Presentation at HOORC: womens' participation in Namibian conservancies

Photo courtesy of Rachel Demotts

Today at HOORC, Research Fellow Dr Rachel Demotts presented her study of craftswomen from the Caprivi region of Namibia, Gendered Nature? Women’s Participation in Conservancies. Dr Demotts' study revealed that basketmaking and other crafts, mainly the province of women in Caprivi, provide significant benefits beyond the purely economic, increasing access to education, building social networks, developing leadership capacity and preserving cultural heritage. Conservancies focus largely on conservation and management of wildlife resources, which can create problems of access to resources for craftmakers, and may lead to decline of this livelihood activity.