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Western Serengeti people shall not die: the relationship between Serengeti National Park and rural household economies in Tanzania

dc.contributor.authorKnapp, Eli J., author
dc.contributor.authorGalvin, Kathleen, advisor
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-13T19:53:55Z
dc.date.available2024-03-13T19:53:55Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.description.abstractThis research examined the relationship between Serengeti National Park and rural household economies living near (within 18 kilometers) its western borders in Tanzania. The study was based upon semi-structured household interviews with a general sample (N = 722), acknowledged poachers (N = 104), households with park-related employment (N = 50) and key informants (N = 15) in three two administrative regions and three districts. Interviews generated information about four primary social-ecological interactions which included crop destruction by wildlife, illegal hunting, park-related employment, and wildlife depredation on livestock. A cost-benefit analysis revealed that the average household generates a net profit of USD $13 from these interactions. Despite this, 84 percent of households were found to be food insecure for maize, the region's primary food crop. Moreover, 78 percent of households were found to be significantly over-budget over the preceding 12 months. These findings suggests that most households next to Serengeti National Park are generally impoverished and are lacking adaptive capacity to deal with severe environmental or socio-ecological changes. The first component of the research provided the context for western Serengeti. Significant findings included the importance of secondary education for increasing income to household economy and showed the level of dependence that households have on local natural resources. Households draw more heavily (often illegally) from the National Park with the advent of severe crop failures which were found to occur with a ten year periodicity. The second component revealed that neither crop damage nor wildlife depredation on livestock is distributed evenly. Rather, they are heavily localized with few effects on some households and severe effects on others. Although the effects of wildlife on crops and livestock generally decreased with distance from the Park, losses were particularly large for households within three kilometers of a boundary. The third component examined illegal bushmeat hunting and sales. Findings from respondents and extensive court documents suggested that fines and imprisonment had little effect on curbing illegal hunting behavior. The fourth component consisted of a synthesis of the cost-benefit analysis with a focus on food security and its effects on adaptive capacity. Implications of these findings are made for the resilience of the coupled socio-ecological system in western Serengeti.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifierETDF_Knapp_2009_3401035.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/237823
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.rights.licensePer the terms of a contractual agreement, all use of this item is limited to the non-commercial use of Colorado State University and its authorized users.
dc.subjectcrop destruction
dc.subjecthuman-wildlife conflicts
dc.subjectpoaching
dc.subjectrural households
dc.subjectSerengeti National Park
dc.subjectTanzania
dc.subjectcultural anthropology
dc.subjecthistology
dc.titleWestern Serengeti people shall not die: the relationship between Serengeti National Park and rural household economies in Tanzania
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineEcology
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

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