The Impact of Conflicts on transformative tourism-based community processes in Africa Author: Arrey Mbongaya Ivo Director of African Centre for Community and Development P.O.Box 181, Limbe, Cameroon http://www.africancentreforcommunity.com http://community.eldis.org/falcazo http://youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom https://www.facebook.com/pages/African-Centre-for-Community-and-Development/103686769685856 http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Holistic-Approach-Sustainable-Development-HASD-2998648 This article explores the implications of conflicts on the possible benefits and growth of communities and stakeholders in tourist destinations in Africa. It draws examples from academic research and from livelihoods based research from selected areas in Africa to arrive at analytic dimensions that can help argue for the need to curb conflicts as a means of empowering developing communities. Conflicts are expanded here to include ideological, socio-economic, environmental as well as armed or political conflicts

1. The Impact of Conflicts on transformative tourism-based
community processes in Africa
Author: Arrey Mbongaya Ivo
Director of African Centre for Community and Development
P.O.Box 181, Limbe, Cameroon
http://www.africancentreforcommunity.com
http://community.eldis.org/falcazo
http://youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom
https://www.facebook.com/pages/African-Centre-for-Community-andDevelopment/103686769685856
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Holistic-Approach-SustainableDevelopment-HASD-2998648
©2013 African Centre for Community and Development. All rights reserved.

2. Abstract
This article explores the implications of conflicts on the possible benefits and growth
of communities and stakeholders in tourist destinations in Africa. It draws examples
from academic research and from livelihoods based research from selected areas in
Africa to arrive at analytic dimensions that can help argue for the need to curb
conflicts as a means of empowering developing communities.
Conflicts are
expanded here to include ideological, socio-economic, environmental as well as
armed or political conflicts.
Africa is very rich in tourist attractions. From historical sites like the Olduvai gorge in
Tanzania, the pyramids in Egypt to relief features like Mount Cameroon, Mount
Kilimanjaro, the Namib desert, Sahara desert to rich fauna and flora scattered across its
varied climatic zones including the tropical rainforests of the Congo Basin, the Sahel and
many sub-regions with diverse socio-economic, political, historical, cultural and
linguistic realities that can be valid boosters for tourism in the continent. However Africa
is witnessing several conflicts within and outside that impact on the numbers of tourists
visiting Africa hence the benefits from tourism as well as the possibilities of using
tourism as a device in the transformative processes of communities within touristic
attractions or on general wellbeing of countries and the region. In this light conflicts have
been broadened to include ideological, socio-economic as well as armed or political
conflicts so as to arrive at a holistic picture of the impact of conflicts in transformative
community processes in Africa. Also as the conflicts in Africa are complex and many, in

3. this article they have just been highlighted to validate certain analyses based on academic
research and contemporary happenings. As a result, this article considers the following
points as the possible or actual fallouts from the conflicts in Africa:
•
Conflicts lead to destruction of species when touristic attractions are in conflict
zones. A recent example is the conflict in Eastern Congo between M23 Rebels,
the Congo Democratic Republic and Rwanda that imposed threats on conserved
gorillas in the area and on livelihoods as well. For animals that have not been
habituated conflicts lead to their migrations to usually less friendly ecosystems
hence their exposure to possible extinctions. In some instances passage of
migratory animals is cut-off leading to deaths and other life stresses for the
animals and the recipient ecosystems and countries.
•
Also armed conflicts lead to migrations of people from one area or country to
another. Conflicts in East Africa saw Somali refugees migrate into Kenya leading
to the biggest refugee camp in Dadaab. Displaced persons leave behind their
livelihoods strategies and touristic attractions unattended hence degraded and
unattractive to future tourists. Many farmlands become fallow due to migrations
and may need expensive high external inputs to be revived or may just be
abandoned by their owners. More so, emigrants cannot earn from tourism while
in refugee camps as many end up sick and incapable of working.
•
More so, conflicts may also lead to destruction of historical sites. Another recent
example is the conflict in northern Mali which led to the destruction of holy
tombs and sites, very valuable to the heritage of Mali, Africa and the greater
world. This led to African ministers calling for an end to the destruction of

4. shrines in Timbuktu in the September of 2012 which also marked celebration of
the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. This Malian example
tallies well with the ideological dimension of conflicts as it revealed that the
Islamic sects who took over Northern Mali did not validate the timeless holy sites
which have been a main touristic attraction to the impoverished West African
country for decades. Other ideological conflicts out of Africa were common
during the cold war era and led to reduction of tourist flows into countries
ideologically opposed to each other like between Cuba and United States, Russia
and the United States and contemporarily between Shia and Sunni Muslim areas
in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
•
Conflicts also lead to a loss in foreign earnings by countries engaged. Internal
political conflicts before, during the Arab spring and post-Arab spring affected
negatively foreign earnings from tourism in Egypt while the threats imposed by
militant groups in Northern Nigeria, Niger and Algeria recently arguably act as
deterrence to future tourists hence possible earnings from tourism. In such
situations sub-local economies are affected in areas like lodging, tours,
employment etc resulting in movements out of tourism into other less lucrative
occupations or unemployment for many. This leads finally to the shrinking of the
tourist industry and the Gross Domestic Product of the countries concerned.
•
Conflicts prevent the free flow of tourists from one country to the other. It fuels
suspicion and tighter visa rules even after negotiated settlements in some
instances.
Pro-poor tourism thrives on exchanges and interactions between
tourists and the poor and when the former are handicapped by tighter rules to

