Economic factors explain some of this rigidity. Livestock farming in Namibia continues to be favored by policies that permit a large proportion of the costs to be borne by society as a whole. The study recommends the introduction of user charges and the limiting of tax advantages so that the true cost of owning livestock is borne by the owner. The study also highlights the fact that existing legislation presents an obstacle to communities that seek to realize gains in communal areas. Locally-cropped meat cannot legally be sold, nor can communities claim revenue from those who utilize it.
Legislative reform is therefore imperative.
The study also concludes that an institutional framework needs to be developed in which community representatives, private businesses, NGOs and local government can devise development strategies that effectively utilize wildlife resources. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe follows a policy of sustainable utilization and views all its mammals as renewable natural resources to be managed. From 1960, farmers were given permits to utilize and trade in wildlife. The Parks and Wildlife Act was implemented in 1975. In the communal areas, where the land is formally owned by the Head of State, authority remained with the state, which became the wildlife custodian on behalf of the peasant farmers on communally-owned land.