Enhancing Rural Livelihoods Through Tourism Education and Strategic Partnerships: A Uganda Case Study

Abstract

Recently, tourism has gained significant strides as a poverty reduction strategy for low income nations, including Uganda, where poor people constitute 61% of Uganda's population, living below US$1 per day. In 2003, the Government of Uganda identified tourism as a priority export sector. This article provides a Uganda case study that focuses on enhancing rural livelihoods through tourism, specifically highlighting the interdependent themes of tourism training and partnership development as aims of a University of Manitoba—Makerere University cooperative program. Uganda is a country rich in natural and cultural resources with opportunities for sustainable tourism providing local impetus to support the conservation of wildlife and natural areas. The key to realizing this potential lies in the development of local capacity to research, manage, plan, interpret, and profit from the resources that are the foundation of sustainable tourism. The two universities are in partnership to develop a masters' degree in sustainable community tourism. Specifically the article describes the curriculum development process for a master's degree in sustainable community tourism at Makerere University, the creation of a strategic partners' network for sustainable tourism and biodiversity conservation, and the relationship between the two processes linking higher education and community development with sustainable tourism. Challenges faced by the Canadian and Ugandan project participants, as well as solutions, next steps for implementation, and future research opportunities are also discussed.