The Effects of Nature Tourism as a Development Strategy on Poverty and Inequality: The Cases of Namibia and Mozambique
(Funded by NSF CAREER Grant, Award Number 0746528, P.I. Julie A. Silva)
This study assesses how nature tourism affects poverty and inequality in Namibia and Mozambique at the regional, community, and household levels, while also accounting for environmental, economic, and cultural diversity between and within countries. The study design draws on both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The quantitative research includes the development and application of spatial econometric and hierarchical linear models, which will model household well-being and regional inequality as a function of distance to tourism enterprises and other factors. Qualitative cases studies of communities that are located near parks, hunting concessions, and other popular areas for nature tourism will complement the study's modelling component. The results of the study will help inform policies addressing poverty and promoting sustainable tourism development.
Resources
- Longer project summary
- Project timetable
- Map of Mozambican Case Study Sites
- Map of Namibian Case Study Sites
Biographies
Alfons W. Mosimane, Namibia Country Leader
Alfons W. Mosimane is the head of the Life Science Division of the Multidisciplinary Research Center of the University of Namibia (UNAM). He holds degrees from the University of Namibia and the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. He has worked for UNAM as a researcher, lecturer, and project manager for the last ten years, and is an author of six book chapters and over thirty research reports on economic, governmental, and conservation issues in Namibia.
Zacarias A. Ombe, Mozambique Country Leader
Zacarias A. Ombe is Dean of Faculty and Regional Director of the Universidade Pedagógica, Beira Campus in Mozambique. His research interests include land use/land cover change, natural resource management, cultural geography, environmental education and history, and local environmental knowledge. He got his PhD from the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa in 2006. He received his MSc in Geography from Kharkov State University, Ukraine in 1987.
Julie A. Silva, Principal Investigator
Julie A. Silva is an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida, with a joint appointment in the Department of Geography and the Center for African Studies. Her research interests include economic globalization, uneven development and global justice, human dimensions of global change, and spatial econometrics. She got her PhD from the Department of Geography at Rutgers University in 2005, a Master's Degree in City and Regional Planning at Rutgers University in 2000, and a BA in English from UCLA in 1995.