Conservation for livelihood improvement through cooperation of rural communities and the related externalities: A case of Moepel farms in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Optimal use of land in rural areas has the potential to reduce poverty and attain rural economic development. Conservation with tourism benefits could potentially reduce poverty in rural areas where agricultural potential is limited. However, land use conflicts exacerbated by multiple interests for land use are prevalent and can hinder rural development. This paper explored the potential for rural communities to cooperate with each other to establish a conservation project in South Africa. Data were collected through several ways including focused groups and semi structured interviews with forty-six members of three communities which were beneficiaries of the land restitution programme. The study determined benefits from livestock and tourism land uses under different scenarios and interactions of decisions among the three communities were analysed using game theory. The analysis revealed that opting for tourism would allow the communities to earn seven times more than for livestock farming and that development of tourism through their cooperation could constitute a good option for the community development. However for cooperation to work, there would be need to address pressing issues for the communities. Such analysis can assist communities to make informed decisions on alternative sources of income and their related payoffs. Landscape scale management can also benefit from such analysis.