Paying the Buffalo Bill: The Impact and Implications of External Aid on the Communal Areas Management Programme For Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE)

Abstract

In this paper, I examine some of the more salient effects and impacts of the participation of NGOs and aid agencies in the implementation of CAMPFIRE on the programme’s ability to institute a new system of rights in natural resources; and on the participation of local ‘communities’ in the management of these resources. In particular, I focus on the implications of monetary and other aid to the CAMPFIRE programme for the developing focus on economic benefits to the exclusion of other “benefits” of wildlife management. This paper is largely based on my own field work in the -Prfiay Communal Lands (CLs) of the Nyaminyami District as well as documented case studies of other CAMPFIRE initiatives in communal Zimbabwe. Use is also made of field work material collected by other CASS researchers in various other field sites in which the CAMPFIRE programme is being implemented. I have also worked with, talked to and extensively interviewed various staff from the aid organizations participating in the programme, the Rural District Councils (RDCs) and other interested parties