Management In Zimbabwe Research Articles

An appraisal of policies and institutional frameworks impacting on smallholder agricultural water management in Zimbabwe

Policies and institutional frameworks associated with and / or impacting on agricultural water management (AWM) in smallholder farming systems in Zimbabwe were analyzed through literature reviews, feedback from stakeholder workshops, key informant interviews and evaluation of policy impacts on implemented case study projects/programmes. The study showed that Zimbabwe has gone a long way towards developing a water management policy addressing both equity and access, through the Water and ZINWA1ZINWA stands for Zimbabwe National Water Authority.1 of 1998. However, lack of incentives for improving efficient management and utilization of water resources once water has reached the farm gate was apparent, apart from punitive economic instruments levied on usage of increased volumes of water. For example, the new water reforms of 1998 penalized water savers through loss of any unused water in their permits to other users. In addition, the ability of smallholder farmers to access water for irrigation or other purposes was influenced by macro and micro-economic policies such as Economic Structural and Adjustment Programme (ESAP), Zimbabwe Programme for Economic and Social Transformation (ZIMPREST), prevailing monetary and fiscal policies, as well as the Land and Agrarian Reform policies. For instance, the implementation of ESAP from 1991 to 95 resulted in a decline in government support to management of communal irrigation schemes, and as a result only gravity-fed schemes survived. Also AWM projects/programmes that were in progress were prematurely terminated. While considerable emphasis was placed on rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure since the fast track land reform in 1998, the policies remained rather silent on strategies for water management in rainfed systems. The piecemeal nature and fragmentation of policies and institutional frameworks scattered across government ministries and sectors were complex and created difficulties for smallholder farmers to access water resources. Poor policy implementation strategies and lack of funding were some of the major weaknesses in Zimbabwe’s AWM policies. It was apparent that the prevailing institutional frameworks that underwent restructuring exercises since 2000, failed to effectively deliver services to smallholder farmers due to lack of human and financial capital. Nevertheless, the study showed that policies that can improve efficient utilization of agricultural water in rainfed systems need to target timely provision of the prime movers, i.e. credit, input markets and viable output markets, among other factors, so as to fully utilize good rainfall seasons. It was recommended that a forum led by ZINWA be set up to harmonize AWM issues across sectors and monitor their implementation. Such a forum would be mandated mainly to run periodic water management workshops in which relevant and interested stakeholders participate.

Integrating conventional classifiers with a GIS expert system to increase the accuracy of invasive species mapping

Mapping the cover of invasive species using remotely sensed data alone is challenging, because many invaders occur as mid-level canopy species or as subtle understorey species and therefore contribute little to the spectral signatures captured by passive remote sensing devices. In this study, two common non-parametric classifiers namely, the neural network and support vector machine were used to map four cover classes of the invasive shrub Lantana camara in a protected game reserve and the adjacent area under communal land management in Zimbabwe. These classifiers were each combined with a geographic information system (GIS) expert system, in order to test whether the new hybrid classifiers yielded significantly more accurate invasive species cover maps than the single classifiers. The neural network, when used on its own, mapped the cover of L. camara with an overall accuracy of 71% and a Kappa index of agreement of 0.61. When the neural network was combined with an expert system, the overall accuracy and Kappa index of agreement significantly increased to 83% and 0.77, respectively. Similarly, the support vector machine achieved an overall accuracy of 64% with a Kappa index of agreement of 0.52, whereas the hybrid support vector machine and expert system classifier achieved a significantly higher overall accuracy of 76% and a Kappa index of agreement of 0.67. These results suggest that integrating conventional image classifiers with an expert system increases the accuracy of invasive species mapping.

Towards community-based forest management in Southern Africa: do decentralization experiments work for local livelihoods?

SUMMARYDifferences are emerging in decentralization of forest and community management in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. This paper draws on case studies in each country to examine five aspects of their decentralization experience, namely forest tenure, new organizational structures, accountability and livelihood outcomes. Tenure arrangements developed as a result of decentralization are important for communities, as these determine the nature of access sanctioned by the state and security of the arrangements. The transfer of power to new organizations is proving to be a challenge. Experiences across the three case studies show that new committees were formed for these forestry initiatives by outside agencies and attempts were made to make them relevant to the way local communities managed forests. One of the main tenets of decentralization revolves around accountability of community representatives to their constituents rather than to the state. Although moves have been made to promote the accountability of community representatives, these have produced mixed results in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. Only after changes in the approach taken by the state in Zimbabwe did community representatives become more accountable. In Mozambique, because of the special arrangements around the specific case, greater authority was given to community representatives, whereas, in South Africa, the state retained authority over representatives. Decentralization may bring benefits and improve communities' livelihoods from forestry activities, however much more still needs to be done by states in order for forests to take communities out of poverty.

