WILDLIFE and ECONOMIC EQUITY: biltong being produced from elephant meat

Source: "Zimbabwe: Parks Authority to Produce Biltong From Elephant Meat" The Herald (Harare)
The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe says it plans to produce biltong from elephant meat for sale in retail outlets throughout the country as part of sustainable utilisation of the animals.
Parks director-general Dr Morris Mtsambiwa said the project begun last year after the Ministry of Environment and Tourism permitted the authority to experiment with the said resource. "It is in our plans. We plan to start this year. We tried it last year and we found that we did not have the proper infrastructure for the purpose," he said. Dr Mtsambiwa said the authority would apply to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for a quota of elephants to slaughter every year, after which it would build some abattoirs. He said slaughtering the animals for biltong would, however, not contribute in reducing the size of the elephant herd in the country, which has far surpassed the carrying capacity of the National Parks.
The country would need to slaughter at least 6 000 animals every year to have an impact on the population of the elephants. It is estimated that there are more than 100 000 elephants in Zimbabwe, a figure three times more than the carrying capacity of the protected areas. Currently, the country slaughters at least 500 elephants every year with the meat distributed to communities living adjacent to the game parks. The size of the elephant herd is posing serious environmental challenges in Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries including Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia.
It is estimated that the regional elephant population has now surpassed 400 000 and is growing at between 4 to 7 percent every year. The affected countries have since formulated an African Elephant Management Strategy that seeks to address the problem of the ballooning population." We have agreed on a work plan which we will start implementing this year," said Dr Mtsambiwa.
He said the work plan was agreed on at a meeting of director-generals of national parks in the region held in the town of Pemba in Mozambique in November last year. The meeting agreed that an aerial survey be conducted simultaneously in the respective countries to establish the population of the elephants in order to avoid double counting, he said.
Zimbabwe currently heads the regional task force on finding strategies to control the population of elephants in the region. At least some options have since been identified to control the elephant population, including contraception, culling and translocation. It was agreed that individual countries would take options depending on resources at their disposal, capacity and situation.
Contraception was a preferred option in view of pressure from animal rights groups against culling although it is expensive and sometimes does not work.

