were
making an outright loss, in terms of the value of their labor.

Mr. Dumba, his wife and two children prepared for, protected,
harvested, and attended to the cotton crop over a period of nine months
(NOvember-July). Though he also had successful harvests from his maize
crop, it is true to say that the bulk of the labor and time spent on
crop protection went into the production of cotton. This included
preparation of the fields, planting, weeding, protecting from crop-
raiding animals, spraying and pest control, harvesting, grading and
baling. The minimum wage in Zimbabwe at the time was Z$155.9O per month
(US$32) for an agricultural or yard worker who does not live on the
premises. This is taken to be the cost of paying and supporting an
individual's total requirements and in the current inflationary
situation, the figure is low. Admittedly, it is a figure which takes
into account the urban situation where rents and transport to and from
work have to be paid. However, other costs are accrued in remote areas,
particularly the cost of transport. My observation was that many
commodities were often more expensive in the ward than in the towns. If
we use this figure as a relative indicator of general financial well-
being in comparing successful cotton growing with agricultural or yard
labor, it may be useful.

Mr. Dumba, his wife and two children under fourteen years of age
attended to the cotton crop as a team. Certain periods of the year were
rust as arduous as others, but I estimate that the amount of labor

including crop-protection was at least equivalent to one full time adult

144
worker for nine months. If we apply the agricultural worker monthly
figure, this labor is worth Z$1403. We must add on to this the cost of
transport, which was ZSBOO and the cost of hiring the spray equipment
and purchasing chemicals (estimated to be at least a further Z$70). In
addition, the cost of purchasing the hessian bales, string and tags was
incurred. A very conservative estimate of costs incurred by such a
successful cotton grower for his 1990 crop was about Z$1,773.

The cheque Mr. Dumba was so pleased to receive was almost
equivalent to his costs. .The only way in which profit can be
rationalized in this case is by underestimating the value of family
labor. This particularly refers to women and child labor, since men
often are the ones who control and spend the income derived from the
crop. There is variation in this, in the sense that some male
householders would consult all members who had contributed to the cotton
crop as to how the money should be spent. A wife might request plates
or cooking oil or school fees, while a child might request clothing or
bus fares, etc.

'Mr. Dumba's agricultural production differs from other vaChiKunda
cotton growers, in that other cotton growers tend to use more vaDema
labor at times of the year when intensive labor is required. As has
been mentioned, this is basically a transaction of food for work (see
next section).

The significance of Mr. Dumba's decision to grow cotton is that
cotton growing may become a substantial threat to the existing natural
resources in the valley. Other areas, particularly those closer to the

escarpment, such as the MZP, show that escarpment dwellers and existing

145
stream bank cultivators are expanding their agricultural practice into
wooded areas that potentially are the habitats of a wide range of fauna
and flora. Clearing woodland to grow cotton may not be wise for many
reasons. The high costs of transport and other inputs such as
pesticides, may become prohibitive. But more importantly, can we be
assured that there will always be a good price for cotton on the local
and world market? Once the trees are cut down and the land is cleared,
successive years of cotton growing will degrade the soil and may lead to
poor yields. If there should be a slump in the price of cotton, because
for instance, synthetic fibers encroach into the market, cotton growing
may be discontinued but the resources of the valley will have been
depleted and it may take a long time to build them back up.

Kanyurira ward recently decided to give a two hundred dollar
dividend to households from wildlife revenues. Many cotton growers in
Chapoto ward did not receive as much from their cotton growing. Though
it may also be true that the market for wildlife resources is a foreign
one and is also a fickle market, wildlife has proved to be a resource
' that can do well in valley conditions, if properly managed.

Family members are not the only people whose labor is undervalued
in cotton production. In many cotton growing households, VaDema assist
in stumping fields, weeding, harvesting in exchange for a daily ration
of maize meal. This means that they do not have the time to work
sufficiently in their own fields or forage. Though women and children's
labor is undervalued in the case of Mr. Dumba's cotton, in many
VaChiKunda fields, in addition, VaDema labor is undervalued. One

possible reason is because vaDema no longer have access to their former

146
means of livelihood in the Chewore safari area.

Despite the fact that I argue that Mr. Dumba is making a loss from
the point of view of rational economics, from his perspective he has
done exceptionally well. Other farmers obviously also think cotton
growing is a good option, as it appears to be spreading. I believe this
is so for reasons that have been outlined above, namely that the price _
of maize meal is subsidized therefore making it more attractive to grow
cotton instead of maize or other food crops, which otherwise might be
necessary to grow in larger quantities.29 The second reason is that
men, women and children's labor is not included as a cost of production.
This is not to imply that cotton growers do not also plant maize, but
there is evidence that cotton growers do buy maize at the subsidized
rates. If such subsidies did not exist and the cost of maize was higher
than the returns on cotton, I believe this would mean that less people
would plant cotton.

The next illustration is that of a household cluster, which more
closely resembles the lifestyle of the majority of people in the ward,
who do not plant cotton. It illustrates a more conservative and
historical strategy based, on diverse exploitation of available natural

resources. As has been mentioned, state regulations prohibiting or

 

29One could also argue that people grow cotton to be able to afford
maize, since maize is unreliable. If maize yields are good then cotton
profits can be used for alternative purposes, if they are poor then food
can be purchased (pers com Derman). However, the degree of yields from
diversified gimp; cultivation, during both the wet and the dry season
also affects the decision to grow cotton (a non-food crop). gimp;
cultivation provides an important source of food, and cotton is not
grown in the dimba. The long term implication of this is that gimp;
cultivation supports the growing of cotton by hedging the bets against
household food deficit.

147
restricting hunting, fishing, foraging, stream bank cultivation, etc.
tend to threaten this type of diverse exploitation, while encouraging
mono-cropping. This is not to say that cotton growers do not also take
advantage of multiple resource opportunities. Almost all cotton

growers, for instance, have both munda and dimba cultivation.

A.Diversified‘vaChiKnnda Household Economy: .A.Strategy For Survival
Both vaChiKunda and vaDema households have historically had
diversified economies. Crops are grown in both the mung; and the gimba,

and foraging, fishing and limited hunting continues to be an important
source of food. In addition to state regulations, to some extent cotton
growing for cash poses a threat to this diversity, since it requires a
lot of labor. However, there are many households that have not started
growing cotton. The following illustration gives the reader a picture
of decision-making and household economics in a non-cotton growing
household cluster.

Household cluster, nigbi - as we shall call it, constitutes a core
male head of household, his three sons, his divorced daughters, his
married daughters and sons-in-law. His neighbors are all gghgi;§;§
(bond friends) or in-laws. The residents of the cluster either work in
the fields of the household head or else they have their own fields near
to his. The household head claims ownership of the gimp; and of the
mggdg. In general, he supervises the work of the women and children and
other labor going on in these fields. However if he is away, his wife
makes decisions and reports back to her husband. If they divorce, the

wife has no rights over the gimp; or the mugga. The men of the

148
household clear and stump the fields, but they may enlist vaDema to help
do this heavy work. WOmen generally do the planting, while men are
cutting poles and collecting thatching grass. If weeding or other tasks
are excessive, the wife may prepare beer to recruit labor through a beer
party. Men usually protect the fields at night from crop-raiding
animals, whilst women and children stay at the main homestead. If crops
are growing both in the gimp; and in the agndg, this may pose a
logistical problem since, in the case of this household, the homestead
is not situated near either the gimp; or the mupgg.

Harvesting is done by both men and women, but men may also have to
build storage sites (ghiggta). The maize that is harvested is eaten or
sold or used to prepare bear. Corn and sorghum are also used to make
saga; (grain meal). vegetables, groundnuts, beans, watermelons, paw-
paws, bananas are all important sources of food. Sweet potatoes are
often eaten at breakfast when they are available. The household head
does not grow cotton because he claims that he cannot afford to buy
chemicals to spray the cotton. He was also, correctly, concerned that
these chemicals might poison his family.

The money earned from the sale of any surplus food is usually used
for buying other necessities such as soap, salt and cooking oil. Money
earned from the sale of beer is also used to purchase necessities, such
as blankets and clothes. While in general, the man in consultation with
his wife ultimately makes decisions concerning money, it is recognized
that women put a lot of work into specific extra tasks, such as brewing
beer, and any cash obtained from such sources is considered to be hers

to decide upon. In cotton growing households, there was variation in

149
the degree to which women were included in decision-making on money.
Some households had a liberal policy of dividing up the cash revenues to
all members involved in the cotton crop, while others left control in
the hands of the male household head.

The head of this household also earns some money as "the messenger
of the spirit" (gambangg). His duties include cleaning the clothes of
the spirit medium, collecting herbs on instruction from her, cleaning
the area around the anggmagg (shrine), calling the spirit by blowing
the trumpet (unda) and taking messages. This is an inherited position,
because he is descended from one of Kanyemba's slave attendants. He
also supplements his income by building storage bins for others, fishing
and in the past, making log boats.

His family also gather magawo and make liquor or porridge from it.
Other items gathered include magggga (worms) and 9592; (worms). Hunting
is usually done by men using snares while women use mosquito nets to
catch fish. Herbs are used to treat hunting dogs; they are obtainable
from the spirit medium.

In contrast to this vaChiKunda household cluster, the next two
case studies illustrate the relationship between a vaDema household and
the available natural resources, both in terms of their present life-1
style emphasizing labor in exchange for food and their past life-style
which emphasized foraging. It also underlines how the broader issues
related to the control of poaching (national policy and the role of the
safari operator and DNPWLM game scouts) impinge directly on their

productive activities.

150
Home Economics and Decision-Making in a vaDema Household - past and
present [vaDema text as narrated by Chidota Kaputi (research assistant)
and adapted by the author.)

This household consists of eight people, that is six children and
two parents. The man is the head of the household and makes all the
important decisions in consultation with his family. He is still
working out his brideservice for his in-laws with whom he stays. He
helps his in-laws in a number of ways and is not allowed to move away
from them until brideservice is complete. If he finds "food for work"
opportunities in the fields of the vaChiKunda, he is expected to share
this food with his in-laws. If he goes into the forest and finds honey,
when he returns he will share this honey with his mother-in-law. He and
his wife should always be thinking about what strategies they can use to
obtain food for their family. Every member of the family should decide
what to do in order for them all to survive the season; they should all
go in different directions in order to find something to give the
children. This might include going into the mountains, as well as
working for food (i.e., foraging and provision of labor).

They faced less problems before settling in the ward (within the
last twelve years), because they had a different life pattern. Maize
and grain from shifting cultivation was stored in portable granaries
(bark-bins) until the next growing season. In the intervening period
they would move through the forest, collecting and hunting, while their
granaries remained inside a web of thorns hidden and secured from
baboons and other crop-raiding animals. The stored grain would support
them while they were working on preparing the next season's harvest.

finale wandering through the forest, they would live from tubers and

151
edible fruits. ngg was favored because one can make gagga from it
after withdrawing the poisons. If the wandering family came across a
good area for gene, guppy; or mpama, they would settle there for a week
or more while elderly women prepared meals from the tubers. While they
did this, the men would try to kill small game and birds or fish in
nearby pools. Women also hunted and fished.

While in the forest they did not have spirit mediums who were with
them, but they honored these spirits by visiting the spirit mediums of
these people who were sedentary. These spirits knew that they had
children in the mountains and whenever they had problems with their way
of life, they would ask for assistance from spirit mediums.

They had no headmen. The first headman was appointed by the first
Chief Chapoto, who was appointed chief by the colonial authorities.
Under the colonial dispensation they were considered to be under Chief
Chapoto, even though they were regularly moving through the forests. In
these early days there was plenty of food and exchange took place
between the vaChiKunda and the vaDema (e.g., vaDema gave food and meat
for VaChiKunda clothes and maize).

These days there are major problems of hunger and disease. They
can hardly go for a single day into the forest to collect honey. This
is because the game scouts will arrest them there, but it may also be
because the spirits have been neglected as there is a shortage of food
in the forest. Herbs that can cure the various illnesses are plentiful
in the forest, but access is prohibited.

If they work in the fields of the VaChiKunda, they will only

receive enough food for a single day and the next day they will be

152
hungry again. If they have no food before they start their employment
(they may not have eaten for three days or more), they may have to
borrow a days food from the owner of the field, in order to give them
strength to work in that same field. If they owe the owner of the field
a days work, it will be very difficult to go for a day without eating
while they pay this debt off. If they are working in the owner's field,
it will mean that they will not have time or strength to work in their
own field or to go into the forest to look for food.

The state apparatus, through the creation of protected areas for
wildlife and through the enforcement of prohibitive regulations
concerning hunting, fishing, foraging and stream bank cultivation, has
contributed to the effective reduction of the diversity of survival
options used in the past. The following narrative again illustrates
that foraging was previously an important component of brideservice,
that the spirit is seen to control resource opportunities, in terms of
foraging and hunting, but game scouts make it necessary to curtail or

forgo these options.

Brideservice, Endogamy, Rain, Foraging and Prison:.A'VaDema Case History
(Text adapted.by the author and research assistant from narration by x.)

Mr. K is married to a woman from Angwa (70 kilometers away by
road) and lives next to his brother-in-law. As he did not pay all the
1999;; (bridewealth) required by his in-laws, he is expected to work for
his in-laws. Mr. K remembers that in the old days men used to marry
their sister's daughter or even the daughter of their mother's brother.
Although these practices still continue among some people in the ward,

Mr. K was very opposed to such practices and believed that the reason

153
people married so closely within the family was because they had no
money to pay bridewealth. The children of parents who marry within the
family, also marry within the family. Genealogies, which I traced,
generally supported this notion. According to other informants, the
spirit mediums have forbidden such practices, but they were common in
the past.

Mr. K had not fulfilled his obligations to his in-laws. If he
were to die, his children would belong to his wife's family and not to
his, because 1929;; (bridewealth) had not been paid and neither had an
adequate amount of brideservice been offered.A In the old days, the
young man would perform tasks for his in-laws, such as hunting and
foraging. These days one is arrested by game scouts or safari operators
for hunting or foraging.

In the old days, crops such as maize, cucumbers, pumpkins sorghum
and millet were grown. During times of drought, they could rely on wild
food which was near to their homes, such as mpgma, manyggya, and honey.
When the first honey of the year was collected, they were expected to
make a new hag; fill it with honey and present it to the spirit medium
as a way of respecting the spirit, who is the owner of things in the
forest. Honey was very important because it helped them to survive when
the tubers (e.g., mpama and manyagya) were shrinking, due to lack of
water. They believe current shortages of honey and other forest
jproducts occurred because people were ignoring the spirits. Chinyensva,
IZhimhako and Kanyemba were all important spirits in people's daily
lives. Chimombe is considered to be like God, he is the most important

spirit because he brings rains. Without rain there is no harvest,

154
neither in the forest nor in the field and there is no life. Appeals
for rain are made by sending gifts of salt, clothes and other items to
Kangora (Nyamapfeka). Kangora will give these to Chinyenzva and
Chinyenzva will give it to Chimombe.

Before, when they were living in the mountains, there was plenty
of food. All the problems of hunger started when Chief Chapoto (i.e.,
the authorities) called everyone to come and settle near the
Mwanzamtanda river. Even during the liberation war, they had no
problems as they never came into contact with the freedom fighters.

This year the rains are bad and the crops did not grow, but they cannot
go and fall back on mpama and gagygpyg because they are so far away and
the game scouts are so strict.

He himself was once arrested for poaching by a game scout who
found the skull of a animal he had killed many years previously. He was
beaten and had to serve two months in prison. He said it was better to
die of hunger than to trap an animal for food and be caught by the
authorities again. This was an experience that should not be faced
twice in a person's life time. He will never tell anyone that someone
else is hunting, because that is a sign that he himself is also hunting.

Accounts like this one underline the manner in which state
regulations have curtailed traditional forms of resource exploitation.
There is a genuine fear about being apprehended for subsistence
activities, especially hunting. Such informants are faced with a losing
proposition. Their current agricultural practice and labor for food
exchanges do not adequately meet their needs. Simultaneously, the time

tested supplementary activity of foraging and hunting is becoming more

155

and more difficult.

Household/Cluster Animal Holdings

As mentioned earlier, there are no cattle in the ward. However,
Cutshall established that there are five households in the community
which own a total of 44 goats. My first camp was next to one of these
households, that of the chiefs' messenger, and I vividly recall how
frequently leopard would visit at night to see if they could procure
some of his stock.

The most significant animal holding in the ward is poultry and
Cutshall enumerated 72.3 percent of the households as owning chickens or
ducks. vaDema households, according to Cutshall, were less likely than
other households to have poultry and when they did have poultry, they
tended to have less stock (ibid, 38). The mean number of poultry owned
per household was approximately 14 and when we consider that, at any
given time, at least half of these would be too young to harvest, having
chicken for dinner was a rare and wonderful occasion. Despite this, my
neighbors regularly cooked chicken for me in return for some small favor
I had done.

When Cutshall enumerated domestic animal loss from predators, 95.5
percent of households reported animal loss in the preceding season
(1988). 77.9 percent of the poultry-owning households reported at least
one incident of poultry loss.

Pigeons and rabbits are also kept in the community, but the number
of households which have these are very few. Many households have tried

to keep dogs in order to give warning when wild animals are near and for

156
use in hunting, but these dogs appear to be a treasured delicacy for
leopard and while I was in the field several dogs were lost in this

manner .

Household\Cluster FOraging, Hunting and Fishing

[Subsistence hunting, in any form, is illegal. Foraging in the
hunting concession area (i.e. the ward) is frowned upon by the safari
operator, foraging in the protected areas (Chewore and Dande safari
area) is illegal and fishing with nets is prohibited. It is, therefore,
difficult to obtain accurate information on these activities. However,
having lived through two dry seasons in the ward, I was able to observe
that many ward households rely on one or more of these activities to
supplement their food supply. I have already outlined in detail the
type of indigenous knowledge that exists amongst the vaDema in regard to
fruits tubers and berries. In this section, I simply would like to
highlight some of the activities which are relied on by a broader
section of the population.

Of considerable importance to many ward residents, regardless of
ethnic affiliation, is the fruit of the magggg, which is widely
collected as a staple by both the vaChiKunda and vaDema. It is a small,
but very tasty fruit. Each tree yields a large harvest of fruit, and
towards the end of the dry season, I have observed families who have
been eating little else. The fruit is also used to make an alcoholic
drink. unlike many of the tubers eaten by the vaDema, no elaborate
preparation is required for the magagg, in terms of extracting toxins.

An added benefit is that magagg grow in the riverain belt where the line

157
of habitation is and people do not have to go far into the forest to
face the double danger of wild animals and armed safari operators or
anti-poaching units to obtain it. During the research period, I
isolated this tree as being the single most important fruit supplement
to household food supply for a wide cross section of the population. It
was not at all uncommon to see elevated wracks of 395339 drying in the
sun at most households towards the end of the dry season.

In an attempt to find out how regularly the magggg and other food
items appeared in the diet of selected households, I asked members of
households to note down how many times a week they would eat the fruit
when it was in season. Of course, there was a great deal of variation
depending on the economic status of the households, their size, ethnic
affiliation, annual rainfall and other variables, but my overall finding
was that many people regularly (three times a week) ate main meals which
included gaggggL for at least six weeks in the year. The reason I
emphasize this is because so often foraging is not considered to be a
part of the household economy. In endeavoring to find out what natural
resources mean to local people, it seems to be vital to include their
foraging activities. The devastating 1992 drought has made many
agriculturalists, throughout Southern Africa, supplement their
agricultural practices with foraging.3o

Likewise, hunting and fishing activities are important in terms of

added protein in the diet. Recently, many of the vaChiKunda of Chapoto

 

30According to a British Broadcasting Corporation news item,
thirty nine million people in Southern Africa were in need of drought
relief food distribution; eighteen million of these faced the threat of
starvation.

158

ward, who are currently settled next to the Mwanzamtanda river, were
living on the banks of the Zambezi river. The Mwanzamtanda river for
much of the year is a dry river bed, with a few isolated pools in which
small quantities of fish live. The Zambezi river, on the other hand,
flows strongly throughout the year and harbors a range of edible fish,
the most common of which is the Tiger fish (Hyggggyggs vittagug). Fish
in the diet has played a bigger role in the past than it does in the
present. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that people
have moved away from the Zambezi river because of the Rhodesian war, and
secondly because DNPWLM regulations concerning the prohibition of
fishing with nets, except by a local defunct fishing co-operative, means
that individuals cannot fish for their families, except with lines. The
defunct co-operative was allegedly not successful because of
"corruption“. Some people who live in the most northern portion of the
ward, do spend a large portion of their time fishing with lines in the
Zambezi and selling the fish to other residents. However, the largest
quantities of fish that I saw for sale had been caught in Cabora Bassa
Dam (Mozambique), where no implemented controls on fishing exist.

vaDema clusters, in the southern portion of the ward, do fish in
the isolated pools in the Mwanzamtanda river bed, but have frequently
been arrested for this. In the past, vaChiKunda women used to use
mosquito nets to fish in these pools, but these days they fear that they
will be arrested for fish poaching by the DNPWLM. Consequently, DNPWLM
regulations effect diet, and this in turn makes people search for

methods to obtain the abundant protein that surrounds them.

159

Subsistence Hunting for the Household Pot

As many people in the ward have been arrested for hunting, it is
very difficult to obtain accurate information on the quantity of hunting
that goes on in the ward and the role that game-meat plays in the diet
of households. There is also diversity in the degree of hunting carried
out by different households. I emphasize that this is extremely
sensitive information and refer the reader to the methodology for more
on this subject. Though selected households were asked by research
'assistants what role game meat played in their diets, some people were
co-operative whilst others were not. Research assistants were
instructed not to pursue this question if the informants were not
willing to discuss it, as it could possibly jeopardize my entire
research project. After a legal safari operator kill in the ward, where
the carcass was donated to the people, it was noticed that game meat was
eaten more freely or openly. But otherwise when asked how much meat was
secured for the pot, or for other purposes, most households were
uncooperative. Others elaimed that, at times, they ate two or three
meals a week which had a portion of game meat. Circumstantial evidence
gave me an overall picture of how much game meat was eaten by
households, such as the arrest of local people for poaching, the
discovery of snares by the safari operators anti-poaching unit, or the
isolated incidents when I myself came across people attempting to hide
meat, or the rare occasion when I was offered meat. Even the simple
evidence of cooking smells in the evening gave me an idea of how
regularly people ate meat in the vicinity. My considered opinion is

that all residents do eat game meat on occasions and this is broadly

160
verified by informants, but these occasions are, for the majority of
households, rare.

Simultaneously, however, there are certain households in the ward
which are renown for hunting and which, I do believe, rely quite heavily
on game meat for their maintenance. However, these households
constitute a small minority. In general, people's fear of being caught
snaring prevents game meat from being a regular feature of their diet.
One only needs to be caught once in order to find oneself in gaol and
therefore much precaution is necessary. Though instances of trading or
exchange of meat do occur, these too are rare (see sections that follow

for more detail on this topic).

Household/Cluster Decision-Making

As has been pointed out earlier, a household or a cluster of
households, usually center on significant affinally or consanguineously
related males. Women (usually widows, divorcees or 'abandoned') may
also head households, but frequently they situate themselves next to
male kin.

Decision-making concerning agricultural production, foraging,
hunting and the distribution of income, usually occurs along a continuum
between two extremes. The one extreme is that the significant male,
within the household, makes all decisions concerning both production and
distribution of food or income and does not broadly consult those who
participate in production. At the other extreme, decision-making
concerning these matters is a negotiated group decision with inputs from

all those participating including children. The most common form of

161
decision-making is negotiation between senior members of the family. A
variation of the first extreme is that if a man has to go away, for any
purpose, his wife or wives may be delegated authority to manage
production in his absence.

In the case of gimp; cultivation, women tended to exhibit more
control over production than mung; cultivation. _Mupg§ cultivation,
especially when cotton was planted, often tended to be supervised by the
man of the household. Again, there was much diversity in this and I
came across instances of authoritarian male management as well as
participatory decision-making on behalf of the group. This was most
marked when it came to the distribution of cash income from the cotton
crop. In some families, all members who contributed to the crop were
consulted on how the money should be spent and were asked what they most
needed. Young boys might say they needed clothes, the woman of the
house might suggest pots or cooking oil or school fees, and the man
might suggest bus fares or hoes or blankets. In other households, the
man would not even tell his wife and children how much money had been
accrued from the cotton crop and would attempt to monopolize control of
the money and minimalize the amount given to his family. Frequently,
such practices would end up in dispute and possibly divorce.

