SOCIAL POLICY
Even though the primary objective of Africa Future
Wildlife Restoration Lda’s rehabilitation of Coutada 5
centres on the restoration of the extremely denuded
wildlife, the host of social parameters that must also
be considered, are almost as important. The Company thus
accepted the principles of co-management and
community-based natural resources management, whereby
the maximum possible involvement of the local people in
any development aspect that may impact on their daily
lives, are ensured.
The social policy is especially important as far as the
involuntary resettlement of households is concerned.
Since the Company has already started with the planning
and establishment of a core wildlife-wilderness block of
around 210 000 ha, which block will be restocked with
the full spectrum of herbivore and carnivore species
that were extirpated, it is an unfortunate but
inescapable fact that the people who have settled there
during recent times, will have to be resettled. The
company’s resettlement policy is in line with the
generally accepted principles for resettlement as laid
down by for example the World Bank and the IUCN, and
will be undertaken in close collaboration with the
Government of Mozambique. The Company will ensure that
all the resettled households are socio-economically
better off after their resettlement.
To allow close involvement of the to-be resettled
households and the host communities in the process, a
number of community structures are currently being
established. Administrative, religious and traditional
leaders will all play an important role in this regard.
Based on the preliminary results of a baseline Social
impact Assessment, a Resettlement Action Plan has been
prepared. This plan is augmented by a Community
Development Plan and a Public Consultation and
Disclosure Plan, thus ensuring that the processes of
resettlement and development are dealt with in a
structured manner, and that all the involved parties are
kept fully informed. All these plans are already
available in draft format.
The Company will also address the current ecologically
destructive agricultural practise of slash-and-burn or
shifting cultivation, and will, in time, have it
replaced with modern techniques for smallholder
agricultural ventures, such as permaculture. The venture
will be linked to a proper training programme, that will
hopefully lead to firstly better trained farmers, and
secondly to an appreciable increase in agricultural
production.
With regards to general socio-economic upliftment, the
Company’s project will eventually lead to the creation
of around 400 permanent employment opportunities. In a
region where employment opportunities are currently
almost non-existent, this fact will be hugely beneficial
to the economy of the region. The Company accepted the
policy of preferential employment for local people, and
will only employ ‘outsiders’ where no suitably qualified
or experienced local people are available. Skills
training will form the backbone of the Company’s
objective to better equip the employees to become part
of a successful modernised society, and to break the
shackles of poverty that currently keeps the region
impoverished.’
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