SUPERMARKETS and MOZAMBIQUE: Small-scale farmers become entrepreneurs

In Mozambique if you shop at Shoprite, Africa's largest food retailer, with operations in 16 countries, you'll be buying vegetables produced locally by small-scale farmers.
The IFAD-funded Agricultural Markets Support Programme (PAMA) supports the implementation of major economic reforms launched by the government during the 1990s, including the commercialization of small-scale farming through better access to markets and improved linkages with private-sector operators.
The programme, funded by a US$23.6 million loan, enables small-scale farmers in Boane, 30 km south of Maputo, to grow cabbages, potatoes, tomatoes and other cash crops in the rehabilitated irrigation schemes that were severely damaged during 16 years of civil war. Today, in the Boane area, the irrigation schemes cover 405 ha of land and the programme works with approximately 400 farmers.
The PAMA team worked hard to get the farmers to where they are today. "Before we came into the picture, farmers produced low-quality products. They were unable to sell directly to the buyer and had no idea of how to link up with big buyers. At best they sold their goods through intermediaries or at farm gate, and had little or no negotiating power," said Rui N. Ribeiro, PAMA coordinator. "Now they are organized in associations and as a result have more bargaining power."
PAMA's vision was to enable farmers to produce high-quality products and to link them directly to the market. Thanks to the programme, farmers are using fertilizers and improved seedlings to produce high-value crops that they sell to supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and the main hospital in Maputo.
Strengthening capacity and institutions, and influencing policy To enter the market and trade with commercial entities, farmers needed to issue invoices and receipts. To do that they needed to become a legal entity, and consequently they had to organize themselves into associations. PAMA facilitated the creation of farmers’ associations, organized marketing committees and helped farmers conduct market research.
"Before the programme's intervention, registering as an association was a costly affair and immense challenge," said Alessandro Marini, IFAD Country Programme Manager for Mozambique. "The programme, together with other stakeholders, lobbied with the government and raised awareness about the importance of having an easy process for registering associations," said Marini.
As a result, the Government of Mozambique passed a new law on decentralizing registration formalities to the district level. The government is also developing and implementing marketing strategies and pro-poor programmes supporting market linkages.
Thanks to the efforts of Ribeiro and his team, the farmers’ associations are now well established in the market. Each association has a president, treasurer and secretary.
The programme is providing marketing and production specialists and two supervisors who provide continuous technical assistance. The associations now are supported by a marketing committee responsible for coordinating production and marketing activities. The marketing committee meets with buyers to determine their needs, negotiate prices and deliver products.
Building social capitalFarmers’ associations built their credibility and reputation by encouraging buyers to visit their plots to check the quality of products. To ensure that quality was up to par, the project arranged for a visit by a nutritionist who examined and approved the products.
Subsequently the farmers visited the supermarket, where they were able to examine the quality of the products on the shelves.
"We took this opportunity to discuss our needs with the farmers," explained Pine Oppesmon, fruit and vegetable manager at Shoprite. "For example, we told them we needed tomatoes that were half-green because they have a longer shelf life, and that we would buy potatoes from them only if they had been washed."
"Since we started buying from the associations, the supermarket’s revenue has increased by 4 per cent," said Oppesmon. "You know, labour is much cheaper here than in South Africa. Now I am buying 25 per cent of products locally. I hope one day I'll be able to buy 80 to 90 per cent of products locally." He added, "These guys have a great potential, they are producing at European standards. If they get a bit better in packaging, they will make a quantum leap."
Going one step further "My vision is to expand the association's activity and start working with agro-processing industries and become equipped to do better packaging," said Mula, the Massaca association’s president. "Today farmers sell excess or low-quality products as animal feed. Linking them to agro-processing industries would mean, for example, that they would be able to sell ripe tomatoes for tomato paste and increase income-generating activities.”
For further information, please contact: Alessandro Marini, Country Programme Manager, Eastern and Southern and Africa DivisionEmail: a.marini@ifad.org

EQUITY and CREDIT CRUNCH: Will this impact on Travel Trends to developing countries in 2008?

Worries are abounding that one indirect victim of the US-generated credit crunch will be foreign travel, particularly that to developing nations. On one hand this is inevitable, but in a growing market the answer is nuanced. It is clear that the direct victims who are losing homes in the mid-west US were a very small percentage of developing country visitors. Yet for the actual tourists, mostly ABC1s and dreadlocked neo-backpackers ... will they not invest in that new buy-to-let flat in Lewisham or Bucharest and rather have a holiday? Will they choose Nairobi and Phnom Penh over London and LA? Likely is that thrifty people will think they can get a bargain in the developing world and will go for that and save for the expensive European destinations. Tall Economist puts his money squarely on eco-tourism in developing countries sustaining its steady pace of growth.

