The Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) is often wrongly perceived as exclusively about wildlife conservation. The reality, however, is that the KAZA TFCA’s conservation and community wellbeing objectives are intricately linked considering that the TFCA is a co-existence landscape with approximately 3 million people. Residents of the TFCA who live in and adjacent to the protected areas rely on the landscape’s rich natural resources for livelihoods. As such, one of KAZA TFCA’s objectives, as enshrined in the KAZA Treaty (Article 6-1e), is to “enhance sustainable use of natural and cultural heritage resources to improve the livelihoods of local communities within and around the KAZA TFCA and hence contribute towards poverty reduction.”
Amidst growing pressures on the ecosystem from, among others, economic development, unsustainable use of natural resources, a rapidly evolving change in climate and demographic factors including incompatible land uses — all of which are having significant impacts on livelihoods and drawing on communities’ ability to initiate collective action, the KAZA TFCA Partner States of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe convened the Community Working Group (CWG) in Kasane, Botswana. The Community Working Group is a platform for technical experts from the Partner States and invited subject matter specialists.
The meeting that took place in early October, in anticipation of approval discussed the operationalization and implementation of various strategic tools designed and developed to enhance communities’ livelihoods including the KAZA TFCA Livelihoods Diversification Strategy and the Livelihoods-focused climate risk assessment as well as the prospects of developing a wildlife economy in KAZA. These tools were supported by insights from the recent KAZA socio-economic survey and the KAZA Land Use Change analysis done in 2022/23 — both expected to contribute to informing evidence-based action, policy adaptation and directing future funding and adaptive management in KAZA.
The initiative to operationalize these tools builds on the decision (9&10) of the KAZA Heads of State Summit held in Zambia in May 2024, which called for and emphasized the need to expedite the approval of the KAZA TFCA Livelihoods Diversification Strategy and Climate Change Livelihood Focused Risk Assessment. The Summit also recognized the need to harmonize Community-Based Natural Resources Management policies and frameworks for synchronized community benefits, as well as ensuring cross-sectoral integrated land use planning to facilitate regional development coordination and create opportunities for sharing wildlife economy lessons and case studies.
Various instruments have been developed in KAZA to support regional planning, coordination, and cooperation among member States on key thematic areas and the advancement of the KAZA mission. The documents complement the suite of frameworks developed to operationalize the KAZA Treaty. They also provide Partner States with a collective vision and integrated approach to enhancing livelihood options in KAZA and encompass strategies to improve community resilience to climate change for the period 2023-2033.
The CWG, a structure of the KAZA TFCA mandated to lead, support, and advance the cause of local communities in the KAZA landscape, is leading the implementation of this work package, ensuring coordination among Partner States and livelihoods projects that are inclusive, coherent and effective.
Speaking at the meeting, the KAZA TFCA Secretariat Executive Director, Dr. Nyambe Nyambe, thanked Partner States, NGO partners and experts for their concerted efforts in developing the documents. “The need for timely, evidence-based solutions in the KAZA TFCA has never been greater,” he noted. He further emphasized the importance of strengthening the KAZA CWG’s role in ensuring practical implementation of the strategy and initiatives that benefit frontline communities as well as effective governance, community cooperation, and integrated approaches to land use planning.
The meeting discussed several pathways towards resilient and diversified livelihoods as well as progress in the development of the Wildlife Economy initiative. The Wildlife Economy initiative led by the African Leadership University aims to unlock the value of wildlife resources through development of a TFCA framework that will serve as a guiding instrument for the effective management the wildlife economy in the KAZA TFCA. It is envisaged that this initiative will result in improved conservation outcomes and socioeconomic development of the KAZA landscape.
Over 40 CWG members participated in the meeting including representatives from Community Based Natural Resources Management organizations, implementing NGO partners and representatives from government departments.
The meeting concluded with the establishment of an inclusive task force that will drive the implementation of the KAZA TFCA Livelihoods Diversification Strategy
Looking ahead, following the approval of the KAZA TFCA Livelihoods Diversification Strategy and Climate Change Livelihood Focused Risk Assessment at the 14th Ministerial Committee meeting that took place on October 17, 2024, the CWG through the KAZA Secretariat will:
- Organize a planning workshop to develop detailed implementation plans of the afore-mentioned documents.
- Collaborate with Partner States through the respective National Committees, to plan and implement in-country projects.
The development of the KAZA TFCA Livelihoods Diversification Strategy and the Livelihoods-focused climate risk assessment was supported by the USAID Resilient Waters Program in collaboration with WWF Germany BMZ Bengo Global Programme which funded the CWG engagements.