Cultural tourism in African communities
4 Cultural tourism in African communities
4.3 Community tourism and empowerment
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the Kenyan Wildlife Services) and in the private sector (e.g. tour operators and hoteliers). In these interactions there are also NGOs (such as the SNV) and tourism media brokers and advertising agents. For example, in the cultural manyattas, the Kenyan Wildlife Services, local NGOs, staff at hotels, campsites or lodges, and driver/guides play a significant role in determining the quality of the overall tourism product and the forms of tourism development in the community. In the CTP in Tanzania, the Tanzanian Tourism Board, local tour operators, project coordinators and the SNV have all played a role in determining the nature of tourism development. It can therefore be argued that the success or failure of community-based tourism projects, particularly as regards project sustainability, usually depends more on the power of brokers and the local project coordinators than on the power of tourists and other external interest groups.
Differential access to knowledge is one of the constituent factors of this particular reality. To a large extent, the level of knowledge that various individuals and groups in the tourism relationship are able to utilize usually determines the exercise of power. Knowledge lays the foundation for new strategies and actions, which in turn creates new knowledge, as individuals obtain new experiences in the process (Wearing and McDonald, 2002). As a consequence, members of a community do not cease to have power because their way of governing is inspired by new forms of knowledge, but power is exercised in relation to the knowledge that is being obtained and transmitted. For instance, as specific tourism-related knowledge is not usually available and/or is not disseminated adequately, most of the cultural tourism projects in Tanzania are gradually becoming reduced to small enterprises that are managed by one coordinator or a small interest group within the community. It can thus be argued that with the departure of the SNV, there has been an increasing tendency not to share equitably the existing knowledge on project management within and between the various villages, and this has tended to enhance the power base of certain coordinators vis-à-vis other members of the community. As a consequence, the ownership of various tourism projects – and even the ownership and coordination of the CTP as a whole – is increasingly being disputed, as illustrated by the failure to institutionalize the Tanzania Cultural Tourism Organization as the overall coordinating body that should have taken over the management of the various projects after the withdrawal of the SNV. The successful implementation and management of the CTP therefore depend to large a extent on the existence of a proper communication network, the sharing of new ideas and information between project coordinators and the other community members, and the promotion of transparency and accountability, particularly with regards to the management of financial resources.
Similarly, in the cultural manyattas in Kenya, increasing conflicts among various interest groups and the emergence of local elites are the critical issues lying at the heart of the current problems the projects are confronted with (see also Buysrogge, 2001; Tosun, 2000). The local elites tend to monopolize leadership and to thwart democratic processes. As a consequence, the monopolization of knowledge and other resources of power by the local elites has tended to divide the community, and it is therefore not easy for the local people to unite, organize and claim what is rightfully theirs. In this regard, it is critical that for community-based tourism projects to succeed, development agents and other intermediaries should always be aware of existing and emerging conflicts within the communities, since a lack of understanding of existing social and power relations has greatly impacted on the success of community participatory processes.
Acknowledging the fluidity and relational character of power relations implies that empowerment is not the cause but the effect of dynamic processes in which communities (or
Chapter 4 Cultural tourism in African communities
fractions thereof), tourists, tourist organizations and governmental as well as development agencies interact. Therefore, local participation and involvement on their own do not automatically lead to the empowerment of individuals. In this regard, it can be asked what forms of empowerment initiatives have evolved in the cultural manyattas in Kenya and the CTP in Tanzania.
First, the development of community tourism has the potential to bring economic gains to local people, and tourism can directly contribute to overall socio-economic development. For instance, in most of the cultural manyattas in Kenya, the tourism revenues have been used to improve piped water supplies and to construct primary schools and dispensaries. In the CTP in Tanzania, a compulsory Village Development Fee (VDF) is levied in all the projects. This enables the entire community to benefit from the tourism revenues. A substantial share of the revenue from tourism is allocated to community development projects, such as the construction of local schools and cattle dips. For instance, between 1996 and 2001, the CTP generated a total income of approximately USD 260,000, of which over 90,000 was allocated to various local community projects. In addition, it has been estimated that in 1999, over 100 local people received employment from the CTP (SNV, 1999). Similarly, it has been estimated that in just three cultural manyattas in Kenya, close to 1500 Maasai people receive direct or indirect income (Knegt, 1998).
