Transformation or tinkering?: new forms of engagement between communities and the private sector in tourism and forestry in Southern Africa

This paper examines a number of approaches and initiatives that are seeking to commercialise tourism and forestry assets, and incorporate some element of community involvement. Case studies are used from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.This paper examines a number of approaches and initiatives that are seeking to commercialise tourism and forestry assets, and incorporate some element of community involvement. Case studies are used from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.The approaches are designed to promote pro poor growth by encouraging private sector activity in using forests, wildlife and wild resources, and, to varying degrees, to enhance the benefits to the poor deriving from this. The authors explore the driving forces of these approaches and assess their impact on the livelihoods of the poor.Main findings include: new forms of interaction between communities and the private sector are highly varied in their impacts on the poor while some of the poor are earning or will gain cash incomes and economic opportunities, there is inequality in these opportunities, and insufficient attention paid to the participation of the poor in decision making <br /> for the market to be helpful in alleviating poverty there needs to be: a better level playing field; a recognition that markets are intensely politicised and easily captured by elites; and a willingness on behalf of the state to intervene in markets and address the issue of equity with redistributive mechanisms where necessary two types of arrangements emerge as offering the greatest potential for pro-poor investment: commercial partnerships on land that has been restituted or resettled - in these arrangements the community has stronger legal, economic and usually political power, and thus can negotiate a qualitatively different arrangement from one based on goodwill from either the state or private sector the use of state power to encourage pro-poor private sector deals through the process of concessioning/commercialisation state land or assets - experience shows that when this approach is used it can provide strong commercial incentives for the private sector to adopt new pro poor measures [Adapted from author]