Feature of the Week

Exploring benefits of tourist centres

Vega showing some of the materials produced by communities and sold at the park
Vega showing some of the materials produced by communities and sold at the park

In this series, Our Reporter Albert Sharra concludes exploring how protected areas can benefit surrounding communities.

 

Five years ago by this time, Luciano Soko, 48, of Njolomola Village in Traditional Authority Kanduku in Mwanza was trudging the district’s scorched terrains looking for grass to thatch his two bed-roomed house before the rains began.

“Life is tough and most stories sound worthless when told from the past point of view, but I have seen the worst. I have small land to produce enough food for my family and I rely much on piece work to get food. This means, I would go for piece work in the morning and look for the grass in the afternoon,” he recalls.

But Soko now owns a three bed-roomed modern house—with cement floor and roofed with iron sheets—thanks to Majete Game Reserve Income Generation Project.

This is being run through the Majete Heritage Centre located in the park. The project allows community members to produce various products, which are displayed at the heritage centre for tourists to buy.

“I could not save even K5 000 in the past, but since I joined the group, I am able to make around K90 000 a month. I am living happily and able to support my family,” said Soko, pointing at the kraals and birds nets for sale at his home.

He is proud of what he has achieved since 2010 when he joined the project. Soko said he did not expect to own a modern house. Although he is yet to put finishing touches on the house, Soko says he has achieved his dream.

Like Soko, Chimpesa Makande walks tall in Njolomola village. Apart from building a modern house with money raised through the heritage centre, has installed a solar panel and is able to power electric appliances.

These are examples of people who have benefited directly from activities at the park.

According to information at the centre, there are 30 members who produce several items using local materials such as picnic baskets, hats, palm mats, table mats, washing baskets, animal skin drums, post cards made of  elephant dung paper and wall hangings. Those in the bee-keeping business supply honey to the centre.

An officer at the centre, Jackson Vega, says the project is a result of the park’s need to give back to the community.

He says there was huge resistance from the communities to spare the park’s forests and its natural resources when African Parks (AP) came in to restore the protected area in 2003.

To influence the communities, he says AP created a platform to ensure that villagers benefit from the park’s activities; hence, the heritage centre.

Vega adds that the project benefits people from traditional authorities (T/As) Kasisi and Chapananga and Mwanza area.

During the past four months, Vega says the centre has realised between K650 000 and K850 000 each month.

To ensure sanity and equity, AP established 19 community-based organisations (CBOs) to champion development in the communities.

The CBOs are looked after by the Majete Wildlife Reserve Association in conjunction with the Joint Liaison Committee (JLC) chaired by chief Chapananga.

“For so long, people have been against the game reserve. Most people wanted it depleted and its land shared to locals. No one thought there are benefits attached to living near a park,” says Vega.

Most people, except for the few doing business directly with the park, live in dire poverty and the majority live in grass-thatched houses. There is a poor road network and children walk long distances to access education and health facilities.

Chapananga says in the years that AP has run the park, it has built Chibwalizo Health Centre, among others.

“In the past, we used to wait for government to come to our aid. For the past 10 years, we have received some projects from the park.

“Apart from hospitals, schools blocks are a big problem because we are currently relying on those constructed by the Catholic Church, but then they left us the responsibility of maintaining them and most of them are unusable,” says Chapananga.

AP community extension and education manager Samuel Kamoto admits that communities’ expectations are high.

“The communities proposed a number of things. We have done some and constructed under-five services and health centres,” says Kamoto.

But Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture Kondwani Nankhumwa says there is a policy which encourages companies managing tourist centres to spend 25 percent of their profits on communities around them.

“We want the communities to feel the reason of being close to a tourism centre. We urge and monitor that each tourism centre is spending at least 25 percent of its profit to communities surrounding them. This money is spent on developmental projects such as roads, bridges, schools and clinic. We strongly encourage this as it is part of the national development strategy,” says Nankumwa.

But Kamoto says instead of having the 25 percent invested in the community,  AP sets aside a specific amount for the communities and this is available whether they make profit or not.

He says they have been spending $10 000 (K4.8 million) per year and this is in addition to the income generation projects by the communities whose income is now around $8 000(about K3.8 million)

“Our gross income is $340 000 (about 163 million). Without looking at the income and profits, we have something for the community and is spent on clinics, kindergarten and other needs depending on what the community wants,” says Kamoto, adding that they have employed 125 permanent staff and seasonal contracts,” he said.

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