In contrast to cash cropping, decisions about foraging appear to
be far less centralized and more situational. The head male of families
that engage in foraging might make general plans about where they should
live and which areas they should go in search of food (or food for
work), and especially if these areas included prohibited areas where one

could be arrested for illegal entry. Yet, such a head would not be able

162
to monopolize foraging take-off for himself as some cotton growers do.

Women who brewed beer, as an alternative source of income, were
usually regarded as being in control of that money. With this money she
might buy31 items for the household, contribute to the school fees of
her children or buy items for herself.

This chapter has outlined some of the local level, cultural and
political dynamics and vested interests associated with agriculture and
foraging as it is related to wildlife issues. So far the focus has been
on local units of analysis such as the household, the VIDCO and the
ward. The next chapter attempts to place these dynamics into the

broader cultural and political field.

31"Buying" is not as easy as it sounds. There are two room sized
stores in the ward. Both are under-stocked and charge exorbitant
jprices. The best option is to ask a relative to buy something for you
when they go up the escarpment .

m IV
THE CULTURAL AND POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF WILDLIFE RESOURCE USE IN CHAPO'IO
WARD

“The DNPWM Respects Animals More Than Human Survival.‘
(vaDema Elder and Herbal Specialist)

The literature review makes it clear that wildlife resource use
cannot be understood in isolation from the multiple jurisdictions under
which it is controlled and used. Political, economic and social factors
interact with the ecological conditions supporting the productive
systems discussed in the last chapter (such as agriculture, foraging,
wildlife utilization). The broader concerns of political economy are,
therefore, an important focus of this study which must not restrict
itself to micro-social organizational issues at the ward level. Diffuse
relations between human beings and resources within the wider political
and economic dispensation can directly effect outcomes at ward level.

In this chapter, the multiple jurisdictions concerning wildlife
are shown to coincide with the differentiations within a series of
social organizational levels. A discussion of these factors is followed
by descriptive material which depicts how some of the more marginalized
and impoverished vaDema fit into this broader picture. In order to make
analytical intentions clear, a diagrammatic representation is presented
of the interaction of levels of social organization, productive systems,
competing demands, and vested interests in the ecological resource base
(Figure 11). These are the factors that buttress the various competing

or ambiguous rights to wildlife in the ward.

163

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165

An important feature of Figure 11 is the various productive
activities, such as cotton growing, stream bank cultivation, shifting
cultivation, hunting, foraging, exchange and employment, engaged in by
ward residents. These are shown to be in a direct relationship with the
changing ecological resource base. However, this resource base is
influenced, directly or indirectly, by a number of other factors, some
of which emanate from situations and forces largely removed from this
remote ward. The complex relationship between ivory trade, poaching,
the presence of anti-poaching units, and the influence of the CITES ban
on ivory trade in making Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries
seek alternative marketing mechanisms for their ivory resources, are
good examples of how the local resource base might be influenced by
global factors. Global factors, such as the thawing cold war, have also
had a direct bearing on Zimbabwe's decision to undertake an economic
structural adjustment program in an attempt to liberalize the economy.
Therefore, national policy is closely linked to global politics.

Likewise historical factors, another feature of Figure 11,
sometimes have a direct and immediate bearing on how the resource base
is used. The ward itself is largely a creation of colonialism, as are
the safari areas which surround it. The notion of "the king's game,"
that is, that wildlife belongs to the state and that the state protects
the wildlife from the people in the common interest and that of
posterity, is a very powerful legacy. It appears to be an important
factor in the largely alienated and negative attitudes which people

presently have towards wildlife in the ward.

166

Current national policy towards a professed decentralization of
wildlife resources (excluding however, interdependent resources like
uranium and oil), is also influencing the use of resources at the local
level and since local government authorities and the system of local
government (district council, VIDCOs, WADCOs, councillor and committees)
are the vehicles through which this decentralization is to take place,
they have an obvious significance in terms of resource use. But equally
important is the neo-traditional system of government used prior to
independence, which relied on the chief and headmen for many
administrative and judicial functions. The conflicting or overlapping
interests between these two systems may in themselves be crucial factors
in the success or failure of such programs as CAMPFIRE. Conflicts
between the two systems may have important impacts on the local resource
base especially if some people feel excluded and alienated from a
resource management regime. Such conflict may lead to such a regime
being undermined. ‘

Political and economic relations at the local level within the
clusters (e.g., the institution of brideservice, child labor), between
clusters (e.g., competition for scarce riverside gardens) and between
vested interest groups (e.g., vaChiKunda food in exchange for vaDema
labor, Faith Apostolic Mission Church members versus those who honor the
ancestral spirits) are all important in terms of understanding the
changing resource base. Of particular importance is how the wider
global, historical, local government and national policy issues impinge

on these local dynamics.

167

For instance, the royal ancestral spirits are (for most residents)
the owners of the land and largely are seen to control the ecological
resource base. They are not, however, involved in the official
custodianship or proprietorship of specific resources, except
unofficially as religious functionaries. Though ancestral spirits are
renounced by a section of the community, such as members of the Faith
Apostolic Mission Church, they have considerable cultural influence on
the way people think and behave, even on those who renounce them, in
regard to the resource base. The safari operator and client, by virtue
of his concession lease signed with district council, also claims
ownership of wildlife resources in the ward and such conflicting claims
are central to an understanding of the sustainable use of resources in
the ward. Chapter V1 is devoted to the question of competing claims to
the wildlife resource and Figure 11 is relevant in elucidating these

competing claims.

Global Factors

Global interests in the environmental crisis and the competing
stances taken on conservation through utilization, as opposed to
conservation through protectionism, as exhibited at the CITES debates,
luave a direct bearing on how wildlife resources are managed in Chapoto
*wardn One could argue that the.increased global awareness and
aqupreciation of wildlife and the environment has led to increased anti-
;xmaching units in the Chewore safari area. That is, the attempts to

combat increased poaching of rhino horn and ivory has directly effected

168

or curtailed foraging activities in protected areas.32

Zimbabwe has opted to support the trend for conservation through
sustainable use and is trying to redress the policy of protectionism.
This is not solely a response to parochial Zimbabwean concerns about the
future of its own resources, it is part of a global concern about the
future of environmental resources. Such international concern is made
politically evident through the language used in project funding and aid
and trade agreements at international level. The global concern with
bio-diversity, the concern for conservation and sustainable use of
environmental resources, therefore, influences national policy as well
as projects like CAMPFIRE. Global concern is often supported by large
amounts of financial incentives and other opportunities. Lobbying and
fund raising in America, for instance, can directly effect regional and
national policy, which effect outcomes at the local level in remote
wards. To ignore the impact of money, technology and idea flows from
global through regional to the local level is to ignore a major vested
interest in local wildlife. The CITES debates on banning the ivory
trade vividly symbolized this political and economic reality. It
emphasized that local, district and national controls have to
accommodate regional and global vested interests. Likewise global
interests in local outcomes cannot overlook the important role of

political and administrative structures at national, provincial,

 

32Another obvious example might be the influence of the Gulf war. This
'was a catalyst for the increase in fuel prices in Zimbabwe, which directly
effected cotton growers whose transport costs per bale were dramatically
increased, thereby reducing profit margins until commodity prices rise and
jpossibly making it less attractive to grow cotton as a cash crop in the long
term .

169
district, ward, village and household levels.

Though some global trends or factors like the CITES agreements may
have a direct and immediate effect on how resources are used locally,
others are played out on a much longer time-scale and are intricately
intertwined with the historical factors which have shaped the present.
This is a major challenge for analysts of the global goal of

sustainability of natural resources.

Historical Factors

The advent of colonialism had a very strong impact on the
diversity of land use strategies available in this part of the Zambezi
valley. Over time, wildlife became the property of the state which led
to dispossession of land and resettlement, while protected areas and
national parks were set up. Populations at the turn of the century were
a mere fraction of what they are today (1901 national census estimated
African population to be 500,000) and in many communal areas in Zimbabwe
there is now considerable land shortage.

Land was a key motivational factor in the civil war which ended in
1980. Though there is not a problem of land shortage in Chapoto ward,
in the sense that the ward is only inhabited in one area, there is
effectively a land shortage problem, because residents are denied access
to natural resources, which the land supports within the ward.
Historically, despite protective policies, people have survived in the
valley by cultivating in both the dry (stream bank cultivation) and wet
season, by foraging natural resources and by subsistence hunting. Yet

government policy has attempted to reduce land use strategies by stating

170
that streambank cultivation, subsistence hunting, fishing with nets,
foraging in protected areas and shifting cultivation are all illegal or
frowned upon. Cotton growing, on the other hand, is actively encouraged
by agricultural extension agents, despite the fact that drought relief
maize is irregularly delivered (i.e., there is a deficit of food).

The state and the historical factors which have shaped it, are
subtly exerting pressure on farmers to increase cash cropping as a
viable way of life. Yet, even in the case of “successful cotton
growers," cash cropping tends to underestimate the value of labor (see
case study in Chapter III) and it is not clear that cash cropping of
non-food crops such as cotton is a long term option in valley
conditions. In these conditions a diversity of survival strategies
would be a better option. While condemning gimp; cultivation, the state
has to date turned a blind eye to it in the ward, but the MZP
"resettlement program" is essentially moving people away from the rivers
because stream bank cultivation is not considered a sound policy.

In the past, the state leased out Chapoto ward as part of a
hunting concession area, which is policed by the safari operator and his
assistants. Uhder the CAMPFIRE program, this arrangement continues but
revenues accrue to district council. From the average person in the
*ward’s perspective, the safari operator is still policing the wildlife
resources in the ward and though the revenues from the concession lease
.are intended to benefit locals, this really has not yet impinged on the
average person's life-style.

Generally, the state apparatus has impoverished people by reducing

their land use strategies. It is in this context that the CAMPFIRE

171
program needs to be located, and it needs to show that it can reverse

this trend.

System.of Local Government and.nationa1 Policy Towards natural Resources

During colonialism, the mechanisms through which the state
maintained political control in remote areas was through the offices of
chiefs and headmen (indirect rule). At the present time, the system of
local government is based on VIDCOs, WADCOs, and councillor who are
represented in a district council (see fuller description in Chapter I).
The district council is run by a chief executive officer who, in the
case of Guruve district is also the district administrator (previously
known as the district commissioner), a senior executive officer and a
council chairman. Councillor from each ward are represented, but the
structure is essentially a top-down hierarchical structure. Thomas
(1991) argues that decision-making at district level is didactic because
the District Development Committee has no democratic representation (see
Chapter I for a description of local government structures). This
committee is chaired by the district administrator and is responsible
for district development plans which are presented for approval to
district council. Thomas indicates that the potential for district
councils to be coerced by their executive is therefore high.

The decentralization of the proprietorship of wildlife from the
central government to the selected district councils is the start of,
*what.is officially hoped to be, a grass roots proprietorship of natural
resources. However, there are a number of problems associated with such

changes. Firstly, the state differentiates between different resources,

172
there being different state mechanisms, institutions and laws involved
in controlling water, forests (Forestry Commission), soil, minerals,
wildlife (DNPWLM), etc. Ecologically and socially, these resources are
holistically intertwined. Secondly, in the case of wildlife, the
Wildlife Act (1975) provides provision for the district councils to be
designated appropriate authorities for wildlife, but no legal
proprietorship exists in current legislation for wards to take this
responsibility. Realistically, ultimate control does not lie in their
hands. In this sense, CAMPFIRE may not constitute decentralization, but
a form of “indirect rule." A third major problem is that vested
interests in these resources developing at higher levels such as the
iglobal, central or local government levels may militate against such
vested interests developing at local levels. Furthermore, the
development of vested interests at the local level does not mean that
the smallest accountable units (the households?) will develop such
interests, it may be more likely that rural elites will emerge who

capitalize on the resource opportunities.

Political and Economic Relations at the Local Level

As in the forgoing sections, the following exposition is written
‘with Figure 11 in mind and is a summary of relations that have already
been.mentioned. In Chapoto ward, the local elite is a fragmented
(grouping of VaChiKunda household clusters, competing and co-operating
‘with.each other for a range of opportunities, including gimp; sites,
m sites, meat from legal and illegal kills, labor, church benefits

and other resources emanating from both within and without the ward. An

173
important division is that between the house of Kanyemba and the house
of Chihumbe (see Chapter II). Another important division is that .
between the followers of the spirit mediums and the followers of the
Faith Apostolic Mission Church.

A common problem, for all in the ward, is that of crop-raiding
animals,but the most impoverished people (mainly vaDema) in the ward
are the ones who suffer the most because their foraging activities have
been curtailed by game protectors. One attempt at coping with this
imposition is to work in the more wealthy people's fields in exchange
for food, which means that they cannot spend as much time working on
their own fields. The vaDema people are currently caught in a circle of
poverty, which marginalizes them from the dominant political and
economic processes.

For all groups in the ward, kinship, marriage and brideservice
play an important role in the micro-economy. In many areas of the ward
labor, shortage is more crucial than land shortage as a limitation to
‘production, since there are still unoccupied areas of fertile land that
could be used. WOmen, children and sons-in-law (through bride-service)
are vitally important in providing this labor.

In terms of the wider economy, as early as 1908, Kanyemba was an
area for recruiting labor from Zambia and Mozambique for the colonial

expansion, but today surprisingly little migrant labor occurs.33

 

33C'utshall (1990, 3) emphasized that 93.8 percent of household members
were regular, full time residents, the remaining 6.4 percent included both
secondary school students and migrants. I encountered instances of both
VaChiKunda and VaDema labor migration. Older VaChiKunda men often mentioned
that they had spent a period in their lives working on commercial farms.
There were instances of VaDema finding employment on now inactive mines in the
Chewore safari area. In general, VaChiKunda were more likely to have spent

174
People who have left the ward to go and work elsewhere tend to stay in
those areas for long periods of time and generally do not plough back
much income into the ward. A number of people from the ward have been
relatively successful with their careers and some hold top positions in
government. However, there is no visible evidence of development in the
ward itself that has been generated by these sons (not daughters) who
have out migrated and are upwardly socially mobile. This, I believe, is
because the ward is not considered to be an economically viable concern,
despite its rich potentials.

The descriptive material below elucidates the themes identified in
Figure 11 and the ensuing analysis. They are presented to compliment
and balance the political economy approach, favored in the diagram, by
illustrating the importance of individual decision-making, interaction,
and choice-making. The descriptions illustrate components of the
diagram and the broader points which they make are related to the
diagram, whilst at the same time giving flesh to these abstractions. In
order to give the reader a picture of the manner in which valuable
wdldlife resources are controlled or policed within the ward, I have
.1ncluded an account of my own research experience of these activities.

The safari operators anti-poaching activities are the result of a
number of factors identified in Figure 11. The policing activities
reflect the concerns of the wildlife lobby and the global concerns over
the threat of loss of species, such as rhino and elephant (global
factors). Historically, they are an outcome of the colonial and

:Rhodesian establishment of protected areas. Furthermore, these

 

time in wage labor outside Kanyemba.

175
activities reflect national policy towards such resources, which is
influenced by the aforementioned factors and which enables the safari
operator to lease the concession from the district council, which in
turn is ostensibly there to manage wildlife resources in the best
interests of local people. The account indicates that there is
considerable disjunction of goals and objectives in relation to the
decentralization of the wildlife resource between the district and the

ward level.

Mr. A.of the Animal Police

Mr. A is a hunter who works for the safari operator. His anti-
poaching activities are infamous in the ward. Once I heard him telling
a group of local people, that the “Zambian” poachers who kill rhino for
the horn are superior to local poachers who kill for meat only. They at
least have realized that wildlife is a resource worth a lot of money,
whereas local people only think of its value in terms of meat. Mr. A
pointed to his forehead and said that the next poacher he caught would
get one there. I later heard that a Zambian had been killed by the
safari operator's outfit.
Sadly, Mr. A and his colleagues, on several occasions,34
searched peoples houses for snares and smelt their pots to see if they
had been eating meat. The assumption being that if their pots smelt of
meat, then they must be poachers because they were too poor to buy meat.

The bulk of these anti-poaching activities were targeted against the

 

34Usually at the end of the hunting season.

176
VaDema. At the end of 1989, the safari operator policed the concession
area with an anti-poaching unit led by Mr. A. The first victim was Mr.
Chiyambo; they checked the pot on the fire and harassed him. Next they
went to Mr. Kindon’s residence, where they told him to show them what he
was cooking. He at first refused, but after being threatened he opened
his pot. Inside the pot were some fish. The men wanted to know where
the fish were caught and what method was used to catch them. Kindon
replied that he had caught them in the Mwanzamtanda by using fishing
lines. Fishing lines were acceptable, but using fishing nets of any
description (e.g., mosquito nets) were illegal. They did the same at
Mr. Eria's home, before continuing to go through the bush searching for
snares. After this incident, people believed that Mr. A was using spies
in the community to monitor illegal hunting activities. During the
research period, there were cases of people being arrested for poaching
both within the ward and outside it. However, to my knowledge, no local
person was convicted of the crime.

Though the state apparatus tends to withdraw survival options
through facilitating such protective practices, it also irregularly
provides an external and frequently unreliable source of food through
drought relief distribution. The infrastructural set-up of local
government is used to disburse these necessary hand-outs, which are
targeted for drought years. The following statements, made by a vaDema
informant, contextualize the role of drought relief amongst the other

sources of making a livelihood (working for food, foraging, etc.).

177

Drought Relief Dependency: The State Taketh Away and the State Giveth
(The following text is a paraphrase of the informant's statemnts.)

Mr. S told us in November 1990, that for the VaDema food shortage
was a big problem. Drought and lack of time to prepare their fields had
resulted in poor or no yields. Food was obtained by working in
vaChiKunda fields,3S making of gap; and from state drought relief,
which was late. If one member of the group happens to obtain some
bananas in exchange for labor, he/she will have to share these equally
with the rest of the group because you cannot eat while watched by
others who are starving. State drought relief, at that time, was
distributed on the basis of "food for work" and though Mr. S claimed
that he had already worked for his drought relief to date, he had not
received the maize. Consequently, he has no other choice but to work in
other peoples fields. As a result, he will not have time to grow his
own crops. In essence, he will be growing his own crops in someone
else's field,36 but will not reap the benefits for his labor. The
amount of food given him for a day's work is eaten the same day, so
there is no way he can afford to stop working. If drought relief
arrives, he may be given a small respite, which will allow him to plant
some crops of his own. He will also use some of the drought relief
twaize as his seeds. (Many vaDema had, in desperation, eaten the maize

seeds which should have been planted for the next season.) However,

 

35VaChiKunda cotton fields and vegetable gardens situated on rich
riverain soils were better situated and tended than the VaDema fields.

36This is not to be taken literally; vaDema provide labor alone. No
other inputs, such as seeds, are provided to the VaChiKunda. VaDema usually
work alongside VaChiKunda families in such fields. Some of the more arduous
tasks, such as clearing and stumping fields, may be contracted out to VaDema,
in which case this may be their responsibility alone.

178
drought relief is never enough. If they decide to go into the forest to
look for honey (i.e., if they embark upon alternative drought relief
foraging activities) they may follow a honey guide bird, but when they
arrive at the hive there will be no honey and the time spent on
following the bird will have been wasted. This year's drought was the
worst in a long time because, the life-giving forest, which usually
saves them in times of drought, now provides no food. If they go into
areas of the forest where food is available they will be arrested by
DNPWLM game scouts. Last year they had gone into the forest and came
across scouts, but they were lucky because the scouts did not see them.

Sometimes they spend two to three days without eating anything and
usually they will only eat sadza once or twice a week. The safari
operators are also a problem. People are dying (according to Mr. S) and
have no relish, yet the animals are ironically waiting around their
homes to eat any crops they may plant.

As has been mentioned, protecting fields from crop-raiding animals
is one of the most fundamental issues affecting social organization in
the ward (this issue is dealt with extensively in Chapter V). It is
argued that settlement patterns, building of huts, look-out platforms
and granaries are part of wildlife management.

The description which follows, is really a pastiche of my own
experiences, and it illustrates many of the themes identified above.
(Global, historical, national and district vested interests in wildlife,
:need to be contrasted with the manner in which local resources are
perceived by those who are perceived to be the "poachers" . The

:following account illustrates the notion that local people do not

179
legally have access to many local resources, that such resources (e.g.,
rhino) are deemed to be highly valuable, yet living side by side with
these valued resources are people who often do not obtain enough food to
eat. It also conveys a picture of the dangers and potentials which the
forest offers and shows how removed the micro-world of the vaDema
appears to be from the broader political and economic issues outlined in
the diagram. On separate occasions, I was guided through the forest on
foraging trips by vaDema and the findings are documented in Chapter III.
The purpose of documenting the following walks, is to convey an ambience
of the people and the place. Though the professed purpose of the second
walk was to visit the place where Ntsinguni emerged, I was more
interested in how Mr. Eria and Mr. Mtamawo related to the natural

resources within the constraints outlined in Figure 11.

walking With Mr. Eria: A.case Study of Self Reliance and Poverty in the
Midst of Plenty

Mr. Eria is the brother of Mr. Chiyambo, who is the headman of the
vaDema of Chapoto. Mr. Eria lives on the western side of the
Mwanzamtanda, in an extremely remote area of the ward, near an abandoned
safari camp. The first time I met Mr. Eria, was at about seven o'clock
on.a cloudy rainy morning near his home. He stood with an air of
dignity and local knowledge, in the rags that served as clothes. We
told him we were going to visit Mr. Mtamawo, a renown herbal specialist
and.hunter, who lived away from other households near the border of the
Chewore safari area. Without hesitation, he picked up his ding (spear);
it was still early in the morning and it was an overcast cool day, so

Ibuffalo might still be lurking in the undergrowth. He walked silently

180
and slowly along the path which led through thick jesse (riverain
woodland) and he did not appear to be wary of buffaloes and other
dangerous animals. We walked through the cleared area used as a common
field by a number of families, where individuals share the burden of
crop protection imposed by crop-raiding animals.37 On arriving at Mr.
Mtamawo's, we were toldthat neither he nor his brother-in-law nor his
son-in-law were available. They had gone into the hills in search of
"tobacco"; a euphemism for a range of foraging activities including
hunting. Everything at Mr. Mtamawo's, besides a few pots and some
ragged clothes was hand crafted from available resources. Clay pots
were being made to exchange for maize with vaChiKunda. The intriguing
portable granaries, made from the bark of a large tree, could be seen up

in the dara (small hut on stilts). Grass rattles and traditional

 

guitars were assembled from the immediate resources.

From Mr. Mtamawo's house a grand view of Kamota and Membgwe, two
mountains of the massif where the Mwanzamtanda river disappears between
them can be seen. On the western face of this massif are a number of
landslides. It is said that figggpgggi, the water spirit, emerged at one
of these land slides. Water unexpectedly started to pour out of solid
rock and ran down into the Mwanzamtanda. We asked Mr. Eria to accompany
us to the place where Egggggggi had emerged, but he refused because it
hHas a cool cloudy day. He claimed that wild animals would be actively

m'l<::ving around and it would be very dangerous to attempt such a visit.
He told us to return on a sunny day and this we did about three days

\

31This mechanism of coping with wildlife will be discussed in more detail

1
n’the following chapter.

a s \‘ .HH NU Vi NH Km.
5.. e. .H L0. kw .... ...a.

181
later.

Though we had set off from my camp early in the morning by the
time we reached Mr. Eria's house, approximately ten kilometers away, it
was extremely hot. Mr. Eria was at work clearing trees from his field,
but he agreed to walk with us to the place where flgggpggg; had come out
of the side of the mountain. On the way we again visited Mr. Mtamawo
and this time he was there.

His wild and fiery eyes reminded me of those of an old lion. He
seemed to be defiant of state power and all that it represented. We sat
down on a grass mat together, watching the women molding a hag; which
would be exchanged for food. I asked Mr. Mtamawo about the old
times.38 I told him that it had been written in books that the vaDema
were non-sedentary foragers and were not agriculturalists. He told me
that this was an outright lie and that in the old days people used to
cultivate fields. Books were full of lies in his opinion.39 He also
said it was a lie that people used to move about from place to place.

They did move their fields on an annual basis, but in general they were

 

38Of all the people in the ward I would say that his way of life most
closely resembles the vadema's past way of life. He stubbornly refuses to
work for food in the fields of the vaChiKunda, seems to despise western
medicine, and is himself renown as a great herbalist and hunter. Towards the
end of my research, Mr. Mtamawo fell ill with a wasting-sickness, which seemed
to be related to kidney failure (too many toxins in the tubers which he had
eaten?). He could not walk and his legs were reduced to bone. People said
that when he died, his family would move closer to other people and to the
school. They also said that when Mr. Mtamawo died, a great deal of herbal
knowledge would die with him. I tried to persuade him to visit a doctor in
Mvurwi on the escarpment, but he said he wanted to die at home not far away
from his ancestors. Besides, where would his children get the money to bring
back his body to this, his land?

