Policies to reduce local participation in illegal hunting: The case of Kafue National Park in Zambia

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Shadreck Mukanjo Mutti
  • Damien Jourdain
  • Selma Tuemumunu Karuaihe
  • Lundhede, Thomas
  • Eric Dada Mungatana

Using data collected from 217 respondents living near the Kafue National Park in Zambia, we assess how households value alternative policy interventions aimed at minimizing poaching. Building on the current debate on community-based wildlife conservation policy, we presented households with different combinations of agro-inputs packs donation, access to a micro-credit facility and donation of dairy cows for milking. These were proposed as alternative policy interventions to compliment the traditional command and control policy framework, implemented through a rise in frequency of game patrols and increase in minimum jail sentences for poaching offenses. We use a discrete choice experiment to estimate policy preferences and potential trade-offs between poaching and proposed alternative policy instruments. Our findings show that increase in each of the proposed interventions could significantly contribute to the well-being of respondents, potentially reducing the number of hunting trips a poacher would make per month. Similarly, a rise in the deterrent interventions have significant, but weak effect on respondents' choice to poach. The above carrot and stick instruments could be deferentially applied based on cost and effectiveness of each combination to achieve desired goals.

Original languageEnglish
Article number107762
JournalEcological Economics
Volume207
Number of pages10
ISSN0921-8009
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.

    Research areas

  • Alternative policy approaches, Choice experiment, Community-based wildlife conservation, Kafue National Park, Poaching, Zambia

ID: 341260639