Fishing, livelihood and everyday life on the shores of Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe

Tombindo, Felix ORCID: 0000-0002-8183-5274 (2024). Fishing, livelihood and everyday life on the shores of Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This study explores fishing, livelihood and everyday life in Gache-Gache fishing villages on Lake Kariba's shores in Zimbabwe. The study is a culmination of ten months of ethnographic fieldwork (including participant observation, informal conservations, and transect walks) and some interlocutor diaries in the five fishing villages of Gache-Gache. It reveals the numerous social, ecological, economic and political challenges faced by artisanal gillnet fishers– predominantly men–and their households and how they navigate these constraints to construct meaningful livelihoods. In a context where politico-economic crises have characterised daily life for over two decades and persist, this study sheds light on the resilience and resourcefulness of these communities, whose livelihoods are primarily based on informal means of scraping by.
Gache-Gache and the rest of the Lake Kariba shoreline communities on the Zimbabwean side are further subjected to state-controlled fishery and wildlife conservation on and off the lake as protected areas surround them. Lake Kariba is a multipurpose water body with a composite ecosystem, where the users (and inhabitants) are categorisable into humans and other-than- humans. Human users include artisanal gillnet fishers, tourists, hoteliers, and safari operators. Other-than-humans, which play a significant role in shaping the livelihoods of the fishing communities, include crocodiles, hippopotami, and those beyond the living, such as ancestors. Each of these constituent users shapes how artisanal gillnet fishers construct their livelihoods and live on the shores of Lake Kariba in diverse ways. This makes livelihoods and everyday life on the shores of Lake Kariba about how to ethically build livelihoods and live life in a way that facilitates mutual coexistence between the diverse users of the lake. Against this background, the study is framed under a tripartite conceptual framework comprising posthumanism, moral economy and livelihood concepts of vulnerability and coping.

A shared, though shifting, ‘moral economy of survival ethic’ emerged as one of the most important values guiding fisherfolk in their decision-making regarding important livelihood questions such as fishing gear and fishing method choice and notions of belonging. The fishery's natural functioning and the fishing gear's properties are critical variables determining fisher compliance with fishery regulations. The lake and fishery also comprise a complex network of humans, animals, and those beyond the living – ancestors. Other-than-humans' influence in Gache-Gache is critical – a wave or a crocodile may appear as natural entities at one point. Still, at another, ancestors may ensoul them. Catches may decline naturally due to seasonal rhythms and ancestral anger.

In a nutshell, other-than-humans' role in fishery-based livelihoods in Gache-Gache is essential in influencing livelihood practices and everyday life. The study contributes to various thematic areas of fisheries research, belonging and livelihoods.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):