The Legacy of David Livingstone: A Contribution to Sustainable Tourism

Introduction

March, 2013 marked the bicentenary celebrations of the birth of a famous Scottish missionary, David Livingstone. On 16^th March, 2013 a conference was held at the University of Edinburgh to remember the great missionary-explorer of the 19^th century. Papers were presented to highlight David Livingstone’s work in Africa. From these it became clear that David Livingstone made a considerable contribution to the opening up of Africa to the western world. The same year, the conference of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe, was held at Livingstone and Victoria, towns where David Livingstone had been the first European to discover the Victoria Falls. ² That the UNWTO conference was hosted by these towns indicates how important Livingstone’s work was for future tourism as he identified major landmarks in Africa such as the Victoria Falls and marketed them in the western world. The present article focuses on the legacy of David Livingstone’s activities in the context of tourism and ecological justice in southern Africa.

Alastair Smith’s research on Livingstone makes clear that the missionary’s work in Africa was premised on the wish to stimulate fair, legitimate trade. ³ In a previous issue of this journal, Smith notes:

…fair trade stakeholders need to move beyond activities to promote the consumption of products. If the fair trade movement is to follow Livingstone in making a meaningful contribution to history, it will be essential to facilitate significant changes in international trade rules: arguably through the engagement with wider global frameworks as currently advocated by the Fair Trade Beyond 2015 Campaign. ⁴

The present author agrees with Smith that Livingstone envisioned fair, legitimate trade as a means to develop Africa, but goes further by adding that Livingstone’s work and ideas today, if reclaimed, could promote sustainable tourism and advance ecological justice. The work and ideas of David Livingstone are similar to the objectives of UNWTO. As the United Nations agency, the UNWTO seeks to stimulate the creation of sustainable and universally accessible tourism. The agency considers tourism as a driving force of economic growth, inclusive overall development, and environmental sustainability. ⁵ It offers leadership and support to the tourism sector by advancing relevant knowledge and policies worldwide. ⁶ In the context of David Livingstone’s ideas in this direction, it is of interest to analyze his life and work.

David Livingstone: The Man and the Times

Although Livingstone is one of the most famous European missionaries working in Africa, he did not spend his entire career in the service of a missionary society. Livingstone’s brittle relations with other mission functionaries–directors as well as colleagues–his popularity as an explorer, his interest in scientific investigation, and his emphasis on the importance of European commerce and settlement in Africa, have made many of his contemporaries doubt his commitment to missionary work. Livingstone took up government appointments and was fully committed to the fight against the Arab slave trade in Africa. ⁷ However, he saw himself foremost as a missionary and he thought that his exploratory and scientific work had political and social implications for his work as a missionary. ⁸ David Livingstone’s work sheds light on the 19^th- and 20^th-century missionary movement and on the significance of his legacy for the role played by Christianity in contemporary society.

David Livingstone was born in 1813 in Blantyre, Scotland to a poor family committed to Christianity. He worked in a cotton-spinning factory from the age of ten until his mid-twenties to raise money for his schooling and to support his family. It was at a factory school that the intelligent youngster laid the foundation for his sound education. ⁹

He was much influenced by the writings of Thomas Dick, who emphasized the harmony between science and faith. Karl Gutzlaff’s writings triggered Livingstone’s interest in working in China. The savings he collected from working in the factory enabled him to enter Anderson’s College in Glasgow in 1836 to study medicine, Greek, and divinity. ¹⁰

While at college in 1837, Livingstone contacted the London Missionary Society (LMS), asking to be sent as a medical missionary to China. After his graduation as a medical practitioner in 1840, he was ordained as a missionary by the LMS. ¹¹ But the LMS decided not to send him to China, owing to the breaking out of the opium wars there. Instead, he was sent to Africa and arrived in 1841 in Cape Town. His interest in Africa was stimulated by his meeting with Robert Moffat, ¹² who shared his own missionary experiences with him and who spoke about the ongoing campaign against the slave trade. In 1844 David Livingstone would marry Moffat’s daughter, Mary. ¹³

