Ker & Downey, Pro-Poor Tourism Pilots in Southern Africa: Ker & Downey

Ker & Downey Tanzania

Update on PPT linkages at Ker & Downey, April 2005
Ker & Downey, Tanzania, is working with PPT to restructure its range of community donations and interventions to focus on developing natural resource management partnerships in which K&D camp managers and neighbouring communities strategically plan together. While this is a very rational move that would benefit the community and the company, on-going uncertainty over tenure of the natural resources makes it difficult for the company to shift to this partnership approach. An additional problem is lack of mobility of local people into managerial positions due to reliance on ex-pat managers. In order to secure better recognition for the industry from government there remains a need to increase their links with the community and to work on a convergence of private and community sector interests around more profitable use of the resource base.

Ker & Downey Tanzania, operates exclusive photographic and trophy hunting safaris in 14 private concessions and in the country's National Parks. The umbrella company, Ker & Downey, Tanzania comprises Tanzania Game Trackers Safari, Wengert Windrose Safaris, Ker & Downey (photographics) and Northern Air. Tanzania Game Trackers Safaris has nine hunting blocks allocated to it, while Wengert Windrose Safaris has five, with a total area of over 32,000sq km.

Part of Ker and Downey Tanzania, is the Friedkin Conservation Fund (FCF) which was established in 1994 as a non-governmental organisation registered in Tanzania and the US. The Friedkin Conservation Fund’s mission is "to assist the government and people of Tanzania in their efforts to conserve and protect the indigenous flora and fauna of the country. In order to achieve this, FCF actively involves local people in sustainable conservation practices in order to improve their economic conditions". The fund supports community development, research and anti-poaching activities.

PPT linkages at the Ker & Downey Tanzania sites:
Currently 20% of the trophy fee paid by safari hunters flows into a community development fund, which is then distributed to villages in and around hunting concessions. Apart from this, current PPT linkages are limited, encompassing employment (170 people seasonally employed plus casual labour), and support for student scholarships.

From the company's perspective, the business case to enhance PPT linkages rests on the need to secure the future of the hunting industry. This requires having a more substantial impact on people's livelihoods so as to build co-operative partnerships with pastoralists, impact on natural resource use, and to be able to demonstrate to government that hunting has an important economic contribution. A key issue is to move beyond conservation rewards and penalties, to a strategic partnership that develops good natural resource management and develops hunting as an integral driver within the local economy. The needs of local residents, are to diversify their rural livelihoods, and to secure their access to prime resources, e.g. grazing land and other natural resources. Many of the residents or neighbours of Ker & Downey Tanzania hunting areas are Massai, for whom pastoralism is key. However, given the lack of economic drivers in rural areas, new economic opportunities also become of great significance.

The key challenge and opportunity for PPT is to restructure relations between the FCF and the local communities so that a partnership can deliver tangible benefits to both sides. The first step is to help in establishing a common vision. Various options then need to be assessed, in particular options for delivering support to rural diversification and local enterprises, enhancing natural resource management arrangements, and sharing decision-making. Perceptions - among hunting managers, residents, the wider industry and government - of whether and how hunting can deliver meaningful benefits also need to be addressed to win support for a more strategic approach.

Thus PPT facilitation will focus on helping the FCF to restructure its partnership approaches with communities, streamlining it, identifying organisational arrangements that will work, and assessing a range of practical options that could deliver substantive benefits locally, while at the same time enhancing the returns to the hunting company.

Click here for the summary scoping report