Expanding Women's Choices through Employment? Community-Based Natural Resource Management and Women's Empowerment in Kwandu Conservancy, Namibia

Abstract

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has been heralded for promoting development by creating employment in rural areas. However, limited scholarly attention has been given to the effects of CBNRM-derived employment on individual women. We use an empowerment lens to evaluate claims that CBNRM benefits communities because it creates formal employment for women. A case study of Kwandu Conservancy, located in Namibia's Caprivi region, generated 49 interviews of a wide range of female conservancy residents. Data were also collected through participant observation, document review, and 20 key informant interviews. Data analysis revealed that employment has a mixed impact on women's choices and their empowerment, bringing both costs and benefits to female employees. Understanding this range of experiences allows us to consider how CBNRM efforts can be structured to enhance employment opportunities more broadly within the social structures of a conservancy while anticipating and mitigating negative effects on women.