There were very few mission stations in Africa at the time and most of them were in the Cape of Good Hope region. Little was known about Africa in Europe, though the Portuguese had already settled in southern Africa. The East African Empire of the sultans in Zanzibar exported slaves and ivory in large quantities while importing goods from India. There was a keen interest in Europe to learn about the unknown interior of Africa and the early 1850s were by Livingstone—as an LMS missionary—spent exploring the continent. ¹⁴ He was the first European to set eyes on the Musi-o- Tunya Falls, ¹⁵ which he renamed Victoria Falls in honor of Queen Victoria. ¹⁶ In many ways he was a typical early-day missionary. Some Christian missions in Zambia were the direct result of Livingstone’s work while others resulted from his persuasive influence on others to undertake missionary work. He considered himself as both a pioneer-missionary and explorer. ¹⁷ He was the first European to cross the African continent between 1853 and 1856. From the Zambezi River he travelled north and west across Angola to reach the Atlantic Ocean at Luanda. ¹⁸ However, he was seen by the LMS as being more interested in exploring than evangelizing. When the missionary society demanded that he focus more on converting the indigenes, he chose in 1857 to resign. ¹⁹ This meant the end of what is usually called David Livingstone’s first journey to Africa.

David Livingstone was now appointed as Her Majesty’s consul for the East Coast of Africa and the British government funded his return to Africa as head of the Zambezi expedition with the task to investigate the natural resources of Africa and open up the Zambezi River. In March 1858 he arrived in Africa for his second journey, this time as an explorer. ²⁰ From March 1858 to the middle of 1864 he followed the Zambezi to its mouth on the Indian Ocean in present-day Mozambique. In the days of David Livingstone, being an explorer was a risky profession. Macadam notes that “the expeditions at the time could take many years of travelling through remote and dangerous territory. Danger from disease, warring and suspicious tribes, wild animals and accidental death was always present. Medical help was basic and antibiotics still unheard of”. ²¹ Livingstone faced many challenges, including being attacked by a lion, differences with his crew, theft and a failure to negotiate the Cabora Bassa rapids. ²² He had to take an alternative route and found his way into Malawi. ²³ The British government considered the expedition a failure as no route had been found into the interior of Africa. From then on David Livingstone had to raise his own funds. In 1862 his wife, Mary Moffat, died of malaria. Life became increasingly difficult for Livingstone and in 1964 he returned to Britain. ²⁴

Two years later he embarked on his third and last African journey (from 1866 to 1873). This time, he explored central Africa in an attempt to find the source of the river Nile. He travelled up the Rovuma valley and crossed the Mweru and Bangweulu lakes in Zambia. In March 1869, he arrived at Ujiji where he suffered from pneumonia. In September he had recovered sufficiently to continue his journey. He reached Luama river and Bambarra where he fell ill and remained. ²⁵ He was not heard from for years and there were fears that he had died or got lost. The Royal Geographical Society and the New York Herald decided to organize expeditions to try and find him. Henry Morton Stanley, a British-born reporter who himself would become a famous explorer, was the leader of the Herald’s expedition. On November 10 1871 Stanley found Livingstone in the town of Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Livingstone and Stanley both made important contributions to the opening up of Africa for the western world. ²⁶

Livingstone was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London and, having considerably increased western understanding of the central regions of Africa, he was named a fellow of the society. He had explored and charted rivers and lakes but his health continued to deteriorate and in May 1873 Livingstone died from a combination of dysentery and malaria. Britain demanded that his body be returned to England but Chuma, Susi, and other African evangelists who were travelling with him refused. They insisted that David Livingstone was an African man with a white skin and had to be buried in Africa. Turner records:

With heavy hearts, Chuma, Susi, Magwara and Farjeli prepared the body for the first stage of its long journey back to England. As a final tribute to their great leader, they had decided to risk the dangerous and exacting trek to the coast with the corpse. ²⁷

To keep his spirit in Africa they buried his heart, in accordance with African beliefs, under a Mupundu tree. ²⁸ His other remains were taken to Britain where they were in 1874 interred in Westminster Abbey. ²⁹