Biotechnology research, development, applications and management in Zimbabwe: Review

Information on the nature, trend and quality of biotechnology research, development, applications and management in a country is generally needed to improve policy decisions, guide future research and cooperation, civil society and general public knowledge, technology development agencies and to support public sector implementation of biotechnology research. However, there has been to date no comprehensive publication describing overall biotechnology research and development in Zimbabwe. The little information available only cover agricultural biotechnology in particular plant biotechnology. This paper, therefore, offers a profile of Zimbabwe’s overall biotechnology research and development covering activities that provide new knowledge, and the application of biotechnological techniques, biosafety and the regulation status of the biotechnology in the country. The aim is to provide an insight and update of the state of biotechnology in Zimbabwe. This paper also aims to highlight the country’s strengths and weaknesses in biotechnology research and development capacity. This information will help scientists, policy makers and regulators and other stakeholders understand the state of biotechnology in the country and serve to guide scientists who are interested in doing research in untapped areas of biotechnology in the country. Currently, Zimbabwe has a sizable number of research groups using biotechnology in a variety of areas. Current projects in agricultural biotechnology are mainly carried out at universities and public research institutes and are aimed at improving disease, herbicide, drought and insect resistance and for plant propagation. Especially plant tissue culture is widely used while work on genetic engineering is being carried in few laboratories. In food and beverages, biotechnological research is focussed on microbiology and biochemical processes and use of starter cultures during fermentation of traditional foods. Zimbabwe is being involved in industrial biotechnology in a limited fashion, through search and use of her biological resources as sources of potential industrial enzymes. Biotechnological researches with environmental relevance include decolouration of textile dyes, wastewater treatment and biogas production from municipal, industrial and agricultural waste (water). It is found that Zimbabwe’s biotechnology is mainly traditional and most research organisations are applying less advanced biotechnology techniques. Poor infrastructure, lack of human resources and funding are the major challenges to modern biotechnology development in Zimbabwe, although biotechnology research development and management is more established in the country than in most of the sub-Saharan African countries. Zimbabwe has developed the legal framework to guide research and development of modern biotechnology through its National Biotechnology Authority Act (Act 3, 2006/ Chapter 14:31). However, there is still need to develop a National Biotechnology Strategy if the country is to realise more benefits from biotechnology. Key words: Biotechnology, research capacity, development, genetic modification, Zimbabwe.

Community based natural resource management in Zimbabwe: the experience of CAMPFIRE

Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) is a long-term programmatic approach to rural development that uses wildlife and other natural resources as a mechanism for promoting devolved rural institutions and improved governance and livelihoods. The cornerstone of CAMPFIRE is the right to manage, use, dispose of, and benefit from these resources. Between 1989 and 2006, CAMPFIRE income, mostly from high valued safari hunting, totalled nearly USD$ 30 million, of which 52% was allocated to sub-district wards and villages for community projects and household benefits. Whilst a number of assumptions underlying the success of CAMPFIRE as an innovative model for CBNRM have yet to be met, CAMPFIRE confirms the concept that devolving responsibility and accountability for natural resource management can be highly effective for the collective and participatory management of such resources. Elephant numbers in CAMPFIRE areas have increased and buffalo numbers are either stable or decreased slightly during the life of the programme. However, offtake quotas for these two species have increased with a concomitant decline in trophy quality. Although the amount of wildlife habitat diminished after 1980, following the commencement of CAMPFIRE the rate of habitat loss slowed down and in some specific instances was even reversed. More recently there has been increased pressure on habitats and other natural resources as a consequence of deteriorating socio-economic conditions in the country. Where devolution has been successful, promising results have been achieved and the recent acceptance and implementation of direct payments to communities is probably the most significant development since 2000. That this has happened can be attributed to CAMPFIRE enabling communities to maximize their roles within the existing set of rules, and by so doing, allowing these rules to be challenged. Donor (73%) and government (27%) investments into the programme amounted to $35 million during the period 1989 to 2003. Since 2003 however, donor funding has been reduced to <$600,000 over the past 5 years.

