The Role of Institutional Arrangements and Policy on the Conservation, Utilization and Commercialization of Indigenous Fruits in Southern Africa - Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization - page 312

1996). The colonial state agencies were created to control, regulate and manage
woodland resources by establishing forest reserves as 'no go' zones for local
communities. Over time, however, this has changed, and policies are increasingly
being geared towards co-management by the state and communities. Several
countries are devolving rights and responsibilities for management of natural
resources to local people (Chambers, 1983). The devolvement is born out of an
appreciation that integrating formal institutions with traditional moral and political
legitimacy at the local level provides more stable and effective approaches for
managing natural resources. In addition, the effectiveness with which state
institutions manage natural resources without the participation of local
communities has been increasingly questioned. In most countries, national policies
and regulations set the institutional framework. These institutions are dynamic and
are pivotal in the facilitation of local empowerment. Institutions involved in the
governance of land and resource management in southern Africa range from
national to local, informal and formal, operating independently or alongside each
other. Most of these institutions and their supporting structures fall within the state
institutional framework or operate as traditional institutions (Shackleton and
Campbell, 2001). Among the oldest are traditional institutions that may fall within
or outside state statutes (Mukamuri et al ., 1999; Shackleton and Campbell, 2001).
During colonial times, individuals were asked to carry out conservation work, such
as building and planting trees in village woodlots, without payment.
The structural adjustment programmes embarked upon by several
countries in the 1980s have greatly affected most state institutions and forced
them to scale-down their activities, reduced government expenditure, and
encouraged privatization and decentralization of governance. Community
conservation had been institutionalized in many local communities. The
decline in respect of traditional regulations is due to the emergence of new
livelihood strategies in order to cope with economic problems. People are no
longer interested in doing things whose benefits they are not sure of getting;
they now prefer to plant trees in their individual home plots. The sale of fruits
from natural forests was traditionally unacceptable. Most of these local
institutions for managing collectively owned natural resources are built on
controls derived from traditions, cultures and norms (Matose and Wily, 1996).
However, there is evidence that local communities can successfully manage
collectively owned resources (Agarwal and Yadama, 1997). In some locations,
youths have turned to wood carving for tourists as a survival strategy. They are
now violating traditional rules by cutting down fruit and sacred trees. The
traditional rules and regulations relating to woodlands are under pressure from
the commercialization of the resources. In the 1980s, individuals started to sell
indigenous fruits, e.g. Uapaca kirkiana fruits, cakes made from Parinari
curatellifolia and alcoholic products from Sclerocarya birrea in Zimbabwe.
17.2.2 Institutional and policy challenges to sustainable development of IFTs
Traditionally the miombo woodlands of southern Africa have been supporting
various wildlife and plants and providing an economic lifeline to rural communities