‘33A.shocking lie written about in books is of course the notion that
vaDema are two-toed.

182
sedentary.4O Other informants point out that shifting cultivation was
an important strategy of survival, but they also indicate that after
harvesting, seasonal movement through the forest, hunting and foraging
was the normal way of life.

After this conversation, we continued on our walk with Mr. Eria.
We passed the grass enclosure of Mrs. Mtamawo senior, whose ancient and
dilapidated body was crouched over a plate of meal. She is the oldest
of the vaDema, but unfortunately from a research point of view, quite
senile.

Mr. Eria walked sure-footedly along what was clearly an animal
path. vaDema do not make conventional paths and seem to avoid straight
lines. It is remarkable how circumspect their paths are. It is also
remarkable that when walking in the forest they will tend to take one
route to reach their destination and a different route to return.

Our present path, judging from the spoors and droppings left, was
clearly traversed by many different types of animals. These animals
included elephant, buffalo, bush buck and others. This area was more
densely forested than others we had passed and Mr. Eria walked with
evident knowledge and confidence. In one instance, before I had heard
or seen anything, Mr. Eria gave us a sign to stop. Shortly, I heard the

sound of galloping hooves approaching fast and darted for the nearest

 

4oMr. Mtamawo's response must be considered in the light of considerable
intimidation by the custodians and keepers of the wildlife resource and his
reputation as a hunter. It must also be remembered that this discussion took
place early on in the research and that Mr. Mtamawo had just returned from
"tobacco" collection, a euphemism for foraging and/or hunting. I know that at
this time Mr. Mtamawo suspected that I was working for the safari operator or
the DNPWLM. This, I think, explains why he chose not to be accurate about the

past.

183
tree, but my companions stood their ground. The buffaloes had stirred,
but not before Mr. Eria was aware of them. Shortly after this, Mr.
Eria's attention was drawn to a tree, where many ants were crawling.
using the axe which he had carried on his shoulder, he dexterously
chopped open a section of the bark. We were still in earshot of the
buffalos, which are renown for stealthily following and hunting down
people who come upon them suddenly. My research assistant pointed out
that Mr. Eria chopped the wood without making too much noise and without
making a fuss that might antagonize the buffalo. He pulled out two fat
worms (mgggggg) from the tree and clasped them in a split stick. He
carried these worms for the rest of our journey and when he returned to
his house he gave them to his daughter to eat.

We crossed the Mwanzamtanda and the prints in the sand were
testimony to the many animals that crossed at that point. We followed
the game path diagonal to the river, but later left it in order to set a
course for our destination. We avoided the dense bush where animals
might be resting form the midday heat and climbed the hill by following
the stream bed that had been formed by the water and rock slide. This
geological feature had spontaneously occurred when Egggpgggi, bringer of
floods and wind, had emerged. We stopped in the dry stream bed, hot and
exhausted. Kuyeri, my research assistant, dug in the sand below a
boulder and to my great surprise the hole filled with murky water. It
was NOvember 1989, the hottest period of that dry season.

We waited for the sediment to settle. The taste of that water is
especially memorable for its sweetness. Though both Kuyeri and myself

were considerably younger than Mr. Eria and a great deal better fed, we

184
were both wilting in the heat. I estimated Mr. Eria to be in his early
fifties, he showed no sign of stress and walked slowly and determinedly
to the rock face. He showed no trace of sweat, though his cough
indicated that he was not in the best of health. A few months later,
Mr. Eria developed a persistent swollen foot, which he put down to
someone having snared him with herbs on a path (sorcery). A western
medical explanation would more likely be "poor diet“.
On arrival at our destination, we sat and gazed at the view of

Lake Cabora Bassa and the meandering Mwanzamtanda river course below us.
Mr. Eria searched in his pouch and folded some tobacco into the dried
outer leaf of a maize cob. He then produced what looked like the shell
of an old size D torch battery. A bottle top served as the lid. Inside
the battery was a small quantity of cotton, a small piece of metal like
part of a chisel and a stone. By hitting the chisel against the stone
at the right angle a red hot splinter would be directed into the cotton
at the bottom of the battery shell. By blowing on the cotton, Mr. Eria
lit his cigarette. I was struck by the independence and ingenuity of
the device. It symbolized how people like Mr. Eria take whatever comes
to hand to meet their needs. How less helpless he seemed, in comparison
to the many other Zimbabweans who were totally dependent on the
production of matches and the efficacy of the transport and marketing
networks; at that time there was a chronic shortage of matches in the
country.

. While smoking his cigarette, Mr. Eria noticed a young bush buck.
At home his children were badly malnourished and particularly in need of

protein. I could see my companions were sorely tempted to hunt it.

185
They knew that the consequences of doing so might heavily outweigh the
benefits, and at this time, Mr. Eria was not quite sure what I was doing
in the area.

On our way down, we took a different route and Kuyeri said this
was a normal procedure since anyone who had been tracking us would have
identified the water source we had made and could wait and surprise us
there. Mr. Eria pointed out to us the faint spoor of a rhinoceros. I
believe only the best trackers, displaying a keen attention to detail,
would have detected this faint track. I thought about Mr. Eria's
family's poverty and how highly valued a rhinoceros is considered by
both wildlife conservationists and international poaching syndicates.
Here indeed was dire poverty in the midst of one of the world's most
highly prized resources.

We were led to another source of clayey water that emerged on the
side of the hill; it also had a sweet and fragrant taste. Spoor
indicated that elephants had recently visited this source. There were
snares for smaller game and thornbush placed strategically around the
waterhole. From there, we meandered down back to the Mwanzamtanda river
joining it at the deserted field where Mr. Dumba had found lions eating
his maize cobs. From there we passed a dry season pool in the'river,
near two magnificent trees, where the safari operator's old safari camp
had been situated. In camps such as these, international clients pay
exorbitant daily camping rates and hunting/trophy fees. At last we were
back at Mr. Eria's home where he gave his daughter the two juicy worms

to eat .

186

The children were playing hunting with miniature spears and axes,
which had been forged in the fire by their father, who made his own
spears. I did not notice that any child played the role of game scout
or safari operator. They would have been representing the political
ecology more closely if they had done so.

I would like to end this chapter by again referring the reader to
Figure 11. The material above illustrates the broader point that the
productive systems and the changing ecological resource base found
within Chapoto ward offer people a life-style which largely competes
with a far more lucrative and business-like use of resources conducted
by externally based entrepreneurs, such as the safari operator, who are
facilitated in this task by virtue of national policy and the system of
local government. These in turn are directly buttressed by global and
historical factors.

CAMPFIRE currently attempts to convince local people that
resources should be protected, because they are valuable to the safari
operator and his clients, who in turn pays a concession lease to the
district council who, in consultation with ward representatives may
decide on how revenues may be used. To date, in this ward, such
revenues have been directed into building a new block for the school,
but no ward debate took place on this issue and few people knew that the
new school block was partially funded by revenue from wildlife
resources. Mr. Eria and Mr. Mtamawo certainly did not participate in
such debates, as I have never seen them or their families at ward
meetings. Secondly, sending children to school is a low priority for

these residents, since clothing and feeding children must come first.

187
When we talk about wildlife utilization and the benefits of wildlife for
these people, the two worms which I saw Mr. Eria giving to his daughter
comes to mind; this for him is the type of significant, albeit sometimes
illegal, contribution wildlife utilization makes to keep him and his
family alive.

For those people in‘Chapoto ward who were historically foragers
and for those who have relied on stream bank cultivation, the state has
effectively been working to deprive them of the diversity of land use
strategies necessary for their healthy maintenance. Despite this, by
virtue of living with wildlife, they have a limited jurisdiction over
the resource. This limited jurisdiction has to be seen in the context
of global factors, historical factors, national policy and system of
local government which have all played an on-going part in influencing
how resources are used and controlled in the ward. Competing rights,
jurisdictions and vested interests in the wildlife resource influence
how people cope with wildlife. This is the subject matter of the next

chapter.

MV

COPING WITH WILDLIFE

“Hateya waya HachemeraiMampepo.'
'When you set snares, you.have asked for trouble, you must be brave and
prepared for trouble.“

The following conversation was overheard by a reliable informant
while he was doing some casual wage labor with other VaChiKunda
residents. The dialogue illustrates how tempting it is to kill for the
pot, especially crop-raiding animals. It also underlines the social
sanctions that come into play when one takes the risk to hunt. Despite
these sanctions, there is a mutual understanding about the need to
obtain meat and prevent crop damage.

B: If I had a gun I wouldn't leave elephants and animals to go
around. I would kill.

P: YOu would not have a problem of [lack of] relish, people would
know [that you have killed an animal] because you will give
[relish] to relatives and you would be reported.

Comment: It was common knowledge that Mr Tauro's wife spread the
news about P's recent illegal kill. She was given a piece of meat
to give to Mr. Tauro in his capacity as spirit medium. As a
result, P's sister went around grumbling "why didn't you give me,
yet you are giving others." P realized that by giving people
something that is secret, you are putting it in public. The
discussion continued:

M: Even if you get a bushbuck, it will be heard by people and the
game rangers will go to see what's wrong. Then you will be
discovered.

B: I will go at night when people are asleep.

T: My cotton is always being taken by kudu, I'm planning to put
snares. If kudu is killed I will eat with my own family, so
that others won't report me, not like what happened to V [V
was arrested for snaring a kudu and attempting to sell the
meat].

188

189
z: I heard a bushbuck screaming near your [B's] field.
B: I did not put snares near my field.

P: Just admit because all of us are not sell outs we won't report
you to game protectors.

B (secretly to a friend): I'll be alright this evening.

Z: If everyone was allowed to kill. If everyone had guns, there
would be no single animal left. We would learn how to eat
baboons. It is better if we kill illegally because we kill
one and then stop, kill one and then stop. It is better if we
hand over management to the wildlife committee.

comment: The others disagreed, they all wanted guns.

It is a mistake to think that wildlife management constitutes only
what is done by the formal authorities (i.e., the DNPWLM, the local
safari operator, the district council, the wildlife committee). Natural
resource management is not simply a matter of 'committeeing" at the
local level. Committees are the current thrust of the CAMPFIRE program,
but I would argue that such committee work could be strengthened by more
recognition that the household/cluster directly manages wildlife on the
ground. As T says above, "If Kudu is killed I will eat with my own
family so that others won't report me.” In this chapter, both the
formal and informal, wildlife management activities are described.
First, the manner in which the family clusters cope with wildlife is
described, then other more formal mechanisms are described, including
PAC by DNPWLM. Lastly, the local wildlife committee and their relation
to the community is explained. These issues are important, because they
illustrate the practical ways in which rights of access to wildlife are
manifested.

Both VaDema and vaChiKunda manage wildlife in a direct way.

Wildlife management at the local level includes both the management of

190
fauna and flora but, primarily, this management entails spending an
inordinate amount of time attempting to prevent animals from eating
people's crops or damaging them. Wildlife management activities can be
split up into individualized family/cluster activities and collective
activities and beliefs. Wildlife management activities are centered on
the family unit, which conducts agricultural production, foraging and
other forms of food production. Individualized family management
activities mainly occur at night when the animals move away from the
heavily forested or remote areas into the cultivated areas on either
side of the river. This causes direct competition between humans and
animals.

The behavior of the animals which are thus managed is useful to
describe. In Zimbabwe, there are distinctions which can be made between
animal populations that are hunted and those that are protected in
national parks. A further distinction can be made between animal
populations which exist contiguous to human settlement engaged in
agriculture and other subsistence activities, and those which do not.
In Chapoto ward, we are dealing with the management of animal
populations that have been and continue to be hunted and which live in
close proximity to human populations. We are not dealing with the
”tourist/game viewing animals" one might find at Mana Pools or Kariba.
frhe latter can be seen during the day in close proximity to human
activity. In Chapoto ward, animals (baboons are the exception)
sgenerally make themselves scarce during the day and then only emerge at
Knight. The entire landscape of the area changes when night falls. Few

Epeople move around during nightfall and those that do usually carry

191
spears for protection. .People will usually not go far afield into the
forest on a cloudy day, as they believe animal activity will be greatly
increased.

Measures and mechanisms used to ensure protection of family and
property during the night frequently have to be prepared during the day-
light hours. Thus when we talk about time spent on wildlife management
activities, we are not simply talking about the hours when wild animals
are physically present. We must include the time spent on constructing
or involved with the following protective mechanisms and also the time
spent on crop protection. NOte that all of the following refer to the

household/cluster economics, centered around the immediate family.

Construction and.0se of page

The gag; is a grass hut on stilts, about five to ten feet above
the ground and ghibaggkagu is a grass enclosure. These structures are
built in the field (mpgda) or river bank garden (gimpg) depending on the
time of year. In the case of the vaChiKunda, the male head of the
family, with his wife, may sleep in the field in one of these
constructions. Other members of the family may stay at the main
homestead (pygmbg) where they protect small livestock, such as chickens,
rabbits and goats, as well as food that has been or is being prepared.
.Suoh food might include dried or fresh fish and.meat, as well as the
strain and other crops stored in granaries. Special protective
estructures are built for all types of small livestock. Some of these
aLre particularly innovative (see pictures of chicken coups, Figure 6b).

TFherefore, settlement patterns and construction of living space is a

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response to wildlife. The location of one's fields is also important
because neighbors can buffer one from crop-raiding animals. In more
densely cultivated areas, fields in the center of cultivation are prized
because they are surrounded by neighbors who will be protecting their
crops and will give the alarm when danger is near. In the case of
vaDema shifting cultivation, joint fields have the same advantage. This
is especially relevant in the remote riverain woodland field areas where

there are many problems with crop-raiding wildlife.

Fencing

In an attempt to prevent or dissuade crop-raiding animals from
entering fields, and also to prevent animals from entering living areas,
fences made out of thin branches of trees tied together with reed or
grass, or simply clumps of thorn brush may be placed strategically
especially around the dimba. The later method is used by some of the
more remote vaDema households, who at times are surrounded by

potentially dangerous animals such as buffalo, lion, elephant and

leopard.

.Fire

Fires are kept alight in both fields and living areas. If
telephants are in close proximity, throwing a burning torch in their
(lirection may be risked, but this may provoke a charge. In the dry
Eseason, bush beside a dwelling place or field may also be set alight.
Ifiorest fires are widespread in September and October, especially on the

u“Elssif. This may he accidentally caused by honey collectors using fire

193

to smoke bees out of a hive, but there may be other reasons. The fires
may be a deliberate attempt to clear the bush or they may be set in an
attempt to drive animals towards snares. I was not able to conclude
exactly why such fires existed, however, initial evidence from Kanyurira
ward indicates that fires are not as accidental as might be thought. In
the 1990 dry season, the usual widespread fires did not occur in this
ward. A possible reason for this may be the increased awareness of the

value of natural resources (Murphree - personal communication).

Beating of Drums and Tins

This is probably the most common way in which to make animals
aware of one's presence and to suggest that they move on elsewhere. 0n
countless occasions I was awakened by the beating of tins or drums by my
neighbors. I adopted this method myself and when woken by buffalo
eating grass nearby or by the guttural growl of a leopard, I would hit
my tin bucket gently and rhythmically, gradually increasing the volume

and speed of the beating, in the same manner as my neighbors did.

Stones and Slings

Frequently, one finds heaps of medium sized stones in the fields
and river bank gardens. These stone heaps are strategically placed and
lnay be thrown or slung at buffalo, kudu, bushbuck and elephant, at one's
<own risk. As one informant, who threw a stone at a buffalo, only to
:Eind that it charged him and he narrowly escaped with a leg wound said,
"I know now exactly how very dangerous a buffalo is and I will never

Izhrow a stone at a buffalo again." Another informant, who had witnessed

194
a woman being badly injured by a buffalo said, "If I see a buffalo
coming into my field, it can take the whole field and I will not do

anything to deter it."

HEEgggg (Bark String With Tins) - used to Startle Animals

A length of bark rope can be an effective startling mechanism.
usually tin cans filled with stones are tied to the rope, which may be
as long as 50 meters. Usually the rope emanates from the gap; or other
enclosure and stretches across the field. One informant claimed that he
usually slept soundly and that a sixth sense would wake him when animals
were raiding his field. If this happened, he would reach out from his
sleeping mat to the rope and give it a few hefty pulls. He claimed that
this usually worked. This particular informant was blind (see Figure

10a).

Scare-crows

This is not a popular method but I have seen them used in Chapoto.
I believe they effect both.diurnal and.nocturnal creatures. Scare-crows
often include a white object, which is noticeable both during the day

and.at night.

4Axes, Spears and.Poison

There are three main types of spears. The most commonly seen
Spear is a fishing spear (Mpg) . m is made from a lean sapling and
laas a narrow metal head, like a spike. The spike is wound on to the

Wood with metal strips.

195

A more heavy duty spear is the gipa. It has features on both ends
of the wooden handle which is over a meter long. The head of the spear
is wide and may have serrated edges, the butt of the spear is formed
from a short sharp axe-like wedge of metal, often used for digging. The
spear may be used to kill animals caught in snares or as a heavier
protective measure for hand to hand/hoof/paw combat. Another heavy duty
spear is the throwing spear, mgngg. This is a long spear with a
tapering metal head. Such spears are rare these days.

Informants claimed that both poison and herbs may be applied to
spears to make them more effective. The common "traditional" axe is a
ubiquitous weapon.41 A wedge of sharpened metal, often part of an old
leaf spring, is inserted into a knob kerrie shaped handle to form a
light and wieldy axe. I awoke one night from an uproar to find one of
my research assistants had apprehended a leopard that was trying to get

at his chickens. He had used an axe to frighten the leopard away.

Catapult
When I first arrived in the field, young boys would hide their
catapults when they saw me. These can be used to kill birds and also as

a means to harass animals intent on crop-raiding.

Snares
If one is caught using snares, there are heavy penalties. Arrest

and trial before a magistrate in Guruve, Karoi or Chinoyi is the normal

 

41These days the axe is a more commonly used weapon because anti-poaching
patrols, who find people with these axes, will not be as suspicious as if the
individual was carrying a spear.

196
procedure. A gaol sentence usually follows and one is incarcerated for
six months or more in the company of thieves, muggers and other
dangerous characters. Besides the risk of apprehension, the business of
checking one's snares can also be very dangerous. I was informed that
if a buffalo, elephant, lion or other large animal has been caught, that
animal may gain super strength when one approaches it. Extreme caution
and good timing are therefore vital. Given the current climate of anti-
poaching activities, there are many good reasons why people in the ward
are frightened to set snares. On the other hand, if members of one's
family are going to die from malnutrition and if animals or drought have
consistently prevented one from reaping a harvest, the risk\benefit
equation changes and snares may be laid with discretion.

The setting of snares requires knowledge of the usual game paths
and water holes used. Game paths may be encouraged by removing or
.placing obstacles (thorn bush) on the route to water. Single snares may
be put in place, but it is far more effective to use lines of snares
(ghiggg) in strategic places (water holes, game paths). To enhance
effectiveness, snares should be treated with herbs. Individuals
specialize in particular types of snares. Some favor relatively light
weight snares geared for smaller animals while others are experienced in
using cable or heavier snares for larger animals. very light snares
made from grass or bark, are used to catch pigeons and smaller fowl;
these are usually sprung snares. A supple sapling or branch is used.
Conservationists may be glad to know that young boys who are keen to
build wire toy vehicles have been known to raid lines of snares set by

their fathers.

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If one is persistently cursed with crop-raiding animals, the
temptation is great to place snares in or near one's fields. The risk
of doing this and being reported by an enemy or an official is high. At
the end of the hunting season the local safari operator's anti-poaching
squad moves through the area looking for snares (especially near
fields). For example, at the end of 1990, they found some snares near
Mr. Chiyambo's brothers gimpg. Mr. Chiyambo (the vaDema headman)
happened to be collecting tobacco from his brother's gimp; at the time.
Two young, well nourished, carnivorous men (one black and one white)
beat the poorly nourished Mr. Chiyambo until he "confessed" that he had
laid the snares. He was then taken with others, treated in the same
manner, to the police camp from where he was sent up to Guruve to be
"tried". At the Guruve police station he pleaded his innocence (the
snares belonged to his brother) and the police dropped the case. He
returned to Kanyemba, visibly shaken by the experience.

When I spoke to him, he told me that he thought the safari
operator's personnel were permitted to beat and arrest people for laying
snares or even for suspecting that snares had been laid. In fact, the
safari operator's personnel should have a member of the national parks
staff with them when conducting ant-poaching activities. Furthermore,

they'do not have a right to assault members of the public.

I know of only five male household heads who have guns. The
common.gun is the "gren gun" or single barrelled shot-gun (see Figure

9a). If licensed, these guns may be used legally to shoot at certain

198
crop-raiding animals. They are ineffective against buffalo, elephant
and larger game. One informant vividly narrated how a buffalo paused
briefly, after he had fired a shot near its eye, before destroying his
banana trees. Herbs are important for guns and their owners. After two
baboons were shot in a granary by a single shot, people accounted for
this by explaining that the owner of the gun had used herbs. All of the
mechanisms mentioned so far are centered around household economic
activity, in contrast to these are the formal mechanisms of wildlife
control and management through the wildlife committee, the DNPWLM guns

and the safari operators guns.

DNPWLM Guns

More effective guns are carried by the DNPWLM officials at
Mashumbi Pools who have a briefing to conduct Problem Animal Control
(PAC). The wildlife committee in Chapoto may radio through to Mashumbi
Pools that a problem animal has destroyed or damaged crops or threatened
people. The officials there may come down themselves to hunt the
animals or they may request that the safari operator's personnel conduct
the PAC. This may also be done as part of a formal hunt if a client is
available. However, these formal mechanisms of PAC have sometimes
backfired and personnel sent out to do PAC have caused problem animals.
On one occasion, a buffalo allegedly wounded by a DNPWLM personnel,
later seriously wounded a women who was collecting grass. Another
example of the creation of problem animals, is that of the elephant kill
at Mr. Phineas Charuma's cluster. On this occasion children from these

homes ran out towards the oncoming elephant with excitement, neighbors

199
later explained how they could hear the bullets ricocheting through the
grass. The elephant was literally peppered with shots (many heavy
calibre rounds were used and the automatic weapons were used
intermittently). It finally thundered to the ground within twenty yards
of Mr. Phineas Charuma's home. The rifle fire was aimed in the
direction of the homesteads. A wounded elephant bull (5-7 tons?),
heading in the direction of homesteads, poses a large problem. One of
the hunting party armed with an automatic weapon, was a cartographer who
had never hunted elephant before.

This incident illustrates how the goals and objectives, conceived
by CAMPFIRE planners, outside the ward can be interpreted and perceived
in quite a different way at the ward level. The "rationality" of the
program is that the people who live cheek by jowl with animals, will
have an incentive to develop a sense of proprietorship for animals.

This is the normative level (what should happen) which planners often
operate at. The normative plans are in this incidence confounded by
pragmatic choices at the district and ward level (what actually
happens). Firstly, the district council chooses not to involve the ward
broadly in decision-making concerning the 1989 revenues from the safari
operation in the ward. This in turn influences the wildlife committee
at the ward level to believe that there is no vested interest for them
in this operation, as they have seen no benefits from this source. They
have, however, had benefits from PAC. By reporting a problem animal
they usually bring about a kill. Selling the meat from a buffalo
resulted in a credit with the district council of over Z$400. Selling

the meat from the elephant resulted in a credit of over Z$1000. Since

200

the highest return that an individual received from the 1990 cotton crop
was just over Z$1700 and most individuals received less than 25600, this
indicates that such sums are regarded as high and provide a good
incentive to report or invent problem animals. In this case, as one of
my research assistants pointed out, the elephant was innocent. It had
not damaged fields or property; it had not threatenedjlife. It had been
visiting the community for a few days prior to its death without causing
any harm. This elephant was a trophy bull and therefore, could have
brought the community as much as 2$7500 from a safari hunt. However, in
this case the committee wanted to kill the elephant, because they felt
they would get a return from it, whereas they felt they could not be
sure that they would receive a return from safari operations. Project
CAMPFIRE, therefore, becomes project PAC. This was one of the wards
introductions to the concept of "money in the coffers from animals."

The officer in charge of PAC was not present at this incident.
His subordinates handled the affair. He later explained to the
community at a ward meeting that, in fact, they had lost money by
killing the elephant and that the incident was a big mistake. This
could have provided an informative learning experience for the
community, but one factor militated against it doing so. That factor
was that the ward had received no perceived benefits from revenues going
to district council from the safari operation and therefore, these
statements did not strike any chords in them. Whilst discussing ”guns"
as a mechanism of wildlife management at the local level, it would be
very wrong to omit the role played by the safari operator and clients.

