Diversification of CAMPFIRE from wildlife

The lack of diversification of CAMPFIRE from wildlife to other natural resources is a topical issue. As indicated in the introduction, USAID support to CAMPFIRE involved two phases.  NRMP I (1989-1994) spent USD7.6 million and supported four districts in Matabeleland (Binga, Hwange, Tsholotsho and the then Bulilimamangwe, now Bulilima and Mangwe districts), as well as wildlife management in the Hwange-Matetsi Parks and Wildlife Complex, and some communication, training and research.  In 1995, USAID refinanced NRMP II with USD20.5 million as a national project in support of the CAMPFIRE programme. 

A loose consortium of support organization called the CAMPFIRE Collaborative Group (CCG) was formed in the early days of the conceptualization CAMPFIRE. This group which was initially chaired and led by DNPWM in the then Ministry of Environment and Tourism comprised of; the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development (MLGRUD); Zimbabwe Trust (ZIMTRUST) including Africa Resources Trust and Action Magazine; University of Zimbabwe’s Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS, later CASS Trust); World Wide Fund for Nature Southern Africa Regional Programme Office (WWF-SARPO), and CAMPFIRE Association. Together, they played an integrative, conceptual and policy development role in the early stages of the programme. 

Direct financial support was provided to each of the organizations that had formed the CCG.  A breakdown of the USAID/NRMP II (1995-2003) budget by project components and implementing agency is provided below:

Budgetary allocation of USAID funds to CCG Members (USD million)

Through USAID funding, these organizations provided vital support services covering training of communities in organizational development, financial management as well as wildlife management, research, monitoring and policy development. However, at the end of 1999, the NRMP II phase introduced a grant facility called the CAMPFIRE Development Fund (CDF), administered by a CAMPFIRE Association chaired Project Management Team (PMT). The fund was established in order to enable communities to apply directly through RDCs for development projects of their choice. This resulted in the volume of core funding to the CCG being reduced, and those organizations that had a continuing interest in supporting CAMPFIRE outside of their broader mandates became CAMPFIRE Service Providers (CSPs). At end of USAID funding in 2003, WWF was able to continue supporting the implementation of CAMPFIRE through other funding. The remainder of the original CCG members reverted to their own core-business. PWMA has also continued to support CAMPFIRE on operational issues, but phased out the position of a focal person for the CAMPFIRE programme after 2003.

CAMPFIRE Association, through the small community grants facility, expanded the focus of CAMPFIRE from wildlife and commercial high end tourism ventures to other activities such as rafting/river use, timber, water, fisheries, grazing resources, beekeeping, crocodile egg collection, sand extraction, sale of natural products (amacimbi, mazhanje, masau), and crafts projects in communal areas. The success of most of these non-wildlife initiatives (shown in the last column of the table below) has been limited for several practical and economic reasons, and consequently a number of the projects have collapsed.

* Annual Revenue: 1 = less than US$10,000 per annum, 2 = US$10,000-99,000 per annum, 3 = more than US$100,000 per annum.

Despite these efforts and well documented successes and failures, diversification of CAMPFIRE remains imperative. However, the potential benefits of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and photographic tourism compared to safari hunting as a means of supporting the future sustainability of CAMPFIRE must not be exaggerated. 

Current CAMPFIRE Association Projects

The operations of CAMPFIRE without donor funding since 2003 has been a defining moment for the programme and the country’s conservation record internationally. 

CAMPFIRE Association is an Associate Partner in the EU-Funded Wildlife In Livelihood Development (WILD) Programme (USD3.5 million) led by the Sustainable Agriculture Technology (SAT), a local NGO. The project, which started in 2013, sought to pilot some models of community based wildlife management and game ranching in CAMPFIRE areas (Chiredzi, Chipinge and Nyaminyami districts) over three years. The project has changed scope due to delays in startup activities, and is not yet complete.

Since 2015, the government, through the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, has been implementing a five year Global Environment Facility/World Bank (USD5.6 million) funded Hwange-Sanyati Biological Corridor Project led by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Zimbabwe, and CAMPFIRE Association is one of the sub-grantees. This project, among other things, focuses on Human and Wildlife Conflict (HWC) mitigation and livelihood improvement for CAMPFIRE communities in Tsholotsho who bear the brunt of conflict, and of late, international trafficking of ivory through poisoning. It also focuses on wildlife restocking as means of improving community livelihoods in Sidinda ward, Hwange. These activities are on course, with HWC work so far completed in 1 out of 4 wards in Tsholotsho, and the translocation of game to Sidinda ward likely to be started if not completed at the end of November 2017. Through this project, Hwange and Tsholotsho districts have aligned their CAMPFIRE committees with the prescribed “Environment Subcommittees” in their wards as a means of empowering communities and streamlining relationships with Councils over natural resources management matters. 

CAMPFIRE Review/Evaluation

In 2012, CAMPFIRE Association applied for funding from the European Union to support a CAMPFIRE institutional strengthening programme aimed at addressing most of the operational challenges highlighted in this report. For convenience and ease of grant execution, the application was made through Sustainable Agriculture Technology (SAT) to which the Association was already a partner for the WILD project. This application and subsequent granting of additional funds by the EU to SAT, is what has culminated in the current CAMPFIRE Review/Evaluation led by the Ministry of Tourism, Hospitality Industry and Environment. The CAMPFIRE Association looks forward to institutional and community capacity building support from the EU, based on the results of the review.