Abstract
In the recent years, debates on rural development and sustainable management of natural resources in Zimbabwe and many other African countries have emphasized the importance of Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) systems as the main driving force for sustainable development in rural communities. This is to say that central to CBNRM has been generative discussion around issues of decentralisation, administering of the commons in the rural areas, and community empowerment through the securing of resource rights. Yet equally important is the key question around issues of community resources (the commons), particularly on who owns and manages the commons and for what purposes (Murphree 2002). In the light of these observations and realizations, this paper makes an attempt to explore the relevance of CBNRM to development practitioners and policy makers in view of the commons in Zimbabwe. The paper adopts fisheries management in Gache Gache Communal Lands of Kariba in northern Zimbabwe as its case study. The choice of Gache Gache Communal Lands as a case study is not accidental but premised on the fact that it is one area where CBNRM is being deployed in managing fisheries in the area.
Highlights
The current study was born out of the realisation that in Zimbabwe as in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, traditional authority represents the earliest and most resilient community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives which is commonly known as organic Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) [1,2]
Externally led community based natural resource management (CBNRM) as practised in many parts of southern African region has met with great controversy and resistance as it has been viewed by many local communities as a threat to traditional collective management regimes over natural resources, that is, CBNRM as always practised by the indigenous African people
This is seconded by political analyst, Makumbe, who criticized the formation of Village Development Committees (VIDCOs) and Ward Development Committees (WADCOs) in 1984 as being part of a process to disempower traditional authority and punish it for its role in collaborating with the colonial government during the liberation struggle that ended in April 1980 [9]
Summary
Traditional Authority in Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM): A Critical Investigation of the Role of Traditional Authority in Fisheries Management in Gache Gache Communal Lands of Kariba, Zimbabwe. Received date: February 18, 2014; Accepted: April 23, 2014; Published date: April 30, 2014
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