However, this topic will be discussed in some detail in Chapter VI and

201
I, therefore, restrict my comments to a few observations. The
effectiveness of the safari operator in the inhabited part of the ward
is to some extent dependent on local knowledge. Local people are keen
to inform the operator where animals are, so that it may provide a brief
respite from crop-raiding activity. However, the safari operator is
primarily concerned with obtaining the bag for his client and not for

PAC .

The Distinction Between I'Poaching" and Illegal Hunting By Local
community

In mid-1989, local informants reported nineteen "poachers" from
Zambia were killed in the Chewore safari area, which shares a common
boundary with Chapoto ward. One of my research assistants was
instrumental in the capture of one of the "porters" in this group. This
porter was paid four thousand Zambian kwacha to carry food for the two
hunters/poachers. The individual, who was apprehended near the research
assistants house, claimed that he came from Kafue (Zambia) and was
engaging in this activity as he had no other work or employment.

The attitude of local people to poachers of this kind is generally
negative and many say that they support the harsh methods used to
apprehend them. This is probably because local people feel that if
anyone is going to 'poach" the resources, it should be them since the
resources are within their area. However, it is also pointed out that
the anti-poaching unit and the Maggmg (anyone who is concerned with the
management or protection of wildlife) will now shoot anyone in the
Chewore safari area on sight and ask questions later (a perceived

consequence of giving indemnity to anti-poaching units). This is

202
allegedly done because "poachers" were setting up ambushes for such
anti-poaching units, by using ruses of various kinds. The poachers are

generally seeking rhino horn and/or elephant tusk.

Cultural Beliefs and Practices Associated With Wildlife Management
Collective beliefs and practices that stretch beyond the interests
of individual household clusters and immediate families, are also
important coping factors at the local level. There is evidence from
elsewhere in southern and central Africa (Marks 1984; Matowanyka
forthcoming), that “traditional" laws (i.e., collective management
rather than individualized management) exist or have existed for
controlling access to particular species of wildlife. In particular, I
am thinking of the notion that people are forbidden to eat the meat of
their totem. It is true in Kanyemba that certain species are not killed
or eaten, because of prohibitions arising from the belief system and
general cultural mores concerning what constitutes acceptable food.
. Lions are associated with ancestral spirits and some lions are said to
be the physical manifestation of ancestral spirits. Pangolins are also
regarded as having mythical significance and are, in general, regarded
to be the property of the chief. Pythons are not eaten "because no-one
eats snakes." Crocodiles are not eaten, because their bile is full of
witchcraft and this poison will bring about certain death. Baboons are
not eaten because they are regarded as vermin. In general, predators
such as leopard and the smaller cats, and scavengers such as hyenas, are
not eaten. Despite these general mores about what is culturally

\

appropriate to eat, there are perhaps surprisingly few other

203
prohibitions which are taken seriously. The prohibition on eating one's
totem which other writers have referred to, largely does not exist in
Chapoto ward. As it was descriptively explained to me "everyone enjoys
their own totem."-

In regard to fauna, it is true that limited areas of land are
regarded as protected or sacred areas. Such areas include graveyards,
areas around the shrine for the spirit medium (Qggggmggg), certain large
trees, areas associated with mythological figures such as Nggigggpi (the
water spirit) and some springs. It is also true that such beliefs could
develop, if the locus of natural resource management is returned to the
local level, however, at the present time such beliefs do not appear to
be significant from a conservational or natural resources management
perspective. The probable cause of this is a political and economic
one, since this population has been dispossessed of much of its rights
to use land.42 under these circumstances, it is not surprising that
elaborate mechanisms for protecting natural resources do not exist.

Well established individualized management strategies exist, but
collective management processes are not well developed, although the
potential to engage such collectivist mechanisms does exist (see next

two sections).

 

42Both vaChiKunda and vaDema have been dispossessed of their rights to
use land and natural resources under colonial rule and the ensuing
protectionist policies associated with the establishment of safari areas and
national parks along a large stretch of the Zambezi valley to the west. The
VaDema previously lived in the Chewore safari area and the vaChiKunda, under
Kanyemba had forts on islands along the Zambezi, which effectively controlled
trade. Kanyemba and his forces were effectively neutralized by agreements
between Portugal and Britain on the limitations of each others territory.
Both groups became subject to a colonial management regime, administering
local land and resources.

204

Cultural Conceptions of natural Resources, Herbs and the Spirits of the
Forest

Both the vaDema and the vaChiKunda know the importance of herbs
(usually roots and tubers) for the physical and psychological welfare of
individuals and the collective. Herbs can broadly be defined as any
substance which has magical qualities. They are usually pieces of root
or foliage that have been acquired from the forest, however, they can
also be animal products (e.g., lion dung) or other odds and ends. Herbs
are of crucial importance for many aspects of life. They have an
extremely wide range of uses and can be used to ensure fidelity in one's
wife, to inflict swollen feet and ankles on one's enemy (frequently also
a dietary complaint) and to cure or prevent snake-bite. They are also
used to protect one's field from pests and crop-raiding animals and to
give one success in hunting. However, herbal knowledge, like hunting,
is a jealously guarded secret. I believe it is no accident that
renowned herbalists (mainly men) are often also renown as a successful
hunters. This makes sense, since a successful hunter knows the craft of
the forest. He knows how to survive from the resources found therein,
the roots tubers, berries and fruits, the hidden springs, and the herbs
. are all an integral part of his hunting life.

Many of the secrets of the forest are told to him by his father,
with whom he will have done a kind of apprenticeship. I believe that a
crucial element, even a control on hunting and on the exploitation of
natural resources is the combined efficacy of herbs and the spirits.
Herbs are psychologically and physically enabling; they give one the
right heart to deal with the dangers involved, and they give one the

strength to deal with them. If one does not have herbs, one may

205
encounter all kinds of obstacles. Taking herbs accounts for a steady
heart, a steady hand and a good aim. They may be eaten or they may be
carried on ones' person in a small bundle tied with cloth and string.
Incisions may also be made with a razor blade on one’s face or other
parts of one's body and the herbs may be rubbed into the wound. Herbs
are not only employed on the person, they are also used on guns (in the
case of the vaChiKunda, vaDema do not have guns), snares, and spears.
Even dogs may be given herbs and Mtamayi (1959) reports that lion dung
was fed to dogs to make them courageous hunters.

Individual hunters usually select their own herbs, each hunter
having a particular specialty. Hunters who co-operate and trust each
other, may also exchange herbs and techniques for apprehending animals.
For instance, a hunter may specialize in snaring buffalo and big game
using cables, whilst another hunter may specialize in smaller game using
thinner wire. Chiggg (a line of snares) may be used or individual
snares may be set. Much of the knowledge about illegal hunting is
acquired through observing one's father or grandfather. However, family
spirits also appear in dreams and visions. For instance one might
appear to be walking in the forest with the person, while the spirit
will be pointing out which herbs one should use, where one should place
snares, and where an abundance of animals can be found. This is a
secret dream only to be shared with one’s sons, who will usually use the
same herbs-

There are four main categories of herbs: a) those administered
for sickness or for medicinal reasons; b) those administered for good

luck, success and protection (including protection of fields from pests

206

and crop-raiding animals); c) herbs used against ones enemy
(particularly worth mention are herbs used to insure that one's wife is
faithful); and d) herbs used for hunting and bush lore (including
poisons, protection of paths). Both herbal specialists and spirit
mediums administer herbs. In the case of the vaDema, the owner of the
land is the spirits of the vaChiKunda. The vaDema spirits (e.gJ,
Chimhako, Chinyenzva and Chiguhwa) live outside the ward43 and they
obtain many of their herbs (e.g., for serious illness) by consulting
these mediums. As has been stated, for the vaDema, placing of herbs at
a cross road or on a path can snare unwanted intruders or enemies and
this tends to make people circumspect about their movements. This may
be one reason why vaDema tend not to make single paths from point A.to
point B, but prefer to be cautious and choose a different way each time
they need to travel. Considering their non-sedentary and largely
fugitive life-style in the past, and their fear of apprehension by game
protectors, it is interesting that such mechanisms controlling the
nature of paths have become established as part of the belief system.

During my stay in the area, vaDema claimed there was a shortage of
honey in the forest. An explanation offered for this was that no honey
had been taken to Kanyemba and kept in the Qgpggmagg. A supply of honey
in the Degggmagg or given to the spirit medium would ensure that a
plentiful supply of honey could be found in the forest. The same
applies to other natural resources including, of course, meat from
animal kills. After a safari operator's kill, I was told that fewer and

fewer animals would be found in the ward because the safari operator had

 

43See section on VaDema in Chapter II.

207

ignored giving the spirit medium a piece of the meat from the kill.

This symbolism is an excellent idiom for expressing the fact that
the natural resources of the area are alienated from the people. It is
also a powerful expression of a range of political implications. An
obvious one is that, illegal hunting is the factor which outside
observers would claim causes less and less animals to be found in the
ward. However, this local explanation has a deeper explanation than
this, it implies that there is a relationship between honoring the
owners of the land (the spirits) and the ecological health of the area.
The explanation also implies that illegal hunting (an important factor
in determining the numbers of species) can be controlled by the spirits
of the land. Such factors make me question whether the "appropriate
authorities" for wildlife should not include spirit mediums and herbal
specialists at.the local level. Most of these ecological authorities at
the local level have nothing to do with the administrative appropriate
authority; the district council up in Guruve. They are largely ignored
by planners. We now turn away from the cultural coping mechanisms to
the formal mechanisms, proposed by CAMPFIRE for coping with wildlife in

Chapoto ward.

The Initial Wildlife committee

under the CAMPFIRE program, ward wildlife committees are elected
in the various wards. The chairmen and secretaries of these committees,
together with the ward councillor, sit on the district wildlife
committee which is responsible for most of the decision-making

concerning revenues from wildlife in the district. Amongst other things

208
(see Chapter I), disbursement of revenue may include compensation to
individuals for particular instances of crop-raiding, if the committee
decides to do this.

The first wildlife committee was elected in Chapoto ward (some
informants used the term appointed) at the instigation of the chairman
of the district wildlife committee (September 1989). The chairman of
the district wildlife committee arrived in Chapoto and called a meeting
at short notice by informing members of the community whom he met along
the roadside. No advance notice was received by the community, who are
usually informed of events, meetings, etc. by the school children or by
the chief's messenger. As a result, the meeting that was held did not
represent the entire community, but only a small portion of it.
Likewise, the wildlife committee that was elected did not represent the
interests of the entire community but only a small portion of it.
Specifically, the committee had no representative from the vaDema
segment of the community, though it did have one member from the western
side of the MWanzamtanda river. Ironically, it could be argued that
those people who do not live by the roadside, are the ones who are most
likely to have more contact with wild animals, hunt, and possess skills
in tracking, animal behavior, etc. These peOple, however, did not hear
about this meeting when the wildlife committee was formed. As a result,
the elected committee reflected both a geographical and political bias.
Of the six member committee, the three most important members (chairman,
secretary, and treasurer), all came from the same immediate area. These
three were all related through marriage and they were all members of

more influential VaChiKunda families. The remaining positions were for

209
committee members without specific charges. Though subsequent committee
members have been appointed and members who were not active have been

dropped, this initial lack of equitable representation still exists.

Revenue from Wildlife

District council has a right to a percentage (not more than 15
percent) of net revenue drawn as a district council levy on wildlife
revenues. However, in Guruve district in 1989, the council also drew a
ten percent District Management Fund and put aside 20 percent of net
revenue as a capital reserve (Guruve District Council Financial Report
to District Wildlife Committee 9/11/90). The Guruve district council is
also accountable for current expenditures drawn against gross revenue.
In 1989, this amounted to almost 45 percent of gross revenue, stated as
2$299,387,00 in the district council's financial report. In 1990,
similar percentages were set aside for council. Effectively, this means
that the council is placed in control of relatively large sums of money.
Besides submitting a copy of the district wildlife committees annual
report to the director of DNPWLM, the main check on how the council
conducts its affairs is through the participation of local leadership in
the district wildlife committee. Another important check or balance, is
the participation of the NGO's discussed below.

In the initial stages of CAMPFIRE, NGO's including ZimTrust, WWF
and CASS, play an important collaborative role in helping to monitor,
evaluate and implement the project. ZimTrust has a briefing as the
implementing agency, whilst the latter organizations provide necessary

research and consultancy services. WWF and ZimTrust have both provided

210
funds for capital items, such as fencing (frequently required in the
communities land use plan), necessary to get projects off the ground.
There is no formula as to how the program will be implemented in each
communal area that volunteers for it. Since there are varied ecological
and socio-economic circumstances, the program has to emerge through a
process of negotiation with those involved. This is ideally a type of
participatory action research, whereby the research itself brings up
possibilities and alternatives, which hopefully have a basis in local
thinking and local ecology.

An illustration of revenue distribution from wildlife took place
in Kanyurira ward, approximately two and a half hours away by vehicle
from Chapoto bordering on the banks of the Angwa river. Local people in
Kanyurira, in negotiation with the district council and the non-
governmental organizations agreed on a land use plan to fence their
productive lands in order to protect them from crop-raiding animals.

The remainder of the ward is used as a communal resource area where a
safari operator, employed by the district council (initially aided by
ZimTrust), may take clients willing to pay relatively vast amounts of
money for hunting. The money accrued from the safari operation is
ultimately controlled by the district council and once they have
withdrawn their costs of other allocations and the percentage owed to
them, they are briefed to credit the remainder to the local people, who
decide at a ward meeting how the funds should be distributed.

It was agreed that a fair way of calculating the amount of revenue
due to a ward, would be according to the schedule of hunting fees. Thus

those wards where animals were shot would accumulate the trophy fees

211
value in Zimbabwean dollars (e.g., a male elephant equals Z$7500 in
trophy fee). From the 1989 revenues (totalling Z$47,310), Kanyurira
ward decided to provide Z$7000 for furniture for the local school, set
aside Z$8,110 for a tractor or other contingency, spent Z$15,000 on
clinic reconstruction, and the remainder was divided as a Z$200 award to
(approximately 102) predominantly male44 household heads. This I
believe was the first time that revenue from wildlife or natural
resources had been distributed at the household level, anywhere in
Africa. Masoka/Kanyurira ward, therefore, has a very high media profile
and attracts much international interest.

Revenues in the same year, were also accrued by the district
council from Chapoto ward, though unlike Kanyurira, the safari operator
in Chapoto ward has signed a concession lease with the council. The
hunting concession area includes the ward, the contiguous Dande safari
area and a portion of land north of the Angwa river in Chisunga ward.
Revenues handed over to the district council amounted to 25168,600. By
January 1991, no one in the ward could adequately account for what had
happened to these funds. The district council, in its annual financial
report for the district wildlife committee, claimed that the Chapoto
school had been built (would be built?) with funds accruing from 1989
wildlife revenues (Z$53,012), but local people were not informed that
the funds for the school had accrued from wildlife revenues, neither

were they informed that the funds belonged to them and that they could

 

44This dismayed many of the women in the ward.

212

decide what to do with them.45 On the contrary, in one instance,
local people had been led to believe that funds or resources emanating
from district level were personally given to them by officials,
implicitly in exchange for votes. Local people argued that the funds
for the school had already been allocated from a separate source, known
as the disadvantaged school vote. Thus, in the initial stages of
CAMPFIRE, a facade of community participation may be machinated at the
district level. This facade is for consumption by the NGO's and other
interested parties. In reality, an authoritarian top down approach
leaves local people in the dark, in apparent compliance with district
and local government objectives, which, from the perspective of the
ward, appear to be to maintain control of revenues due to the ward. The
lesson to be learnt is that the way the program is introduced at ward
level is very important and may influence people's attitudes for a long
time thereafter.

According to the CAMPFIRE document, safari revenues for Chapoto'
ward should accrue from at least two and possibly three sources in the

future. The first source, is revenue from the trophy fees accumulated

 

45By June 1991 senior ward members such as the teachers and the
headmaster were satisfied that Z$47,000 (from 1989 revenue) had been spent on
materials for an additional school block, and were told that a balance of
256,000 existed at the district council. However, individuals had not been
broadly consulted on the allocation of these revenues; the ward had not
participated in the decision making process. This is partly because the main
communication link between the district council and the ward (the ward
councillor) was not an effective means of communication over this issue.
There are many possible reasons for this; one of the most important being the
build up of vested interests in the resource at the district level.

213
from animals shot in the ward, which forms 19 percent of the

concession46

in terms of hunting quotas. In 1989, a total of 28
animals were killed in the ward including: one male and one female
elephant, one male lion, five male buffalo, one kudu, four hippo, three
crocodile, four bushbuck, one klipspringer, six impala and one duiker
(Buchan 1990, 18). I estimate that the total revenue accrued from
trophy fees for these animals was Z$19,380. In 1990, the total revenues
accruing from trophy fees to the ward from the safari operation kills
within the ward (ten animals, including two elephant) was Z$24,070.
However, a second source of revenue, identified by the CAMPFIRE
document, is that "a community sharing a common boundary with a national
park, safari area or state forest would receive a proportion of the
income from that area" (Martin 1986, 47). Since Chapoto ward is
bordered by the Dande safari area in the south and the Chewore safari
area in the west, an amount should be added to the figure accruing from
safari operations within the ward. In 1989, the district council
reported that it divided up the revenue from the Dande safari area
between the wards that are contiguous to it. This increased the Chapoto
ward revenue from the estimated Z$19,380 accruing from kills within the
ward, to 2$53,000. According to the CAMPFIRE document, a percentage of

revenue from the Chewore safari area, which borders the ward in the

west, should by the same token be distributed to the ward.

 

46The concession lease is a contractual agreement between the safari
operator and the district council. It permits the safari operator to bring
clients to hunt within the concession for the duration of the hunting seasons
covered in the lease and to set up camps for this purpose. However, the
operator has to stay within the quotas laid down by DNPWLM. The duration of
the lease, in the case of Chapoto ward, was short term because the council
wanted to keep its options open.

214

In the case of the Dande safari area, control of revenues falls
under the appropriate authority status accorded the district
council.47 Starting from 1991, the district council has to lease the
area for a nominal fee from the DNPWLM. In the case of the Chewore
safari area, which falls into a different province, revenues go directly
into the treasury and according to Martin (personal communication),
there is a long way to go before these funds will be distributed to
wards.

Local people in official positions are aware of some of these
complexities, but they feel that there is nothing they can do about
them. A number of people believed that the district council was hording
their money. Such perceptions are extremely important, even if they may
be regarded as totally unfounded by district and local officials. One
reason for their importance is that they mark the degree of
participation in decision-making by the ordinary people (as opposed to
one or two spokesmen for the ward) living in the ward.

There is a danger that what CAMPFIRE may do is replace one
centralized bureaucracy (DNPWLM) with another slightly less centralized
institution (district council) in the management of wildlife. The hope,
expressed by colleagues in the NGO's, is that pressure emanating from
the DNPWLM, the Minister for Environment and Tourism, the NGO's and the
local people speaking through their councillor and wildlife committee,
will influence the district council to devolve responsibility and

benefits further. The hope is that local capacities for managing and

 

47These revenues should be shared between the wards which border the
Dande safari area, namely Chapoto and Chisunga, but at the end of the research
period (mid-1991) no criteria had been established on how to do this.

215
"utilizing" local resources will emerge as the project proceeds and that
appropriate local institutions will become proprietors for the resource.
The researchers from the CASS, WWF, ZimTrust and the DNPWLM can and have
played an important role in increasing local awareness of possibilities
for wildlife utilization and in aiding institutional and economic
capacity in those wards where the project has had initial success.
However, the fact that wards are dependent on a district level
institution as the appropriate authority for wildlife is, from my

research point of view, problematic.

The Problem of Empowerment

Local government and the district council is perceived, in Chapoto
ward, as not merely an administrative institution, but also and
primarily as a political institution. By this I mean that local people
are constrained by feelings of political inadequacy and dependency in
their dealings with this institution. As has been mentioned, they are
at the whim of political forces beyond their control. As one informant
pointed out, in talking about the guerilla war, "We heard rumors but we
did not know that there was a war until 1978. That's when things
started happening in this area. Shortly after, we were moved to the
‘Keeps'48 in Mushumbi Pools." Another informant asked me almost a
month after the 1990 elections what the results were. Few newspapers
reach the ward to update the government workers (teachers, nurse, etc.)

on current events. People in Chapoto do not feel empowered, partly

 

48Called "protected villages" by the Rhodesian Forces who built them to
prevent guerrillas from having contact with local people. They were referred
to as "concentration camps" by the nationalist forces.

216
because of the historical experience of indirect rule, the inaccurate
perception of lack of resources in their area and the whimsical nature
of political power at the center, during the pre-colonial, colonial and
the post colonial eras. Political authority is now required to set the
ball rolling for such participatory programs as CAMPFIRE. The project
and the idea of community participation and empowerment need a political
blessing before they get off the ground, mainly, I feel, because they
might be conceived of as being against the wishes of authority, that is,
subversive. In Chapoto ward, the political blessing has been a partial
one and the ward seems to have been deliberately kept in the dark during
1989 and 1990, as far as possibilities for wildlife utilization are
concerned. Representatives of the district administration and the
district council cite the inactivity, the lack of motivation and the
lack of capacity in the ward for the problems of development. The local
people blame the council for hording their funds and keeping them
purposely in the dark. In a sense both are right, there is a history of
thwarted development in the ward and local micro-political rivalries
have played an important part in this (see below). On the other hand,
these rivalries exist in the context of the broader political economy of
Zimbabwe and the particular historical experiences that have led to the
present system of district government.

Local attitudes towards the issue of wildlife utilization (and to
my presence in the ward) changed after I brought the wildlife committee
from Kanyurira ward, where household revenues from wildlife had been
distributed, to address people in Chapoto. They attended a gggg (beer)

drinking session the day before addressing a ward meeting and therefore,

217
had both a formal and an informal venue for the exchange of ideas. They
reported on the various aspects of CAMPFIRE in their area and answered
questions from members of the Chapoto community. In general, the
community was keen to see the benefits of CAMPFIRE, but still felt
powerless as to how to proceed. Some were still not convinced about the
benefits of the program and the possible issue of fencing off a communal
resource area for wildlife in the ward illustrated that there were a
number of different ideas about how this should be done.

In May 1990, I was given minutes of meetings held with the
district council which claimed that they had paid Z$53,000 out of
Z$168,600 accruing from Zambezi Hunters operation (the local safari
operation) for building Chapoto school. I gave these papers to my
research assistant, recommending that they be given to the councillor,
secretary of the wildlife committee, and other members of the community
to discuss since I had heard that these issues had not been discussed.
Members of the community were not satisfied with the district council
accounting. They claimed that they had not been consulted on what
should be done with the wildlife revenues, despite the presence of the
councillor at district wildlife committee meetings.49 Furthermore,
they were not convinced that the money had been spent on the school.
However, at a district wildlife committee meeting, that I attended
shortly afterwards, these burning questions were not raised by
representatives from Chapoto. At the same meeting, the presiding

natural resources officer read out the figures indicating the allocation

 

491n all the time that I lived in the field the councillor did not
formally address the ward on these issues.

218
of revenues for each ward, but warned us not to include these figures in
the minutes of the meeting. Later I enquired why there was so much
secrecy associated with this and was told that it would be difficult to
work in the area if one was seen to be acting against the council. Such
fears really get in the way of debate on these subjects and without
debate, meaningful and beneficial decision-making is difficult. This is
not to say that the negotiations within the ward committees were not
inherently political. They were beneficial in that they conscientized
people about their rights and the potential of their resources.
However, at the end of the day, these committees do not have the legal
right to control resources and to decide how to use them, since they do
not have appropriate authority status. They must defer to the paternal
hand of authority at district level.

In my opinion, the CAMPFIRE program should empower the local
communities by providing the possibility for appropriate authority
status to be earned by ward wildlife management committees. This could
be possible once the committees have proved that they are capable of
fulfilling certain basic conditions, which might include that:
committees are representative, have primary authority (rather than
rhetorical assertions of authority) over use of wildlife in the area,
they are strictly accountable to the smallest wildlife management unit
in their area (i.e., the household/cluster), they are capable of making
decisions over revenues in consultation with all members of the ward who
they represent, and they are willing and capable to work with government
and NGO's to achieve their goals. Amongst other things, this could lead

to an openness of debate which is currently lacking.

