The creation of social capital through networks in botswana's CBNRM

The livelihoods framework holds that poverty does not only manifest itself as material dispossession but also as a set of interconnected factors including social isolation and powerlessness (Chambers, 1989, 1992; Sen, 1981). Community power can be augmented by connections with the outside (Flora and Flora, 2004). The nature and types of connections could either augment or deplete community power. This study investigates evidence of networks between community based natural resource management community based organizations (CBNRM CBOs) and other community based natural resource management (CBNRM) institutional actors in Botswana which might help break the isolation of these local level organizations. This study maps out the networks of three CBNRM CBOs, namely, Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust, Sankoyo Tshwaragano Management Trust and Khwai Development Trust. The findings from the study indicate that these CBNRM CBOs engage mostly in vertical networking and little attention is given to horizontal networking and this implies an external locus of control. © 2006 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.