Chiedza N Mutanga - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Chiedza N Mutanga
Geographies of tourism and global change, 2024
Springer geography, 2023
This study assesses park-people relationships and local community perceptions regarding wildlife ... more This study assesses park-people relationships and local community perceptions regarding wildlife conservation in the Sengwe area, a community within the Great Limpopo Trans Frontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), Chiredzi District, near the Mozambican border in southeast Zimbabwe. The study identifies and examines the existence of perceived and actual conflicts between local communities and conservation (protected) area management, with these conflicts mostly arising from an unshared vision of protected areas and lack of effective community engagement in conservation projects. Most Sengwe villagers report that they were denied access to, and control of, local resources, and were sidelined from wildlife projects, including employment opportunities and tourism promotion. This was also the case with the state-driven Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) projects. Villagers thus believe that the land in the protected area should be for agricultural production as land-based wildlife conservation is failing to enhance their livelihoods. Lack of participation is a key concern resulting in the local community having negative perceptions towards wildlife conservation, and this has caused encroachment of people into the park. We recommend that local community participation and engagement in conservation-based projects and decision-making
Routledge eBooks, Feb 1, 2022
Routledge eBooks, Jan 17, 2023
African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 2021
Sustainable agritourism development is at the apex of contemporary discussions on sustainable tou... more Sustainable agritourism development is at the apex of contemporary discussions on sustainable tourism development as evidenced by enormous studies being done on this tourism concept. This review paper discussed the contributions of one hundred and five (105) research articles that were published in several tourism journals. The main objective of this paper was to establish the current state of literature on Success Factors (SFs) for sustainable agritourism development, identify research gaps, suggest areas of future study and draw lessons that are of importance to the development of agritourism in Zimbabwe. Statistical analysis was employed in order to establish the distribution of the sampled research articles over time, by continent, distribution by research method, distribution by research approach and distribution by research themes. The results of this study revealed that research on agritourism development is biased towards the developed countries, most of the research used qu...
Development Southern Africa, 2021
The sustainability of community ecotourism under the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indi... more The sustainability of community ecotourism under the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) in Zimbabwe is under stress due to shocks including the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The pandemic has potential to impede the efforts the community ecotourism sector has been making towards the attainment of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The specific objectives of the research were to: (i) document the shocks emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic on the Mahenye community ecotourism project and (ii) suggest possible coping and recovery strategies to the COVID-19 pandemic shocks at the Mahenye community ecotourism project. Qualitative methods were adopted encompassing data mining, expert opinion and key informant interviews. The overall impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Mahenye ecotourism elements have been negative. The present research results could enable ecotourism to be sustainable in the face of shocks emanating from infectious pandemics like COVID-19 and future others.
Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2020
The sustainability of ecotourism ventures under the Community Based Natural Resources Management ... more The sustainability of ecotourism ventures under the Community Based Natural Resources Management in Zimbabwe is under stress due to environmental changes emanating from effects associated with socioeconomic factors, climate change and epidemic diseases. Using an in-depth analysis of the Mahenye ecotourism venture from the year 1982 to 2020 as a case study, this study sought to propose a management framework for ecotourism ventures in a changing environment by examining the sustainability of community conservation initiatives in Zimbabwe. Research methods included expert opinion from two natural resources governance academics, desktop research and authors’ experiences about Mahenye ecotourism venture. Results indicated that the Mahenye ecotourism venture has faced significant challenges but has been resilient to withstand the shocks such as population increase, exclusion of youths and women, climate change, hyperinflation, donor fatigue, reduced international ecotourist visitation an...
PLOS ONE, 2017
There are several references which were omitted from the article. The first sentence of the secon... more There are several references which were omitted from the article. The first sentence of the second paragraph in "Community perceptions of determinants and PA staff-community relationship" in the Data collection section should read: Ten discussants were targeted for each FGD (Table 2) as recommended by Krueger and Casey (2000). The reference is: Krueger RA, Casey MA. Focus groups. A practical guide for applied research. 2000;3. The first sentence of the fourth paragraph in the same section should read: Table 2 shows the distribution of community members who participated in FGDs and the estimated population of community members in a district (population statistics were derived from Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (2012)).