219

As well as there being a need to devolve appropriate authority
status on the ward, there is a need to take local people's current
wildlife management practices into account and to make committeeing
accountable to the households/clusters which are intimately involved
with wildlife resources. In order to fulfill the criteria outlined
above, concerning the accountability of the wildlife committee, it
should be required that every household in the community has the
opportunity to vote for the committee of their choice and that when
important decisions concerning the distribution and expenditure of funds
from wildlife revenue are made, it should be mandatory that the
committee give each household an opportunity to decide what they want to
do with these revenues. To date, these decisions have not been brought
to the household, but instead have been decided at district level or at
wildlife committee level. As mentioned, this should be one of the
conditions on which appropriate authority status can be earned. The
wildlife committee, therefore, has an important educational and
brokerage role to play. Since deciding what each household would like
to do with its portion of revenue accruing from wildlife is a large
task, I suggest that the wildlife committee should receive a stipend for
its services to the community, which can be deducted from wildlife
revenue. This would encourage active participation. Once the wildlife
committee becomes empowered, I believe in the long term, one may see
that the role of indigenous belief systems (or modifications of them)
discussed above, will buttress their authority and there may also be a

revamping of indigenous controls on access to resources.

220

It should be added that there was very poor communication between
the district council and the local people at the time that this research
began. This was partially because there had been a rapid turn over in
the position of councillor for the ward. Four previous councilors had
had difficulty in carrying out the duties entailed in this position.
One person was declared resigned after not attending four meetings.
Another tended to ignore the wishes of people and fell out of favor.
Yet another, came into conflict with the chief over the sitting of the
new school (see section on the new school site), while another
councillor had lost favor with the community for being too strong willed
and for acting unilaterally in reporting names of illegally resident
Mozambicans. The existing councillor is a very young man who is still
building up experience in local politics. There was, therefore, no
continuity of knowledge or interests, which is vital for the development

of CAMPFIRE in its initial stages.

Micro-Political Rivalries and Thwarted 'Development': CAMPFIRE and The
Grinding Mill

The CAMPFIRE document claims that, "it is vital to the program,
wherever it is applied, that the community forming a natural resource
co—operative should be a cohesive community with common objectives"
(Martin 1986, 33). Chapoto ward clearly does not fulfill this criteria
and it might be worth rethinking this phrase in the document, as the
type of community sought after may not exist. If the intention of this
statement is to emphasize relative cohesiveness, it may be important to
underline this. Even in Kanyurira ward, which is relatively homogeneous

and cohesive in comparison to Chapoto, women were very upset that male

221
household heads and widows were given the Z$200 award from wildlife
revenues.

In Chapoto ward, there are four main currents of conflicting
interest. Firstly, there is the conflict between the chiefly authority
structures and the formal political structures. Chiefly authority has
lately been given increased importance in the eyes of the Zimbabwean
government.50 The newer more democratic processes concerning VIDCOs
and WADCOs were instituted after a 1984 government directive (see
Chapter I for a description of local government structures). Secondly,
there is the conflict of interest between the vaDema and vaChiKunda
populations. Thirdly, there are conflicts of interest between
residential clusters competing for natural resources, particularly gimp;
and.mgnga cultivation plots. Lastly, there are intergroup conflicts,
rivalries or conflicting interests such as that between the Faith
Apostolic Mission Church and those who attend the spirit possessions
within the anggmagg (see below).

The rivalry between chiefly (neo-traditional) power and the power
conferred on the system of ward and village development committees, is a
strong one. However, there are equally strong divisive forces in the
community which have militated against development in the past and are
likely to do so again in the future. A case study of the World Vision
grinding mill, one of the few assets in the community illustrates this
point aptly.

A previous ward councillor, now the secretary of the wildlife

committee, was demoted from his position for having unilaterally given

 

soThe judicial power of chiefs was increased in 1990.

222
the names of people who had originated from Mozambique, and who had
settled in Zimbabwe, to the immigration authorities. This same
councillor had also reported the activities of the Faith Apostolic
Mission Church, who were aiming to hand out food and clothing to the
vaDema, as training a dissident army. This allegation, according to
church goers, was based on the fact that khaki (a color used by the
military) was often the color of the clothing given them. An additional
reason for suspicion on the part of the authorities of such missionary
activities near border areas, was the alleged involvement of right wing
evangelist churches from America in support of the MNR movement. By
making this report to the district administration, he was successful in
banning the church from the area for two years and the church
missionaries from America were subject to investigation by the Central
Intelligence Organization (CIO). As a result of this, animosity was
built up between him and a local leader of the church, who blamed him
for thwarting the plans for building an Apostolic Faith Mission Church
in the ward. When this councillor became aware that certain materials
given by the state for building a school were likely to be reacquired if
they were not used, he suggested that the materials be used in building
a World Vision funded grinding mill. He suggested that when the
materials due to arrive for the mill appeared, they could be given back
in replacement of those to be used on the school. He consulted the
school committee on this issue and they agreed that it was a good idea.
So, he went ahead and personally built the grinding mill using a small
quantity of bricks and cement owned by the state. His rival in the

Faith Apostolic Mission Church, who was also a member of the school

223
committee, took this opportunity to report him directly to the police
for theft of state property. The police arrested him and he stood
trial. He was fined two hundred dollars. Meanwhile, the grinding mill,
which was otherwise financed by World Vision, has been an enormous asset
to the community, mainly helping the women who would otherwise have to
grind the grains by hand. This is by no means an isolated incident and
reliable informants have explained to me that they do not want to be
seen to be actively involved in "development". They claim that this
will result in the community I'hating them",51 and all their efforts
will only result in their being punished or driven out of the community,
as happened in the case of a previous councillor who came into conflict
with the chief over the sitting of the school.

Another feature that tends to thwart local plans for development,
is the attitude of many of the individuals serving on the many
committees. Frequently, the same individuals are voted into many
committees and as a result, they have less time to work in their fields
and they see little or no benefits arising out of serving on the various
committees. As one'particularly popular committee man said, "I have to
walk to the meeting and then back home, that takes two hours.

Frequently the meeting takes the whole morning. Before I come I have to
wash my clothes, but I am not given soap to do it, all we do is vote,
vote, vote, but nothing ever changes." People like this are frequently
over-extended and have little incentive to put a lot of effort into

something when they have seldom seen the fruits of labors in the past.

 

51People are also careful not to broadcast their good fortune, as this
might attract jealousy and witchcraft accusations.

224
Rivalries that thwart development reinforce and exacerbate these
attitudes.

.A related problem is the fact that the population of Chapoto ward
are subject to the whims of authorities and powers elsewhere, usually on
the escarpment. These authorities, in early 1989, decreed that the
entire population of the ward would be placed in a consolidated village
within three days. This was a government policy, arising out of concern
over the security from the MNR bandit activity which had extended in
recent years to within Zimbabwe's borders. As the ward was in a border
area where attacks had taken place in neighboring Zumbo, it was
suggested that the population should be placed in such villages for
their own protection. Though the move never materialized, planning
ahead for CAMPFIRE, under such conditions, is not easy.

The forgoing chapter has moved us from the practical arrangements
associated with crop-protection to the committeeing processes associated
with CAMPFIRE. The focus has been the mechanisms through which people
cope with wildlife at the local level. The next chapter deals with
these same issues from a different perspective. It attempts to describe
and analyze the vested interests in wildlife and illustrates the
competing claims which exist in the resource. CAMPFIRE claims to be
dealing with common property management. The next two chapters

scrutinize this assumption.

CHAPTERVI

CGIPETING BUNDLES OF RIGHTS TO WILDLIFE

In Chapter IV the broader political dynamics of wildlife resource
use were outlined. In that chapter it was shown how global (e.g., CITES
debates), national (policy towards natural resources), district and
local claims as to how the resource should be used interact with each
other. In this chapter we elaborate on the various vested interests,
jurisdictions and rights in the resource, as they are manifested at the
ward level.

Spirit mediums, chief, safari operators, clients, subsistence
hunters, local people, clusters of households, DNPWLM personnel,
district council, wildlife committees, poachers, policemen and a Faith
Apostolic Mission Church missionary have all claimed rights of control,
access or ownership of wildlife in the ward. To date, these ambiguous
rights have largely been competing and conflicting and I argue that in
this sense, wildlife is not currently managed under a communal property
regime (see Chapter I).. Furthermore, these competing claims and rights
make it difficult to establish proprietorship of the resource at the
local level, through a common property management regime.

This section deals with the question of bundles of rights of use
and control, by focusing on illustrative case-study material. I refer
the reader back to the literature review for a memory refresher on the
typologies of property rights identified by analysts. The argument I
present below is essentially that instead of concentrating on the

typologies of property rights and property rights regimes our focus

225

226
should be on the complex bundles of conflicting and competing rights
associated with the cultural and political dynamics of resource use. In
my opinion, it is necessary to acknowledge the ambiguity of the various
bundles of rights to wildlife, by identifying the diversity of state,
community, private sector and other interests in the resource. Any
successful management regime will need to incorporate or clarify these
multiple jurisdictions.
) The first set of rights I would like to consider, is that
associated with the royal ancestral spirits and particularly of
Kanyemba, the owner of the land, and that of his spirit medium through
whom he communicates. I start off by describing an incident that is
symbolic of the clash between the values, interpretations and controls
associated with wildlife by the state apparatus, tourists and big game
hunters, and the values, controls and interpretations associated with
wildlife in terms of ancestral beliefs and local dynamics. This
concerns the death of the spirit medium of Chihumbe (brother of
Kanyemba) at the horns of the treasured hunters prize, allegedly the
most challenging african animal to hunt - the buffalo.52 I continue
by explaining the degree of control that the spirit is said to exert
over wildlife in contradistinction to the control exerted by other
authorities, such as the district council, DNPWLM and the safari
operator. Also included, is an illustration of the controls exerted
over illegal hunting by the spirit. The complex bundles of rights
associated with specific elephant kills and other events, such as the

poaching of buffalo by a senior police officer, are used as
\

552The local safari operator specifically offers buffalo safaris.

227
illustrations to make these more general points about competing rights.

Three weeks before the researcher entered the field, the long
standing spirit medium for the area, Mr. Tauro, who was possessed by the
spirit of Chihumbe was gored by a buffalo whilst in his field on the
western side of the Mwanzamtanda river. Mr. Tauro had been warned by
the spirit who possessed him not to move his house to the western side
of the river, where wildlife is more abundant, and not to continue his
illegal hunting activities. It was said that the spirit wanted him to
engage in agriculture and to obey the law, and he had once before been
gashed on the arm by a buffalo as a warning from the spirit not to hunt.
According to a reliable informant, he had not wanted to live on the
western side of the river but his wife wanted to live there. This
conflict of aspirations between the spirit and the spirit medium led the
spirit of Chihumbe to warn Tauro that "we will see what will happen.’I
It was after this proclamation had been made by the spirit that Tauro
was gored and after a gruelling trip to Harare hospital, where he was
unsuccessfully treated, finally died from his wounds. In‘this sense,
the spirit facilitated the death of the spirit medium through the
vehicle of a buffalo.

The night before Mr. Tauro was attacked, a buffalo was feeding
from his maize crop. His wife threw stones at the buffalo and the
buffalo went away. The next night the wife heard movement and the sound
of chewing outside the ghikgmbi (grass enclosure). Again she threw
stones, but this time the recalcitrant buffalo was in a mood to return
the aggression. The wife shouted to her husband to awake and to clear

out of the area, but as he was allegedly drunk he awoke groggily and

228
noisily and was gored at the entrance of the chikumbi, whilst his wife
escaped unharmed. As a result, Mr. Tauro was taken to the clinic,53
situated about eight kilometers away. Apparently, part of his
intestines were outside of his skin. I was informed that Mr. Grobler, a
Faith Apostolic Mission Church missionary in the ward at the time, laid
hands on the spirit medium and prayed for him.

A theme emerging from the research is the competing forms of
spirit possession, which in the community coincide with other vested
interests and which are reflected in the various committees. This has
been elaborated elsewhere.54 The present spirit medium for the area
is a young woman who has recently arrived from Mozambique with her
children. She is newly possessed with the spirit of Kanyemba and was
diagnosed as such by a spirit medium in Mozambique, after having
allegedly suffered a long period of mental illness. The role of spirit
medium of Kanyemba had been vacant for many years and I believe that the
possession reflects aspects of local politics. As outlined in Chapter
II, the chief is a direct descendent of Chihumbe (see section on
contesting the chieftainship and the historical construction of the
chieftainship), while the house of Kanyemba has never provided a chief,
though they believe that his descendants should rightfully be chief.

The chief's power has waned in recent years with the coming of

 

53The clinic is situated away from all habitation. When available, an
ambulance from Mushumbi Pools, taking at least ten hours, will get a
patient to the nearest hospital in Mvurwi.

54See section on thwarted development and the grinding mill for an
elaboration of this. The Faith Apostolic Mission Church possession
claims to be that of the Holy Spirit and this church condemns the
8pirit‘possession in the Dgndgmaro as demonic.

 

229
independence and he is very old. I suspect that the possession of the
woman by Kanyemba is a reflection of these political realities and it
places the descendants of Kanyemba in a good position to claim the next

chieftainship for themselves.

The Spirit Medium as Appropriate Authority For Wildlife

The chairman of the wildlife committee is the paternal great
grandson of Kanyemba and it is he who presides over the spirit
possession taking place in the Qggggmgpg, a shrine where the herbs,
walking sticks, axes of the various gyikirgg (mediums) are kept (see
Chapter II for information regarding the contestability of the
chieftainship). It is here where the spirit is consulted on a wide
range of matters, including personal problems, good and bad luck,
sickness, and moving a homestead. The spirit also deals with a number
of issues to do with natural resource management, pest problems, crop-
raiding animals, problem animal control, hunting, etc. ,At the end of
1989, a thanks-giving celebration was held in Bauwa (the closest
Mozambican town to Kanyemba), situated opposite Zumbo on the southern
bank of'the headwaters of Lake Caborra Bassa. various spirit mediums
were present including Bepe, who is closely related to the three
brothers, Kanyemba, Chihumbe and Nyanderu. The ChiKunda of Bauwa are
closely related to the ChiKunda of Kanyemba, though they live on either
side of an arbitrary colonial boundary. The celebration was a
thanksgiving to Kanyemba for having fulfilled promises related to the
control of pests (locusts, birds [e.g., quellias] and rats) and in

controlling crop-raiding and problem animals, notably baboons.

230

Whilst attending the Dgndemarg when the spirit was in possession
of the medium, I asked the spirit questions concerning the control of
pests and crop-raiding animals. In relation to pests it is clear that
there are two main competing mechanisms for the control or eradication
of pests. Individuals may use one or both of these and there is no
apparent conflict in using both methods. Cotton is seriously threatened
by a number of inveterate pests including aphids and bole worms.
Commercial pesticides are liberally applied for these pests, using a
hand pump strapped to the back of an individual. usually the individual
does not wear protective clothing and often does not even wear shoes.
However, these pests that scourge the cotton crop are also brought to
the peggemagg for treatment. A sample of the live pests are brought in
glass or plastic containers and are ritually treated with herbs (roots
and tubers from a variety of plants). The gyikigg (medium) may ask the
xanxai (messenger of the spirit) to obtain certain herbs that are not in
stock in the Denggmarg. The medium herself may go out into the
contiguous forest area. It appears that the contiguous forest area is
protected for this and other reasons, and the sitting of the Qggggmggg
is frequently in a grove of old trees. This area and its surrounding
vegetation is considered sacred and only the spirit and his messengers
are permitted to tamper with it. The pests are treated with various
herbs. The messengers of the spirit frantically select different
bundles and bags of herbs with which to treat the various worms pests,
etc. The spirit mediums, simultaneously, select particular herbs from
the bundles and bags and curtly give commands to the messengers to pass

on these bundles. After this, the spirit of Kanyemba selects

231
individuals to run to an unspecified cross-roads and to distribute the
various pests there. These designated messengers were informed that if
they should look back at the Dendemaro whilst on their way to the cross-
roads, this would invalidate the treatment of the pests.

The symbolism of the ritual treatment of the pests and their
distribution at the cross-roads, is a powerful expression or
manifestation of the power of the spirit who can dispense with all the
pests. The purging of the pests may fail if the community has neglected
the spirits wishes or has not obeyed the rules laid down by the spirit.
It may also fail if the individuals involved in the collection and later
distribution of the pests, have not done this in accordance with the
instructions of the spirit. If the purging fails, this will not be seen
as a failure on the part of the spirit, but rather as a result of
neglect for the laws of the spirit by the community.

As regards problem animal control, crop-raiding by animals, and
the extraordinary behavior of animals, spiritual controls emanating from
the gpgggggal_§pi;;§§ appear to be situational and contextual. There is
much variation in interpretation as to the extent to which the spirit
controls various animal species. Contradictory information was
gathered, including claims that the spirit controlled all animals. If
the spirit overtly claimed control of the larger species, such as
elephant and buffalo, it could find itself in conflict with government
agencies and the law of Zimbabwe which claims that all animals are under
the protection and control of the Minister of Environment and Tourism
and the appropriate authorities of wildlife management. Furthermore, by

making sweeping claims, the spirit could be proved not to control these

232
animals.

The question of "who controls the animals" was asked of the spirit
medium whilst possessed. Before the medium herself (i.e., the spirit)
could answer, the great-grandson of Kanyemba interjected that the spirit
could control certain crop-raiding animals, such as warthog and bush
buck, but the larger animals, notably buffalo and elephant, were not
controllable by the spirit. This response may have been influenced by
the above stated issues. Other responses to this question indicate that
the spirit does control, or can control, these large animals, as well as
the smaller animals. Both previous and present hunters and safari
operator personnel are reported as having consulted the spirit medium
prior to a successful kill. A portion of the meat was thereafter
appropriately given to the spirit medium and the chief in thanks-giving.
Local illegal hunters are also reported as having consulted the spirit
medium for herbs to enable successful hunting and protection whilst in
the forest. An important piece of evidence is that local illegal
hunters have been sanctioned by the spirit, after not reporting and/or
thanking the spirit for hunting successes or for not sharing parts of
the carcass designated for the spirit.

The local community is, however, split as regards their professed
belief in the offices of the spirit medium. The most significant split
is between the Faith Apostolic Mission Church and those who believe in
the spirit medium. The Catholic church stands in between, as it does
not condemn the belief in such spirits and leaves it up to the
individual conscience to decide whether attendance at the Degggmagg is

evil or not. Probably, as the local parish priest pointed out to me, it

233

is more evil to watch "Dallas" than to attend the sessions at the
Pendsmars.

The conversion of people to the Faith Apostolic Mission Church is
a very recent phenomenon. As a result of this conversion, some
individuals go through a tortuous grappling with their conscience over
issues such as the church's prohibition on the use of herbs when their
children are sick, the prohibition on drinking beer, smoking mpapjg
(marijuana) and tobacco. The church also prohibits the use of herbs for
hunting, and for prevention of pests and crop-raiding animals. Families
are often religiously and theologically split in half and this adds to
the dilemma. Almost all of the vaDema who joined the church, when hand-
outs of food and clothing were given out, were not willing to accept
these rules as use of herbs was such a powerful feature of their way of
life. Despite the fact that a significant number of people have
maintained belief in the church, it is fair to say that the spirits of
the land have a considerable influence over their lives. Firstly, this
is because such individuals spend a lot of time and energy condemning
belief in the spirit, and secondly, despite (perhaps because of) these
condemnations, there is evidence to suggest that a residual cultural
empathy with the belief lingers. Incidence of members of the church
secretly consulting spirit mediums and the use of herbs do occur.

Essentially then the institution of the spirit medium is a
powerful cultural phenomenon. The Faith Apostolic Mission Church has
not managed to separate the cultural components from the theological.
As a result, members of the church continue to have residual empathy

with the belief. As Schoffeleers (1979) has pointed out, the spirits of

 

H).

234
the land are the guardians of the land. Kanyemba is referred to as the
owner of the land. Through him requests for rain are sent up the ladder
of history to the original owners of the land (notably Chimombe, see
Chapter II). The spirit is the protector of the people, but may also
punish people by withdrawing this protection. The spirit is also the
protector of the land and in general, insures that all creatures, both
fauna and flora, as well as inanimate features such as geology and water
courses, are in equilibrium. However, if sinful humans do not attend to
the spirit or obey the commands of the spirit, all kinds of imbalances
can occur in nature. Lions may wage war on the people (this occurred in
the forties in Chapoto ward), the rains may not fall, honey may not be
found in the forest, wild animals usually in abundance may disappear, or
the people may be plagued by crop-raiding animals. It is, therefore,
extremely important that the spirit be attended to and the correct forms
observed. It is also obvious that from many people's points of view,
the appropriate authority for wildlife at the local level is the spirit

medium.

Problem Animal Control by the Spirit

In Zimbabwe, since wildlife has been officially owned by the state
PAC is historically taken to refer to the activities of the DNPWLM in
culling animals, which are reported as being a threat to life and
property. However, as has been elaborated above there are cultural
mechanisms which also deal with this problem. When discussing PAC,
hunting control, and crop-raiding it is important to realize that there

is a general distinction between charmed spirit animals (Lungs) and

235
forest animals (mhgkg). In general, these categories are established
from "common sense" and by reference to the expert advice of the spirit
medium in possession. Biological animals are forest animals, that is
the physical manifestations of the order of nature unless proved
otherwise. Animals are proved to be spirits if they exhibit qualities
that set them apart from the normal run of the mill animals one is
likely to encounter. These animals belong to the order of culture and
deserve specific explanation and often ritual treatment.

The best way to discuss this is by reference to specific examples.
Animals that do not behave in the manner that their species is taken to
behave55 include: aggressive guineafowl, baboons that scratch
themselves like dogs and, elephants that inveterately raid granaries and
come too close to human habitation. These are all animals controlled by
spirits and their behavior can be explained in terms of cultural
entities and forces.

In general, the procedure in dealing with these culturally
problematic animals is to consult the spirit. The explanations offered
for the above anomalies, for instance, are as follows: the guineafowl
and baboons were sent by the spirit to people who had not obeyed the
decree that Friday should be observed as ghigi (day of rest). The

elephant was inhabited by a troubled spirit. After ritual porridge made

 

55This is an interpretation which has some lee-way. It is established
through consultation with the spirit and is influenced by general
consensus. Informal groups of peOple often discuss the happenings
involving "unusual” animal behavior. Church-goers who do not attend
the sessions at the Qggggmagg do challenge their colleagues on the
nature of the "unusual", claiming, of course, that such happenings are
perfectly "usual".

236
out of grain and herbs had been placed at the cross roads, it no longer
depleted people's granaries. As is well known, particular species of
animal do have particular cultural significance. Lions (mhgndgrg - the
royal ancestral spirit) and hyenas (£395; - witch) are cases in point.
In both cases people, can be possessed by these spirits. Lions can be
royal ancestors who simultaneously speak through mediums, whilst hyenas
can possess and control humans with a non-human hyena spirit of
witchcraft. Lions that bear particular markings are said to be the
physical manifestation of the mhggdggg (Kanyemba is said to have spots
like a leopard), as are_those that act in a particular unaggressive or
aggressive manner or who leave uneaten kill near human habitation, or
that have other unlikely interactions with human beings. In one
instance, a lion was said to have taken the blanket off a man while he
was sleeping. In another case, lions were said to have eaten a man’s
maize crop. Cases like this are be referred to the spirit medium. In
the previous case, the lion had been sent by another mhgnggrg (royal
ancestor) from a neighboring area to establish if the use of witchcraft
or the.use of herbs was a factor in the dispute between two individuals.
Both hyenas and crocodiles can potentially be sent by one's enemies, as
the agents of witchcraft and malevolence.

Perceptions of animal control are, therefore, tied up with
existing beliefs and practices. At the beginning of 1990, the spirit of
Kanyemba decreed that the community should not work on Friday as this
was the day on which the spirit medium for Chihumbe died. Many people
in the community, notably the Apostolic Faith Mission Church-goers did

not obey this command. As a result, strange occurrences involving

 

237
baboons and guinea fowl were reported in the community. Guineafowl,
which usually run away from human beings, were reported as having
hounded and attacked church-goers working on Friday. A baboon was said
to have sat down in front of a church-goer and scratched itself with its
hind legs, in the same fashion as a dog. Other baboons were said to
have approached people's fields with more aggression than usual. Some
church—goers were not particularly impressed by these happenings, but
the anomalies seem to have captured the minds of many others in the
community. Faith Apostolic Mission Church-goers argued that it was
absurd to have both Friday and Sunday as days of rest. They also argued
that it would be reasonable to have one holiday a year in commemoration
of Chihumbe, but to have one per week was like having christmas once a
week. This would interfere with their productivity.