His African companions had made a year-long journey to bring his body to London and the inscription on David Livingstone’s grave reads: “Brought by faithful hands over land and sea, here rests David Livingstone, missionary, traveler, philanthropist”. ³⁰ It is clear that David Livingstone was held in high esteem by Africans, and his legacy on the continent, and in Zambia in particular, survives him. In 1899 locals believed that the tree where Livingstone’s heart was buried was diseased so they cut it down and shipped a section of the trunk, engraved with Livingstone’s name, to London. ³¹

David Livingstone’s careers, both as a missionary and as an explorer, did not follow a smooth path. The expeditions along the Zambezi and Shire rivers failed to produce the expected results as he was waylaid by rapids. However, his work in these regions revealed to the western world that Africa was rich in rivers, lakes, fertile lands and minerals. Jack Thompson remarks:

Of course his impact was huge. Though he is credited with ‘discovering’ landmarks like Lake Malawi, some knowledge of them already existed; but he was a superb map-maker and he was the first to chart much of the 365 mile length of the Lake in detail…he saw his mission as being to open a path for commerce and Christianity. ³²

David Livingstone, even if his expeditions were not in all respects successful, managed through his speeches and his writings to open Africa to the West. He identified and described Africa’s natural resources that, in time, would become important for tourism and he marketed them in Europe.

The relevance of Livingstone’s legacy for a Just Economy, Trade, and Tourism

Some historians argue that David Livingstone was a traditional colonialist who helped expand the power and wealth of the British Empire. ³³ There are others who appreciate him for encouraging Europeans, especially Scottish Presbyterians, to settle in Africa and contribute to development and trade. ³⁴ In this context it is important to take the world trends at the time into account. Livingstone came to Africa as a missionary. Firstly, it was a period when missionary work had become accepted by the European public as necessary and beneficial. It was no longer seen as a fanatical exercise. ³⁵ Secondly, there was a new consciousness of Africa in Britain. The industrial revolution led to the need for raw materials and new markets. There was also a need for labour. These requirements were fulfilled by the acquisition of territories overseas which ushered in the British imperial period. ³⁶ Western powers divided Africa among themselves and siphoned off natural resources. Thirdly, slave trade was still going strong in some parts of Africa and “Christian commitment was associated with strong sentiment against slavery”. ³⁷ David Livingstone was one of those who, with deep conviction, fought against the slave trade. He also made considerable contributions to trade, sustainable tourism, and development in general.

Livingstone’s condemnation of the trade in slaves stimulated the establishment of legitimate trade. ³⁸ The campaign against the slave trade was started by Christians; throughout the period of slaves being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, there were always Christians who protested against such activities. One of the earliest was the King of Kongo, Afonso I, who ruled between 1506 and 1543. Afonso I wrote to the King of Portugal and sent his emissaries to both Lisbon and Rome demanding that the trade be stopped. There were groups of Christians—Capuchin monks, Quakers, and former slaves such as Olaudah Equiano, an Igbo—who spoke out against the trade. ³⁹ Walls records:

Militant opposition to the slave trade had been mobilized by the “Clapham” group of evangelicals of whom William Wilberforce was the best known. Buxton, Wilberforce’s Parliamentary heir, and like him an earnest evangelical, worked for the emancipation of the slaves in the British dominions in 1834; but he became aware that the abolition of the slave trade, Wilberforce’s greatest Parliamentary achievement, had not had its intended effect. There were actually more slaves being transported across the Atlantic in 1839 than were in 1807 when the Abolition Act was passed. ⁴⁰

There was a general belief in the West that Christianity, civilization, and commerce could bring an end to slave trade and promote the trade in natural resources while contributing to the overall development of Africa. Especially the development of agriculture was identified as an alternative to slave trade. It was envisaged that Western industries would eventually profit from the development of African agriculture by importing the Western manufactured goods that Africans needed. There was also a perception that trade in Africa’s natural resources would bring civilization to the continent by the promotion of literacy, printing, new technologies, a better infrastructure, transport networks, and new forms of civil organization. ⁴¹ This agenda was strongly supported by David Livingstone who had witnessed slave trade in South Africa and East Africa. David Livingstone proclaimed:

