Publication: Benefits to Local Communities from Community Conservancies in Namibia: An Assessment
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Date
2009
ISSN
0376835X
Published
2009
Author(s)
Bandyopadhyay, Sushenjit
Humavindu, Michael
Shyamsundar, Priya
Wang, Limin
Abstract
This article evaluates the benefits of community-based activities in wildlife conservancies in Namibia by asking three questions. Do community conservancies contribute to an increase in household welfare? Are such programmes pro-poor; that is, do they improve welfare more for poorer households than for the less poor? Does participation in conservancy increase household welfare more for participants than non-participants? This study bases the analyses on a 2002 survey covering seven conservancies and 1192 households. The results suggest that community conservancies have a positive impact on household welfare. The authors also conclude that this impact is poverty-neutral in some regions and pro-poor in others. Further, welfare benefits from conservancies appear to be fairly evenly distributed between participant and non-participant households.