The attempt to introduce observance of ghigi has to-date
effectively failed. This serves as an example of the limitation of
control by the spirit. However, it also indicates that the institution
of spirit possession waxes and wanes in response to currents in the
society. In this regard, the issue of who controls the animals is shown
to be an ambiguous one, in that the spirit has not overtly claimed
control of these animals (dg jure), but has exhibited ge_;§g§9 control
in the minds of many people. This point is worth underlining. I
believe it is not so much that the spirit medium in possession should,
under recent restrictive resource management techniques, be shown to be
in control of animals, but rather that a potential means of controlling
access to animals has hitherto been underestimated. As the government

policy is to give more responsibility and benefits from wildlife

238
resources to local people, I believe that the spirit medium will become
more openly or overtly involved in making decisions about the resource

and enforcing sanctions on access to animals.

In Partial Control of Animals and People: The Spirits of the Land and
the Illegal Hunters

A very important informant in my research was a seventy-three year
old seasoned illegal hunter, with whom I came to have a good rapport.
He told me stories about himself, and others. Some of these stories
illustrate the kinds of controls that exist on illegal hunters and on
animals.56 He is the head of one of three vaChiKunda households who
live on the western bank of the river. The following was narrated by
the informant but is transcribed into the third person for readability.

On one occasion, five elephants visited him in his field and came
near to his ghiparagaou (temporary raised structure for drying maize),
but did not attempt to eat anything. He was astounded, as elephants do
not usually come close without eating the maize. Though concerned, he
did not consult the spirit medium of Chihumbe (Kanyemba's brother). One
day he was at the peggemggg and Chihumbe asked him if he had not seen
elephants coming to his field. Chihumbe told him to watch out, as this
was a warning of things to come. Later, while he was using a field on
the banks of the Mwanzamtanda, at a place called Marirambwa, at about
five o'clock in the morning, his wife took a bucket to get some water

and noticed fresh footprints of lions. His wife called him to come and

 

56He was arrested for snaring buffaloes and claims to have been treated
cruelly in gaol in Chinoyi, where he was incarcerated with thieves. He
lives next to his bananas and is constantly worried by buffaloes and
elephant, which tear down his trees and eat his crops.

 

239
see these footprints and he tracked them to where they had entered his
maize field. .At that time, while he was talking to his wife and tracing
the spoor, the lions had encircled his field. On the way to the pgggka
in the middle of the field he heard the lions roaring. He immediately
started worshipping the vggzimu (spirits), saying that he was the
grandson of Chaufombo, Kanyemba, Chihumbe and Nyanderu. If he had done
anything wrong they should tell Chihumbe and Chihumbe would tell him
what payments he should make in retribution. By the time he reached his
ggggkg, he saw a light colored lion feeding on a maize stem and cobs.
When this lion saw him it ran closer to him and started tearing up the
soil near to him, venting its frustration. He continued worshipping
Chihumbe and Kanyemba until the lion went away.

Later he went to consult the spirit of Chihumbe. He was told that
these lions were on their way to Chiyambo (headman of the vaDema people
and his father-in-law). Chiyambo had been assigned work by Mbayiwa (a
neighboring spirit who often relays messages on behalf of Chimombe, the
rain spirit) to make him a crown, but he had delayed and this was the
only way to remind him. As these lions came across him, they noticed
that there was a daughter of Chiyambo there (his wife), so they wanted
to attack that daughter. He was advised to go back and look after his
field. He returned and after three days the lions came back around
seven o'clock in the evening. They came very close to the pgggkg where
he was and roared. After this he went back again to consult Chihumbe.
He was given some medicine (herbs) and advised to set them on fire in
his field. He was told that the smell of it would keep the lions away.

Three days after returning, the lions came back again and started eating

240
from the maize cobs and from the stems. The man went towards the lions
with his spear (i.e., he threatened them). The lions ran away into the
thick bush around his fields. He packed up the few belongings he had
with him, abandoned his field and went back to his permanent home for
good (about three kilometers distant).

Later the DNPWLM staff came to check on the occurrences and
noticed baboons, elephants and some spoor of lions in his fields and
they promised that this would be reported to their headquarters. To
this day nothing had been heard from them.

Both the elephants and the lions in this story were described as
spiritually and culturally significant animals and have to be contrasted
with the "normal" elephants and lions of the forest which act in a
predictable manner. The animals in the story exhibited anomalous
behavior and this shows that they were not "natural" animals at all, but
manifestations of supernatural powers and forces, controlled and
influenced by ancestral spirits. On encountering the lions, the first
thing that entered the man's head was that he had somehow displeased the
ancestors, because these lions were the physical manifestation of
ancestral beings and they had come to visit him in his field, to
sanction him.

versions of this story, narrated by other members of the
community, included crucial aspects which the man left out. thably
that he was a prodigious illegal hunter and had on occasion offended the
ancestors by killing and/or threatening lion. The visit of the lions,
it is said, was a consequence of his having disobeyed restrictions on

hunting lion, and not, as he said, because he was a son-in-law to Mr.

241
Chiyambo. It appears that the usual restriction on killing lion is
overlooked provided, the skin is given to the spirit medium, and that
the hunter promises that he has not kept any part of the lion, normally

used as a potent medicine.57

Bundles of Herbs and the Right to Hunt

As has been pointed out, knowledge and use of herbs are considered
to be extremely important in being a successful hunter. An important
political and economic feature concerning the ideology of herbs is that
not everyone is endowed with them. Renown hunters are said to be
successful, in fact, are said to be hunters because they have access to
herbs. Hunting and herbs are in this sense synonymous. One cannot be a
good hunter unless one has access to herbs, therefore, good hunters must
have taken herbs. In a similar way, success in terms of power or
economics can also be explained in terms of herbs (e.g., Kanyemba
himself is said to have taken herbs). As previously stated, herbs are
procured in at least four ways. One can approach the spirit medium when
possessed. One can approach a herbal specialist who may share knowledge
with you if you have a close relationship or offer to do something in
return. One can inherit knowledge of herbs by doing an apprenticeship
with one's father or close patrilineal relative. Lastly a family spirit

or sahwirg (bond friendship) may appear to you in a dream informing you

 

57In regard to the vaDema, Mtamayi (1959) reports that dung of lion was
mixed with grain and fed to dogs in order to make them fierce hunters.
Other explanations include the idea that the man abandoned his field
and the maize in it because the yield was too great for him to move it
himself.

242
where to find herbs and the logistics involved in successful hunting or
snaring (i.e., where to find animals, what herbs to use, where to place
snares, in which areas, etc.). In the latter case, the herbal and other
skills of the hunter ancestor can be transferred (inherited) in this
manner.

The main point is that the magical qualities of herbs facilitates
successful hunting, and gives hunters the courage and the skill to hunt.
In this sense, the right to hunt is normatively governed or sanctioned
by broader indigenous knowledge systems concerning the environment. If
hunting is controlled in the sense that only selected people have access
to herbs, then we are not talking about an open access commons, we are
talking about access of the initiated few. These ideas need to be
qualified by the fact that we are talking about normative rather than
pragmatic concerns. On the pragmatic level of day-to-day expediency,
individuals do not need to obtain herbs before setting a snare. There
is no direct or causal link between the ideological and normative idea
that one has to have herbs to be a hunter and the actual practice of
hunting.

,A further qualifying comment is that cultural beliefs are in a
state of change, and broader political and economic issues can
profoundly effect such indigenous value systems. Where societies have
been dispossessed of many of their rights to use land and natural
resources, any values that may have existed in relationship to access to
the land and its resources are obviously effected. It would be entirely
inaccurate to reify or romanticize values that may have been far more

effective in the past. However, if the rights of ward residents are

243

actively included with the many rights and multiple jurisdictions
(DNPWLM, district council, wildlife lobbies, politicians, safari and
tourist operators) involved in controlling and using wildlife, I believe
that there may be a resurgence of such values. Naturally, this would
depend on how meaningfully such rights could be exercised in concert
with the many other vested interests involved. This might include
controlled off-take from the Chewore safari areas by both vaDema and
vaChiKunda. As Feeny, Berkes, McCay and Acheson say,

...a diversity of societies in the past and the present have

independently devised, maintained or adapted communal arrangements

to manage common property resources. Their persistence is not an

historical accident; these arrangements build on knowledge of the

resource and cultural norms that have evolved and been tested over
time (1990, 31).

In Partial Control of Animals and People: The Rights of the Safari
Operator and Client

Though the CAMPFIRE program includes this ward, during the years
while this research was going on (1989—1991), no decisions concerning
money or other benefits accruing from wildlife revenues, had been
broadly discussed within the ward. This is mainly because the district
council had not taken sufficient steps to actively include the ward in
this process, though it had received revenues which essentially belong
to the ward. Part of the ambiguity of the situation lies in the fact
that the local safari operator leases a hunting concession, unlike
Kanyurira ward where the safari operator is employed by the district
council. The safari operation is largely run as a business operation
rather than as a component of a management program. The safari

operator's personnel, though they had heard about the goals of CAMPFIRE,

244
were not briefed to build co-operation between themselves and the local
people.

In August 1990, the safari operator himself was extremely
reluctant to have contact with the representatives from the ward if
representatives from the district administration and council were not
present. He felt that this would jeopardize his relationship with the
district administration and council, and possibly "risk his concession."
His reluctance to meet representatives of the ward was due to the fact
that he had recently paid up his trophy fees and lease fees to the
district council, but the ward had not been informed about this. By
letting ward representatives know the amount of revenue that had been
accumulated by council, he felt he was going behind the back of the
local government and district council officials and thereby possibly
jeopardizing his concession lease, which at that point in time had not
yet been renewed. The implication of this is that safari operator and
district council/local government have a set of vested interests which
need to be hidden from the ward.

In Chapoto ward, instead of co-operation between safari operator
and people, there has often been conflict. The safari operator's
assistant, as a manager of the concession area, has been briefed to
police the area for poaching activities. This has resulted in
harassment and arrest of the local people, mainly the vaDema. As
mentioned, harassment has included checking people's pots, smelling
their plates for traces of meat, beatings, arrests and feigning arrest.
In one case a young boy was arrested and hand cuffed and had to walk to

the safari operators vehicle where he was released at twelve o'clock at

24S
night. He then had to make his way home, in the middle of the night
when wild animal activity is most pronounced.

Ward residents thought that this situation was likely to change at
the end of 1990 when the district council claimed that they would employ
a safari operator as a component of the CAMPFIRE program. However,
contrary to the hopes of local people, who had been led to believe that
it was because of the safari operator that they were not benefitting
from CAMPFIRE, the safari operator's lease was renewed for another two
years on slightly different terms.

Thus, the immediate control of animals in the concession remains
in the hands of the safari operator by virtue of his concession lease
with the district council. This bundle of rights includes those of the
DNPWLM, the district council, the client, and the safari operators
personnel. Specific quotas of animals are established by DNPWLM based
on current estimation of numbers. The safari operator has to defer to
the appropriate authority for wildlife in the area, from whom he obtains
his lease (the district council), but he is the main controller of
animals on the ground.

In regard to the rights of the ward wildlife committee, it is
interesting that a white missionary associated with the Faith Apostolic
Mission Church, who regularly visited the ward, approached a member of
the wildlife committee in June 1991 and asked if it would be possible
for him to bring a church colleague from South Africa to hunt under the
CAMPFIRE program. The committee member, a son of the chief, was newly
elected and did not fully understand the mechanisms by which the program

would work. He, understandably, thought that local participation in

246
wildlife utilization meant that the local committee had authority to
give permits to outsiders interested in safari hunting, that is, he
thought the ward would set up its own safari business. The missionary
organized for his colleague to fly up from Pretoria, and brought him and
his weapons down to the ward to hunt an elephant. Upon arrival, they
learnt that the local committee did not have the authority to permit the
man to kill an elephant, though the missionary claimed this as his right
in terms of the agreement with the wildlife committee member and the
expenses incurred in bringing his colleague up from South Africa. He
also claimed that there were more clients which he could obtain for the
ward, from the same source. It was suggested that the missionary should
approach the safari operator, but he was reluctant to do this because he
knew that the operator charged exorbitant fees. He believed that the
committee would not charge such exorbitant fees. The missionary pointed
out that since the local committee was not empowered to make such
arrangements it showed that CAMPFIRE was a contradiction in terms; it
showed that local people did not truly own their resources as professed
by CAMPFIRE. The disappointed visitor did not shoot an elephant in
Chapoto ward.

In my experience the safari operator's client claims ownership of
the animal that he has shot, by virtue of paying as much as US$7500
trophy fee for an elephant. The safari operators assistant, in terms of
this ownership claims control of the skinning, removal of tusks, trunk,
feet and ears, which are usually kept as trophies by the client. It
lies within the discretion of the client what should be done with the

‘meat of elephants, hippo, buffalo, etc., as it is often impossible to

247
remove these from the kill before they rot. Often these are given to
the local people. This_is another source of conflict, as is clear from

the case study of the elephant kill narrated below.

The April 1990 Elephant Kill: Bundles of Rights to Distribution,
Ownership and Control

On the fourth of April 1990, the trainee safari operator, working
for the operator who holds the concession lease, returned to Mr.
Mugonapanja’s (literally "you stay/sleep outside") home after a full day
out with two clients in search of an elephant. He returned ahead of his
clients, tired and sweating but in a good mood; they had killed an
elephant. He winked at me that the clients were behind. The kill was
approximately nine kilometers away, at the foot of the massif which
forms the boundary with the Chewore safari area. After quenching his
thirst, he sped off in his Toyota Land Cruiser to notify his local
contacts about what would happen the next day. Whilst leaving, the
clients who had heard his motor called out to him, but he continued on
his way. Soon the clients arrived, one bearing an elephants tail, like
a fly swish in his hand.

They sat outside Mr. Mugonapanja's hut in deck chairs, two puffing
Bavarians. The chief client, the one who had killed the elephant,
emerged as a conservationist and claimed that something had to be done
about poaching. He agreed that it was a good idea that his money should
get back to the local people and he supported the ivory trade. He did
not believe, however, that local people could manage resources
themselves. Neither did he believe that a possible electric fence would

be efficacious in separating agricultural areas from wildlife resource

248
areas. Having engaged in safari ritual killing (he had shot 39
elephants in Zimbabwe over the last eight years in a number of areas),
he knew that elephants would not be dissuaded from their intentions by
an electric fence.

In the middle of the conversation, Mr. Mugonapanja politely joined
the group, which included my research assistants and a couple of
trackers. He greeted everyone by clapping hands and asked how they
were. We were seated in the shade of his main hut. I said to the
client, "this is the owner of the house." There was no response. Again
I said, "this is the owner of this house." He looked in the direction
of Mr. Mugonapanja, but he did not respond or greet him. Later, I
discovered that the client owned an international construction business
which employed 15,000 people in Germany alone.

I had arranged to meet the trainee safari operator the next day at
the disused hunting camp on the banks of the Mwanzamtanda river, as he
had offered me a lift to the kill in his land cruiser. Early in the
morning, a party of trackers and skinners arrived from the safari camp
at Kousangasanga in a land rover. When local people heard the vehicle
they gathered at the old hunting camp. The safari operators personnel
scouted around for a place to cross the river, but were bogged down in
sand and mud in the middle of the river. For nearly an hour they were
engaged in attempting to get the vehicle across the river and up the
steep sandy embankment on the other side. Local people were told to cut
branches of trees to place under the wheels of the vehicle and the
services of many local people were engaged in pushing the vehicle out.

Without the help of the many local people who had now gathered in the

249
hope of procuring meat, the vehicle would not have been able to proceed.
After crossing the river, the local people, some of whom had clamored on
board the old land rover, had to immediately disembark as it was made
clear to them that their responsibility was to make a road through the
dense bush for the vehicle and not to travel on it. The vehicle drove
through some vaDema fields, damaging some of the stunted maize and
sorghum growing there.

I was told that usually no-one is allowed to touch the elephant
until the client had arrived, taken pictures, etc. However, by the time
I arrived on foot (having decided it would not be politically correct
for me to get a lift with the operator), local people, together with the
safari skinners and trackers, were engaged in cutting off the ears,
trunk, feet skin and tusks for the client. It was obvious that the
local people had valuable expertise in expeditiously and efficiently
carrying out these operations. This part of the exercise was conducted
in a comparatively orderly and organized manner. It was explained to me
afterwards that the locals are the real experts when it comes to
skinning, as some of them have a life-times experience at it.

Once the elephant had been skinned on the uppermost side, the
safari personnel started to cut up pieces of the tender and sought-after
meat from the jowls and cheeks of the elephant. At this point, I
witnessed events which are central to my analysis of what happened
later. Whilst the safari operator's assistant was busy putting large
quantities of this tender meat in the land rover, Mr. Penzura (a
vaChiKunda) surreptitiously started cutting meat for himself and threw

it back to his wife who was sitting with the many other women about

250
fifteen feet from the carcass. She quickly put it in a sack. Men were
all gathered around the carcass with knives at the ready, whilst the
woman sat further back from it. At first only a few others started
cutting, but they were told by the safari workers to refrain. When they
saw, however, that the best meat was being taken by the safari operators
personnel, about ten men attacked the area around the head where the
meat is said to be tender. Immediately, the entire carcass was covered
with at least a hundred men wielding knives and axes, tearing and
cutting chunks of bloody flesh and throwing them back to women (usually
younger women) who put them in bags. The entire corpse was encircled
with people, at least five deep. It was almost impossible to get to the
carcass and those who did not have access to it jostled those who did,
in order to push them out. Those who were not engaged in cutting,
sensibly held their knives straight up in the air so as not to
inadvertently stab someone. However, advertently or inadvertently
people did get out both in the throng and whilst cutting the meat.

At times the elephant, now a day old and bloated with bad air,
would wheeze like a punctured hot air balloon, but the noxious stench
from its innards did not distract the people from their tasks. Mr.
Mugonapanja retired from the fray, after being cut fairly badly on the
hand. He pointed out his wound to others but they seemed more
interested in getting meat. Blood and pieces of flesh were splattered
on people's clothing, on their faces and in their hair. Blood was
daubed all over their clothes. When most of the meat had been cut from
the flank, people started to climb onto the carcass and I saw men with

their trouser bottoms drenched in the contents of the elephants stomach.

251
Pieces of the innards which looked and smelt particularly offensive
seemed to be sought after.

Whilst all this had been going on, the safari skinners,had at
times brandished branches to control the mob or to get access to pieces
of the carcass that they were professionally concerned with (i.e.,
choice pieces of meat for themselves, recovering the bullets for the
client, recovering skin, etc.). When the bullets were retrieved, they
brandished branches and beat the crowd back so as to get access to the
wound. Once most of the meat had been removed from the one side, they
placed chains around the carcass and turned it over with the aid of the
land rover. Skinning was carried out, whilst safari personnel
brandished branches to keep people back. The young bull elephant was
not a large one. As Mr. Chipesi (the head of the wildlife committee)
said, it was like Chidota, my research assistant, who he considered to
be a young boy.

It was just after the innards had been reached on the one side,
that the client and hunters apprentices arrived in the land cruiser.

The clients were visibly amused, even enthralled at the sight of this
orgy of flesh cutting. However, they did want to take a picture of the
carcass without any people on it. A hunter's apprentice appealed to the
people to move away from the carcass, but they did not. The trainee
operator, wielded his large weapon over the crowd and fired two shots in
the air. People momentarily fell back. He pointed his heavy calibre
gun at the crowd, threatening them back, loaded and fired again. People
fell back, but almost as immediately proceeded with cutting. Finally,

the safari personnel gave up these attempts to clear people and instead

252
the client has pictures of masses of people wielding knives into his
carcass. He seemed satisfied, when I saw him retiring to the vehicle
for refreshments.

After the gunshots Mr. C, a friend and neighbor who had spent time
in gaol for snaring a buffalo said, "was it good what he (the trainee
operator) had done?" Others said that he should be reported to the
police. The trainee had previously been fined for doing this before.
.After refreshments the clients and safari personnel stood and watched
the butchering. They left the scene when most of the accessible meat
had been taken and the bones were being cut up for the marrow.

The kill was situated in the south-west section of the ward, and I
calculated that some people had walked as far as sixteen kilometers to
get there. Though the kill was situated within five kilometers of
vaDema households, there were not as many vaDema in the fray as there
were vaChiKunda. I noticed that a number of vaDema households did not
take the kill particularly seriously. Mr. Chiyambo, the gaphuku
(headman) for the vaDema, sent one of his young sons to get meat, whilst
he and his brothers stayed at home. In general, the vaDema seemed to be
restricted to the fringes of the carcass, and this became clear later
when I saw how much meat they procured in comparison with the vaChiKunda
cutters. Some vaChikunda filled two to three sacks of meat, whilst
vaDema acquaintances of mine, who had spent the whole day trying to get
to the carcass, obtained only one piece of low quality meat. In
general, widows and women without husbands had no chance of procuring
meat. The strategy amongst successful cutters was that a family would

co-operate, the young or most aggressive men maintaining positions of

253
access to meat on the carcass, and throwing the chunks back to their
women who would place it in sacks. Those who did not have this system
(notably the vaDema), even if they were able to cut meat, would be
unlikely to keep it as any meat seen lying around would quickly be
placed in somebody else's sack. Old people were also disadvantaged and
few of them were successful in obtaining much meat, unless they had
young sons or sons-in-law who could procure meat for them. Many old
people and widows did not even bother to go to the carcass, some of them
claimed it was too far to walk, while others said that they expected
their young male kin, if they had any, to get them a piece of meat.
Even young boys did not attempt to enter the fray; the youngest boy that
I saw attempting to get meat was in his mid-teens. Younger boys would
be likely to get hurt.

The most successful cutters, in my judgement, were also the more
politically significant members of the community. NOtably, the
vaChiKunda VIDCO chairmen, a previous councillor, and the owner of
Black's store. In general, those with the higher social status obtained
more meat. This effectively meant that most of the meat went to a small
number of socially and politically significant vaChiKunda households.

It was with some of these more politically influential vaChikunda
speakers that I walked most of the way home with. This included Mr.
Zhuwao, VIDCO chairman for Chansato, and Mr: Chimata, a burly elder;
both are direct descendants of Kanyemba. All of them were carrying
heavy loads of meat, and in many cases, their wives and daughters had
also gone ahead laden with meat. As Mr. Chimata is knowledgeable about

local history, I asked him about the way meat was distributed by

254
Kanyemba; was it conducted in the same manner as I had witnessed? The
answer was a definite no.

Kanyemba himself, was not concerned about meat, as he was more
interested in the tusks. The flank of the elephant that fell onto the
ground, would be given to the chief and to the mhgpgggg since they were
considered to be the owners of the land. This in turn would be
distributed to kin and to neighboring headmen. Choice parts of the
elephant, such as the trunk and other valuable items such as the skin,
would usually be kept by Kanyemba. The rest of the meat was divided up
amongst the people. It was cut up into portions by designated cutters
and distributed to those present, portions being kept for headmen not
present. This account was not borne out by investigations with other
people and it may well be a glamorization of the distant past, based on
more recent experiences. It was claimed that a previous hunter in the
seventies (during the Rhodesian era), a Mr. Nichol, used to distribute
meat to the chief, the mhpgdggg and designated cutters, who cut up the
meat into equivalent bundles for all "families" present at the kill.
Other informants claimed that Kanyemba was not interested in the

remaining meat, once the flank had been given to the chief.

Comment

"Families", relatives, neighbors and friends who share the
proceeds of illegal hunting together share their resources as a secret
(see Appendix A.for illustration from former times of hunting as a
secret activity and its relation to brideservice). Individual hunters

from these groups may team up together, but this is also a secret.

255
Individual hunters provide meat to their families and loyal relatives
and friends in competition with those who are not considered loyal, who
might report them to the authorities or who might claim a portion of the
meat. Thus, hunting is a secret activity and the resource is not common
property, except as meat when it belongs clandestinely to people who
share it within a closed circle. These individuals are, in legal terms,
drawing on a resource that belongs to an outside agency and they are
plundering the resource without concern as to its management. In
cultural terms, they are acting appropriately as successful hunters.
They may have inherited knowledge and herbs, in the form of dreams and
visions, or learned through experience, as apprentices to their fathers
and their grandfathers. Hunting is often an individual inherited
phenomena in the patrilineal line. Provided these hunters obey certain
restrictions laid down by the spirit medium and provided they keep the
secret, they will be left alone to enjoy the fruits of their labors.