International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 2016
We explored the relationships between protected area (PA) staff and adjacent communities in and a... more We explored the relationships between protected area (PA) staff and adjacent communities in and around four PAs in Zimbabwe. A total of 938 local people and 133 PA staff participated in the survey conducted between July 2013 and February 2014. Our results showed that communities generally perceived a negative relationship with PA staff, while PA staff generally perceived a positive relationship with local communities. Only benefitsharing had a different effect on PA staff-community relationship for the PA staff and community samples. In contrast, communication, perceptions (both communities' and PA staff's), community involvement in conservation, history of PA creation, and problems caused by PA existence to the communities or by communities to PAs had the same effect on PA staff-community relationship from both perspectives. We recommend that both conservation agencies and communities should pay more attention to factors that influence PA staff-community relationships so as to nurture positive relationships between PA staff and local communities.
International Journal of Ecology
The spatial-temporal impacts and coping strategies to climate variability vary across human commu... more The spatial-temporal impacts and coping strategies to climate variability vary across human communities. Focusing on Malipati Communal Area in Chiredzi District, southeast Zimbabwe, the study analysed the impacts of climate variability and coping strategies adopted by local communities. Data were collected between May and June 2018 in five (5) villages in Ward 15 of Malipati Communal Area, where a total of 133 participants were involved through focus group discussions, questionnaires, and key informant interviews. The results showed an increase in livestock mortality and in contrast no significant changes in crop yields between 1990 and 2018. Further, the study established that local communities have negative perceptions towards the adaptive coping strategies to climate change, especially on the production of small grains. There is a need for other innovative strategies to enable communities to continuously buffer the impacts of climate variability inclusive of diversifying economic...
Springer geography, 2023
This study assesses park-people relationships and local community perceptions regarding wildlife ... more This study assesses park-people relationships and local community perceptions regarding wildlife conservation in the Sengwe area, a community within the Great Limpopo Trans Frontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), Chiredzi District, near the Mozambican border in southeast Zimbabwe. The study identifies and examines the existence of perceived and actual conflicts between local communities and conservation (protected) area management, with these conflicts mostly arising from an unshared vision of protected areas and lack of effective community engagement in conservation projects. Most Sengwe villagers report that they were denied access to, and control of, local resources, and were sidelined from wildlife projects, including employment opportunities and tourism promotion. This was also the case with the state-driven Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) projects. Villagers thus believe that the land in the protected area should be for agricultural production as land-based wildlife conservation is failing to enhance their livelihoods. Lack of participation is a key concern resulting in the local community having negative perceptions towards wildlife conservation, and this has caused encroachment of people into the park. We recommend that local community participation and engagement in conservation-based projects and decision-making
Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management, 2013
The paper assesses the extent to which tour operators are contributing to tourism sustainable sup... more The paper assesses the extent to which tour operators are contributing to tourism sustainable supply chain management in Zimbabwe using the qualitative methodology. Tour operators were found to have mixed attitudes towards tourism sustainable supply chain management which range from being negative to being positive. Many tour operators were still reactive and defended their own interests while some were however calculating, negotiating for best compromise and making a cost-benefit analysis. Very few tour operators were proactive, innovative and embracive. The paper concludes that tour operators in Zimbabwe face many difficulties in integrating sustainability in their supply chain and have not yet taken much action to implement a sustainable supply chain. The paper recommends that tour operators form or join trade associations to assist them develop the knowledge and expertise to implement sustainability initiatives, and that marketing and promotion of tourism sustainable supply chain management be implemented at a national level.
Human Dimensions of Wildlife
Cogent Social Sciences, Apr 12, 2023
African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 2021
The study sought to determine tourist perceptions on the threats to the sustainability of wildlif... more The study sought to determine tourist perceptions on the threats to the sustainability of wildlife tourism using a case study of two state protected areas in Zimbabwe. Using close-ended questionnaires, we collected data from 128 tourists in December 2015. Results show respondents generally perceived all the seven tested threats as serious, i.e., illegal hunting, destruction of wildlife habitats, human-wildlife conflict, lack of involvement of local people in national park tourism, lack of benefits from the national park to local communities, negative attitudes towards tourism by local residents, and poor local community and national park relationships. Moreover, respondents generally had similar perceptions on the impacts of the threats on the sustainability of wildlife tourism regardless of their gender, age, level of education and income. We conclude tourists are more environmentally conscious and well informed of the threats to wildlife tourism in Zimbabwe, which may indicate wil...
Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 2017
We investigated tourist motivation for visiting two African state protected areas, tourists' wild... more We investigated tourist motivation for visiting two African state protected areas, tourists' wildlife tourism experiences, predictors of wildlife tourism experiences and overall satisfaction with the entire holiday or trip experience. Data were collected in Gonarezhou and Matusadona National Parks, Zimbabwe, in December 2015 using 128 questionnaire surveys. Tourists' push factors for visiting national parks were 'recreation and knowledge seeking', 'appreciating wildlife' and 'feeling close to nature'. Pull factors for the two parks were largely similar with common factors being abundance of wildlife, availability of different animal species, availability of different plant species, wilderness, beautiful landscape and peaceful/quiet environment. We established that different motivation factors had different influences on wildlife tourism experiences. Satisfaction with wildlife tourism experiences was predicted by experiences with wildlife interaction and satisfaction with prices charged in the parks, while overall satisfaction with the entire holiday/trip experiences was predicted by satisfaction with wildlife tourism experiences, enhanced by interpretation and interaction with wild animals. The study highlights that while understanding tourist motivations is important, it is also beneficial for park planning and management to understand the predictors of good wildlife tourism experiences. We recommend that marketing for the two parks need to consider the tourist heterogeneity and demographic-based needs in the development of different travel products and promotional programs. Management implications: While marketing for national parks needs to emphasise more on factors that motivate tourists to visit the parks, it is important to factor in the heterogeneity that exists among park tourists. Hence, in predicting variation in tourist motivation to travel, their demographic profiles should be considered. To enhance wildlife tourism experiences, park management can provide more opportunities for tourists to learn about nature and ensure the availability of wildlife species through enforcing mechanism to reduce poaching and habitat destruction. Park management also need to enhance tourists' opportunities to learn more about nature. This is necessary to increase the level of tourist satisfaction.
Geographies of tourism and global change, 2024
Springer geography, 2023
This study assesses park-people relationships and local community perceptions regarding wildlife ... more This study assesses park-people relationships and local community perceptions regarding wildlife conservation in the Sengwe area, a community within the Great Limpopo Trans Frontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), Chiredzi District, near the Mozambican border in southeast Zimbabwe. The study identifies and examines the existence of perceived and actual conflicts between local communities and conservation (protected) area management, with these conflicts mostly arising from an unshared vision of protected areas and lack of effective community engagement in conservation projects. Most Sengwe villagers report that they were denied access to, and control of, local resources, and were sidelined from wildlife projects, including employment opportunities and tourism promotion. This was also the case with the state-driven Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) projects. Villagers thus believe that the land in the protected area should be for agricultural production as land-based wildlife conservation is failing to enhance their livelihoods. Lack of participation is a key concern resulting in the local community having negative perceptions towards wildlife conservation, and this has caused encroachment of people into the park. We recommend that local community participation and engagement in conservation-based projects and decision-making
Routledge eBooks, Feb 1, 2022
Routledge eBooks, Jan 17, 2023
African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 2021
Sustainable agritourism development is at the apex of contemporary discussions on sustainable tou... more Sustainable agritourism development is at the apex of contemporary discussions on sustainable tourism development as evidenced by enormous studies being done on this tourism concept. This review paper discussed the contributions of one hundred and five (105) research articles that were published in several tourism journals. The main objective of this paper was to establish the current state of literature on Success Factors (SFs) for sustainable agritourism development, identify research gaps, suggest areas of future study and draw lessons that are of importance to the development of agritourism in Zimbabwe. Statistical analysis was employed in order to establish the distribution of the sampled research articles over time, by continent, distribution by research method, distribution by research approach and distribution by research themes. The results of this study revealed that research on agritourism development is biased towards the developed countries, most of the research used qu...
