09 Feb 2021

Wild Entrust Africa officer, Mr Tiego Mpho says the community co-existence project piloted at Habu in the Okavango District has the potential to eradicate poverty.

The project was designed to integrate wildlife conservation with livestock farming through zoning to separate the two. 

It was implemented by Wild Entrust in partnership with Habu Elephant Development Trust and the government through the departments of veterinary services and environmental affairs.

In an interview, Wild Entrust monitoring and evaluation officer, Mr Mpho revealed that the project was on track and producing desired results.

The project, funded by the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and European Union, is geared to enhance the livelihoods of the community through conservation of both rangeland and wildlife.

He appreciated the community’s response, saying it was satisfactory as many had showed commitment towards the success of the project. 

He said the project was intended to establish a network of community clusters since they had proven to be powerful means to combat rural poverty.

Mr Mpho explained that they were working with farmers to protect grazing land and on how to use eco-rangers effectively to manage livestock from predators.

“This is a brilliant programme which aims to boost sustainable wildlife management and food security as well as to create jobs. It will benefit both the wildlife and ecosystem and the resilience of local communities that rely on them,” he added.

He said farmers donated 160 cattle which were under the stewardship of eco-rangers, adding that their target was to have 2 000 cattle and 40 eco-rangers.

He appreciated the efforts made by farmers and hoped more would come on board.

Mr Mpho noted that once the project became successful, they intended to replicate it to other parts of Ngamiland because they wanted the community to live harmoniously with wildlife, benefit from their livestock as well as the natural resources within their areas.

Fatal human wildlife conflict is a growing problem in the district and losses of livestock to predators severely impacts rural livelihoods.

In addition, Mr Mpho revealed that the district had declared a red zone because of Foot and Mouth Disease and through the project, they intended to assist in marketing of beef so that farmers had good returns from rearing livestock.

He said the community would have free range grass and wildlife, adding that they would also have social enterprise for livestock slaughtering.

He said plans were underway to hold a workshop where farmers would elect a steering committee so that it could be part of oversight.

Mr Mpho also explained that the project was complementing the just ended Ngamiland Land Sustainable Management Project (SLM) which aimed to address land degradation challenges in the district.

 The project improved management of livestock, created an enabling environment for responsive policies and practice and facilitated increased benefits from land use to communities.

In addition, he said the community co-existence project worked in the framework of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme’s objective of achieving biodiversity conservation and rural development.

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