Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Healers Association. Others include Village Forest Committees (VFC), Village
Natural Resources Management Committees (VNRMC), the Communal Areas
Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE), Village
Development Committees (VIDCO), Ward Development Committees (WARDs)
and Rural Management Committees (RMCs) (Kayambazinthu
et al
., 2003). The
coordination of the implementation of these legal instruments is ineffective due
to poor coordination and covert competition. While these regulatory and legal
systems could in principle help to protect natural resources, the drawback is that
their coordination and implementation is ineffective due to the independent
nature of their operations and subtle competition between the different
institutions involved (Kowero, 2003). There is a need to restructure institutions
and reform policies in order to address this problem. After independence, the
land tenure systems in most southern African countries have also weakened
traditional forest management systems (Kayambazinthu
et al
., 2003). For
example, in traditional tribal lands, woodland resources are now being exploited
by individuals with little respect for conservation and sustainability. Yet before
independence there was great respect for the tribal chiefs who governed the use
and access to woodland resources effectively. In addition, there is general lack of
integration of wood and non-wood products in traditional forest and woodland
management. Recently there have been legislative reforms towards joint
sustainable forest management where diverse stakeholders (government, local
communities and the private sector) share responsibilities in forest management
in Malawi (Kayambazinthu
et al
., 2003). Such initiatives are, however, still in
their nascent stages of development.
Traditional by-laws and policies
At local levels, traditional chiefs are the formal and informal management
structures for natural resources including IFTs. The chiefs use rules, sacred
controls and civic controls in their area of jurisdiction. Examples of these
powerful and stable systems regulating the use of natural resources include
Dagashiga
in Tanzania which is very efficient in the communication and
articulation of indigenous knowledge, attitudes and practices in regulating
access to natural resources within the community (Johannson and Mlenge,
1993),
Ngitili
village laws that operate at communal and household level and
are still effective to date (Oduol and Nyadzi, 2005). Other social and political
institutions for regulating and protecting forest products and IFTs exist among
the
Ngonis
of Malawi,
Bembas
of Zambia,
Lomwes
of Mozambique,
Shonas
of
Zimbabwe and the
Sukumas
of Tanzania (Kayambazinthu
et al
., 2003). An
understanding of the dynamics of these institutions is very important for the
development of IFTs, as they may provide opportunities for conserving natural
forest resources and IFTs.
On the other hand, however, they may inadvertently hinder the develop-
ment of IFTs. For example, due to unclear guidelines to property and user
rights of indigenous fruits, the chiefs have imposed informal rules, which allow
only home consumption of the said fruits. Selling indigenous fruits is strictly
prohibited. The rules are further backed up by the traditional attitude that
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