Symphysiotomy in Zimbabwe; Postoperative Outcome, Width of the Symphysis Joint, and Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice among Doctors and Midwives

BackgroundObstructed labour remains one of the leading causes of maternal and foetal death and morbidity in poorly resourced areas of the world, where the 24 hours availability of a caesarean section (CS) cannot be guaranteed, and the CS related mortality rate is still high. In these settings, reinstatement of symphysiotomy has been advocated. The objectives were, in1994; to study perioperative and long-term complications of symphysiotomy and compare them to those related to CS for similar indications, in 1996; to measure the symphyseal width after symphysiotomy and compare it to that after normal vaginal delivery, and, in 1998; to assess knowledge, attitudes and practice related to symphysiotomy among doctors and midwives in Zimbabwe.Methods and FindingsThirty-four women who had undergone symphysiotomy and 29 women who had undergone a CS for obstructed labour were interviewed. The symphyseal widths of 19 women with a previous symphysiotomy were compared to that of 92 women with previous normal vaginal deliveries, using ultrasound technique.Forty-one doctors and 39 midwives, in three central hospitals and seven district hospitals in Zimbabwe, were interviewed about symphysiotomy. None of the 34 women reported serious soft tissue injuries or infections post symphysiotomy. Long-term complications after symphysiotomy do not differ notably from those after CS for similar indications. The intra-articular width of the symphysis pubis is increased after a symphysiotomy. Seventy-nine of the 80 interviewed health care workers knew about symphysiotomy. One obstetrician had performed symphysiotomies. Two-thirds of the participants considered symphysiotomy an obsolete and second-class operation, but lifesaving and appropriate in remote areas of Zimbabwe. Ten of 13 midwives in remote areas wanted to carry out symphysiotomies themselves.ConclusionsNo severe complications due to symphysiotomy were revealed in this study. The results suggest that a modest permanent enlargement of the pelvis post symphysiotomy (together with the absence of a scarred uterus) may facilitate subsequent vaginal delivery. Doctors and midwives working in district hospitals have a more positive attitude to symphysiotomies than the colleagues in central hospitals. Obstetricians (who would have to do the teaching), working in the large urban hospitals almost exclude symphysiotomy as an alternative management in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Refuses to Lag Behind: The Introduction of an Information Management Degree Programme at the National University of Science and Technology

The article looks at the introduction of a Library and Information Science programme at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe, as the first step towards paving the way for an introduction of a Records and Archives Management degree programme. In this article, the authors who are Third Year students and pioneers in the Department of Library and Information Science at the university lament the absence of both undergraduate and postgraduate courses directly linked to the field of Records and Archives Management in Zimbabwe. For a very long time, records managers and archivists were receiving on-the-job training, and in few cases, the subject was and still is housed in other fields such as the general arts, and library and information science. The article highlights that the subject should stand on its own and must be treated with the importance that it deserves. The call for degree programmes specific to archives management is based on the premise that the archives staff have to be fully qualified since they preserve information on the cultures of different societies, and the records they keep play an integral part in the running of any country including the decision making process. The several problems faced by both staff members and students studying towards a qualification in Records and Archives Management at NUST are also highlighted. The article winds up by making some recommendations for dealing with the problems that were identified. ESARBICA Journal Vol.23 2004: 109-117

Political Deadlock and Devolved Wildlife Management in Zimbabwe

Since February 2000, Zimbabwe has been experiencing an unparalleled period of political, economic, and social uncertainty. The most prominent features are the political deadlock generated by (a) confrontation between the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party; (b) the illegal invasion of private land; (c) hyperinflation; and (d) the withdrawal of bilateral donor funds. Generally, a culture of impunity exists that compromises the rule of law. Within this crisis, very little attention has been given to the impact that this political deadlock and uncertainty have on natural resource management in the communal lands of Zimbabwe. Between 1990 and 2000, Zimbabwe's Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) was considered one of the leading community conservation initiatives attracting considerable international interest and analysis. This article analyzes the changes that are taking place within Nenyunga Ward, Gokwe North Rural District Council (RDC), since 2000. By comparing selected natural resource management activities before and after 2000, the article demonstrates how the larger macroeconomic and political processes are undermining natural resource management at the ward level.

