Interface of Tourism, Basket Weaving and Indigenous Knowledge in the Okavango Delta Panhandle of Botswana

Abstract

Women in the Okavango Delta panhandle of Botswana have culturally engaged in weaving baskets. The Okavango Delta is Botswana’s major tourist destination due to rich biodiversity that include the swampy inland Delta, where real fan palm trees grow. Women harvest fibers of palm trees from river banks, boil and use extracted dye as a colorant in dry palm leaves. In 1970s, tourism boom in Botswana valorised basketry for commercial purposes. Framed under the Place-based education (PBE) theoretical approach, the study assessed the role of tourism in preservation of cultural practices in the Okavango Delta panhandle. Specifically, the study examined how tourism development revitalise the indigenous knowledge of weaving baskets in the Okavango Delta. This chapter is in line with SDG target 8.9: By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products. The research employed qualitative methodology which included document analysis, observations, and semi-structured interviews with basket weavers from local communities in the Okavango Delta. Results indicated that cultural tourism in the Okavango Delta preserves indigenous knowledge in basket weaving. Tourism plays an important role in preserving the indigenous basket weaving practices which were under the threat of diminishing. As a result, it is imperative for tourism operators to work alongside the local community members in endeavour to package cultural elements for tourism consumption. This is vital for ensuring authenticity of cultural elements.