Chapter 8 - Community-Based Tourism and the Marginalized Communities in Botswana: The Case of the Basarwa in the Okavango Delta

Abstract

This chapter reports research that assesses the contribution of community-based tourism to the improvement of rural livelihoods among Basarwa communities in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. The Basarwa are a minority and marginalized ethnic group in Botswana. They were the first people to live in Botswana and the Okavango Delta before the arrival of Bantu-speaking groups in the eighteenth century. The Basarwa subsequently lost their rights over land and its resources, first, because of the arrival and conquest of the Okavango Delta by Bantu-speaking groups (particularly the Batawana), and second, because of the establishment of Moremi Game Reserve in 1965. The latter resulted in the relocation of some Basarwa groups from areas which were formally their hunting and gathering lands and also led to laws prohibiting hunting and gathering in the game reserve. The centralization of land and its resources in the Okavango Delta, a system maintained even after Botswana's independence in 1966, led to antagonisms, resentment and negative attitudes by Basarwa towards resource conservation and poverty leading to resource conflicts between the government and the Basarwa groups. To address these problems the Botswana Government adopted a community-based tourism programme in the 1990s. The programme aims at the promotion of rural development and natural resource management. The Basarwa who have become participants of the programme are now beginning to derive socio-economic benefits such as employment and income generation. They are also beginning to develop positive attitudes towards natural resource conservation particularly wildlife. However, community-based tourism projects have problems of poor performance, partly because tourism is a new, foreign idea among the Basarwa and thus not fully understood. Second, few possess the necessary experience, entrepreneurship and managerial skills. The problems of poor performance of community-based tourism threaten the sustainability of the programme and the use of natural resources. Therefore, a sustainable community-based tourism sector in the Okavango Delta requires the empowerment of Basarwa communities, particularly with reference to resource ownership, marketing, entrepreneurship and managerial skills in the tourism business. This empowerment will not only promote the sustainability of the programme and livelihood of the Basarwa but also encourage the sustainable use of natural resources in the Okavango Delta.