Calibrating a distributed model to estimate runoff for ungauged catchments in Zimbabwe

Available modeling approaches requiring a high spatial intensity of ground-based measurements, a fine time-scale for monitoring and continuity of observed time-series have limited applicability for water resources planning and management in Zimbabwe. A review of existing runoff gauges on this research showed that data from more than 30% of them was unreliable, the number of rainfall, runoff and evaporation observation stations with usable data was decreasing and so were the available funds to support monitoring and maintenance of the stations. On the other hand freely available hydrological tools reviewed require large data sets from such measurement systems. This research investigated the feasibility of estimating runoff using a distributed parameter value estimation approach for various catchment sizes. Storm durations of the order of magnitude of hours and minutes were simulated to accurately model runoff generation processes experienced. Runoff of different segments is calculated simultaneously but independently. Each segment represents an area of different rainfall, soil condition, vegetation cover and land use, influencing runoff. The model has been calibrated and validated on cumulative and incremental catchments. Basins have been defined to generate stream flow for larger watersheds. Modules (576) were fitted into 12 basins each module having a period of runoff estimation of up to 90 years. This methodology can be applied to estimate runoff for the whole country more frequently. Both estimates used empirical and manual techniques to determine input parameter values. The model enables more frequent runoff updates using techniques, which better represent the hydrological characteristics of a catchment. Hydrologic problems can be resolved by using runoff time-series thus avoiding many simplifying assumptions made in alternative methods. However, digital data may be expensive and may take considerable time to procure and configure.

Wastewater management in Zimbabwe in the context of sustainability

Conventional sanitation approaches are rather inappropriate and expensive ways of providing a satisfactory solution to increasing wastewater problems in developing countries. This paper looks at the financial and environmental implications of the sanitation approaches adopted in Zimbabwe, and from the weaknesses identified, suggests a paradigm shift in which wastewater treatment is geared towards resource recovery and reuse. It was observed that unsustainable methods continue to be used because of deficient institutional arrangements and irrational technology choices made in the past. Natural treatment methods were recommended because they are low cost, easy to operate and maintain, and allow for the re-use of effluent. To achieve this requires a responsive institutional and funding mechanism backed by realistic legislation.

Status of water governance in urban areas in Zimbabwe: some preliminary observations from the city of Harare

Good water governance, has been regarded as a sine qua non for improving the management of world water resources. Stakeholder participation is considered an important precondition for improving water governance. This paper reports on how it is being implemented in urban areas in Zimbabwe by studying how this is being undertaken in the city of Harare. The study was not designed to generate generalisable findings but to gain insights into the salient features of water governance in the urban areas. Three areas of investigation were chosen for analysis; whether water shaped the political agenda as expressed in local elections; perceptions and actions of the different actors and information about new water institutions. There was some degree of stakeholder participation, which, however, was compromised by the fact that it was uncoordinated, involved a few stakeholders (it excluded the generality of the residents) and tended to occur outside the designated formal channels. Interference from central government was another problem. It can be concluded that improving governance of water management in Zimbabwe’s urban areas faces more challenges than in the rural areas. For example unlike their rural counterparts urban residents were not considered as stakeholders in their own right.

A framework for the decentralised management of wastewater in Zimbabwe

The traditional wastewater management style is now presenting some problems, having evolved from a situation of small communities, little industrial activities, and abundance of freshwater. The style is characterized by high water consumption and large treatment plants that employ sophisticated treatment systems with final effluent discharged to rivers. This paper focuses on analysis and development of an alternative strategy of decentralised wastewater management in Zimbabwe. Serious pollution problems related to inappropriate effluent discharges are prevalent necessitating an efficient and reliable strategy of controlling environmental pollution whilst obtaining optimal benefits from wastewater reuse. A conceptual plan for the decentralised strategy was developed taking into account capital and operational costs, wastewater generation patterns and quality, and urban agriculture. Maize cultivation was used to illustrate the implications of water and nutrient utilisation potential of the strategy. It was concluded that the strategy would suit high and medium density dwellings in Zimbabwe and that greywater separation can be used as part of the strategy.

Local Management of Global Values: Community-Based Wildlife Management in Zimbabwe and Zambia

Community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) is being increasingly promoted as the solution to problems of nature conservation, and some national programs like the Zimbabwean CAMPFIRE and Zambian ADMADE 1 have been championed as models for others to imitate. The approach seeks to fuse two very different kinds of agendas--preservation of nature based on biocentric premises, and decentralized rural development based on anthropocentric premises--into a win-win combination. However, as the implementation strategy relies on pragmatic reasoning, where economic rationality constitutes the main criterion, it fails to take into account the various noneconomic values involved. While individual success stories are on record, the experience this far does not provide replicable models for either decentralized resource management or efficient conservation of biodiversity.