Source: Business Daily (Nairobi) by Wangui Maina
The credit crisis that has hit the US market, in turn affecting the global markets, is expected to have an impact on travel in 2008 according to a new report by Deloitte.
According to the report, 2008 Travel Industry Trends Report, the tightening in US credit lending is expected to impact on individuals spending on leisure.
"A slumping housing market and softening in consumer confidence is likely to impact travel in the near future," the report stated. In the past consumers have relied on cash-outs from refinanced mortgagees to support THL spending.
The ongoing crisis may make it impossible for some travellers to access finances to travel especially as houses are foreclosed due to faulted mortgages.
The report which looks at the Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure (THL) industry in the American market noted in addition to the credit crisis four other trends are expected to inform travel from this market in 2008.
This include changing customer tastes, globalisation, safety and security, and technology. Customers are increasingly looking for niche products when making decisions on their travellers.
The report notes that travellers look for specific destinations to suit some of their interests especially if it is a repeat journey to a particular destination.
Already Kenya has turned its marketing towards attracting this travellers by promoting various niche products like eco-tourism, bird watching and cultural tourism as a bid to grow the tourism sector.
The growing economies of China and Russia are expected to impact on travel trends in 2008 as travellers from these countries are expected to have more disposable income. Kenya has already turned its focus to China where it hopes to attract more tourists.
Travellers are also expected to visit these countries "especially with Moscow being classifies as one of the most expensive cities in the world," the report noted.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics are expected to be a positive gain for the East Asian country whose hotel rooms is predicted to grow by 76 per cent ahead of this international fete.
According to Deloitte's October 2007 Travel Survey 17 per cent of respondents said the new security measures that have been put in place in the past year will actually deter them from travelling by plane for leisure and 10 per cent said the measures would deter them from travelling by plane for business.
Since the terror attack in 2001 security measures have been tightened in the aviation sector making travelling an excruciating process.
Today airports boast long security lines with new security requirements being unveiled regularly. Mid this year IATA introduced new rules on hand luggage on planes that were adopted in most airlines, the new rules banned the carry any form of liquid aboard the plane.
The debate on climate change is also expected to affect customers travelling patterns, in the recent years there has been an increased awareness of ethical travel. To curb this schemes like carbon offsetting have been introduced to help offset the guilt of carbon emission. In addition this has raised the awareness of sustainable tourism which mainly promotes eco-tourism.
Regardless of all these trends the travel market is still expected to grow in 2008.

VIETNAM and CAMBODIA: more trade ... but what about sustainable tourism?

Facilitating trade is always the excuse for new border crossings. Given the competing needs for the rural poor in Cambodia and the integrity of the eastern Plains forests, the opening of a new border gate in Rattanakiri is worrying. Has a feasibility study been conducted? And what is this trade going to be facilitated in -- timber, poached wildlife and chainsaws?

Source: Nhan Dan ... "Vietnam opens another border gate with Cambodia"

Vietnam on December 15 put into service an international border gate in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, which borders Ratanakiri province in Cambodia.
The border gate, situated in Gia Lai province’s Duc Co district, is called Le Thanh in Vietnamese and Oyadao in Cambodian.
It is hoped to facilitate trade activities in the two countries’ border areas and also cement the ties between residents on both sides of the border.
The establishment of the border gate is also expected to help create a breakthrough for development in the triangle area which encompasses Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

EQUITY and HUNTING: rural poor benefit from elephant hunting

Source: The Namibian (Windhoek)
EVERY member of the 5 000-strong San community in the Bwabwata National Park in the Caprivi Region received N$136 from the Kyaramacan Association in October.
The Association, representing San people living in 10 villages in the newly proclaimed park, was given hunting rights in the park by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
It generates money from trophy hunting and meat sales.
The Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) project leader in West Caprivi, Friedrich Alpers, says a total amount of N$300 000 was distributed among the association's members.
Alpers said 16 elephants were hunted during the year and the meat was given to the community for domestic consumption.
"They had about 30 000 kg of elephant meat," he said.
Alpers said the association's members have indicated that they will use the money to pay their children's school fees and buy food.
For the past two years, the Kyaramacan Association has contributed N$1,2 million a year to the Ministry's Game Products Trust Fund, which finances conservation projects and compensates people for losses caused by wild animals.
According to the agreement signed between the Government and the association, 50 per cent of the income generated from trophy hunting must be handed to the Fund.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND EQUITY: Namibia: Poor 'Will Be Hit Hard' By Climate Change

