Farm Dwellers, the Forgotten People? Consequences of Conversions to Private Wildlife Production in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape

This project addresses the role of the private sector in conservation and development. In South Africa, especially in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, a growing trend to convert commercial farms to wildlife-based forms of land-use is noticeable. The proposed project seeks to explore the impacts of these conversions on farm dwellers; i.e. farm labourers, (former) labour and rent-paying tenants and their families. This aspect of farm conversions has received only scant attention from scholars. Two studies using surveys among a limited sample of managers of private game reserves seem to indicate that the demand for labour increases after conversion and that wages increase as well. However, rural NGOs report a significant increase in evictions of farm dwellers as a result of farm conversions. The proposed project aims to study the impacts of conversions on farm dwellers in more detail, taking into account the diversity of wildlife-based forms of land-use. Research will be conducted to determine the driving forces behind the conversions, the scale and extent of the trend in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, and the economics of the different forms of wildlife production including private game reserves, hunting operations, and venison production. Research will be conducted among wildlife producers, their representatives, and the relevant local and national government departments to gain insights into the driving forces and the policy environment in which wildlife producers operate. It is expected that different forms of wildlife production will have differential social and livelihood impacts on farm dwellers. Other researchers in the project will engage with affected farm-based communities in four case study areas in each of the provinces. Farm dwellers responses are a key focus and the researchers will work closely with AFRA and ECARP, two rural advocacy NGOs, to identify conflict resolution processes and initiatives through which the interests of different stakeholders could be reconciled and negative effects mitigated. Research findings will be disseminated to and discussed with all relevant stakeholders, including farm dwellers and their representatives, rural advocacy NGOs, wildlife producers and their representatives (e.g. ECGMA, KZNHCA), and policy-makers in government and donor organisations.