…[To] make Africa a prosperous land, liberty must be proclaimed to the captive, and the slave system with all its accursed surroundings, brought conclusively to an end…friends, can the love of Christ not carry the missionary where the slave-trade carries the trader? ⁴²

He committed himself to exploring the interior of Africa in order to discover resources that could replace slave trade. He helped to make the Western world aware of African resources such as oil, dyes, fibres, and minerals. Britain cooperated with Portugal to provide Livingstone with the resources for his explorations. ⁴³ Believing that Christian values would help foster the virtue of integrity and promote human dignity, he also identified places conducive to the establishment of mission stations.

Secondly, Livingstone and other missionaries protected Africans from invaders and from hostile colonial authorities. While some missionaries sympathized with the colonists, David Livingstone often came up in favour of the natives. ⁴⁴ Some African chiefs depended on missionaries for protection during tribal warfare such as the Mfecane. All these considerations motivated Livingstone to encourage other missionaries to open missions. ⁴⁵ He looked upon “all humans, including black people, as belonging together, a family or a community of God’s people. Livingstone viewed society in its wholeness, i.e. political, commercial, religious, health and education”. ⁴⁶ It is true that David Livingstone’s fair dealings with the chiefs guaranteed him security and safe passage during all his travels. Furthermore, African kings were willing to give him helpers and to provide soldiers from among their people. ⁴⁷

Thirdly, David Livingstone’s work opened up Africa for sustainable tourism and development. He challenged other Europeans (missionaries, explorers, and investors) to focus their attention on Africa. ⁴⁸ To this end, famously addressed audiences at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge as follows.

I beg to direct your attention to Africa: I know that in a few years I shall be cut off in that country, which is now open; do not let it be shut again! I go back to Africa to try to make an open path for commerce and Christianity; do you carry out the work which I have begun, I leave it with you! ⁴⁹

In response to Livingstone’s call for bringing commerce and civilization to Africa, the Livingstonia Central Africa Company (later renamed the African Lakes Company) was formed in 1877. His desire to build strong foundations for tourism in Africa is exemplified by his statement: “If the Zambesi [Zambezi] could be opened to commerce the bright vision of the last ten years would be realized, and the Shire Valley and the banks of the Nyassa transformed into the garden of the Lord”. ⁵⁰ No river captured his attention and imagination more than the Zambezi. He called it “God’s Highway”, believing it would allow missionaries and merchants to travel easily between the coast of Africa and its interior. ⁵¹ It was Livingstone’s dream to connect Africa from Cape Town to Egypt via its rivers and lakes. His finding of the Victoria Falls and the source of the Nile illustrate this point. Not only were these part of a quest driven by economic concerns but, over the years, they have also proved to be resources for tourism. Livingstone imagined that Africa’s rivers and lakes could create a highway traversing the continent. ⁵²

Fourthly, Livingstone proposed the development of agriculture in tandem with the preservation of nature in Africa. ⁵³ He envisaged mission stations in areas where nature would not be exploited but protected by the missions. He was inspired by Robert Moffat to improve methods of irrigation and agriculture. ⁵⁴ Unfortunately, those who came after him destroyed nature for profit. They treated nature as a resource only for human benefit. Missionaries made good use of the land they bought or took from local people. Mission stations were a hive of activities that contributed significantly to the economic development of African countries. David Livingstone was against the acquiring of land for selfish capitalistic gain which was the aim of colonial authorities. As Blaike records, Livingstone emphasized: “But it does not argue much for our foresight that we have not farms of our own, equal to those of any colonial farmer…. I wonder why we cannot have the old monastery system without the celibacy”. ⁵⁵

Livingstone understood creation as sacred and believed in the interdependence of life encompassing all of God’s creation. He knew that the survival of humanity depends entirely on other creatures—human and non-human—inhabiting the earth. His view of the natural world as sacred and essential for the survival of humanity led him to accept “as a calling his engagement with the London Missionary Society and the Royal Geographic Society in London, organizations that sent him as missionary/explorer in the interior of Africa”. ⁵⁶

