Human–Wildlife Conflict and Precarious Livelihoods of the Tonga-Speaking People of North-Western Zimbabwe

Abstract

Using the concept of precarious livelihoods, this chapter examines the conflicts occurring between people and wild animals in the Tonga communities of north-western Zimbabwe. It focusses on the uncertainties and vulnerabilities of Tonga livelihoods due to the presence of, and attacks from, wild animals. On a day-to-day basis, the Tonga experience harm caused by animals to their lives, livelihoods and/or properties. The Tonga communities studied survive mainly on fishing in Lake Kariba or the tributaries of the Zambezi River as well as subsistence farming. Along Lake Kariba, they have conflicts with such animals as hippos and crocodiles, their fields are often trampled by elephants, buffaloes and duikers, and their livestock especially cattle and goats are attacked by lions, leopards and hyenas. These human–wildlife conflicts take place within a particular historical and spatial context, notably the forced displacement of the Tonga from the Zambezi River in the late 1950s and their post-displacement presence in an area of Zimbabwe marked by an arid ecosystem (in large part unsuitable for agriculture) alongside poverty and hunger. Thus, currently, they are placed between a rock and a hard place, between threatening wildlife and an arid environment. The chapter is based on extended ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2020 among the Tonga communities of, in particular, the Mola, Musampakaruma and Sinakatenge chiefdoms.