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Botswana is a key tourism destination in Southern Africa mainly because of the rich wildlife resources and scenic beauty it sustains. Since the 1990s, the growth of wildlife-based tourism in Botswana has stimulated the development of a variety of tourism infrastructure and facilities. This paper asks if these qualify as sustainable tourism. Using both primary and secondary data sources, the study reveals that foreign-owned safari companies and investors dominate Botswana’s tourism industry, leading to the repatriation of tourism revenue, domination of management positions by expatriates and lower salaries for citizen workers. Tourism also fails to significantly contribute to rural development in Botswana due to its weak linkages with the domestic economy. Promoting more inclusive and beneficial policies and strategies would allow tourism to become more sustainable, making a significant contribution to local development, and allowing citizens to finally see real benefits from an industry which is sustained by their local environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the results of a study carried out in Gumare and Etsha 6 villages of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The study examined the relationship between development of tourism and production of traditional baskets in the area. Methods used for the study include a total of 100 household survey, questionnaires administered across the two study sites, two focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The findings indicate that different factors may have worked individually or in concert to necessitate a shift in focus for production of baskets from domestic to commercial wares. Importantly, the paper underlines the importance of tourism in availing a market for the baskets thus considerably influencing the nature of production and changes observed in the qualities of the baskets over time. The paper concludes that the observed changes are necessary if the basket production industry is to be sustained. Essentially, therefore, these changes may be conceived of as signs of evolution on the part of the craft and adaptation by producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The devolution of natural resource management to local government institutions is a dominant theme in contemporary discussion of common property natural resource management. However, much has not been researched on what levels of local government ought to receive devolutionary powers. The objective of this article, therefore, is to assess the effects of CBNRM integration into local government structures and its contribution to poverty alleviation and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Kgalagadi and Ngamiland Districts. This article is informed by the decentralization theory. Using primary and secondary data sources, results indicate that CBNRM is not integrated into local government structures in the two districts. At the village level are community-based organizations (CBOs) whose role within the local government structure is unspecified and unclear. Interestingly, CBOs are the units of local-level governance that received devolutionary powers of natural resource management in Botswana under the community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) program. The role of local government (District Councils) in CBNRM development is not integrated. This study concludes by stating that CBNRM has potential to contribute to poverty alleviation and contribute to MDGs in Ngamiland and Kgalagadi Districts. However, this is possible if CBNRM can be integrated into local government structures and recognized as one of the strategies that seek to reduce poverty and contribute to MDGs in Botswana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]