Oluwatoyin Dare Kolawole

Tourism and biodiversity conservation: the case of community-based natural resource management in Southern Africa.

This review analyses the potential of tourism to contribute to biodiversity conservation with particular reference to developing countries. In the last quarter of a century, there has been a global concern about the extent of biodiversity decline. Biodiversity decline is partly a result of the overutilization of resources by local communities who live in resource-rich areas. This review makes use of published and unpublished articles and reports on community-based approaches to biodiversity conservation. Focus was paid to the role that community-based or integrated approaches play in the promotion of biodiversity conservation. The review indicates that where community-based tourism projects are being undertaken, they have mixed results. That is, some projects have collapsed, while others are succeeding in generating the expected economic benefits such as income, employment and funds used for community projects. The Southern African countries of Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe have been implementing community-based tourism projects for almost two decades. Economic benefits from tourism contribute to poverty alleviation and improved livelihoods. In the process, local communities have developed positive attitudes towards biodiversity, and hence are more inclined to use such resources sustainably. The paper concludes that tourism could serve as a potential tool for stimulating biodiversity conservation and rural development not only in developing countries but also in other similar social‐ecological contexts.

Climate Variability and Rural Livelihoods: How Households Perceive and Adapt to Climatic Shocks in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

AbstractClimate variability and change have adverse effects on agricultural production and other livelihood strategies of the rural households. The paper hypothesizes that rural households naturally devise means of overcoming the challenges currently posed by climate variability. The research article addresses the question of how rural households apply local knowledge of weather forecasting in adapting to climate variability in the Okavango Delta. It specifically probes, among others, the extent to which climate variability has affected agricultural production over the last 10 years in the area. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select a total of 592 households from eight rural communities. Key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and a stakeholder workshop were used to obtain demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and climatic information. Households used both natural animate and inanimate indicators to predict the weather. To enhance household adaptation to climatic events, indige...

Small farmers’ adoption behaviour: Uptake of elephant crop-raiding deterrent innovations in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

This paper invokes the adoption-diffusion model to examine two introduced elephant crop-raiding deterrent innovations (ECDIs), and the factors influencing their adoption by small farmers in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Two communities (Gudigwa and Eretsha) were purposefully selected as case studies. Ninety-nine farmers were randomly selected and interviewed using open and close-ended structured questionnaires. First a reconnaissance survey was carried out to ascertain the extension agencys claim that it had introduced ECDIs to farmers and affirm the adoption of the innovations. Some key informants were purposively selected and interviewed using the interview guide. Focus group discussions were used to elicit qualitative data from the farmers. There are varying levels of innovation uptake among farmers. Deemed as effective, a significant proportion of farmers (50.5%) favoured the use of chilli pepper. Findings elicited farmers’ perceptions, innovation trial-ability, complexity and effectiveness as key determinants of adoption decisions. They also underscore the need to employ a participatory approach in pushing the adoption of ECDIs. Creating a genuine farmerscientist-extension linkage would facilitate exchange of useful information and bring about better understanding of the innovations. This paper contributes to literature on factors that predispose small farmers to adopting new ideas in relation to how they view their world.

Driving local community transformation through participatory rural entrepreneurship development

Purpose – Rural entrepreneurship development and employment generation are fundamental to enhancing local-level progress and transformation. Achieving gainful employment in rural communities contributes immensely to the realisation of the potential of people living in remote communities. The purpose of this paper is to present a ten-stage practical approach for enhancing rural entrepreneurship development as a major driver of local community transformation and development. Design/methodology/approach – The action research was preceded by a preliminary study, which identified some crucial factors associated with the success of rural entrepreneurial activities in rural Lagos, Nigeria. The research, which is an offshoot of the earlier field survey, was designed to engage viable community-based organisations (CBOs) in Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry and Lekki communities for the implementation of context-specific rural entrepreneurship development projects through the provision of “non-serviceable” revolving loans. Fin...

Twenty reasons why local knowledge will remain relevant to development

Local knowledge has continued to gain popularity among development practitioners in the last four decades. However, the future of local knowledge seems hazy to some academics and researchers, perhaps due to the methodological challenges in operationalising local knowledge in development research. Rather than appropriate its full potential for sustainable (global) progress, renditions on the relevance of local knowledge in development research agenda have largely become rhetoric. Nonetheless, this viewpoint outlines 20 pertinent reasons in support of the relevance of local knowledge and why it has a future in development theory and practice.

Inter-disciplinarity, development studies, and development practice.

