Illustrative image: Hunting earns billions by the economy, but questionable practices have done the industry a great deal of harm. (Photo: iStock) 
South Africa’s hunting sector generates about R45-billion ($2.5-billion) for the economy annually, creating badly needed jobs while conserving habitat and wildlife, according to the findings of a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Wildlife Research.
This is a significantly larger sum than previous estimates, underscoring the importance of hunting to a barely growing economy that faces many challenges.
The study’s findings come at a time when the hunting industry in Africa is in the cross hairs of animal welfare and rights organisations and Western public opinion, with campaigns in the UK and elsewhere to ban the import of trophies from hunts.
Hunting is a hot-button culture issue. Critics maintain that it is a needlessly cruel activity, that its economic and conservation contribution is often inflated by its backers and that it endangers a number of species. This strikes a chord with the educated, middle-class people who tend to spearhead anti-hunting campaigns.
Read more: Giraffes under siege: The silent crisis of trophy hunting and its threat to survival
But such views have little traction in Africa outside the urban middle class, and African governments such as Namibia, Botswana and others have lobbied against trophy hunting bans in large part because of the economic benefits hunting brings for their developing economies and the rural communities who must live alongside dangerous wildlife.
There is a growing body of objective, peer-reviewed research in academic journals that highlights hunting’s economic and conservation importance. And pointedly, there are no such studies that suggest that properly regulated hunting is driving any species to extinction.
Read more: There will be many more dead wild animals if hunting is outlawed
This study is the latest in this vein to objectively assess the economic impact of hunting and its conservation spin-offs. Titled Assessing the Contributions of Hunting Tourism to the South African Economy: A Post-Covid Analysis, it was written by Peet van der Merwe and Andrea Saayman, professors focused on tourism management and economics at North-West University. It does not address the thorny issues of animal welfare or cruelty, which are legitimate concerns beyond its scope, but provides a clinical and dispassionate dollars-and-cents examination of the issue.
The authors used surveys of international and domestic hunters to reach an estimate of their expenditure. They then applied a “production multiplier”, an economic tool that tries to measure the snowball effects of expenditure and investment.
“The result revealed that hunting tourism’s total impact on the South African economy is $2.5-billion. Hunting represents a production multiplier of 2.97, indicating that for every $1 spent by hunting tourists, production increases by an additional $1.97,” they write.
“Agriculture, trade, accommodation and personal services are the industry sectors most dependent on hunting tourism.”
The questionnaires for the survey were sent between August 2022 and October 2023, and 414 international and 1,864 domestic hunters completed them. From this sample, the authors used other sources such as Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment data to estimate the total number of hunters from both categories – about 200,000.
“It is evident that the typical local hunter spends approximately $3,594 (R64 500)during a season on hunting. Game hunted by hunters accounted for $2,033 (R37 000). […] Accommodation, transport and meat processing are also significant hunting categories for local hunting tourists,” the authors write.
The total spending of an international hunter was estimated to be $27,170 (R488 000). This includes gear, ammunition, transport, food and beverages, guiding fees and costs related to taxidermy and trophies.
The total expenditure was estimated to reach $888-million (R16-billion), with the production multiplier bringing the total to about $2.5-billion (R45-billion).
The authors noted several broad findings. “The first finding of the research is that hunting tourism makes a significant economic contribution to the South African economy. […] The findings imply that hunting tourism drives production, household income and employment across various sectors, particularly for the agriculture and services delivery sectors,” they write.
“Any disruption or decline in this activity would significantly impact dependent industries and the economy of the country.”
The second finding “is that hunting tourism plays an important role in income generation and poverty reduction in South Africa. The implication is that hunting tourism has a high income multiplier, generating substantial income gains for the country’s low- and middle-income households.”
The study highlights the role that hunting plays in job creation for low-skilled workers, because it is a labour-intensive sector. “The reduction of hunting tourism could disproportionately harm these workers, thus exacerbating the unemployment challenges in South Africa,” the authors write.
Another key takeaway is the linkages of hunting to various sectors, including agriculture – South Africa allows private ownership of wildlife, and game farming is big business – as well as trade, accommodation and personal services.
Beyond its economic spoor, the hunting sector has also blazed conservation trails as former farmland has been transformed to wildlife habitat. “Hunting tourism contributes to the rewilding of previously crop and livestock farming areas as these are replaced with wildlife reserves. Reduction in hunting tourism activities will negatively impact land use for wildlife as landowners will revert back to alternative agricultural activities,” the authors write.
At about R45-billion in local currency, hunting is clearly material to the economy and not far behind the wine industry’s estimated contribution to GDP of R56-billion, according to data compiled by Wines of South Africa.
Critics of hunting in South Africa and Africa more widely often insist that it can be replaced with photographic tourism, which also creates jobs and economic value. But many hunting areas are ill-suited to game viewing, defined by a dull landscape, thick bush and the difficulty of providing the amenities that such clients typically demand.
Read more: Documentary explores elephant issues in Botswana from a pro-hunting perspective
Debates about hunting will continue to rage. Many people simply detest hunting, and unscrupulous operators involved in canned hunting and other questionable practices have done the industry a great deal of harm.
But the tracks of its economic and conservation value are in plain sight. There is a reason South Africa’s government and other African governments oppose trophy hunting bans sought by mostly non-Africans up north. DM
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