Challenges of communicating integrated water resource management in Zimbabwe

With the promulgation of the 1998 Water Act the Government of Zimbabwe took a decisive step to reform the country’s water sector, to bring it in line with contemporary socio-political realities obtaining in the country, and in tune with the philosophy of integrated water resources management. Researchers have reported a lack of awareness of the reforms, particularly among the black communities, who were considered not just as one of the target of the reforms, but the beneficiaries. This paper analyses why this has been the case. The paper makes a case for differentiating communication from information dissemination. Information refers to a set of data packaged for delivery to a receiver while communication involves a dialogue. This paper critiques communication strategies used to communicate water reforms in Zimbabwe, applying recent developments in communication theories. The argument in the paper is that there was a failure to communicate although there was some success in dissemination information about the reforms. If the situation is to be reversed then methods that involve audience analysis may have to be used. Such methods tend to be expensive and time consuming––however, there is no substitute to this if integrated water resources management is to be institutionalised among the various stakeholders.

Neither Tragedy Nor Enclosure: Are There Inherent Human Rights in Water Management in Zimbabwe's Communal Lands?

Neither Tragedy Nor Enclosure: Are There Inherent Human Rights in Water Management in Zimbabwe's Communal Lands?

ISO 14001 Certification in Zimbabwe: Experiences, Problems and Prospects

The quest for sustainable development has become paramount, whereby there is a need to satisfy the needs of today without compromising the needs of tomorrow, with the aim of improving the quality of life now and in future. Environmental management systems need to be integrated into the overall management framework in order for society to develop in a sustainable manner. ISO 14001 has the effective elements for such an environmental management system. It is systematically structured, effective and verifiable. This paper examines the implementation of ISO 14001 in Zimbabwe, and the responses from various organisations to standardisation. The environmental laws in Zimbabwe, and the need to improve their enforcement, are discussed. A role for computers in environmental management in Zimbabwe is suggested, as well as driving forces for better environmental management and solutions to overcome the main constraints to ISO 14001 certification.

Stemborer research in Zimbabwe: Prospects for the establishment of Cotesia flavipes Cameron

The stemborers Busseola fusca (Fuller) and Chilo Partellus (Swinhoe) cause the highest economic damage to maize and sorghum in Zimbabwe. A number of studies on stemborer bioecology and management in Zimbabwe have been conducted, but most are still incomplete. The more important of these are studies on life history, incidence and distribution patterns, host plants, yield losses, chemical control, cultural control, host plant resistance, the use of sex pheromones, and biological control. These are discussed here in detail, and areas where further research is needed are pointed out. As part of an integrated strategy for managing stemborers in Zimbabwe, an exotic braconid larval parasitoid, Cotesia flavipes Cameron, has been released in the lowveld area and prospects for its establishment appear to be good. However, this establishment might be curtailed mainly by the inability of Co. flavipes to adapt to the seasonal carryover mechanisms utilised by the indigenous Cotesia sesamiae (Cameron).

Cadastral Politics: The Making of Community‐Based Resource Management in Zimbabwe and Mozambique

Projects promoting community‐based management of natural resources frequently encourage local smallholders to share flora, fauna, or land forms with state agencies and/or private companies. Ideals of common property and moral economy have inspired this agenda and helped spread it globally. In Southern Africa, however, the general model of shared landscapes has collided with a bitter history of white colonization and land grabbing. This article recounts the rise and fall of one CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) project in eastern Zimbabwe. There, cadastral politics — struggles over the bounding and control of land — overwhelmed negotiations for joint management and eco‐tourism. Across the border, in Mozambique, community‐based resource management has engaged with cadastral politics in a more fruitful fashion. In the midst of latter‐day Afrikaner colonization, this project mapped smallholders’ claims to land. Thus, the Zimbabwean project ignored territorial conflict and ultimately succumbed to it. The Mozambican project jumped into the fray, with some success. On past or current settler frontiers, community‐based management may learn from this lesson: dispense with an ideology of sharing and join the rough‐and‐tumble of cadastral politics.

