The Socio‐Economic Benefits of Communal Trophy Hunting in Africa: A Value Chain Perspective From Namibia

ABSTRACT International concerns around the equitable distribution of income generated by communal trophy hunting tourism have raised questions about the industry's effectiveness in promoting rural livelihoods and nature conservation. We examine how communities in Namibia derive benefits from wildlife and explore local perspectives on fostering active economic participation in the trophy hunting economy. Through community‐centric value chain analysis, we uncover that rural communities capture half of the value that local hunting tourism operations generate. Formal community institutions play a central role in redistributing these benefits and facilitating rural socio‐economic development. Moreover, strengthening human capital and active economic participation of communities can further enhance local community value capture and creation. Our findings contribute to discourse on aligning conservation with rural development objectives. This value chain model offers a replicable framework for evaluating distributional equity in nature‐based industries and provides a pathway to enhance it, ensuring support of both people and nature.