Source: SciDev.Net (London) by Carol Campbell

Climate change is expected to dramatically alter the lifestyles of poor people in Namibia, say the authors of a study.
Their findings were published by the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) this month (December).
Namibia is economically dependent on natural resources. Up to 30 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to be reliant on the environment. Climate change could increase temperatures by 2-6 degrees Celsius by 2100, and rainfall is expected to be lower and more variable.
The researchers used data from Namibia's natural resource accounts to model the economic impact of climate change.
They found that under a best-case scenario over 20 years, the overall GDP would fall by about one per cent (about US$70 million). But under a worst-case scenario, livestock farming would be hit hard, fishing production would be greatly reduced and GDP would fall by almost six per cent (about US$200 million).
Even in the best-case scenario, subsistence farming would be greatly reduced and a quarter of the population would eventually have to find new livelihoods.
Extreme events like drought are expected to become more common, while changes in sea temperature will play havoc with the fishing industry. Economic diversification will be an important development strategy in future, especially in farming and coastal communities.
Phoebe Barnard, founder of Namibia's national climate change programme, now based at the South African National Biodiversity Institute in Cape Town (SANBI), told SciDev.Net that a detailed modelling study of climate change impacts on Namibian biodiversity and ecosystems was conducted by SANBI for Namibia in 2003.
The SANBI study projected significant additional bush encroachment of the savannah under climate change, and an expansion of Nama Karoo-type (dwarf shrubland) habitat.
"This will severely compromise the livestock production sector, one of Namibia's main livelihoods, and put pressure on the ecology of areas marginal for farming," said Barnard.
"It is up to industrialised nations -- the most responsible for climate change -- to help Namibia and other vulnerable countries cope with the impacts and plan for a climate-constrained future," says the study.

CAMBODIA: Silver bullets? How the sustainable tourism dream is being subverted by business and the government

According to Global Witness, Cambodia's government ranks as one of the most corrupt and its ruling cliques as the most incestuous. The government at all levels is grappling with how to deal with rising populations, pressures from its neighbours for its natural resources and the cries of conservationists. A policy of laissez-faire is supported. The latest silver bullet is proposed by a hunting safari company which wants to develop a hunting bag of 30 species in Rattanakiri province. As WWF point out (a) no assessment of populations has been conducted to discern suitability of these species for hunting (b) no supporting infrastructure exists for community benefits to be dispersed (c) poaching from Vietnamese hunters is a huge problem for species conservation and needs to be addressed. Experience from southern Africa shows that well-managed hunting operations integrated with communities, local and national official channels, and in harmony with nature, can be a positive addition to the conservation mosaic for an area. It is rarely the first tool one would use, and then only with good information.

Source: Reuters ..."Cambodia plans hunting safaris for VIP tourists" By Ek Madra; Illegal Logging ... "Global Witness Report Accuses Cambodia's International Donors of Inaction while a Corrupt Elite surrounding the Prime Minister loots the Country's Forests"
Cambodia is considering laying on hunting safaris for well-heeled foreign tourists in its remote jungle-clad northeast, to the consternation of green groups who say it could be a recipe for disaster.
Officials said on Tuesday a Spanish firm called Nsok Safaris had already drawn up plans for a five-star jungle camp to house hunters after trophies on a list of 30 mammals, birds and reptiles in a 100,000-hectare (250,000-acre) forest reserve.
The area, in Mondulkiri and Rattanakiri provinces, is home to several indigenous hill-tribes whose first main contact with the outside world was during the Vietnam War when their territory was crossed by the myriad paths of the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Dany Chheang, deputy director of the Agriculture Ministry's Wildlife Protection Office, said allowing foreigners to pay to shoot game was far better for conservation than having poachers take it illegally.
"Illegal hunters are burning dollars every day," he told Reuters. "We have not explored all the potential of our natural resources. Now is the time to do so."
"The money we net will be invested in preserving the animals and forest. It is better for sustainable development than letting local hunters deal with cheap black markets."
He did not say what the 30 approved species were. The forest area is thought to be one of southeast Asia's last wildernesses and is home to wild elephants and tigers.
Environvmental group WWF, which has been promoting wildlife conservation in war-scarred Cambodia since 1998, said it was concerned about the plan, which has been in the pipeline for two years but which has remained shrouded in secrecy.
WWF's Cambodia programme manager, Bas van Helvoort, said little was known about animal population numbers in the two provinces, and so allowing them to be hunted could be disastrous.
"Putting species up to be hunted is not going to contribute to making them safe," van Helvoort said. "This has been done in Africa but it is very carefully selected and very controlled."
So far, Phnom Penh -- which is routinely accused of allowing rampant illegal logging -- appears oblivious to the concerns.
"These are our natural resources. We do not need permission from wildlife conservation experts to run our business," Dany Chheang said.
The Finance Ministry was still working with agriculture officials on the finer points of the plan, such as trophies and fees, he added.
Madrid-based Nsok Safari's Web site advertises hunting expeditions in Cameroon and Tanzania. (Editing by Ed Cropley and Roger Crabb)

