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Tourism in Namibia: enhancing livelihood impacts

How can local benefits from tourism be enhanced? Livelihood analysis is different to conventional approaches that focus exclusively on either economic, or commercial, or environmental impacts. A livelihoods perspective, on the other hand, provides valuable insights into a range of impacts – direct, indirect, positive, negative - that matter to local people.

How can sectoral policies be adjusted to enhance livelihood impacts? Evidence from community tourism ventures in Namibia suggests that while some policy implications are context-specific, others have more general relevance to tourism practitioners elsewhere.

The study is part of a series of Overseas Development Institute working papers looking at practical applications of Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) approaches within natural resources management. Using the SL framework to achieve a broader scope and analysis that better reflects the complex reality of people's concerns and aspirations, the research aimed to assess the diverse impacts of tourism in terms of:

impact on household assets
impact on household activities and strategies
contribution to a variety of household goals
influence on the external policy environment and people's capacity to influence external forces.

It is important to consider the wide range of indirect impacts on livelihoods, as well as the direct contributions to cash income. Tourism’s effect on people's asset base and its 'fit' with existing activities are critical factors. Constraints from tourism need to be addressed as do the benefits. Three key facts emerge:

Summarising the development impact of tourism in terms of 'jobs and cash' is an oversimplification. Complex livelihood strategies are based on multiple land uses and diversification of risk which are affected by tourism in many different ways.
Different types of community tourism ventures have different types of livelihood impacts.
Different people have different livelihood priorities.

Implications for policy include:

The development impact of tourism will vary widely within and between communities.
Enhancing the livelihood impacts of tourism does not mean simply maximising tourism development, or maximising wage income.
Careful planning and design, based on an understanding of local livelihoods can greatly enhance positive impacts.

Maximising livelihood benefits also requires a good understanding of what people most need and want and of the complex ways in which tourism options affect livelihoods. Local people need therefore to be involved in decision-making by

devolving tourism rights to community level and helping communities with participatory planning
ensuring that government planning processes are participatory and responsive to local needs
ensuring, through government incentives, that planning by private entrepreneurs is responsive to local needs

The details of how to enhance livelihoods are location-specific. The principles of recognising that a range of livelihood concerns are important, and supporting systems that enable local people's priorities to be incorporated into tourism decisions, can be generally applied.

Source(s):
‘The Impact of Tourism on Rural Livelihoods: Namibia’s Experience’, ODI Working Paper # 128 by Ashley, C (2000) Full document.
‘Tourism, Communities and National Policy: Namibia’s Experience’ Development Policy Review 16 pp 265-280 Blackwell Publishers by C. Ashley (1998)

Funded by: Department for International Development, UK

id21 Research Highlight: 16 February 2001

Further Information:
Caroline Ashley
Overseas Development Institute
111 Westminster Bridge Road
London SE1 7JD
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7922 0300
Fax: +44 (0)20 7922 0399
Contact the contributor: c.ashley@odi.org.uk

Overseas Development Institute, UK

Sustainable Livelihoods

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