In the past, there were internal attempts to control hunting. The
chief, for instance, is reported as having distributed guns to a few
well known hunters. They would go off on hunting expeditions into the
Chewore safari area. After a kill, a bundle of meat would be set aside
for the owner of the gun and another bundle would be set aside for the
hunter who killed the animal. Another bundle would be set aside for the
carriers and laborers who attended the huntsmen; these were usually
their young sons or other close relatives. The rest of the meat would
be distributed among the remaining hunters. The system was apparently
abused and the chief did not always get the lion's share.

Local hunting has emerged as an individual, competitive and secret

256
activity, because there is and has been much ambiguity over ownership
and control of the resource, in terms of conflicting bundles of rights
and jurisdictions governing ownership and use. I believe that the fore-
going discussion sheds light on the manner in which the kill was
distributed in April 1990. Legally, the client under the tutelage of
the safari operator, who in turn defers to the appropriate authority for
wildlife (the district council), who in turn defers to the DNPWLM, under
jurisdiction of the Minister of Environment and Tourism, owns (has a
right of usufruct) the elephant at the point in time when it is shot.
The spirits of the land enable the kill to take place and facilitate an
abundance of wildlife in the area. The spirit has a significant but,
presently, ambiguous control over large animals and illegal hunters in
the area. This is largely ill-defined, because if overtly claimed it
could well come into conflict with the governmental forms of control.
The safari hunters work is to obtain the skin, ears, tusks, etc. and
they have a supervisory role over proceedings at the kill, but they
really have no authority over ownership. Ironically, they do end up
controlling the resource in this context. The local people, competing
amongst themselves as hunters (over time) and as competitors for a
limited resource (the carcass), try to obtain as much as they can for
themselves, at the expense of others. This is in resource management
terms what one might be tempted to call, a tragedy of the commons. But
is the carcass truly a common resource? A number of agencies are
involved in the ownership and control of this resource. This sets up a
tension of conflicting currents of ownership and control, at different

stages Of resource management:

257

1. When an elephant is wandering around stamping on people’s

fields in Chapoto, the agents in control are DNPWLM, the district

council, and the safari operator and less obviously, the ancestral
spirits of the land and the illegal hunters.

2. When the elephant is tracked, the agent in control is the

safari operator, but he is unlikely to be successful if the

spirits of the land have been offended.

3. When the elephant is shot the owner/agent is the client, but

again ultimately, the spirits can drive away all the animals so

that clients will not be successful.

4. When the carcass is given to local people, the owner/agent is

local people under the supervision of safari personnel. Only

after meat has been cut is ownership established. However, if the
spirits are ignored, people will not be able to obtain meat.

Local people were, in general, not happy with the way the resource
was distributed. The reason they gave for not distributing the resource
in a more equitable manner was because they were told that the carcass
belonged to the client and they, therefore, had no authority over how it
was distributed. They did not feel that it was appropriate for the
wildlife committee to control distribution, as the elephant did not
belong to the committee. However, members of the wildlife committee
claimed that they would be able to control distribution if it was made
clear that they were in control of distribution.

The head of the wildlife committee pointed out that they
themselves had initiated the kill (in a sense they were controlling
events) by reporting to the natural resource officers in Mushumbi Pools
that there were crop-raiding elephants in the area. These officers had
come down for a day and a night, but were not successful in apprehending
an elephant. This lack of success was attributed by the chairman of the

wildlife committee to the fact that the spirit of Kanyemba had not been

consulted before these officers had been contacted. Only after

258

consultation with Kanyemba, was there a successful kill by the safari
operator who had been asked by the natural resource officers to kill an
elephant in the area, to appease the local people. Mr. Chipesi
(chairman of the wildlife committee) had asked the safari hunters if the
mugzimu (spirit) would be given a portion of the meat. They replied
that the muggimu would not be given a share, because the resource had
been bought by the client and he could do with it as he wished.

The alleged unsatisfactory distribution is, in my opinion, a
result of the ambiguous nature of ownership and control of the carcass.
More successful mechanisms of distribution emerged when local people
were told that they own the animal (see case study of elephant kill at
Mr. Phineas Charuma's home), rather than to be in the ambiguous
situation where they only have a right of access in competition with
others. The pecking order being: client, safari operator, people,

animals, birds, etc.

The August 1990 Elephant Hill at Mr. Phineas Charuma's Home: The
Dynamics of DNPWLM PAC.Activity in the Ward

A test case for some of the ideas above was provided by the case
of the DNPWLM PAC elephant kill at Mr. Charuma's house. As this kill is
also mentioned in Chapter v, I will summarize some of the contextual
elements which were not referred to in that chapter. One morning when
woken by the sound of heavy caliber and automatic gunfire, I narrowly
missed being shot at. Outside my tent, a bullet ricocheted through the
dust and a wounded elephant lumbered towards my camp. Children ran
towards the commotion and an unhealthy situation emerged where PAC

officers (i.e., DNPWLM staff) were firing into inhabited areas and

259
driving the heavily wounded elephant towards Mr. Charuma's huts and
granary. It eventually thundered to the ground near his home. “He
appeared delighted at the prospect and the excitement. The hope of
obtaining meat from the carcass outweighed any other considerations of
safety for lives and property.

The elephant was a trophy bull and the reason it was killed was
because a formal PAC complaint had been lodged with DNPWLM personnel
about buffaloes. The DNPWLM PAC unit at Mashumbi Pools came down and
spent some time tracking buffaloes, but although they saw them they were
unable to get a good shot. Near dawn, they came across the spoor of a
large elephant and tracked it until it was within sight. Members of the
wildlife committee encouraged the PAC personnel to kill the animal.

This was done, I was told, not because the elephant had damaged
anything, but because these individuals realized that the sale of meat
from PAC could earn money for the ward. Soon before this incident, meat
from a PAC buffalo had been sold and approximately 25400 had been
receipted in a district council book. The trophy bull was worth Z$7500
to the ward, if shot by a safari operators client, but since no revenues
had reached the ward from this source to date, this reckoning was not
taken into account. Instead, the meat was sold largely outside the ward
for a little over Z$1000. The meat was sold for two dollars per
kilogram. Few people in the ward could afford this, least of all, those
with a protein deficiency who needed it the most. The DNPWLM officers
obliged the committee by transporting a large portion of the meat sold
at Angwa Bridge and Mashumbi Pools. I have begun at the end of the

story and need to back track in order to explain the distribution

260
procedure more rigorously.

After the elephant fell to the ground, the secretary of the
wildlife committee, who had escorted the PAC unit, handed over
supervision of skinning and cutting of the animal to my research
assistant, who had newly been elected to the wildlife committee. The
DNPWLM official, who had killed the animal, went to report the incident
to the police. My research assistant appointed those who had gathered
to the various tasks of skinning, cutting off the feet and trunk and
removing the tusks. Meat was cut up into medium sized chunks and laid
on leafy branches. In comparison to the April kill, everything was
conducted in a very orderly and organized manner. In the course of
cutting up the carcass, the vehicle used by the DNPWLM personnel
arrived. The ward tractor and trailer, donated by World Vision, also
arrived bearing a number of people from as far as twenty kilometers
away. Other members of the committee, including the chairman, joined in
the activities. ,A scale was brought from the clinic to weigh the meat
but unfortunately it did not work. The DNPWLM vehicle was loaded up
with some of the best meat and it set off for Angwa Bridge and Mashumbi
Pools. A member of the committee went along to ensure that the meat was
sold in good faith. Next the ward tractor and trailer were loaded up
with meat. Portions were set aside for both the chief and the spirit
medium. My research assistant tried to explain that in fact the ward
was loosing revenue by killing the elephant, but none of the other
members of the committee agreed. Workers who had helped in cutting up
the carcass were given portions of meat or intestines for their efforts.

By this time, the intestines having been reached, it was becoming

261
difficult to effectively cut up large portions and the carcass was
handed over to those who had been watching and waiting for this moment
from the outset. As before, a free for all ensued but since many people
had accompanied the good meat loaded on the tractor which was to be sold
in other places within the ward, there was not quite the same
competition over the carcass as had occurred in April. However, bones
were broken open for their marrow, and the next day nothing was left of
the huge carcass except a few broken bones, flattened grass and soil
drenched in the elephants liquids.

.All this work and community involvement was ostensibly for a
Z$1000 credit in a council receipt book which may or may not end up as
part of a material benefit for some people in the ward. The actual
distribution of meat within the ward from the kill was rather sparse
since a large portion of it was exported and many people could not
afford to pay for it. Many individuals who participated in the
butchery, did not benefit significantly individually from the
distribution of the meat. They were left with the idea that such
revenues were to help finance community projects, but this was in the
distant future and they would only believe it when they saw it
happening.

I believe there is more at stake at a kill than this. The
materialist issues are obviously very important, but there is also a
symbolic value associated with the kill. A large portion of people's
time in Chapoto ward is spent trying to prevent animals from destroying
their hard work in the fields. People are constantly aware of the

menace of wildlife, but are impotent to "get their revenge" as they will

262
be arrested for poaching. When the elephant fell to the ground, I saw a
man, who had been with the hunters, jump onto the carcass with glee and
stand there as conqueror. Aside from the hopes of attaining meat or
other benefits, there is a sense of catharsis in the death, injury or
suffering of crop-raiding animals. As one informant put it, "it is a
revenge for what they or their families have done to us." On one
occasion, prior to my entering the field, a DNPWLM officer darted a
baboon with a sleeping drug. The baboon was later found drunken, but
awake and dizzy by some young boys, one of whom poured paraffin over it
and set it alight. The comment above was said in connection with this

incident.58

In Partial control of Animals and People: The Department of National
Parks Game Scouts and The Anti-Poaching unit

The Chewore safari area and the ward itself, still has a limited
number of black rhino. Local people have pointed out their spoor to me,
within five kilometers of vaDema homesteads. The Zambezi valley is one
of the few places left in Africa where these animals still have a viable
breeding population. There numbers are rapidly dwindling and
internationally organized poaching organizations are reportedly using
Zambians to do the dirty work of killing the animal and tearing out its
horn. The rhino protection campaign has turned into a sophisticated

military operation.

 

58Such occurrences have been regarded as unethical (Nash 1989). The
incident does seem inhumane. Are animal activists now vocal because
many nations have already wiped out most wildlife that posed a real or
symbolic threat to human settlement, and therefore no longer have to
live with both the material and ethical inconveniences attached to crop
and livestock protection?

263

Local people have been informed by DNPWLM game scouts that the
boundary of their free movement, is the foot of the mountains which form
the boundary between the ward and the Chewore safari area. In fact, the
actual boundary of the ward is the high points of these mountains. They
have also been warned that the anti—poaching units are now shooting
people on sight when they enter this area. People do, in fact,
regularly make excursions into these forbidden areas, to collect mpama
and other fruits and tubers on the western slopes of the hills or to
follow the course of the river up to some well known fishing pools. .At
these pools the bark of a tree (dung) is used to poison fish in the
pools. The DNPWLM staff had records of vaDema arrested for this
offence.

The DNPWLM staff in the area move through it on a regular basis
with automatic weapons. They are mainly concerned with the "poaching"
menace. On one occasion, shortly before I entered the field, a game
scout discovered a boat on the Chewore side of the Zambezi river. On
hearing a shot he became suspicious and decided to investigate. He
apprehended a senior police officer (assistant commissioner) who had
been hunting buffalo in the Chewore. According to informants in
Chapoto, the officer stripped the lapels from the scout and tried to
intimidate him with his lofty position. The case has now been brought
to court after a long delay, involving intimidation of DNPWLM staff.
These reports have been verified by gaggggguagazing (September 1990, 9),
which have taken up this issue as a national scandal.

In addition to illustrating that the law enforcement agencies are

a heterogenous mix of interests and structures, this example serves to

264
illustrate the point that these defenders of wildlife are not purely
policing the area from local people. On the contrary, the "poachers"
are often depicted as "Zambians". The senior authorities in charge of
the war on poachers believe that there has been a lot of collaborative
activities between alleged Zambian poachers and the local people in the
ward. Kanyemba was described as a "crooks corner", I was warned that I
should be careful, as I did not know exactly who was involved.

To my knowledge, during the course of fieldwork, only on one
occasion did an incident occur within the ward which may have involved
foreign poachers. Two men, armed with automatic weapons and dressed in
poor clothing, approached a neighbor and enquired for directions. They
then proceeded across the border into Mozambique. The incident was
reported to the police. "Poachers" can be drawn from the ranks of a
wide range of people. For instance, the illegal sale of rhino horn has
been linked to the financing of the operations of the MNR. Zimbabweans
from both inside and outside the wildlife producer areas have been
apprehended. The law enforcement agencies (e.g., police, army, DNPWLM)
are not above reproach. In such circumstances it is easy to identify
scape goats and it is difficult to maintain control or to establish the
hierarchy of control, when such competing jurisdictions are evident.
Local peOple are aware of these competing jurisdictions. They sometimes
refer to the "owners of the wildlife" in a sarcastic way. For instance,
when a field was trampelled by elephants, the owner of the field might
say "why don't the owners (DNPWLM, safari operator and client) of these

animals control them?"

265
Summary of Argument and Possible Alternatives

CAMPFIRE offers the possibility of creating alternative land-use
strategies for Chapoto residents and developing more beneficial
relationships with the safari operator and DNPWLM. The rationality of
the CAMPFIRE program concerns people and wildlife. CAMPFIRE proponents
argue that wildlife will become a more sustainable resource if local
people receive both the benefits and the responsibility for it, thereby
having an incentive to become proprietors for it. This will be good for
people and good for wildlife, in that the marginal environment can be
more effectively managed to both conserve the environment and maintain
off-take of wildlife.

Historically, the resource has been alienated from local
people,59 and today there are a number of competing vested interests
in wildlife, which are reflected in the competing and often conflicting
claims to control, ownership and use of the resource. Furthermore,
wildlife has complex dimensions as a resource. It is simultaneously a:
tourist resource, biological resource, safari hunting resource, game
product resource, meat resource, and spiritual and ecological resource.
The competing claims to ownership and control of these resources creates
ambiguity. It is not clear who is responsible for the overall
proprietorship of the resource. The best illustration of this is the
complex relationship between the district council (the present
appropriate authority), the top (DNPWLM, local government and other

government authorities, entrepreneurs in the wildlife industry), and the

 

59As previously argued, the state has effectively reduced peoples land
use strategies and not offered them alternative ones as CAMPFIRE
attempts to do.

266
bottom (the producer wards).

As Murphree has pointed out, the Wildlife Act (1975) provides for
appropriate authority status to be conferred on district councils, but
they are not the "producers or on the ground managers of wildlife"
(Child and Peterson 1991, 2). This is an aspect which is emphasized in
the material discussed above, as well as the subject matter of the
conclusion. Murphree argues that the formal combination of production,
management, authority and benefit, in regard, to wildlife does not yet
exist in the communal areas, in the same way that proprietorship is
enjoyed by commercial wildlife ranchers.

In my view, the biggest obstacle to the establishment of
proprietorship for the resource, at the local level, is that there is no
legal provision for appropriate authority status to be conferred on
producer communities. However, Murphree outlines that there are three
possible ways in which to overcome this obstacle. One is to change the
Act so that producer communities can acquire appropriate authority
status. The next, is for such communities to form natural resource co-
operatives which would have authority over wildlife resources "to
determine the management and use of their resources" (Child and Peterson
1991, 2). The last is for district councils with appropriate authority
status to delegate that authority to producer communities whilst
ensuring that their legal responsibilities are fulfilled.

In the case of Chapoto ward, all three alternatives could work in
the short term. I would argue that the best long term solution to the
problem of having so many competing and conflicting jurisdictions in

regard to wildlife, is to change the legislation and thereby give

‘267
communities the possibility of attaining appropriate authority status
themselves. Of course, this would involve a number of problems of its
own. Which institution or institutions at the local level should be
regarded as the authority? What skills (social, political, and
ecological) and abilities should such an institution have? How could it
be helped to attain these skills? To what extent is the program
encapsulated at the district level? How could this be modified without
disillusioning district and national level authorities on whose blessing
the program may rely? These questions will be addressed in the
conclusion.

One alternative suggested by Murphree is, that of relying on the
district council to delegate authority. In my opinion, this will not
reduce the ambiguity over control and use of wildlife resources. A
clarification of rights is a prerequisite for a clearer sense of common
property at the ward level. It is also important for the establishment
of a management regime at this level. Relying on district council to
delegate authority, may in fact, have the opposite effect, by adding to
the existing ambiguities. Communities will always have to defer to the
set of vested interests represented in district council when making
important decisions about wildlife which purportedly belongs to them.

In the conclusion to this dissertation, it is argued that the
accommodation of the various vested interests, rights and jurisdictions
involved in the use and control of wildlife at various levels (global,
national, district, ward, village and household) is a crucial element
for the success of CAMPFIRE. Yet, the goal of CAMPFIRE is to devolve

decision-making, responsibility and benefits concerning wildlife to

268
producer communities. Despite this goal, appropriate authority has been
placed in the hands of district councils, which do not necessarily
represent the interests of such producer communities. Perhaps the
thinking behind this is that vested interests in wildlife have to
develop at district level before they can develop at ward level. If
this is the case, then the goals of the CAMPFIRE program may have to be
modified along the lines suggested in the conclusion to this
dissertation.

The other alternative, mentioned above, by Murphree concerns the
formation of a natural resource co-operative. As outlined in the
CAMPFIRE document, this may be a major step in the process towards
decentralization of control and benefits to the local level, because
such co-operatives can be recognized by law. Furthermore, a great deal
could be learnt by producer wards in the creation of such co-operatives.
However, I emphasize, in the long term the possibility of being able to
attain appropriate authority status should be an option, because without
it, such co-operatives may always be subjected to the political and
economic currents at district and national level (including local
government and district administration). It may be argued that these
currents need to be included if CAMPFIRE is to be a success, but such an
accommodation of district and national interests should not pre-empt the
locus of the program being firmly ensconced at the lowest accountable
level.

For CAMPFIRE to achieve its goals, the ambiguity of the rights and
vested interests in wildlife has to be clarified. The possibility of

appropriate authority being earned by institutions at ward or village

269
level is a step towards such a clarification. Such a clarification may
allow for common property institutions to develop at the local level.
Without the hope or prospect of achieving appropriate authority, it is,
in my opinion, unlikely that institutional capacities and vested
interests at the ward level will strengthen over time and it may become
increasingly necessary for CAMPFIRE to modify its goals. This is the

subject matter of the final chapter.

CHAPTERVII

OONCDUSION

In concluding this dissertation, I would like to draw the readers
attention back to our earlier discussion in Chapter I of common property
theory and "bundles of rights" (Maine 1884) to wildlife utilization. In
that chapter it was pointed out, that wildlife resource planners
conceptual discourse in Southern Africa tends to emphasize the goal of
enabling or creating sustainable community based wildlife management
regimes, through communal common property regimes (see definition
Chapter I). My research findings indicate that we are, in fact,
discussing co-management or joint jurisdiction regimes (Lawry 1990;
Berkes 1989, 38) in which global, state, private and communal bundles of
rights are played out as portrayed in Chapter Iv and Chapter VI.

Chapter Iv presents the broader vested interests in resources as an
analytical framework for understanding the cultural and political
dynamics of resource use at ward level (see Figure 11). This chapter
includes a discussion of historical factors, such as the creation of
safari areas, global factors, such as the CITES debates, national
policy, system of local government, competing land use strategies, and
shows how these and other factors are related to each other and to the
changing ecological resource base. Chapter VI is an account of the
competing bundles of rights to wildlife, including claims of the
ancestral spirits, illegal hunters, the wildlife committee, the safari
_operator, DNPWLM, district council and others. Both chapters indicate

the complexity of wildlife resource use in Chapoto ward, because of

270

271
these multiple jurisdictions.

In more general terms, CAMPFIRE aims to be a community based
wildlife utilization program, but it is also a state initiative and is
likely to include considerable private and entrepreneurial vested
interests at various levels (national, district, ward, village and
household). Such vested interests at these levels will continue to
exert rights of access and exclusion to the resource, despite the hoped
for devolvement of control to the local level. Though this may appear
obvious, it also has important theoretical and practical implications,
both in terms of the goals of the program, and in the way we think about
common property.

The cultural and political dynamics of wildlife resource use in
Chapoto ward tell us:

1) That there is both internal (intra-ward) and external (extra-ward)
differentiation of vested interests in the resource, as well as multiple
modes of use, ownership, access to or control of the resource through
ward, district, national, and international channels (see Figure 11, and
Chapters IV'and VI).

Internal differentiation of vested interests is illustrated by the
ethnic and economic differences between vaDema and VaChiKunda
populations in relation to ecological factors, the different stances
adopted by the neo-traditional leadership (and its contending houses) as
opposed to the system of VIDCOs and WADCOs (see Chapter II) and the
differences between those who attend to the ancestral spirits and those
who publicly reject the spirits (see Chapter VI). Internal

differentiation is also the subject matter of Chapter III, which deals

272
with the socio-cultural dimensions of the competition between
agriculture, foraging and wildlife utilization. This chapter also deals
with household clusters which are actively engaged in the management of
wildlife (e.g., crop protection, hunting), both individually and
collectively, but there is also competition between household clusters
for scarce resources. Chapter V, which is an account of the various
practical, institutional and cultural mechanisms for dealing with
wildlife, also underscores the diversity of internal and external
mechanisms for dealing with the resource. On the one hand, we have the
mechanisms of wildlife management used by individual family clusters and
then we have the formal mechanisms used by the DNPWLM, the safari
operator and the "committeeing" process associated with district
council. Cultural belief systems add to the diverse mechanisms
available for controlling and using wildlife. Both the internal and the
external differentiation of vested interests foster a situation where
there are multiple, differentially weighted modes of access, control and
use of the wildlife resource (see Figure 11 and the discussion of
competing bundles of rights in Chapter VI).
2) Furthermore, there is currently an ambiguity of rights of access,
ownership and use, which is especially manifested at the ward level.
This is illustrated throughout the dissertation. Examples might
include, the manner in which a hunting safari elephant kill took place
(see Chapter VI). This illustration indicated that different agencies
(safari operator, client, ancestral spirits, illegal hunters, DNPWLM,
wildlife committee, district council) exert control, access to, and use

of the resource at different points in time. Another example might be

273
in regard to the vaDema and their culturally appropriate, but legally
unacceptable use of the Chewore safari area (see Chapter III). Conflict
also exists among VaChiKunda and other agriculturalists dealing with the
ambiguous interface between crop-protection and illegal hunting (see
Chapter V). Such ambiguity is the result of the multiplex internal and
external vested interests.

In these ambiguous circumstances, it may not be possible or
desirable, to confine the promotion of common property solely to a
community based management regime. Instead, through CAMPFIRE, a multi-
tiered common property regime may be in the making, with a synergy of
rights of access and exclusion existing between state, community and the
private sector.

3) The Chapoto ward material also tells us that identifying a
"community" based management regime is problematic. The material
indicates that it is even more problematic to identify a regime which
has the characteristics identified by Bromley for successful common
property regimes (see Chapter I) and the "cohesive community" qualities
sought by the CAMPFIRE document (Martin 1986, 33). It is problematic
because of social and economic differentiation and the diversity of
cleavages and interests within the ward, as well as because of the
exertion of rights of access by state mechanisms (e.g., DNPWLM, local
government), private sector interests (e.g., safari operator) and the
historical legacy of dispossession of people and protectionism of
wildlife in the surrounding safari areas.

4) The material also tells us that, despite the tension between the

state and the divided community, there are potentials in existing local

274
political and cultural institutions (household cluster, VIDCO, WADCO,
wildlife committee, chief, and spirit medium) in setting down "the rules
as to who has access to the commons" at the ward level (Lawry 1990,
406). In Lawry's view this is a minimum definition of common property
in contrast to common property arrangements required for intensive
regulation of the resource. Presently in Chapoto ward, there is
insufficient incentive to move beyond this minimum definition, because
collective action is thwarted by both intra-ward factors and extra-ward
factors. The economic benefits have not been realized despite the on-
going disruptions and deprivations (e.g., curtailing foraging and
hunting, crop-raiding, dealing with anti-poaching units), caused by
state protection of the resource. However, there are possibilities for
the potential of local institutions to participate more fully in the
multi—tiered property system which currently exists.
5) A key issue in enabling this participation, would be the provision
for a clarification of the current ambiguity of rights of access and
exclusion between the DNPWLM, district authorities, and the ward and the
safari operator (or other entrepreneurs). This, I believe, could be
done by bringing about the possibility for the ward to attain
appropriate authority status in the long term, provided it was able to
meet certain criteria. Such criteria might include:

a) accountability to household/clusters (this will be discussed
below) ,-

b) competence in fulfilling obligations to state institutions,
such as not exceeding DNPWLM quotas and keeping adequate records;

c) co-operation with NGO and state institutions in co-management
training; and

275
d) the achievement of the required institutional capacity
(supported by state and NGO assistance) to meet the various
challenges.