Fifthly, the writings of Livingstone and other missionaries, for example Robert Moffat, opened up Africa to the world and inspired the West to invest in the continent. Livingstone represents a generation of missionaries who informed the West about their experiences on the continent. ⁵⁷

Lastly, David Livingstone belonged to one of the Christian missions that pioneered the provision of education and medical services to Africans. The Universities Mission to Central Africa was formed in response to David Livingstone’s missionary activities in Central Africa. While on leave in England in 1857, Livingstone addressed a series of meetings in an effort to inspire young people to devote their lives to doing mission in Central Africa. ⁵⁸ Dr. Siloka summarizes the contribution of David Livingstone to the missionary enterprise in Zambia as follows:

A man of God. Zambia is a Christian country because of Dr Livingstone…. Born in Blantyre, Scotland, in 1813, sent to Africa in 1841 by the London Missionary Society, married Mary Moffat, daughter of Robert and Mary Moffat of Kuruman, first European to see the Victoria Falls, first European to cross Africa coast to coast, campaigned against slavery. ⁵⁹

During one of his lecture sessions at Cambridge University he ended a meeting with the senate by stressing the need to open up Africa for commerce, Christianity, and civilization. ⁶⁰ As a result of this appeal, the Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin Mission to Central Africa was formed in 1858. The name was later changed to the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA). Around 1860, an attempt was made to establish missionary activities in the Shire Highlands of Nyasaland but it ended in disaster, and during the following decades only the Anglican mission was active in the Highlands. Successful mission stations were opened in the 1880s. ⁶¹ These introduced modern education and medical services in Zambia and Malawi.

There are ambiguities in the legacy of Livingstone who, in addition to promoting development, also contributed to the arrival of European imperialism in Africa. He expected that European settlement would bring beneficial economic transformation and that those coming after him would uphold fair trade. Unfortunately, those who followed instead decolonized Africans and their land. ⁶² However, Livingstone himself continued to fight for a modern independent Africa with legitimate trade and tourism. He respected Africans and the natural world; his missionary work was based on this respect, and he opposed foreign oppression of Africa. ⁶³ Livingstone’s attitude towards Africans and their culture was markedly different from that of many colonial authorities and other European missionaries. While he shared the European worldview based on the Enlightenment that looked upon most African cultural beliefs as superstition, Livingstone strongly believed in the development of Africa through Christianity, commerce, and tourism. Contemporary African society benefits from his efforts to introduce civilization and open up Africa for commerce. This is clear for example from the UNWTO 2013 general assembly and from the revenue that tourism today brings to southern Africa.

The opening up of southern Africa is a direct result of David Livingstone’s plea for bringing Christian civilization and commerce to the continent. He believed that these aims could be achieved by Christian colonization, provided that the resulting trade would be legitimate and determined by values that would benefit the local people. ⁶⁴ This is in agreement with the present Global Code of Ethics for Tourism which the UNWTO seeks to implement. The UNWTO aims to maximize tourism’s socio-economic contribution to African nations while minimizing its possible negative impact. It promotes tourism as an instrument to realize the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), geared towards reducing poverty and fostering sustainable development. ⁶⁵ The organization generates market knowledge, promotes competitive and sustainable tourism policies and instruments, fosters relevant education and training in tourism, and works to make tourism an effective tool for development through technical assistance projects in over 100 countries around the world. ⁶⁶ Owing to UNWTO’s activities, international tourism continues to grow. UNWTO’s annual report indicates that, despite persisting global economic challenges and geopolitical shifts, tourism is still expanding. ⁶⁷ In 2012 it reached an historic milestone with one billion people travelling the world annually. In 2013, tourism maintained its momentum with a five per cent growth and recorded a total of 1,087 million international tourists.