The article primarily seeks to show the interconnectedness of diverse academic disciplines and their crucial role in development practice. It sheds light on the meanings of development-related concepts and seeks to delineate between the four inter-related concepts of multi-, inter-, trans-, and cross-disciplinarity. It argues that while inter-disciplinarity is desirable for a broad-based discipline such as Development Studies, the appropriateness of the concept when juxtaposed with trans-disciplinarity seems somewhat inadequate. Buttressing the importance of the contributions of all disciplines and of course development initiatives to Development Studies, case studies of failed water and agricultural projects – which never incorporated vital and cognate expertise – in the South are, thus, provided in the discourse.

Perceived roles of African rural parents in child education and development

The study investigated the perceived roles of African rural parents in child education and development. It examined among other things, some selected personal and socio‐economic characteristics of parents and their level of role performance in the education and development of their children, and recommendations were made for enhancing adequate educational development of African children. The study was conducted in rural communities of Oyo State in Southwestern Nigeria with the use of an interview schedule to source information from 186 parents (and their children aged 11–18 years). The parents were randomly selected from each of the four zones (Oyo, Saki, Ibadan/Ibarapa and Ogbomoso) in the study area. Descriptive statistical techniques such as frequency counts and percentages were used to summarize the data. Pearson’s correlation and Spearman’s rank correlation analyses were used to determine the relationship between the socio‐economic characteristics of parents and the level of development of the school child, and the congruence between role perception and role performance of parents. The study revealed among others, that variables such as educational level (r = 0.188), religion (r = 0.096), income level (r = 0.172), cosmopolitenness (r = 0.088) and membership of the Parents–Teachers’ Association (r = 0.162) had a positive and significant relationship with their level of role performance. Also, a highly significant relationship was established between the level of education and development of a rural child and the level of role performance by the parents (r = 0.118).

Claims and counterclaims: institutional arrangements and farmers’ response to the delivery and adoption of innovations in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

ABSTRACT Purpose: This article examined how institutional factors influencing the promotion of two elephant crop-raiding deterrent innovations (ECDIs) introduced to farmers through a ministry-based extension system in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, have impacted farmers’ adoption behaviour. Methodology: A standardised interview schedule was used to elicit responses from 388 randomly sampled subsistence arable farmers on how institutions influenced the adoption of ECDIs in five communities in the study area. This was complemented by focus group discussions to obtain in-depth information on the subject-matter. Key informants interviews were also conducted with purposively selected extension agents, village project committee chairpersons and village dikgosi. Findings: Four institutional factors were found to be critical for the adoption of ECDIs. These include institutional relations, availability and/or supply of deterrent innovation inputs, farmers’ contact with extension agents and government support for extension services. Theoretical Implications: Immediate and widespread adoption of ECDIs in the ever-changing socio-economic and political environment can be enhanced by context-specific institutional arrangements in addressing social and organisational constraints to innovation adoption. Originality: This paper invoked organisational theory to contribute to the scholarly debate on how agricultural extension systems influence farming clientele’s behaviour and social change. It offers the first attempt in the investigation of the role of extension and associated institutions/organisations in promoting adoption of ECDIs among subsistence farmers in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Findings indicate that local farmers do not perceive extension agencies to hold monopoly of ideas and solutions to their unique problems.

Responding to climate change through joint partnership

Purpose – Climate change continues to pose a serious challenge to mankind. Given their socio-economic and vulnerable situations, resource-poor farmers will be hard hit and likely to be the most affected group in Africa – a continent that will bear the full brunt of inclement weather conditions. The purpose of this paper is to address the questions of how local farmers read and predict the weather, and how best they can collaborate with weather scientists in adapting to climate change and variability in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. Design/methodology/approach – A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed in sampling a total of 592 households heads (both men and women) in eight rural communities in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Findings – Analysis indicates that about 80 per cent of the farmers had a good knowledge of weather forecasting. In a knowledge validation workshop organised and implemented in early August 2012, farmers and scientists identified a nine-point agenda and strategies for addressing...

Agrarian reforms and the African Green Revolution

Purpose – Agricultural intensification is central to the Green Revolution (GR) programme. This initiative, which dates back to the early 1940s, revolves around the development of high-yielding and disease-resistant seed varieties that aims at bringing about efficient and secure food production. The purpose of this paper is to present a brief genesis and thrust of the GR. Focusing on Nigeria as a typical African case, the discourse addresses the political economy of the Nigerian agriculture, outlines the features of the Nigerian GR and highlights some crucial issues debated during the 2008 Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) conference for a uniquely African GR as a pro-poor development strategy. Design/methodology/approach – Using a critical discourse analysis and case study design, the paper analyses the political and bureaucratic lapses associated with the introduction and implementation of the reform. Findings – Although wary of some of the socio-political and environmental issues surrounding the production ...