IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON Faculty of Life Sciences (University of London) Department of Environmental Science & Technology Livelihoods in an artisanal fishing community and the effect of ecotourism By Nicholas Anthony Owen Hill A report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MSc and/or the DIC. September 2005 i DECLARATION OF OWN WORK I declare that this thesis Livelihoods in an artisanal fishing community and the effect of ecotourism is entirely my own work and that where any material could be construed as the work of others, it is fully cited and referenced, and/or with the appropriate acknowledgement given. Signature:………………………………………………………………………………. Name of student: Nicholas Anthony Owen Hill Name of supervisor: Dr E.J. Milner-Gulland ii ABSTRACT There is a great deal of interest in the role of ecotourism for combating the dual problems of conservation and poverty alleviation in rural areas of developing countries. The theory that private ecotourism enterprises can achieve these goals is based in part on the assumption that increased benefits from ecotourism opportunities relative to old livelihoods result in economic substitution. However, few quantitative studies exist on the success of these operations in achieving these objectives, and fewer still examine the validity of this assumption. This study combines quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the role of marine resources in the livelihoods of the local communities in order to better understand the consequences of ecotourism development for marine resource use and conservation. The analysis is conducted within a livelihoods framework. The results indicate that fishing forms part of a diversified livelihood strategy for the majority of households. Marine resources serve a variety of functions within these livelihood strategies, from an important source of nutrition, sources of cash for subsistence, buffering roles, and balancing intrahousehold inequalities through to providing a social function and opportunities for extra cash. The resource with the most open access, the octopus fishery, is the most pressured and forms an important last resort for the most vulnerable households. Employment by ecotourism does appear to lead to some level of economic substitution at the household level, but the extent to which this is sufficiently widespread to provide a significant conservation benefit is questionable. Economic substitution may not entirely replace marine resource use of the households concerned given its complementarity with other activities and importance as a source of nutrition. It does not appear to have led to poverty alleviation, but this may be a short-run response whilst salaries are invested in the means to generate alternative sources of income. To maximise the potential benefit of economic substitution to poverty alleviation and conservation, structured links between the ecotourism operation and the community must be increased, designed to improve the multiplier effect of foreign investment and spending and open up more alternative sources of income to community members. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For enabling the study, providing logistical support, and collaboration, I am very grateful to the Cabo Delgado Biodiversity and Tourism Project (CDBTP). Specifically, from CDBTP, thank you in particular to Dr Julie Garnier (Director of Conservation) for collaboration, ideas and suggestions. Also to Dr Oscar Monteiro, Christopher Cox, and Chris Greathead. For logistical support in Pemba from the CDBTP office, thank you to Mirene Augusto and her husband Luis, not forgetting their kind provision of accommodation in Pemba and a hospital bed when ill! For help integrating into the local communities and helpful advice, I am extremely grateful to the community liaison officer, Major Rachide Dade. For their support on Vamizi Island, I am grateful to the logistical team, in particular Salimo Salamala and Sabiti Chaque for rushing around in boats for me. For running round organising my team with data sheets and enabling me to direct from my sick-bed, for moral support nursing skills, thank you to Rhona Barr. Thank you also to Abdi Ussi for doctoring skills. In the village, I am particularly indebted to my team; Momade Mussa, Danune Mikidade and Adinane Ibraimo, especially for bearing with me and continuing through my illness. I am grateful to all members of Vamizi village for accepting me, showing me their cultures, and understanding my objectives, and especially to the village chief, Rachide Abdala, for facilitating my time there. For advice and comments with the proposal, thank you to Dr Kai Lorenzen (Imperial College). For discussions on socio-economics, thank you to my flatmates Graham Cookson and Lucy Rist. For comments on the manuscript, thank you to my father, Steve Hill. For help with funding the field-work, thank you to CDBTP for covering my living costs and transport costs in the field. Thank you to Anglo American plc for their continued financial assistance of the author. Thank you to Conservation Programmes, Zoological Society of London, for their support, in particular Alison Shaw and Chris Bell. Finally, for their help and support throughout, I am extremely grateful to my supervisors; Drs E.J. Milner-Gulland (Imperial College) and Marcus Rowcliffe (Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London). iv ABBREVIATIONS BCN Biodiversity Conservation Network CDBTP Cabo Delgado Biodiversity and Tourism Project CLO Community Liaison Officer CPR Common property resource DFID Department for International Development FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation GDP Gross domestic product HDI Human development index HH Household ICDP Integrated conservation and development project LDA Limitada (Limited; Ltd) Met Mozambican Metical (plural; Meticais) NGO Non-governmental organisation NR Natural resource PPT Pro-Poor Tourism PQLI Physical quality of life index PRA Participatory rural appraisal RRA Rapid rural appraisal SE Standard error SLA Sustainable Livelihoods Analysis SSI Semi-structured interview UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme WHO World Health Organisation v CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................1 1.1 The issue...............................................................................................1 1.2 This study..............................................................................................2 1.2.1 Aims and objectives........................................................................3 1.3 Project rationale.....................................................................................3 