Sankoyo Trust makes nearly P9m despite recession

BONIFACE KEAKABETSE
Correspondent | Wednesday January 26, 2011 00:00

 

The camp - which is located on the way to the internationally-acclaimed Moremi Game Reserve, 26 kilometres from the Moremi south gate, to be more precise - is owned and managed by Sankoyo Tshwaragano Management Trust (STMT).  The community-owned camp comprises 10 campsites and four twin-bed rondavel chalets. It targets mainly travellers going on day trips into Moremi Game Reserve. The camp also has a bar and restaurant, self-catering facilities and a curio shop. Shandereka cultural village is in the NG 34 concession area.

Speaking in an interview, Young said although 2010 was a hard year for the tourism industry in the region, the camp performed fairly well because it has not recorded a big drop in the number of visitors, compared to 2009.

In 2009, 2, 974 visitors camped at Kazikini and generated about P422, 000 for the Trust. In 2010, the camp recorded 2, 956 visitors. Young said they expect travellers to frequent the camp due to hiking of fees by other camps in the Okavango Delta.  He said it cost the trust about P463, 665 a year to operate the camp. However, the trust recently benefited from a Canadian donor for the refurbishment of its Hippo Bar and Mogogelo Restaurant at the camp. In 2008, USAID also funded the camp's solar power heating and lighting.

Apart from properties in NG 34, the trust owns Santawani Lodge in the wildlife-rich NG 33, which is jointly managed by the trust and a partner, Lodges Association of Botswana (LAB). Santawani injected about P100, 000 as lease rentals into STMT coffers from LAB, which also offers employment for the Sankoyo community. STMT is a legally-registered community-based natural resources management organisation (CBNRM) which has been granted custodian rights by the government in NG 33 and 34 concession areas to conduct tourism enterprises for the benefit of the whole community. The areas are presently used for photographic expeditions and hunting. However, from 2012, the concessions will be used solely for photography due to a ban on hunting by the Ministry of the Environment, Wildlife and Tourism.

STMT is currently acclaimed as the most successful of the numerous community trusts in Ngamiland. Recently, the government decided to open holding accounts administered by district commissioners for the safekeeping of trust finances as a way of stopping misappropriation of funds, which is reportedly common among the community trusts.  However, STMT continues to administer its finances. Young says the trust owes its success for sticking to its mandate, accountability and community involvement in decisions affecting its operations. He said the trust uses its tourism revenue for economic and social development of Sankoyo Village.

Thirty-nine residents are so far employed by the trust. Community projects undertaken by STMT include building a community hall, water supply, construction of houses for destitute persons, financial support for a football team, funeral grants and sponsorship for 21 students on various tourism-related courses.  The trust is currently building water system toilets for every household in Sankoyo. Young stressed that the role of the community trust, as intended by the government, was not to generate a profit but to generate income for the socio-economic upliftment of the rural communities. 

'This is a poverty reduction programme and is not for profit,' he said. 'From experience, where community trusts have attempted to compete directly with established tourism private businesses, community trusts have failed dismally. 'Because this is a poverty reduction scheme, we have to hire more people than we need to run the business because creating employment is what trusts are all about. In Kazikini so far, we employ 14 people, more employees than the business needs for it to be profitable.'

Young believes the employees of the trust should be employed forever. However, the hope is that they will gain experience over time and either start their own businesses or go work elsewhere in the tourism industry in order to give others a chance for employment in the trust.  He said running a trust is expensive, adding that it takes P22, 000 a month to operate the Sankoyo trust.