Second, in terms of psychological empowerment, the self-esteem of some communities and participants in the CTP was enhanced because of the outside recognition of the uniqueness and value of their culture, natural resources and traditional knowledge (Scheyvens, 1999). The award to the CTP of the prestigious TO DO! 1999 prize (Adler, 1999), and the training of disadvantaged young people by the Professional TourGuide School, contributed to increasing both confidence and access to employment and cash. Certain fractions (e.g. local project coordinators and guides) from within the community became empowered as a result of establishing relations with tourists, drivers, tour operators and NGOs (i.e. SNV). However, in this process other fractions were left behind. Both in the Kenyan and the Tanzanian case study, there is serious concern regarding inequity in the distribution of the benefits and tourism revenues. There is also concern over issues of transparency and accountability in the management of the projects (Knegt, 1998;
Buysrogge, 2001; Syikilili, 2002 and Verburg, 2004). As a consequence, as many people have not shared, or have not equally shared, in the benefits of the projects, there is also confusion and disinterest or even disillusion with the initiatives (Scheyvens, 1999).
Third – and related to the above – the empowerment of women is a principle ingredient in local community development. In most instances, there are inequitable power relations between men and women. For instance, in most of the cultural manyattas in Kenya the Maasai men tend to receive more of the tourism revenues than the women do. This is despite the fact that in most of the manyattas, the women are the main providers of services. Furthermore, due to increasing competition and rivalry among leaders (most of whom are male), there are frequent disagreements and quarrels. This has led to increasing divisions and fragmentation, as dissatisfied members move way from existing cultural manyattas to establish new projects.
Consequently, there is a rapid mushrooming of these manyattas, which is resulting in the reduction of the quality of cultural attractions, the degradation of local habitats and the increasing impoverishment of women.
Also in the CTP in Tanzania there is inequitable distribution of the tourism revenue between men and women. Although it has been estimated that a significant 40% of the people who provide
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services in the various cultural tourism projects are women, only 25% of the revenues go directly to women. Furthermore, the empowerment of women and gender parity should be based not only on the amount of revenue that goes to a particular group, but also on overall participation in the decision-making processes. Although both in the Kenyan and Tanzanian projects women play an important role in the delivery of various services, few women serve as brokers and few women are actually involved in the decision-making processes.
Fourth, in terms of political empowerment, the cultural manyattas and the cultural tourism projects have introduced new political structures both within and between the communities. As stated, in most of the cultural manyattas, a management committee was established to manage the projects. Before starting a cultural manyatta, local project initiators have to consult with the leaders of group ranches and also with the local chief. However, the management committees are usually registered separately from existing group ranch committees. As a consequence, this form of arrangement usually introduces a new level of governance in the local community. In addition, the recent establishment (jointly by the African Wildlife Society, the Kenyan Wildlife Society and the Ministry of Culture and Social Services) of the Association for Cultural Centres in Amboseli Ecosystem (ACCA) has a new political implication that will affect local governance.
Apart from involvement in marketing and revenue distribution, ACCA also aims at relocating the cultural manyattas that are situated in critical wildlife corridors and dispersal areas. In other words, through ACCA the government and other interest groups are trying to control and reduce the haphazard development of cultural manyattas in areas adjacent to Amboseli National Park.
Similarly, the recent establishment of the Tanzania Cultural Tourism Organization (TACTO) to coordinator the activities of the CTP also has political implications. The main aim of TACTO is to coordinate the various initiatives subsequent to the withdrawal of SNV. However, TACTO has been a source of conflict among the various community projects ever since its establishment.
Although personal and financial disputes were the immediate sources of conflict, in essence the main cause of conflict centres on the issue of ownership of the CTP. In this regard, most of the local people in the various villages do not see TACTO as their organization. A lack of trust and cooperation among stakeholders remains. Successful projects within the CTP do not feel responsible for the less successful ones, and the variety of organizational forms within the 18 projects also impedes cooperative action. As one of the stakeholders observed: ‘TACTO is like a house hit by a storm. And sometimes it is easier to build a new one instead of rebuilding it’ (in:
Verburg, 2004). As the SNV has pulled out and the Tanzanian Tourism Board feels responsible only for the marketing of the projects, the CTP is about to fall apart in various projects; some are very successful, while others are almost out of business.