Despite growing tourism, in Africa, where there are plenty natural resources to attract tourists, people continue to live in poverty. This raises questions about the legitimacy of current policies for trade and tourism. Increased tourism is expected to contribute to the eradication of poverty and to promote “environmental sustainability, trade and economic growth”. ⁶⁸ However, evidence of this is hard to find in southern Africa. Current economic systems do not benefit poor people in developing countries. Smith notes:

Fair trade emerged as a grassroots response to the failure of state-led efforts to reform the international trade system along the lines of social justice and the promotion of human development…in contrast to those who advocate the development of trade interactions irrespective of the distribution of benefits, fair trade recognises that ‘poverty and hardship limit people’s choices while market forces tend to further marginalise and exclude them. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation’. ⁶⁹

Tourism and development cannot offer fair benefits to local people without, in the first place, promoting their freedom. The 20th session of the UNWTO General Assembly, hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe, highlights that the inhabitants of southern African countries do not experience the positive effects of tourism. Addressing delegates, President Robert Mugabe noted that economic and military super powers benefit from tourism at the expense of Africans. The need to strengthen the determination to leverage tourism for the economic well-being and advancement of Africa was identified as well as the important political and economic role that sustainable tourism can play in the world. ⁷⁰

The importance of sustainable tourism and a just economy resonates with Livingstone’s views regarding principles of development that can further promote equity and empower the masses. The current situation where Africa has only a four per cent share of global tourism revenue, in spite of its many natural and cultural resources, is a matter of great concern and a betrayal of the legacy of David Livingstone. Smith notes that “although Livingstone recognized the slave trade as economically beneficial for some, he rejected it on the ground of failure to meet the necessary standards of social justice based on some sense of a belief in the equality of all human individuals”. ⁷¹ UNWTO plans to undertake projects aimed at removing barriers that prevent the growth of tourism in Africa. These plans entail especially the empowerment of women and youths. ⁷² There also are efforts to facilitate the obtaining of visas so that international travel becomes less cumbersome. These efforts reflect Livingstone’s hopes for an Africa open for trade and commerce. Currently, laws imposed by governments to limit cross-border movement result in the restriction of trade and tourism. There is no way that Africa can increase its share in global tourism without first promoting intra-African travel. ⁷³ The dream of an independent United States of Africa accords with David Livingstone’s vision of opening up the interior of Africa. ⁷⁴ If implemented, there could be a considerable increase in economic growth and tourism on the continent. ⁷⁵

The 20th session of the UNWTO conference discussed issues important for the advancement of sustainable tourism. These include the need for tourism that is accessible for all, the promotion of youth travel, and visa facilitation with the aim of the growth of tourism, creating socioeconomic development and jobs. Visa facilitation has become a key issue in modern tourism. The focus is on the externalization of the visa application processes, multi-entry visas, exemption of visas for transit passengers and increasing the capacity of consulates, as well as the opening of new consulates in key emerging markets. Encouraging open borders through the organization of regional block visa regimes has the potential to allow for easier travel in southern Africa. However, the efforts are challenged by policies of strong economies that want to prevent immigrants from entering their countries. ⁷⁶ There are also reports that Europe tries to keep tourism dollars within the Eurozone by imposing punitive airport departure taxes on intercontinental travelers. ⁷⁷ As Smith notes, consensus is needed on economic openness to international trade, which can be instrumental in promoting development. ⁷⁸ In other words, development can only thrive where barriers to freedom are removed. ⁷⁹ There is no real progress without the upholding of social justice and human freedom.

The UNWTO conference made clear that commerce and tourism in Africa continue to be critical issues. The re-opening of the routes charted by Livingstone is becoming increasingly essential for the creation of sustainable tourism. The principles of such tourism are part of the UNWTO plans as much as they were part of Livingstone’s plea in senate house at Cambridge University in 1857, when he invited European governments to pay attention to issues of ecology and the greenhouse effect. He begged them to uphold good governance that promotes the well-being of human and non-human forms of life. ⁸⁰

There has to be a balance between making a profit and the promotion of life and human freedom in trade and tourism. Trade benefits should not come at the detriment of people’s well-being. It is for this reason that Livingstone fought slave trade. He reasoned that legitimate trade could put a halt to slave trade. Legitimate trade stands “in contrast to the unacceptable activities of slavery”. ⁸¹ Christianity in Africa needs to live the legacy of David Livingstone by advocating for just trade and tourism.

