We examined livelihood activities at the household level in a wildlife conservancy along
the Kwando River in the Caprivi region of Namibia. It analyzes data from surveys collected in
Mashi Conservancy, a community-based natural resource management program bordered on two
sides by national parks. The conservancy is remote, economically undeveloped, and has a
recovering wildlife population. Its people subsist primarily on rain-fed agriculture from sandy
soils in a semi-arid, drought-prone environment.
We asked how people in the conservancy make their livelihoods and what differences exist
between the conservancy’s riverside and interior populations. The study finds that a population
centered 20 km away from the river on slightly heavier soils engages in fewer livelihood
activities and has greater food security than does the riverside population. It further establishes
that differences between the two populations are significant enough to indicate two distinct
combinations of livelihood activity with different environmental interactions. Differences also
exist among riverside households based on soil type. These findings suggest that any
management action taken by the conservancy will affect household livelihoods differently based
on location and that these differences must be considered as the conservancy makes the transition
from a subsistence-based agricultural system to a wildlife-based economy.