TRADE and EQUITY: Namibian meat, economic dominoes

WINDHOEK: The Namibian government has made a bizarre decision which will cripple its lucrative export industry to the EU for fresh produce and meat -- seemingly for no gain, political or economic. New tariffs will AVERAGE 90% on all exports. Clever Namibians are buying shares in haulage companies, gas stations along the TransCaprivi and TransKalahari Highways. Meat-eating Namibians are wondering what this means for the local price of meat which has for a long time been subsidised by lucrative exports to the EU. Plus, the value of land is intimately linked to these high returns from exports - and cattle rangeland supports cattle and wildlife complementarily. The tourism industry, based around sustainable tourism [and community-based natural resource management, is equally watching these emerging events with a sense of loss and impending problems.

Source: The Namibian ... "Farmers Shocked About EU Trade Loss" by Brigitte Weidlich

SHOCKWAVES have rippled through the private sector since Government announced on Wednesday that it refused to sign a new trade deal to kick in on January 1 2008.
The signature would have safeguarded duty- and quotafree access of all Namibian agricultural produce, such as beef, grapes and fish, to the European Union (EU).
"Namibia is facing very stiff tariffs for beef imports to the EU, averaging 90 per cent, three weeks from now against the present eight per cent," said Juergen Hoffmann, Special Trade Advisor at the Agricultural Trade Forum (ATF).
"This is because the European Union does not grant GSP to any meat products," he said yesterday.
The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) is a scheme whereby a wide range of industrial and agricultural products from some developing countries are given preferential access to EU markets.
An insider of the beef industry told The Namibian yesterday the steep increase in tariffs from next January would make it uneconomic to export beef to the EU.
Currently Namibia exports some 9 000 tonnes of beef a year to the EU.
"It is deboned meat and only the best pieces, being the prime cuts, are exported," said the person, who spoke on condition off anonymity.
"I would not be surprised at all if some abattoirs shut down in Namibia and jobs will be lost.
I also wonder if the Etunda feedlot, which is to be set up by Meatco near Ruacana with EU grant money, will actually come off."
Trade and Industry Minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko told reporters on Wednesday that Government would set up a special task team to assess the losses the beef, fish and grape producers will suffer.
"We can meet them only halfway," the Minister stated. The grape industry is also affected by the Government decision. It employs about 1 500 people permanently and 6 000 seasonal workers in southern Namibia. Namibia exports about 22 500 tonnes of table grapes, most of them to the EU.
The higher import tariffs of EU countries will amount to over N$300 million, which producers have to cough up next year to sell their grapes in Europe

CLIMIATE CHANGE and EQUITY: CC will hit Namibia's poorest

Namibia: Climate Change to Hit Key Economic Sectors
Climate change will impact the poorest - more evidence from the University of Namibia

Source: The Namibian (Windhoek) by Absalom Shigwedha

Namibia's agricultural production could drop by 13 per cent because of climate change, says a recent study by the University of Namibia.
Livestock production will also decrease. The report, titled 'Millennium Development Goals 7 and Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities', was presented by Dr John Mfune, a lecturer at Unam, last Thursday.
Mfune, who was the co-ordinator of the study, said the country will also lose biodiversity and revenue from wildlife-based tourism because of climate change. However, Mfune said his team was happy to see that some rural people in the Oshana Region have already taken measures to adapt to climate change. Instead of sowing the traditional pearl millet (mahangu) that needs a lot rain, they have turned to drought-resistant Okashana mahangu, which matures fast even in drought conditions.
Mfune said climate change would mean more frequent and severe droughts for Namibia, which would lead to water shortages and less wood from natural forests for building homesteads. The research team visited the Erongo, Oshana, Caprivi, Karas and Hardap regions. The report was presented at the launch of the 2007/2008 Human Development Report last month.
The Human Development Report also focused on the effects of climate change. The 13th conference of parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) started in Bali, Indonesia, on Monday and will run until next week Friday.
Namibia acceded to the UNFCCC in 1995 and is represented at the Bali meeting.