A Christian View of Economic Justice and Sustainable Tourism

David Livingstone saw the missionary task as establishing a balance between the message of personal salvation and that of social renewal. In the view of Livingstone and those in the mission who agreed with him, the Christian message had social implications for society and social issues informed the way mission had to be done. ⁸² This understanding of the role of the church in society has a lot to offer to contemporary African society, where the majority of people live in abject poverty in spite of the continent’s abundant natural resources.

Among the most important themes in the church’s social teaching are economic justice and development. ⁸³ Natural resources in Africa are harnessed to benefit powerful countries in Asia, Europe, and America. Local people are poorly paid. In Zambia the government has, after independence in 1964, invested in many social projects, such as schools and hospitals; in physical infrastructure, for example roads and railroads; and in the provision of water and sanitation. But the decline of copper prices and the quadrupling of oil prices caused an economic downturn and people’s widespread suffering. ⁸⁴

Owing to unjust aspects of global economic policies, Zambia’s economy has never regained its former strength. Heavy borrowing put the country seriously into debt. An enforced economic reform program, designed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank called Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), meant that major changes had to be made in the operation of the economy, especially after the political transition from one-party state to multi-party politics in 1991. The economy was liberalized. There were budget cuts, privatization, the imposition of fees for education and health care, devaluation of the local currency, and retrenchment of workers in both public and private sectors. These developments brought hardship, especially to those already suffering as a result of the economic decline. ⁸⁵ It is in this context that the social teaching of the church ought to build on the legacy of David Livingstone and call for economic justice, sustainable tourism, and development.

Five principles can be identified that may serve as a foundation for the Church’s social teaching on greater economic justice and the creation of sustainable tourism, building on the legacy of David Livingstone. The first principle is that people must be put first. It emphasizes that the economy is for people, people are not for the economy. ⁸⁶ Hence, an economy must be evaluated by its impact on the people. Tourism, or any other development project, should translate into economic and social upliftment of the local population. There can be no true development without social justice. ⁸⁷

Many people living in rural areas and shanty towns are poor and underfed. Their material living conditions are bad and prevent them from leading dignified and responsible lives. Increasing numbers of children suffer from malnutrition, and many are unable to attend school, let alone access higher education. ⁸⁸ The wages of agricultural and industrial workers, domestic servants and employees in other production sectors often are low.

The second principle is to uphold a preferential option for the poor and marginalized. This preferential option should be central: a key orientation for action. The majority of the poor are women and children who are in addition marginalized by African cultural and religious structures. Civil unrest such as xenophobic violence and ritual killings has its roots in the suffering of the poor. And with the prices of essential commodities rising, the poor keep getting poorer. ⁸⁹

The third principle that should underpin the Church’s social teaching is participation of the people in decisions concerning economic justice, development, and policy decisions. Sustainable development requires the active participation of the people who are involved in, and affected by, the process. ⁹⁰ Development should not be only “top-down”, but the other way round as well. This ensures that people are the subjects of development rather than merely objects. Development programs that are people-centered involve the population in identifying problems and in looking for responses. Such programs are based on co-operating with people in finding solutions. In other words, ordinary citizens at grassroots level should be able to influence public policy through participation. Major decisions about the future of the nation need to be explained and debated. Thus, Christians also have a role to play by participating and influencing the mentality, laws, customs, and structures that determine the nation’s functioning. ⁹¹

The fourth principle concerns upholding the dignity of human life. Fostering the dignity of human life is essential in the promotion of economic justice and development. ⁹² This dignity is not based on social status, race, gender, or achievement, but on the person him- or herself as created in the image of God. God is the author of life and gives each life its dignity. Whatever violates the integrity of the human being, for example slavery, the selling of women and children, the maintaining of disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere instruments of gain rather than as free responsible persons, constitutes a grave offense to the Creator. Such dishonourable acts and behaviours ultimately do more harm to those who practise them than to the ones who suffer from the injury.

