CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) was founded in the 1980s in Zimbabwe and has since spread to other countries in Southern Africa. It involves the management of wildlife resources by local Africa communities to earn money from tourism. Wildlife conservation is no longer an end in itself-it must be seen to pay its way.
The rural areas of Zimbabwe,as elsewhere in Africa, are experiencing the following problems:
.a demographic crisis,with the population in some areas doubling every 20 years
.a fall in real incomes
.decline in investment
.climatic change, with droughts becoming more frequent-this particularly hits subsistence farmers who make up more than 80 per cent of the population