5. move, the poor communities suffer even though many have argued that these
communities must improve on the capacities of their youths and other
stakeholders in order that they know the true values of their touristic sites and
avoid exploitation by some visitors. This calls for synergies, vocational training
centres and civil society organizations working across various levels and interests
to create an operational framework for the good and sustainability of the industry.
•
More so, other negative fallouts from a reduction in the flow of tourists include
cultural stagnation. The cultures of the areas will not be learnt and used by
visitors and cannot therefore be vulgarized globally. This ironically or
incidentally exposes the wide gaps between tourist perspectives and local
realities and even between stakeholders in development management. Some
examples include notions like “the poor are a passive lot” (De Haan and
Zoomers, 20005) to other negative qualifications like Africa is unprogressive to
the almost unimaginable myth of Africa being a single country. With conflicts
the several thousands of African languages, cultures, the hard works of the poor
and many nation-states and peoples will not be understood by visitors who
include policy makers and scholars that can transform interventions aimed at
poverty alleviation and trade in the continent which many have been failing due
to lack of stakeholder and environmental understanding (Gow and Morss, 1988,
Toner and Franks, 2006).
•
Besides cultural conflicts have implications on the transformative processes in
communities. This tally with religious and some social practices that do not
usually go well with the handed down traditions of recipient tourist destinations.

6. As a result tourists are cut between the local belief systems and their cultural
underpinnings hence tend to go to places which have understood them or that
tend to put a blind eye to exotic behaviours. Flexibility and educational processes
within communities are necessary here in order to better understanding between
parties concerned. Civil society organizations can do well here to transform
public actions towards sustainable ends.
•
Another serious category of conflicts are environmentally imposed conflicts.
Recently they have been heightened by climate change and its various harsh
fallouts including drying of watery holes, desertification and increase in diseases.
A pertinent example in Africa is the Lake Chad Basin area (Coe and Foley, 2001)
which is witnessing desertification, droughts and decline in rainfall and drying of
the watery mass which has been the main vehicle for many livelihoods and
civilizations for centuries (Odada et al, 2005). It has led to a loss in fishing
related livelihoods, movements into unsustainable poaching and migrations into
Northern Cameroon and Nigeria and even heightened criminality in the region
hence putting socio-economic pressures on recipient governments and subpopulations. Historical sites of the Sao Civilization which could be visited by
tourists are not fully exploited leading to more economic stagnation in a region
also pregnant with armed inter-tribal and regional conflicts. In Africa the impacts
of climate change on economic cost are that governments have to prioritize on
emergency and on fighting harsh fallouts like diseases and desertification rather
than infrastructural development hence leading to a wider regional economic
stagnation.

7. •
Also due to a change in rainfall patterns around Okavango Delta, in Botswana,
many communities are increasingly finding it difficult to practice their traditional
methods of rain-fed and flood recession agriculture due to the drying of the
Thaoge water hole. An unhealthy Okavango Delta means people cannot embark
on basketry which is a cultural tourism product hence leading to a shrinking of
livelihoods and the embedding of poverty in the region.
•
Finally when communities earn less from tourism, fewer stakeholders can use
their earnings to provide basic services to other vulnerable sub-populations like
children, girls and women. Poor access to basic services affects attainment of
Millennium Development Goals and may well be the reason for debates on post
2015 MDGs.
This article has thus demonstrated that conflicts affect tourist-based transformative
processes within communities in Africa. However there could be mitigating policies and
practices which if used can help to improve on the livelihoods within tourist destinations.
They include the following:
•
The creation of tourist regional centres by governments and other stakeholders to
educate people and policy makers including police on the need to facilitate the
transboundary movement of tourists from within and across countries. This will
incidentally reduce suspicion between countries and increase possibilities of more
effective regional integration and intra-trade in Africa arguably vital for Africa’s
growth in the 21st century.
•
Transboundary movement of tourists and other visitors will lead to inter-cultural
dialogue which is vital in a world plunged in ideological and religious, socio-

8. economic and political conflicts in Afghanistan, Mali, Burma, East Africa etc.
This will facilitate transboundary management of natural resources especially by
countries that share geographical boundaries like in the Congo Basin or the Sahel.
•
More so, the African Union, United Nations and other international stakeholders
must step up efforts to ensure that potential warring parties resolve crises
situations peacefully or that they enter into political negotiations in transparent
instruments. The Bakassi crises between Cameroon and Nigeria is one such
example of the merits of international diplomacy but more has to be done to open
up other areas like the Niger Delta, Eastern Congo etc so that local communities
can attract tourists, earn money or simply use their local livelihoods strategies and
resources to survive.
•
More so, world heritage sites should be secured by local governments and with
the support of international stakeholders in order to avoid situations like in
northern Mali recently. This can best work with the establishment of publicprivate partnerships that can improve on sites management, visibility and use in
order to earn more foreign currencies locally.
•
Climate change and its impacts on livelihoods and tourism must be fully explored
as well as the links between these thematic areas and conflicts. Scientific studies
will help to design more sustainable and inclusive tourist instruments that can
improve on the economic benefits of local communities and countries in Africa.
This article has thus demonstrated that conflicts are multi-dimensional in nature. They
occur based on historical, ideological, socio-economic, environmental and political
reasons which have serious implications on communities, peoples and states within given

9. areas. They may lead to loss of revenue from tourism, migrations out of tourist areas,
abandonment of livelihoods and even affect biodiversity negatively. Ensuring that
conflicts do not exist across various levels within and outside tourist destinations will
directly and incidentally impact on monetary flows to communities, provision of basic
services, inter-cultural dialogue, regional integration and intra-trade in Africa and most
areas of the world. The creation of regional tourist centres to educate various stakeholders
on conflicts and tourism and solving crises via peaceful political and transparent
instruments is also vital as well as transboundary management of natural resources. If not
African communities will have the attractions but will be the bicycle without a rider or
the rider without a bicycle.
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©2013 African Centre for Community and Development.