6) The Chapoto ward material indicates that there is a need for a

modified analysis of common property.

The Heed for a Modified.Analysis of Common Property

Despite the interesting and new angles which current analysis of
common property presents in understanding resource use, a weakness in
the debates is that they tend to focus on typology rather than process.
Common property is in itself part of a typology of property relations,
which as Macpherson points out, are properly analyzed as political
relations between people via a vig their rights to things. For example,
when we are talking about crop protection or vaDema foraging, various
bundles of rights in wildlife such as the safari operator's, the .
DNPWLM's, the spirit's, illegal hunter's, the wildlife committee's, the
chief's, and local government's, all become evident. Such claims may be
typologized as falling into various overlapping categories of property
regime, such as private, state, communal or open access. Macpherson's
conception of property suggests that the many facets and dimensions of
property are intricately intertwined with the social process, and
therefore, dynamic. This study indicates that there is a need to focus
on the dynamic political relations of the social process when talking
about common property and sustainable use of resources. unlike many
typologies, which may be reifications or ideal static abstractions, the

social process is fluid - a veritable moving target. Over-

generalization is always a danger in both the creation and the

276
explanatory power of typologies. Though typologies can be important
heuristic devices, the dangers of pigeon-holing are well known,
especially to those anthropologists and other social scientists who
question the role of positivism in their disciplines.

The material in this dissertation depicts relatively complex
differentiation in regard to resource access and use, and therefore
highlights the danger of over-generalization. For example, there is a
danger among common property theorists in over-simplifying rights of
exclusion and inclusion, in terms of a binary system constituting an
either/or proposition. A feature of this dissertation is that there is
considerable ambiguity associated with resource use. In this situation,
it may be more helpful to analyze common property in terms of degrees of
inclusion and degrees of exclusion of the various sub-sets of resource
users (Murphree - personal communication). This notion of accommodating
various degrees of ownership and access to resources is essentially what
is meant by bundles of rights of use. This process of variated degrees
of resource use does not merely take place at the local level. various
rights are accommodated at all levels of social organization (global,
national, district, ward and household). A description of the cultural
and political dynamics of resource use is one way to trace these rights
in resources.

Since bundles of rights are accommodated at all levels of social
organization, it is therefore not sufficient to focus analysis of common
property only at the community level. State, global and private rights
and interests in the resource have to be recognized as they play an on-

going and key role in how the resource is used and perceived at ward

277
level. As Redclift (1987) indicates, local level initiatives towards
sustainable development need to be cognizant of the argument that remote
rural communities may be systematically being marginalized by the larger
political and economic dispensation.6o This reinforces the view that
communal property regimes do not exist in a vacuum. They are situated
within larger property regimes which include global, state and district
rights and yet, simultaneously, they are institutions dealing with the
rights of smaller configurations, such as clusters, households and
individuals.

There are two analytic strands which need to be incorporated in
understanding common property and more generally, sustainability. The
first refers to the micro-level systems approach, such as Marks' (1984)
account of a lineage based wildlife management regime amongst the valley
Bisa. The second refers to the macro-level political and economic
dispensation within which such community based regimes exist. Many
scholars argue that the term common property should be restricted to
situations where there are "communal arrangements for' the exclusion of
non-owners and for the allocation among co-owners" (Berkes 1989, 37).
This argument tends to down play the macro-level analytical strand.

However, Berkes also argues that limited access, commonly owned

 

6°As Redclift has pointed out, international processes may be
systematically marginalizing local communities, such as Chapoto ward
(see section on sustainability) and therefore, one might argue that
outcomes are determined globally not locally. However, a strength of
CAMPFIRE is that it is operating on international (CITES debates,
funding), national (ministerial blessings and policy), district
(appropriate authority), and local levels (wildlife committees). I have
stressed the importance of the local and district level dynamics, above
national and international dynamics, only for heuristic purposes and
realize the tension that exists between these various levels, as
outlined in Figure 11.

278
resources (see Chapter I), are associated with three property rights
regimes (1989, 38). He says resources may be managed under the auspices
of a local level arrangement or institution (communal property) or
solely by the government (state property), but he also says that joint
jurisdiction (co-management) is an increasingly significant development
in the contemporary world, in which local level traditional controls
alone are in many cases insufficient. Japanese fishing rights (Ruddle,
in Berkes 1989) and the Maine Lobster industry (Acheson in Berkes 1989)
are examples of the success of co-management strategies.

Both Berkes and Macpherson (see Chapter I) indicate that common
property regimes ensure that participating individuals will not be
excluded from the benefits associated with a resource. In terms of my
experience of Chapoto ward, such a regime does not as yet exist because
many of the assumed beneficiaries (e.g., the vaDema and others), are not
benefitting or participating. By talking about co-management rather
than community based management, our analysis can more conscientiously
bring into focus the dynamics of the social process at various levels.
It can more readily incorporate ambiguous bundles of rights and the two

tensioned strands of analysis mentioned above.

Some Important Components of a Multi-Tiered, Co-Management Property
Regime

Lawry conceives of co-management as an arrangement which addresses
both the weaknesses of state and community control of resources.
However, as this study points out, neither the state nor the community
are monolithic. Both the state and the community are multi—dimensional

and multi-faceted and they are both subject to dynamic social and

279
political processes. The term co-management assumes a unity of purpose
(Derman - personal communication) both vertically, in terms of levels
(global, national, district, ward, household) and horizontally, within
the various levels (such as ethnic differentiation within the ward or
diverse approaches by government departments such as the local
government authorities and the DNPWLM). Such a unity of purpose may
often not exist, but an aim of a co-management regime would be to
conscientiously clarify or recognize ambiguous rights in order to enable
co-operation within and between these multi-tiered levels. Co-
management in this sense refers to both the articulation and the
clarification of rights to resources in both the vertical and horizontal
planes associated with social and institutional organization. The main
actors need not be the rigid conceptions of state and the community, but
can be conceived in terms of the dynamic political process.

In Chapoto ward, where bundles of nested rights exist in the
resource and use patterns are constrained by ward cultural and political
dynamics as well as the broader political and economic dispensation, the
components of a successful multi-tiered co-management property regime
may well include:

a) that the hidden hand of the state be exposed. Self-conscious
participation in and clarification of rights of access held by different
state institutions (e.g., DNPWLM, local government) should be
accountable to and articulated with other levels of organization. Given
the history of centralized control of wildlife, one can argue that state
vested interests in this resource is a given. The making of a

successful common property regime requires state institutions to claim

280
their rights, while more importantly, accommodating other sets of
rights. Where decentralization of control is devolving to lower
institutional levels, vested interests developing from national to
district level may preclude or work against vested interests developing
at lower levels (Murphree's law, see Chapter I). Where there is less
ambiguity over rights of access and exclusion, this may empower the
local community and encourage the development of community vested
interests in and proprietorship of the resource (see Murombedzi 1992 who
independently makes the same point about the need for clarification of
wildlife resource use rights in Nyaminyami);
b) a clarification of private rights in wildlife (safari operator
rights, client's rights, household meat from legal kills, etc.) properly
integrated with and accountable to the other sets of rights, for example
a and c; and
c) a clarification of community rights, in terms of the empowerment and
accountability of cultural and political institutions at ward level and
their articulation with other sets of rights. This could be
facilitated, for example, by the possibility of conferment of
appropriate authority at the ward level.61 Such an earned conferment
could be a part of the co-management package. As mentioned in the text,

this would require a change of the law. However, co-management does not

 

61District council appropriate authority status does currently assume a
form of co-management in the following ways. District council is
accountable to the top (DNPWLM, The Ministry of Local Government) and
the bottom (the various wards in the district). For CAMPFIRE to work,
mutually beneficial arrangements have to be worked out laterally
(between the wards in the district) and horizontally (with government
departments concerned). One could argue that CAMPFIRE is a district
based co-management co-operative.

281

preclude appropriate authority status being maintained at the district
level, provided the articulation and clarification of rights does indeed
take place. Institutional flexibility is, therefore, possible under co-
management. The delegation and division of authority may appropriately
mirror or modify the existing cultural and political structures/dynamics
associated with resource use. Institutional development at ward and
village level should emerge situationally as a matter of convenience.
The importance is not so much the identification of immutable authority
structures, as the possibility of attaining successful outcomes through
co-operation within the existing political dynamics.

The dynamics of wildlife resource use in Chapoto ward (see Figure
11) indicate that the making of common property is likely to demand a
highly complex synergy of interests, both within the ward and outside
it. This is the main reason why co-management, rather than strictly
community based management, may well become the modified emphasis of the
program especially in areas where "cohesive communities with common
goals" are difficult to identify (Martin 1986, 33). It is clear from
this study that local situations are often not homogeneous, static,
bounded and integrated "communities". Instead, they may be
characterized by differential access and competition over these
resources. In the case of Chapoto ward, many people have been
dispossessed of their land (e.g., in the neighboring safari areas) and
the resources which it supported, in order to create areas for wildlife.
In the past, vested interests in these resources developed at the
national level, and now new legislation and initiatives such as CAMPFIRE

allow vested interests to develop at the district and local level.

282
District interests are legally buttressed by the appropriate authority
status, but ward level authority over wildlife is not legally
sanctioned, in the sense that it falls under the district management
regime. This further empowers the district authorities and
representatives, but does not necessarily empower the smallest
accountable units at the village or ward level, who are identified as
the beneficiaries of the program. Hence, the practical recommendation
that provision be made for appropriate authority status to be achieved
by the ward, and that the wildlife committee be directly accountable to
the households of Chapoto ward (discussed below).

The differentiation within the ward is compounded by the fact that
the people do not all have common felt needs or goals. For instance,
vaDema have more faith in herbal specialists than in western medicine.
Thus a western style clinic built from revenues from wildlife would not
be a good community project for those who are skeptical about western
medicine (see discussion on 'rationality'). If local people are largely
excluded from the resource and any benefits derived from it, we cannot
say that such resources are their common property. However, if an
accountable and empowered institution dealing with wildlife matters

existed at the ward level, this picture could change.

Identifying Appropriate Institutions for Managing Wildlife Resources
An important question asked by international scholars (Berkes

1989; McCay and Acheson 1987) is what type of institution is

"appropriate" for managing wildlife and other resources at the local

level? The anthropological answer might be to say it is those

283
institutions which are involved in the maintenance of political,
ecological, economic and cultural affairs at the local level. In the
context of Chapoto ward, there may be no straight forward answer to this
question because a number of competing institutions and jurisdictions
are engaged in this process. These include the official institutions
(mainly committees), the neo-traditional institutions such as the chief
and headmen and cultural and religious institutions such as the spirit
medium and churches. Lastly, there are relatively autonomous household
heads, the leaders of extended families. All these interests need to be
taken into account if an effective co-management institution is to be
established. The CAMPFIRE document (Martin 1986) initially suggested
that the appropriate institution for managing wildlife resources in
Zimbabwe might be a locally based, legally empowered natural resource
co-operative. According to Thomas (1991), the performance of such co-
operatives has been uninspiring and their potential has been undermined
by the fact that they are instrumentalized by the state for purposes of
penetration and integration of the countryside. Given the multiple
jurisdictions and numerous levels associated with the use and control of
wildlife, co-operatives may lend themselves to a co-management property
regime. If, however, appropriate institutions are to be effective the
idiosyncrasies of each situation have to be taken into account and
prescribed formulae must give way to adaptive management. The
establishment of co-operatives may indeed be the appropriate
institutional framework in Chapoto ward, but these should probably
evolve as a matter of convenience, from existing management arrangements

for.CAMPFIRE.

284

In this regard, it is important to remember that wildlife
"management" at the local level is not simply a question of committeeing
and the artificial administration and decision-making concerning revenue
from safari operations. For most people, it is to do with protecting
fields, building wildlife oriented granaries, huts, a g;;;, fences and
chicken coups. It is to do with gathering herbs, foraging for tubers
and wild fruits, setting snares, praying to the ancestors, witchcraft
accusations, and of course, obtaining meat; all done largely for the
benefit, maintenance and reproduction of oneself and one's immediate
family.

To date, the material value of wildlife to the ordinary citizens
of Chapoto ward is largely its meat value. Household economies require
meat, yet when elephants are legally killed in the ward and the
committee decides to sell the meat, large quantities of it are sold
outside the ward and those who need meat the most can not afford to buy
it. The committee does not want to reduce the price of meat because
this will reduce their revenues. Ironically, however, the idea that the
elephant should be preserved for a professional hunter's client to kill,
who would be prepared to pay seven or eight times its meat value, is not
widely accepted and this could well be because the people of Chapoto are
not convinced that they are receiving these revenues from the district
council. In my opinion, committees unless they are strictly held to be
accountable (see below), can often become highly ineffective, even in
circles where the obstacles of illiteracy and lack of formal education

do not exist.

285

What institution or institutions which is actively engaged in the
management of natural resources on a daily basis, could liaise with the
wildlife committee? The direct management of resources is the domain of
the family\extended family and/or clusters of families co-operating
together. The family is the core labor unit for household production.
They jointly manage the available resources making decisions about
agriculture, foraging, making of clay pots, hunting and other
activities. Where brideservice is practiced, brothers-in-law become
integrated into the economies of their in-laws households. The male
head of the family often consults his wife and other members on
important decisions. Perhaps, because there are no cattle in the area,
the ethos that the man can do the ploughing and then retire from work is
not marked in Chapoto ward. Men, women and children work hard all year
round and work out mechanisms amongst themselves for sharing their
production. Families, which are geographically centered in clusters of
households exploiting gimp; and mung; plots, are under the ge_§§g§g
leadership of both men and women heads, though women do not share the
status of men in the society. I feel an improvement in the
institutional management capacity at the ward level would come about if
the ward wildlife committee would be responsible for direct and tangible
benefits to families and not more diffusely to the "ward" as a whole.

Tangible benefits might include a range of items (meat, household
dividends, community projects, etc.). Given the generally low
quantities of protein in the diets of people, the obvious benefit from
wildlife for families is meat. This is in line with past practice and

it is something that every family wants and needs, especially in drought

286

prone areas. The ward is just small enough to be able to work out
mechanisms for the distribution of items, such as meat to heads of
families. Inequities and other problems will undoubtedly occur in such
a system (men versus women, powerful families versus less powerful), but
I believe that if the wildlife committee is made formally accountable to
family heads who can legitimately expect tangible individual benefits
from the wildlife resource, a number of ward level institutional
problems will have been ironed out. Primarily, this may go a long way
to increase local participation in the co-management regime. Secondly,
the wildlife committee will become accountable to the bottom (household
heads) rather than to the top (district level authorities), because
accountability to households will be stipulated as one of the conditions
upon which appropriate authority could be earned. Thirdly, it will
ensure a wide and more equitable distribution of resources, because more
people would be involved in the decision-making process. Fourthly, a
rigorous consultation with household heads would, in my opinion, cut
across the main axis of conflicting vested interests at the local level
(outlined in Chapter II). This would be a potential lever for the
management of these conflicts and could lead to the establishment of a
management regime which reflects all these interests and is not simply
dominated by one of them. .

As far as wildlife revenues from safari operations are concerned,
it should be incumbent on the wildlife committee to solicit a formal

vote from every permanently resident household head62 as to what that

 

62One could argue that votes should be solicited from all legal adults.
I would suggest that this could occur after people in the ward became
familiar with the process suggested above. Firstly, because this would

287
person would like done with his or her share of the revenue. Initially
the household head might be presented with alternatives such as:

1) an equitable share of the revenue given as a household
dividend;

2) a community project that will be financed by wildlife
revenues, for example, the building of a clinic or school (to be
specified by household head); and

3) other ideas to be specified by household heads.

It should be part of the constitution of wildlife committees, that
they have to solicit votes from all permanent resident household heads
before the money can be allocated, rather than consult a gathering at a
ward meeting. If options are mutually exclusive, such as 1 and 2 above
may be, then the option which the majority of household heads voted for
could be selected. Alternatively, those who vote for household
dividends, rather than community projects, could be asked to pay
contributions towards such projects when they decide to use them.

The committee should be paid a generous stipend for the services
which it provides to the people,‘3 and if members do not carry out
their duties, they should be replaced by others, without delay. The
ideas above are neither new (Kanyurira has awarded household dividends),
nor set in stone. The idea that the wildlife committee should be

accountable to the people, is part of the CAMPFIRE program but the

mechanisms by which it can become accountable are not spelt out. By

 

be an educational process and secondly, because at the present time many
women and vaDema legal adults in the ward are extremely marginal to the
current political processes in the ward.

63Though other committee work is not paid, a precedent for this has been
set by World Vision local level project managers who do receive a
stipend. Committee stipends should be set by local residents themselves
so that committee members are accountable to their constituents.

288
involving household heads in a formal ballot about what should be done
with revenues (rather than a show of hands at a sometimes sparsely
attended ward meeting) and by making the wildlife committee answerable
to them will simultaneously educate people about potential alternatives
to the §§§§g§_gug, while at the same time increasing participation.
These activities and participation at the local level will make it more
difficult for vested interests in wildlife at the district level to
ignore or steam roller the claims in the resource at the ward level. As
institutional capacity and participation increases, with in-puts from
both NGO's and government departments, the committee could be trained in
preparation for the establishment of a co-operative and\or transfer of
appropriate authority from the district level to ward level.

Though the CAMPFIRE document aims the program at communities which
are relatively cohesive (Martin 1986, 33), in practice there may be very
few such communities in existence, and Chapoto ward is certainly not one
of them (see Chapter II). If we accept the issue of conflict of vested
interest as a given, which in my opinion, seems to be at the heart of
the question, the next step is to work out mechanisms for managing this
conflict at the various levels (household, village, ward, district,
national and international). Being aware of the cultural and political

dynamics at ward level is only a part of this broader picture.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

A ChiKunda Text Illustrating Hunting as a Secret Activity and Showing
Its Possible Relationship to Brideservice

The Lion and Eh; gig;

(Translated direct from vaChiKunda and narrated by Prosper Kuyeri, as
told to him by his grandmother.)

Once upon a time, a beautiful girl lived in our village. Many men
came to try their luck to gain her heart but no-one was successful.
Some came dressed in suits thinking they might impress the girl with
their fine clothes, but she refused to marry them.

One day a lion heard about this beautiful girl. He decided to
meet the girl and to marry her. The following day he changed into a
human being, dressed himself in a suit and went to the village of the
girl.

As soon as the girl caught site of the very handsome lion-boy,
dressed in expensive clothes, she immediately fell in love with him and
wanted him to marry her. The lion paid some lgpglg and he also stayed
with his in-laws working for his wife and her family. Now, as the lion
was used to eating meat, he went out every night to hunt animals and

always, he sang this song before he changed back into a lion:

W

Brother-in-law, Brother-in-law

We

cried your son-in-law

W

as you go home
W
cried your son-in-law
hekg kgggvg

290

291

Don't let out the secret

Yarira nyapje
warned your brother-in-law

Bhg ngaggraya
All that I killed

gagira pyanjg
cried your son-in-law

My:
All that I killed
gagira nyapje
cried your son-in-law

Bhg ndagugaya
All that I killed

Mamie
cried your son-in-law

Ukagnda kgmgyi
As you go home

We

cried your son-in-law

rgka kazgmpgra

Don't let out the whole secret
Ya n an'

cried your son-in-law

for tomorrow it may be dangerous

X§£i£§_!!§Bi§

warned your son-in-law.

As the lion boy was always successful in bringing home plenty of
meat for the in-laws, they were very happy with him. The brother-in-law
of the lion boy was particularly interested in his hunting successes.
He asked if he could accompany the lion boy on his next hunting
expedition, so that he could learn and experience new ways of hunting,
so that in future he would also become a great hunter. The next day
they went together into the forest. After a while the lion boy asked
his brother-in-law to climb a tree. He then tied a piece of cloth
around his eyes and tied him to a branch of the tree.

He did this because he did not want his brother-in-law to see him
changing into a lion. He then started singing (above song) and as he

sang he changed back into a lion. The brother-in-law was puzzled by the

song, but was pleased when he was allowed to take off the wrapping to

292
find an abundance of animals killed by the lion-boy.

For some days, the brother-in-law accompanied the lion-boy and the
procedure was always the same. First the blindfold, then the song and
finally the results of the hunt.

One day the brother-in-law took off the wrapping just as the lion-
boy started to sing and change. To his surprise, he realized that his
brother-in-law was not a person at all, but a wild and ferocious lion.
The boy ran immediately home and let out the secret to his parents and
his sister, but they did not believe him.

A few months later, after the lion had completed the brideservice
for the parents of his wife, he was allowed to take his wife to his own
home. The brother-in-law asked if he could accompany them. They
travelled far until the lion-boy said that they had now reached his
residence.

Both the girl and the brother were surprised, for there were no
houses and there was no one to welcome them. The area was just a forest
and the only remarkable feature was that there were many lion spoor all
around on the ground. The brother, sensing that there was something
wrong, made his muggggumggergggzg (rocket). The lion-boy went to call
his family of lions to come and feed on human flesh. As the lions
approached, with the lion-boy still in human form, the brother got into
his mugggggmngggggggg and told his sister to get in quickly before the
lions ate her. The sister who loved and admired her husband so much
ignored the advice of her brother. The brother-in-law then started to
sing the song (above song) he had heard so often whilst out hunting with

the lion-boy.

293

As he sang, the lion-boy started to change into lion shape. In
fear, the young wife ran to her brother for help and by means of his
rocket they were able to rise up above the lions, but the lion-boy, now
in the form of a lion, followed the mggggggmggggggggg and jumped up high
trying to bring it down.

Eventually the rocket came down in a river where the brother asked
a frog to help them to get across to the other side, away from the
lions. The frog swallowed the two up and took them home to their
mothers kitchen. There it started to call, "I am here. I am here."
The people in the village were amazed and wanted to kill the frog. The
frog then vomited first the girl and then the boy.

The parents were then told the story and they felt remorse that
they had ignored their son's ideas. They gave gifts to the frog for
bringing their children safely home. WHO! DO MT IGIDEE GOOD

ADVICE, said the frog.

 

§Q§§20LE QF HUNTING FEES (Z§)

SPECIES 1988/89

TROPHY

FEES

Elephant (M) ........ 5 000
Elephant (F) ........ 2 000
Elephant Ft ....... 500
Zebra ........ 400
Hippo ........ 800
Bushpig ........ 60
Warthog ........ 70
Giraffe ........ 500
Buffalo (M) ........ 750
Buffalo (F) ........ 450
Buffalo (NT) ........ 500
Nyala ........ 800
Bushbuck ........ 200
Kudu (M) ........ 450
Kudu (F) ........ 200
Eland (M) ........ 600
Eland (F) ........ 300
Duiker ........ 30
Reedbuck ........ 200
Waterbuck (M) ....... 450
Waterbuck (F) ....... 150
Sable (M) ........ 800
Sable (F) ........ 400
Wildebeest ........ 300
Tsessebe ........ 450
Impala (M) ........ 75
Impala (F) ........ 30
Klipspringer ........ 200
Steenbok ........ 30
Grysbok ........ 30
Lion (M) ........ 2 000
Lion (F) ........ l 000
Leopard ........ 1 200
Wildcat ........ 25
Caracal ........ 50
Serval ........ 50
Genet ........ 25
Civet ........ 50
Hyena ........ 100
Jackal ........ 50
Bat-eared Fox ....... 50
Porcupine ........ 15

Baboon ........ 10

294

APPENDIX B

.........

.........

1990/91
FOREIGN LOCAL
CLIENTS HUNTERS
7 500 7 500
2 500 2 000
1 000 1 000

600 450

l 500 l 500
100 75
100 75

l 000 800
l 000 600
500 450
500 450

l 200 500
300 150
400 300
250 200
900 500
500 400
75 25
300 100
700 350
350 200

1 200 800
600 400
400 200
600 300
75 60

50 40
200 100
75 25

75 2S

2 500 1 500
l 500 l 000
2 000 1 000
50 25

75 50

75 50

50 25

75 50
100 ‘ 50
25 25

75 50

25 25

10 10

APPENDIX B

SQEEQULE QF HUNTING FEES (Zfi)

SPECIES 1988/89 ‘ 1990/91
TROPHY FOREIGN LOCAL
FEES CLIENTS HUNTERS
Crocodile ........ 500 ......... 1 000 500
Guinea Fowl ........ - ......... 5 5
Francolin ........ - ......... 3 3
Sandgrouse ........ - ......... 1 1
Pigeons / doves ....... - ......... 1 1

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