Impact of rural tourism development on poverty alleviation in the Northern region of Namibia
Abstract
Namibia as a country has been classified as an upper-middle income country. The country has a very rich culture, varied and attractive tourism products. Namibia has however, been rated as one of the most unequal country in the world. In relation to inequalities, poverty in Namibia has been a topical issue since the independence of the country. The Namibian government formulated various policies and strategies such as the Tourism Policy (2008); National Development Plans (1-5) and Communal Area Conservancy Legislation (1996) to tackle issues of poverty and to promote rural tourism. Yet, thirty years after the independence of the country, the poverty numbers are still considerably high. Poverty rates in the Zambezi region are still increasing. Hence, the main goal of this study was to establish the impact of rural tourism development on poverty alleviation in the Northern region of Namibia. The research focused on Kunene and Zambezi region. To achieve the main goal, five objectives were explored: The first objective was to analyse the economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts of rural tourism development through an in-depth literature review. Literature on the contribution of tourism to the global economy, tourism and infrastructure development, tourism development in Namibia, rural tourism concept and various forms of rural tourism, and the positive and negative (economic, socio-cultural, and environmental) impacts of rural tourism development was reviewed. Based on this review, the chapter concluded that the global tourism industry has been developing over the years and this development has the potential to revitalise communities and alleviate poverty. Furthermore, to develop rural tourism, many developing countries including Namibia utilises rural tourism development as a strategic tool for poverty alleviation. The second objective was to explore the poverty concept, causes of poverty and impacts of tourism on poverty through the review of literature. To achieve this objective, literature on the poverty and inequality concept, causes of poverty and various approaches of evaluating poverty was reviewed. The chapter review concluded that poverty is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, hence, measuring it using economic approaches cannot bring social justice and practical growth without the poverty alleviation and employment generating opportunities for the underprivileged and marginalised segments of the society. Furthermore, it is important for governments to design policies that address capability deprivation because emphasising on economic growth might not be beneficial to the poor, but it may profit the rich and fail to reduce poverty. The third objective was to identify the benefits of rural tourism development and establish whether rural tourism development in Namibia alleviates of poverty in the Northern region of Namibia. To achieve this objective the research adopted two methodological approaches phenomenological approach and grounded theory. Literature was not extensively reviewed before the data collection process. The research revealed that rural tourism development has the potential to alleviate poverty, however, all the stakeholders must be involved in the initiative and the causes of poverty must also be addressed first before focusing on who should benefit from tourism. It also found that it is difficult to compare which region benefits more from tourism development if the causes and extent of poverty vary from community to community.