Institutional factors in natural resource management in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa - Institutional Constraints to Small Farmer Development in Southern Africa - page 221

boundary and all clan or sub-clan members jointly can use the existing resources in their
area and protect the natural resources. Under ordinary circumstances, members of a clan
are permitted to enter with their livestock into the territory of the other clan for grazing.
Although in some other areas traditional institutions still play an important role in
natural resource management, Twine (2005) argued that in other areas, especially in the
rural communities of southern Africa, laws imposed by the chiefs are no longer effective.
Traditional institutions for natural resource management have been weakened and
communities are no longer able to impose some rules regarding the use of rangelands. For
example, Uma et al. (2003) in their studies discovered that traditional institutions in African
countries have deteriorated and this has resulted in more degradation of land which caused
poverty and inappropriate settlement. Based on the above arguments, it can be concluded
that traditional institutions are indeed crucial to the management of resources because the
community knows their land better and can develop regulations, which can accommodate
all the community.
A traditional community institution is based on mostly face-to-face relationships
among social units and is faced with the challenge of practicing rangeland improvement
activities, which require the mobilization of financial and labour contributions from tribal
members (Messer, 2001). African rangeland regimes, on the other hand, consist of various
institutional and water use rights, land rights, rules enforced by customary authorities, self-
enforcing social institutions or conventions, and externally or internally enforced contracts
(Coetzee et al., 2005).
Besides institutional diversity, farmers in the rural areas of eastern and southern Africa have
centralized governments with political structures in which chiefs perform administrative,
governmental and legal functions. In contrast, most pastoral groups in eastern and western
Africa have customary governments with relatively democratic elders' councils holding
legislative and legal authority, or neither minimal customary government. The chiefs or
elders' councils have authority to enforce rules (Chapeyama, 2004). This indicates that
traditional authorities continue to play a role in Natural Resource Management (NRM)
with varying degrees of authority and power. In some other countries, chiefs are asserted
powers as chairpersons of sub-district NRM structures thereby diverting some of the
benefits they obtain to build their own power base (Kowero et al. , 2003). This shows that
the specific activities of traditional authorities are restricted, as some chiefs have engaged
with the new governance structures thereby enjoying the benefits while others are feeling
their power eroding.
Although many farmers are changing their ways, some continue to manage their livestock in
their traditional way. However, their traditional system of management is no longer able to
cope with the shortage of pasture and instead is adding to the problem of land degradation.