Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures and tables
- Abbreviations and glossary
- Foreword
- Preface and acknowledgements
- 1 The place, methodology, and chapter overviews
- 2 Brief history of the central Luangwa Valley
- 3 Munyamadzi Game Management Area and its residents
- 4 The changing nature of rural community lives
- 5 Human welfare and resource status at Nabwalya Central, 1966–2006
- 6 Community Resources Board and community participation
- 7 Perspectives from the Munyamadzi Game Management Area communities
- 8 A conclusion to the 2006 exercise
- 9 A perspective covering eight decades
- 10 Conjuring the Munyamadzi Game Management Area as a frontier
- Appendix A Revised questionnaire, 2006
- Appendix B Major characteristics of village area groups within the Munyamadzi Game Management Area communities, 2006 and 2011
- Appendix C Respondents’ comments on ‘fairness’ of Zambia's wildlife exchange
- Notes
- References
- Index
4 - The changing nature of rural community lives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 March 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures and tables
- Abbreviations and glossary
- Foreword
- Preface and acknowledgements
- 1 The place, methodology, and chapter overviews
- 2 Brief history of the central Luangwa Valley
- 3 Munyamadzi Game Management Area and its residents
- 4 The changing nature of rural community lives
- 5 Human welfare and resource status at Nabwalya Central, 1966–2006
- 6 Community Resources Board and community participation
- 7 Perspectives from the Munyamadzi Game Management Area communities
- 8 A conclusion to the 2006 exercise
- 9 A perspective covering eight decades
- 10 Conjuring the Munyamadzi Game Management Area as a frontier
- Appendix A Revised questionnaire, 2006
- Appendix B Major characteristics of village area groups within the Munyamadzi Game Management Area communities, 2006 and 2011
- Appendix C Respondents’ comments on ‘fairness’ of Zambia's wildlife exchange
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
Animals are now much freer than we are. They have more protection and rights than we do. We are restricted. We are mere objects in our own land. Many government leaders, who passionately enjoy the revenues from wild animals, wish us evacuated from the valley to allow Honourable Animals to walk, reproduce, and graze freely. What a dream! We will die for and in our land.
I trust you will understand that the lack of game meat is at the root of our scarcity of relish here today. [elderly Nabwalya resident]
Nothing human seems to last for very long. Individuals and groups constantly shift and change. Humans sometimes appear to change slowly, while at other times shifts occur precipitously as on a ‘tipping point’ (that potent moment when an idea, trend, or behaviour crosses a threshold and spreads quickly) as in a crescendo of conversions (Gladwell 2002). People change as they grow, learn, travel, associate with others, attend funerals and political rallies, have children, work in their fields or for other persons, face sickness and death, and grow old. During all such stages and engagements, individuals adjust their ideas and behaviours to fit their new circumstances and in these processes may affiliate with different groups as they distance themselves from earlier acquaintances. Groups also change, albeit at a slower rate since they represent composites in their memberships. The ideas and behaviour of groups are amalgams of their members’ experiences; they are affected by these histories and become crucibles for forging the attributes of future generations.
Perceptive observers know these dynamics; more casual observers and missionoriented actors may perceive a more static humanity, embedded in the moral undertones of their own objectives. Individuals construct their identities from many sources and moments based in roles, feelings, experiences, memories and even situations. Strong sentiments persist in the memories of some who have lived sufficiently long to have known a different world. The elder in the opening quote was reminiscing on how life in his past (1960s) compared with his situation in 2006. Although the Mipashi team rarely encountered a response as articulate and analytic, his answer echoed the conviction of someone who had known better days, reflected on its differences, and could distil its essence in a short, pithy paragraph.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Discordant Village VoicesA Zambian 'Community Based' Wildlife Programme, pp. 48 - 71Publisher: University of South AfricaPrint publication year: 2014