Local Economic Development in Mozambique - Responsible Tourism: Critical Issues for Conservation and Development - page 12

Case Study: Diverse eco-operation
'Diverse eco-operation' or 'Diverse Cooperation' has established an 800 hectare
concession at Memba, north of Nacala. With the permission of the local commu-
nity, of approximately 1500 people, they are in the process of developing luxury
tourist accommodation. The intention is to use tourism to promote local
economic development within the community. Fishermen, instead of over-fishing
reefs, will be assisted to develop and manage a marine conservation zone where
tourists will pay a fee for snorkelling and diving. Furthermore, through language
training and accreditation, they will be able to offer boat trips to neighbouring
communities, provide deep sea line fishing and act as tour guides promoting the
cultural and historical diversity of Mozambique. Indirectly linked to tourism, 50
construction workers have already been trained and will be assisted to find other
contracts as a small business. The surpluses of fresh produce cultivated by the
community will be sold at the Nacala markets and other tourist destinations, such
as Ilha de Mocambqiue.
To date Diverse eco-operation have constructed a borehole for the commu-
nity and paid women from the community to collect sea urchins. In addition, they
have encouraged fishermen not to fish in the bay and, once fish stocks have been
replenished, the fishermen will construct a marine conservation area from which
they can generate income by charging tourists a fee. This has already been imple-
mented in Nacala by Bay Diving, who have found that fish stocks returned to
their original state after six months. Bay Diving are currently engaging with local
fishermen to manage the marine site.
Despite the remoteness of the location and poor road access, investors have
developed an operation based on the principle of providing opportunities for the
community and backed this up with a solid business plan, developed with the
assistance of TechnoServe. Two of the investors are tour operators, and one has
already made bookings sufficient for 100 per cent occupancy when they open at
the end of 2009. 7
This chapter has criticized both the government for not providing sufficient
support to community members wanting to access the tourism market and the
private sector for their limited action, limited employment of and limited involve-
ment with community members. However, Diverse eco-operation intends to
develop businesses owned by the community and contract their services. As
tourist sites grow and demand for their services increases so too will their prices,
eliminating the cap on their financial development. Finally, investors have negoti-
ated a land delimitation, which provides the community with ownership of the
land and the investors pay rent for its occupation.
Case Study: ASARUNA
ASARUNA is an association of craftsmen in Nampula town, consisting of 50
members who pay US$4 initially for their membership and then US$0.85 in
monthly installments. 9 Business support has not come from the government but
rather initially from an NGO named 'Aid for Artisans', which provided basic