Development Southern Africa, 2021
The sustainability of community ecotourism under the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indi... more The sustainability of community ecotourism under the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) in Zimbabwe is under stress due to shocks including the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The pandemic has potential to impede the efforts the community ecotourism sector has been making towards the attainment of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The specific objectives of the research were to: (i) document the shocks emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic on the Mahenye community ecotourism project and (ii) suggest possible coping and recovery strategies to the COVID-19 pandemic shocks at the Mahenye community ecotourism project. Qualitative methods were adopted encompassing data mining, expert opinion and key informant interviews. The overall impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Mahenye ecotourism elements have been negative. The present research results could enable ecotourism to be sustainable in the face of shocks emanating from infectious pandemics like COVID-19 and future others.
Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2020
The sustainability of ecotourism ventures under the Community Based Natural Resources Management ... more The sustainability of ecotourism ventures under the Community Based Natural Resources Management in Zimbabwe is under stress due to environmental changes emanating from effects associated with socioeconomic factors, climate change and epidemic diseases. Using an in-depth analysis of the Mahenye ecotourism venture from the year 1982 to 2020 as a case study, this study sought to propose a management framework for ecotourism ventures in a changing environment by examining the sustainability of community conservation initiatives in Zimbabwe. Research methods included expert opinion from two natural resources governance academics, desktop research and authors’ experiences about Mahenye ecotourism venture. Results indicated that the Mahenye ecotourism venture has faced significant challenges but has been resilient to withstand the shocks such as population increase, exclusion of youths and women, climate change, hyperinflation, donor fatigue, reduced international ecotourist visitation an...
PLOS ONE, 2017
There are several references which were omitted from the article. The first sentence of the secon... more There are several references which were omitted from the article. The first sentence of the second paragraph in "Community perceptions of determinants and PA staff-community relationship" in the Data collection section should read: Ten discussants were targeted for each FGD (Table 2) as recommended by Krueger and Casey (2000). The reference is: Krueger RA, Casey MA. Focus groups. A practical guide for applied research. 2000;3. The first sentence of the fourth paragraph in the same section should read: Table 2 shows the distribution of community members who participated in FGDs and the estimated population of community members in a district (population statistics were derived from Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (2012)).
International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 2016
We explored the relationships between protected area (PA) staff and adjacent communities in and a... more We explored the relationships between protected area (PA) staff and adjacent communities in and around four PAs in Zimbabwe. A total of 938 local people and 133 PA staff participated in the survey conducted between July 2013 and February 2014. Our results showed that communities generally perceived a negative relationship with PA staff, while PA staff generally perceived a positive relationship with local communities. Only benefitsharing had a different effect on PA staff-community relationship for the PA staff and community samples. In contrast, communication, perceptions (both communities' and PA staff's), community involvement in conservation, history of PA creation, and problems caused by PA existence to the communities or by communities to PAs had the same effect on PA staff-community relationship from both perspectives. We recommend that both conservation agencies and communities should pay more attention to factors that influence PA staff-community relationships so as to nurture positive relationships between PA staff and local communities.
International Journal of Ecology
The spatial-temporal impacts and coping strategies to climate variability vary across human commu... more The spatial-temporal impacts and coping strategies to climate variability vary across human communities. Focusing on Malipati Communal Area in Chiredzi District, southeast Zimbabwe, the study analysed the impacts of climate variability and coping strategies adopted by local communities. Data were collected between May and June 2018 in five (5) villages in Ward 15 of Malipati Communal Area, where a total of 133 participants were involved through focus group discussions, questionnaires, and key informant interviews. The results showed an increase in livestock mortality and in contrast no significant changes in crop yields between 1990 and 2018. Further, the study established that local communities have negative perceptions towards the adaptive coping strategies to climate change, especially on the production of small grains. There is a need for other innovative strategies to enable communities to continuously buffer the impacts of climate variability inclusive of diversifying economic...