AFRICA and the USA: Remarkable Change and Progress in Africa's Economic Development

Source: AllAfrica

On the second leg of a trip to three African countries, the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., delivered this address to the Corporate Council on Africa's U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Cape Town.
Africa is a unique continent: diverse in people and heritage, with some of the most spectacular geography and biodiversity on the planet. All too often, however, those who do not know Africa well associate the continent with issues like famine, conflict and disease. Tonight, I will talk about a much different Africa, one with which I suspect most of you are more familiar – a continent of diverse nations increasingly defined by economic opportunity and promise.
Most importantly, I will talk about an Africa where leaders are taking control of their own economic futures and continuing to move beyond reliance on donors.

For the rest of the speech AllAfrica.

SOUTH AFRICA's environmental economists fail to convince the policy-makers

South Africa's short-sighted politicans have been swayed by the opinions and no doubt financial clout of preservationist consrvation charities. Here, Marine Protected Areas are to be rid of fishermen. While this might make sense in the short-term, it is rarely a long-term solution. No mention is made of compensation for these poor fishers, nor of the plans for future fishing rights. It reminds me of 1960s-style conservation - put up a fence and keep the people [who are surely the problem, right?] OUT. Conservation in southern Africa leads the world in finding simple economics and incentive-based solutions to complex people-environment problems. This is an inequitable step in the wrong direction.

Source: BuaNews by Edwin Tshivhidzo "South Africa: Marine Protected Areas Will Not be Opened to Public"

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are critical in resuscitating ailing oceans and collapsing fish stocks, and would remain closed for recreational activities, according to Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk. Responding to proposals that government should open parts of the Tsitsikamma MPA for recreational fishing, the minister was clear that fishing would not be allowed there.

"The reasons for originally closing the MPA in 2000 and the prevailing underlying circumstances have not changed," he said. ,Opening this MPA to recreational fishing will set a dangerous precedent in a conservation area that is closed to all and for the benefit of all South Africans.

"Allowing a few people access for recreational purposes would negate the benefits that accrue to all. MPAs are a key part of our strategy to manage vulnerable eco-systems in a sustainable way," he said. ,The minister said protected areas also increased populations outside reserves as young species migrated.

"Because of our determined and forward-looking approach, South Africa today is among the world leaders in implementing the goals set at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. "At least 18 percent of South Africa's coastline falls within formal protected areas." In order to protect and grow marine resources, local communities have been progressively excluded from fishing in the Tsitsikamma MPA since 1975.

Minister van Schalkwyk said a decision to open this MPA would effectively have signaled a broader shift in policy on the part of government and the beginning of a new approach that is neither sustainable nor in line with our stated objectives.

He added that opening the MPA would undermine its biological sustainability."The impact of catches in the MPA will lead to a decline in abundance because many of the resident fish species are slow growing," the minister said. In 2004, government proclaimed four new MPAs, bringing roughly 15 percent of South Africa's 3 000km coastline under protection, in the process creating a framework for managing the country's fisheries and consolidating some of the world's top research, eco-tourism, sport diving and fishing sites.

Previously, South Africa had 19 marine protected areas covering approximately 11 percent of the coastline, which stretches from the country's border with Namibia in the west to Mozambique in the east. The Tsitsikamma National Park was the first to be proclaimed in 1964. Marine protected areas allow for the conservation of natural environments, while assisting in the management of fisheries by protecting and rebuilding economically important stocks.