the role of tourism in natural resource management in the okavango ...

international controversy over its impact on wildlife. The fences halted traditional
migratory movements, trapping animals in parcels of fenced off land. The criticism
was intensified by the fact that the economic benefits from the beef exports almost
exclusively accrue to the five percent of commercial agricultural farmers in Botswana
that are estimated to own more than half of the national cattle herd. An estimated 50
percent of rural households neither own nor have access to cattle (Van Buren, 2002;
Van Buren, 2004).
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has proposed halting the EU beef subsidies
enjoyed by Botswana and other African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations under
the beef protocol of the Lome Convention. Beef quotas are to be slowly eliminated
by the end of 2007. During the transitional period, Botswana and other ACP nations
will prepare themselves for the establishment of reciprocity in trade with the EU in
order to become WTO compliant (Van Buren, 2004).
In contrast to the cattle sector, sheep and goat numbers have been able to
withstand the periodic droughts fairly well. Predominantly a subsistence-sector
resource, the national goat and sheep herd increased from 776 000 head in 1982 to
2,62 million in 2001. Goats greatly outnumber sheep, standing at 2,25 million head
in 2001 compared to just 370 000 head of sheep in that same year. Numbers of both
animals have shown steady but modest growth over the previous four years. Apart
from beef, the main commercial development has been in urban poultry farming.
Botswana had an estimated 4 million chickens in 2001, 1 million more than in 1999.
Efforts have also been made to improve the availability of eggs and chickens in rural
areas and to increase the local production of milk and fish. Diversification efforts
have concentrated on ostrich and fish farming, and on improving the infrastructure
for the marketing of fresh milk. Ostrich farming is increasingly becoming a promising
new industry, with plans to market the low-cholesterol red meat in Europe (Van
Buren, 2004).
There are two distinct agricultural production systems in Botswana, namely
traditional and commercial, with each system incorporating both crop and livestock
components. The difference between these sub-sectors is based on land tenure,
technologies and market integration. Commercial agriculture, largely associated with
freehold farms is integrated in formal markets, whereas traditional farmers
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