Springer geography, 2023
This study assesses park-people relationships and local community perceptions regarding wildlife ... more This study assesses park-people relationships and local community perceptions regarding wildlife conservation in the Sengwe area, a community within the Great Limpopo Trans Frontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), Chiredzi District, near the Mozambican border in southeast Zimbabwe. The study identifies and examines the existence of perceived and actual conflicts between local communities and conservation (protected) area management, with these conflicts mostly arising from an unshared vision of protected areas and lack of effective community engagement in conservation projects. Most Sengwe villagers report that they were denied access to, and control of, local resources, and were sidelined from wildlife projects, including employment opportunities and tourism promotion. This was also the case with the state-driven Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) projects. Villagers thus believe that the land in the protected area should be for agricultural production as land-based wildlife conservation is failing to enhance their livelihoods. Lack of participation is a key concern resulting in the local community having negative perceptions towards wildlife conservation, and this has caused encroachment of people into the park. We recommend that local community participation and engagement in conservation-based projects and decision-making
Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management, 2013
The paper assesses the extent to which tour operators are contributing to tourism sustainable sup... more The paper assesses the extent to which tour operators are contributing to tourism sustainable supply chain management in Zimbabwe using the qualitative methodology. Tour operators were found to have mixed attitudes towards tourism sustainable supply chain management which range from being negative to being positive. Many tour operators were still reactive and defended their own interests while some were however calculating, negotiating for best compromise and making a cost-benefit analysis. Very few tour operators were proactive, innovative and embracive. The paper concludes that tour operators in Zimbabwe face many difficulties in integrating sustainability in their supply chain and have not yet taken much action to implement a sustainable supply chain. The paper recommends that tour operators form or join trade associations to assist them develop the knowledge and expertise to implement sustainability initiatives, and that marketing and promotion of tourism sustainable supply chain management be implemented at a national level.
Human Dimensions of Wildlife
Cogent Social Sciences, Apr 12, 2023
African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 2021
The study sought to determine tourist perceptions on the threats to the sustainability of wildlif... more The study sought to determine tourist perceptions on the threats to the sustainability of wildlife tourism using a case study of two state protected areas in Zimbabwe. Using close-ended questionnaires, we collected data from 128 tourists in December 2015. Results show respondents generally perceived all the seven tested threats as serious, i.e., illegal hunting, destruction of wildlife habitats, human-wildlife conflict, lack of involvement of local people in national park tourism, lack of benefits from the national park to local communities, negative attitudes towards tourism by local residents, and poor local community and national park relationships. Moreover, respondents generally had similar perceptions on the impacts of the threats on the sustainability of wildlife tourism regardless of their gender, age, level of education and income. We conclude tourists are more environmentally conscious and well informed of the threats to wildlife tourism in Zimbabwe, which may indicate wil...
Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 2017
We investigated tourist motivation for visiting two African state protected areas, tourists' wild... more We investigated tourist motivation for visiting two African state protected areas, tourists' wildlife tourism experiences, predictors of wildlife tourism experiences and overall satisfaction with the entire holiday or trip experience. Data were collected in Gonarezhou and Matusadona National Parks, Zimbabwe, in December 2015 using 128 questionnaire surveys. Tourists' push factors for visiting national parks were 'recreation and knowledge seeking', 'appreciating wildlife' and 'feeling close to nature'. Pull factors for the two parks were largely similar with common factors being abundance of wildlife, availability of different animal species, availability of different plant species, wilderness, beautiful landscape and peaceful/quiet environment. We established that different motivation factors had different influences on wildlife tourism experiences. Satisfaction with wildlife tourism experiences was predicted by experiences with wildlife interaction and satisfaction with prices charged in the parks, while overall satisfaction with the entire holiday/trip experiences was predicted by satisfaction with wildlife tourism experiences, enhanced by interpretation and interaction with wild animals. The study highlights that while understanding tourist motivations is important, it is also beneficial for park planning and management to understand the predictors of good wildlife tourism experiences. We recommend that marketing for the two parks need to consider the tourist heterogeneity and demographic-based needs in the development of different travel products and promotional programs. Management implications: While marketing for national parks needs to emphasise more on factors that motivate tourists to visit the parks, it is important to factor in the heterogeneity that exists among park tourists. Hence, in predicting variation in tourist motivation to travel, their demographic profiles should be considered. To enhance wildlife tourism experiences, park management can provide more opportunities for tourists to learn about nature and ensure the availability of wildlife species through enforcing mechanism to reduce poaching and habitat destruction. Park management also need to enhance tourists' opportunities to learn more about nature. This is necessary to increase the level of tourist satisfaction.