Involvement of Women in Natural Resources Utilisation

Before CBNRM, primarily the type of resource determined women’s relation to natural resources. That is, women were mainly concerned with collecting veld products as opposed to wildlife. This focus on veld products has been the starting point for women’s involvement in CBNRM. Present indications are that women have increased access to “their” resources. They appear to be increasing the ways in which they use resources. So far new activities and uses of plant resources are additional, and not replacements of traditional ones. This is not always true for wildlife, the “men’s” resource. In many communities the entire hunting quota is sold to an operator and individual men end up having less involvement or direct use of the resource than before CBNRM. In terms of numbers, more women participate in the use of natural resources under CBNRM than men do. Even where men are involved in veld product based activities, their participation tends to be one of administration rather than actual use. According to VPR&D facilitators, both women and men seem comfortable with these roles. Activities that do not interfere with women’s other obligations appear to attract the most participation. For instance, making curios can be done at home while caring for children. Collecting fruit can be done in the late morning after household and field chores are over. CBNRM, particularly through tourism, has increased the number of wage employment opportunities available to women. But where these jobs are located far from the village, some husbands put pressure on women not to take them. One of the biggest improvements to actual use of resources that CBNRM has brought is the opportunity for women to work as a group. By co-ordinating their efforts and pooling labour and transport resources, women can collect more, travel further and invest in processing resources.

Distribution of Benefits of Natural Resource Use between Men and Women
CBNRM has significantly increased the total financial benefits that communities receive from natural resources. CBNRM projects that are based on veld products generally give benefits directly to individuals. Most of these individuals are women. Before CBNRM, the opportunities for women to earn cash from natural resources were limited. It is probably fair to say that women have increased their earnings from natural resources as a result of CBNRM. In addition, more women than men earn a direct income from CBNRM. But the returns per household are low. Income from veld products can only be seen as supplementary to existing livelihood sources.

CBNRM has had the effect of increasing the value of natural resources. In particular, the value of wildlife has increased dramatically. Under subsistence use, veld products have tended to carry less prestige than game meat. This is in spite of the fact that their proportional food and calorie contribution has been more significant to households relying on both these resources. Under the new commercial regime introduced by CBNRM, the difference in value between veld products and wildlife has become orders of magnitude higher. “Men’s” resources are now worth disproportionately more than “women’s” resources, which could have the effect of sidelining women’s status in terms of natural resources use and management.

Because of donor funding, CBNRM has increased the training and capacity-building opportunities available to rural communities. But is appears that women are not benefiting equitably from these opportunities. There appear to be two main obstacles limiting women’s participation in workshops and courses. The first is that much of the training is given to CBO committees and boards and most of the members of these committees are men. Fewer women are in a position to receive training. The second reason is social. Where women are given the chance to attend courses, some are prevented from doing so by their household obligations. In some instances, it is not socially acceptable for married women to sleep away from their homes without their husbands.

CBNRM has also had the effect of increasing the value of cultural resources. The most obvious indication of this is through the production of traditional crafts, and through traditional singing and dancing. Such activities are seen as building a sense of pride and self-worth, as well as a means of preserving cultural identities. Since most of the people involved in these activities are women, it would seem that they are benefiting more. What is difficult is that there are some cultural traditions that work against equity for women. For example, the tradition of decision-making being a men’s role does not help women gain equity in control over resources. For the time being, however, the examples of cultural tourism in place at the moment seem to focus on the outward manifestations of Botswana’s different cultures.

Involvement of Women in Decision-making on Natural Resources Use

Decision-making is one of the more important aspects of CBNRM. Being able to participate in decision-making is the key to sharing control over resources. The main change in decision-making under CBNRM is related to the move from individual to group control over resources. In most communities CBNRM has seen the formation of new organisations for decision-making, rather than using existing ones such as the Village Development Committees. New structures have provided a slightly greater chance for women to participate. To a large extent, women’s involvement in decision-making depends on the type of CBNRM project. In particular, factors such as whether the project includes the whole community or only interested individuals, whether the activities are based on “women’s”, “men’s” or new resources, the value of the resources, and whether benefits are paid directly to participants or to the CBO for investment, can all influence women’s participation. In general, it appears that without deliberate interventions by support organisations women’s control over natural resources could be reduced through.

Involvement of Women in the Management of Natural Resources

Although CBNRM is meant to be about the sustainable use, monitoring and conservation of natural resources, most projects have seen little change in the way that resources are managed. The only real changes are in the way natural resources are benefiting people. Some monitoring does take place. The involvement of women in monitoring veld products happens primarily where the group is made up of women. This does not seem have anything to do with whether women and men are equitably sharing management responsibilities. In these instances, CBNRM itself has not changed women’s involvement in managing the resources. It is more an artefact of the composition of the group. Where women share monitoring activities in CBNRM projects that use wildlife, this is usually the result of the interventions or suggestions of supporting agencies. Without these interventions, it is likely that men will take control of the management duties.