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................................6 2.1 Fisheries and poverty............................................................................6 2.1.1 ‘The old paradigm’ (Béné, 2003).....................................................6 2.1.2 Changing dimensions of poverty.....................................................8 2.1.3 Livelihoods analysis......................................................................10 2.2 Ecotourism...........................................................................................14 2.2.1 The broader picture.......................................................................14 2.2.2 The definition of ecotourism..........................................................15 2.2.3 Tourism and economic development............................................16 2.2.4 Tourism and negative effects on communities..............................19 2.2.5 Tourism and conservation.............................................................19 2.2.6 Cabo Delgado Biodiversity and Tourism Project...........................23 3. RESEARCH METHODS............................................................................24 3.1 Overview..............................................................................................24 3.2 Site selection.......................................................................................25 3.3 Participatory versus survey..................................................................25 3.4 Sample selection.................................................................................26 3.5 Participatory techniques......................................................................27 3.5.1 Village mapping.............................................................................27 3.5.2 Semi-structured interviews (SSIs).................................................27 3.6 Household surveys..............................................................................29 3.6.1 Definition of a household...............................................................29 3.6.2 Asset survey..................................................................................30 3.6.3 Household budgets.......................................................................30 3.6.4 Time budgets................................................................................33 3.6.5 Direct observation.........................................................................33 3.7 Limitations............................................................................................34 4. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS.......................................................................35 4.1 Background to Vamizi village...............................................................35 vi 4.2 Situational variables.............................................................................36 4.2.1 The economic environment...........................................................36 4.2.2 Villager characteristics ..................................................................42 4.2.3 Fishery characteristics...................................................................50 4.2.4 Institutional environment ...............................................................54 4.3 Livelihood strategies............................................................................56 4.4 Resource use.......................................................................................62 4.4.1 Household production...................................................................62 4.4.2 Household consumption................................................................66 4.4.3 Household purchases and sales...................................................69 5. DISCUSSION.............................................................................................73 5.1 Introduction..........................................................................................73 5.2 Livelihoods...........................................................................................73 5.2.1 The role of marine resources.........................................................73 5.2.2 The effect of employment..............................................................77 5.3 Conservation........................................................................................80 5.3.1 General resource pressure............................................................80 5.3.2 The effect of employment..............................................................81 5.4 Recommendations for CDBTP.............................................................84 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESEARCH............87 7. REFERENCES...........................................................................................90 List of figures Figure i Map of Mozambique ix Figure 2.1The two pillars of the old paradigm 7 Figure 2.2 The evolution of indicators of poverty 9 Figure 2.3 Smith et al.’s (in press) livelihood framework 13 Figure 2.4 From tourism participation to conservation 21 Figure 4.1 Proportion of households with different assets 43 Figure 4.2 Histogram of coconut palm ownership 45 Figure 4.3 Histogram of goat/sheep ownership 45 Figure 4.4 Histogram of wealth score 46 Figure 4.5 The flow of local resources through the household 49 Figure 4.6 The size and destination of fish and octopus catches 50 vii Figure 4.7 Primary and secondary sources of income 59 Figure 4.8 Household activities 60 Figure 4.9 Histogram of number of sources of income 61 Figure 4.10 Household production for those with and without employed members 64 Figure 4.11 Household production for households in different wealth groups 66 Figure 4.12 Household consumption for those with and without employed members 67 Figure 4.13 Relationship between household size and consumption 68 Figure 4.14 Household consumption for households in different wealth groups 69 Figure 4.15 Household purchases for those with and without employed members 71 Figure 4.16 Household sales for those with and without employed members 71 Figure 4.17 Household purchases for households in different wealth groups 72 Figure 4.18 Household sales for households in different wealth groups 72 List of tables Table 2.1 The role of fishing in different livelihood strategies 12 Table 4.1 Prices of marine products on Vamizi Island 40 Table 4.2 Fish catches 53 Table 4.3 Results of power calculation for production analyses 65 viii Figure i. Map of Mozambique with the location of Vamizi and Rongui Islands within the concession of CDBTP (outlined in blue in the inset). ix