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population. A total of 56 959 people (53% of the population) are of working age (15 – 64 years).
Older people only make up 6% of the population. Life expectancy is dropping, as a result of
HIV/AIDS and other factors. More than half (55%) of households are female-headed.
The tourism industry is the major employer of labour, with men being employed as polers, drivers,
guides, camp builders and security guards, and women employed as maids, receptionists and in
catering, cleaning and laundry (TLB 2006). Some villages (e.g. Ditshipi, Daonara, Seronga) have
become centres for mekoro-based tourism.
Most people living in the study area are rural and poor. Most households have a diversified
production system which is aimed at reducing risks in an unstable environment. The importance of
different activities varies between households and communities, and between seasons and years, in
response to variations in rainfall, flooding, access to resources, labour and capital and other factors
(Scudder et al. 1993). The main activities are dryland and flood recession agriculture, livestock, wage
labour, a range of commercial activities, fishing, gathering and hunting (Scudder et al. 1993). Cattle
keeping may not benefit more than 20% of the population (Campbell 1976), but is preferred by most
households, who value cattle not only in terms of production but for other reasons including for status
and as a means of saving and investment (Scudder et al. 1993).
2.5 Zonation used in this study
For the purposes of this study, the study area was divided into zones based on consideration of
settlement patterns, land use and natural resource characteristics. Five zones were recognised as
follows (Figure 2-4):
1: Panhandle
This zone is characterised by the lack of floodplain area, the high numbers of settlements along the
river, and the relatively high density and accessibility of fish and aquatic plant resources. There is
little opportunity for recession agriculture (molapo farming).
2. West
This zone lies to the west of the delta proper, and people living here have access to wetland and
floodplain resources, including molapo farming areas.
3. South West
The zone is relatively arid and sparsely populated. Its settlements follow what was formerly the outer
margins of the delta, but these are now far from the wetland and floodplain areas.
4. South East
This area is dominated by Maun and is relatively far from the main wetland areas, but does have
reasonable access to some of the distributaries and floodplain areas.
5. Central
This zone is largely delineated on the basis of the buffalo fence and has wildlife as the main land use.
This zone encompasses most of the wetland area, and there is very little upland area. While
dominated by the Okavango Delta, it also includes the Linyanti-Chobe wetland areas on the
northeastern border of the study area. There are very few people living in this zone, in a few
scattered villages as well as in association with some of the larger tourist lodges.
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