Institutional sustainability: ‘community’ and waste management in Zimbabwe

This article addresses sustainability as a social process. In doing so it extends beyond the Brundtland notion of present and ‘future generations’ to grapple with the divergent social worlds in which the term is constructed by different actors. It is thus concerned with how learning can take place within development interventions to enable actors to build new norms and behaviours which cut across social divides. A framework has been developed to (i) explore and make explicit the assumptions held by stakeholders; (ii) develop an awareness of the nature and practices of accountability; (iii) build an understanding of cause and effect (attribution) in relation to action. It is suggested that structured participation in these processes can help to build inter-organizational and inter-associational learning which can provide the basis for new norms and behaviours stretching beyond the formal life of any intervention (institutional sustainability). The article draws on research from Zimbabwe, however it is suggested that the framework can have applicability in many situations.

CAMPFIRE Experiences in Zimbabwe

Wayne M. Getz et al. present an optimistic outlook for community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) in their Policy Forum “Sustaining natural and human capital: Villagers and scientists” (19 March 1999, p. 1855), and they suggest that the key is for scientists and villagers to develop partnerships. Communal Area Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE), a community-based approach to wildlife management in Zimbabwe, provides “concrete examples of CBNRM success in raising the income levels of poor rural communities,” Getz et al. say. Emerging problems, however, could derail many of the initiatives. A small group of researchers in Zimbabwe have played a key role in the devolution of wildlife management from central to local government. However, in achieving this success, the line between scholarship and advocacy has become blurred. The push for CAMPFIRE has resulted in a concentration of power in Rural District Councils (RDCs), the lowest level of government ([1][1]). RDCs generally view CAMPFIRE as a means to raise funds. Our fieldwork in three CAMPFIRE districts indicates that many villagers show little knowledge about CAMPFIRE or view the program as an extension of the RDC or “government.” Even where counselors do represent their communities in the RDC, they may have little bargaining power over benefits derived from CAMPFIRE, because counselors from wards without wildlife schemes are often in the majority. Villagers living with wildlife bear the costs of wildlife (impacts on agriculture), whereas benefits from safari hunting may be spread beyond the community that bears the costs or may be concentrated in the RDC. We found that 50 to 90% of revenues from hunting were retained by the RDC, whereas in one district, household dividends were $1 to $3 per household per year ([1][1]). If antelope were poached and sold for meat, they would bring $7 to $20 each. Scholarship is needed to establish under what conditions CBNRM works. There are successful CAMPFIRE schemes, but each district is different, providing rich data for scholars. An emerging hypothesis is that devolution must go lower than the RDC if CBNRM is to be successful ([2][2]). The successes of CAMPFIRE must be built on by developing genuine local participation and ownership. Given that villagers are largely not benefiting from CBNRM, further work on institutional and anthropological themes (power, property rights, incentives) should perhaps be the priority over building technological partnerships between villagers and scientists. 1. [↵][3]1. B. M. Campbell, 2. S. Shackleton, 3. B. Sithole, 4. E. Mandondo , in preparation. 2. [↵][4]1. L. Wily , Soc. Nat. Resour. 12, 49 (1998); [OpenUrl][5] 1. M. Murphree , Gatekeeper Ser. 36, 1 (1993); [OpenUrl][6] 1. M. Luckert 2. et al. in preparation. # Response {#article-title-2} Campbell, Sithole, and Frost caution that “Scholarship is needed to establish under what conditions CBNRM works.” They also make the point that “devolution must go lower than the RDC if CBNRM is to be successful.” We agree with them on these points. We also agree that work on institutional and anthropological questions is a priority over technological partnerships because the latter will fail without the appropriate institutions and processes. Because we both presented well-documented data on the substantial growth of revenues in some CAMPFIRE villages and cautioned that CAMPFIRE is “not without problems,” our differences with Campbell et al. are largely ones of emphasis. Clearly, without rigorous analysis of CBNRM, outcomes associated with differing social, economic, political, and environmental circumstances, CBNRM has the potential to become yet another means by which central governments extract economic benefits from local people, thereby undermining the fundamentals of the approach. Increased funding for such research is crucial for the success of CBNRM. This said, we still maintain that with the proper institutions and processes in place, technological support is certainly needed to help communities adaptively manage their natural resources in an efficient and far-sighted manner ([1][7]). To achieve this, all players, including scientists, must be involved in a constructive, community-focused way. 1. [↵][8]1. J. T. Du Toit, 2. W. M. Getz, 3. H. Biggs, 4. M. Westphal , in preparation. 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