Wavell Standa-Gunda and Oliver Braedt 185This chapter is a compilation of the work on woodcarvings in south-eastern
Zimbabwe, as part of the Center for International Forestry Research’s global
research on the utilisation of NTFP in developing countries. This case makes
use of results from the works of Braedt (2002) and Braedt and Standa-Gunda
(2000). The case data have been collected over a period of three years (1996–
1998) through market, ecological, and household surveys in southern Zimbabwe.THE STUDY AREA
The study area is centred on the northern portion of the road between the
towns of Masvingo and Beitbridge in southern Zimbabwe (Figure 1). This road
links South Africa with central Zimbabwe. Between Masvingo and Beitbridge,
a distance of 300 km, there are approximately 25-29 craft markets. One
overriding feature of these markets is their variability with respect to the
size, age, materials used (stone carving, wood carving, clay and needle work
products), the types of carvings, the membership of the markets and the
seasonality of demand for products (Braedt and Standa-Gunda 2000).
Three of Zimbabwe’s four major land tenure systems are found along the
road: communal land, resettlement land and commercial/freehold land. Most
of the markets are located in Chivi District (69%), which is a predominantly
communal area, and in Masvingo District (21%), located mainly on resettlement
land. The bulk of the land in the case study area is communal land.
Various factors have probably contributed to the development of the craft
sector. Since the late 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, tourism in Zimbabwe
has steadily risen. Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980 and the signing of a
peace accord between rival political parties in 1987 brought peace to a country
engaged in guerrilla activities and civil war since the 1970s. The trend of
increasing tourism has probably also been enhanced through the introduction
of the Economic Structural Adjustment Program and the resultant devaluation
of the Zimbabwe dollar. The purchasing power of tourists using foreign currency
was favoured by this development (Braedt and Standa-Gunda 2000). In addition,
low quality land, land shortage (Johnston and Kilby 1975; Rukuni 1994) and
natural phenomena such as the extreme drought in 1992 left many households,
especially the very poor, with few livelihood options. This resulted in the
upsurge of off-farm activities such as beer brewing, gold panning, prostitution
and woodcarving (Scoones et al. 1996).
The population density in the three wards presented in Figure 1 lies at 51
persons per square kilometre. The area falls into agro-ecological Regions IV
and V, where rainfall is low (mean annual rainfall is less than 650 mm) and
highly variable (coefficients of variation of mean annual rainfall are 35–40%)
(Gambiza and Nyama 2001). The soils are largely sandy and of low fertility.
The high frequency of droughts and the decreasing availability of off-farm
employment have created household livelihood problems for many rural
households (Rukuni 1994; Cavendish 1997). Despite the unfavourable conditions,
agriculture remains the main economic activity in the area (Figure 2).
In the communal and resettlement areas woodland resources are generally
severely depleted and highly fragmented because of agriculture and settlement.
Miombo woodland, where the logs for carving are harvested, is deciduous11woodcarving.p65 185 22/12/2004, 11:05