The fifth principle is concerned with protecting the dignity of God’s creation and of human as well as non-human life. Economic justice, sustainable development, and tourism ought to respect the intrinsic value of God’s creation; the natural world is not only for human benefit. ⁹³ The exploitation of the natural world, disguised as development and tourism, has contributed to global warming and the current ecological crisis. The cause of this lies in the fact that every part of God’s creation is intertwined with every other part. An ethical responsibility to challenge patriarchal systems exploiting Earth as well as those inhabitants of the planet who are socially marginalized such as women and poor communities, needs to be part of economic and development policies. Human and non-human life on Earth are interdependent. The planet can only be healed and tourism can only foster development if the principle of equality of all species, be they human, non-human or earth mysteries, is upheld. ⁹⁴

The principle of the dignity of God’s creation is in agreement with the African worldview that considers all elements of God’s created order as related and supportive of each other in a complex web of life. ⁹⁵ Africans recognize the interdependence of humans, ancestors, unborn humans, spirits, earth mysteries and non-human forms of life. This understanding of God’s creation may contribute positively to the establishment of sustainable tourism and development whereby the natural world is not exploited for selfish human interests.

Conclusion

The emphasis of UNWTO on the need for sustainable trade and tourism represents a milestone in the context of reviving Livingstone’s legacy, specifically his views on the promotion of just trade, tourism, and ecological justice. David Livingstone placed strong emphases on the principles of development, equity, and empowerment of the masses. It is on this basis that he advocated for the abolition of the slave trade and called governments in Europe up to engage in legitimate trade that could advance the development of local people in Africa. Livingstone’s endeavor to open up the interior of Africa for civilization, Christianity, and commerce shows his commitment to economic well-being in Africa. If his ideas regarding trade, tourism, and general ecological well-being are revived and properly used, they may come to represent a turning point in the fortunes of the African continent where tourism and the economy are concerned. In the meantime, however, the current situation, where Africa has only a four per cent share in global tourism revenue in spite of its massive tourism potential, is a matter of grave concern for the continent. It is a betrayal of David Livingstone’s legacy and of the principles of just trade and sustainable tourism.

The Blackest Page

Marion Ann Taylor & Christiana de Groot (eds), Women of War, Women of Woe (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016. $35.00/£23.99. pp. x + 278. ISBN: 978-0-8028-7302-6).

This anthology, part of a wider project for the Old Testament, looks at women, named or unnamed, in the books of Joshua and Judges through the writings of some thirty-five women of the 19th century. As one would expect, these women are not academics nor ordained. With most churches and academic institutions closed to them, how could they be? Yet most are highly educated, either privately or self taught, both in language and theology. Sarah Ewing Hall learned Latin and Greek with her brothers then taught herself Hebrew. Some are published novelists or poets, social activists or reformers. So Cecil Frances Alexander, (Once in Royal David’s City) is there alongside Josephine Butler, (the repeal of the disgraceful Contagious Diseases Act). And Elizabeth Cady Stanton (the first US women’s rights convention, 1848) is there as well as Harriet Beecher Stowe (novelist and campaigner for the abolition of slavery).

It deals with eight women from the books of Joshua and Judges; Rahab, Achsah, Deborah, Jael, Jephthah’s daughter, Manoah’s wife, Delilah and the Levite’s concubine. Other commentators of the time may have thought of the named women as either power crazy or downright evil, and the unnamed as necessary sacrifices. Think again.

In each section Taylor and de Groot have gathered passages from the writers who have, through essay or tract, book or poem, commented on the selected eight women.

Some of the 19^th women commentators are at pains to conform to established cultural norms. But more are perceptive in seeing the ambiguity and double standards set by religious leaders and cultural norms. And some make trenchant criticism of other commentators. It tells us much about biblical thought in the 19th century. As Elizabeth Cady Stanton writes, ‘…though the injustice to women is the blackest page in sacred history, the distinguished biblical writers take no notice of us whatsoever’. This whets one’s appetite for more about these remarkable women.

Each section closes with helpful and imaginative study questions. Here is a magnificent resource for church groups, but above all for use in university or seminary.