An Examination of Natural Resource Management in Zimbabwe's Communal Lands
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NYIKA VANHU: THE LAND IS THE PEOPLE: An Examination of Natural Resource Management in Zimbabwe’s Communal Lands A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Applied Social Sciences) Charles James Kingsley Latham Centre for Applied Social Sciences University of Zimbabwe November 2005 1 Table of Contents List of figures.............................................................................................................................. iv List of tables................................................................................................................................ iv List of boxes ................................................................................................................................ iv Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................... v Abstract......................................................................................................................................vii Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................viii Chapter 1 Purpose and Methodology.......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose 1 1.2 Methodology 7 1.3 Continuity and Change 11 Chapter 2 Worldviews, Science and Natural Resources.......................................................................... 13 2.1 Introduction 13 2.2 Western Worldviews 14 2.3 Alternative Worldviews 19 2.4 Nyika Vanhu: The Land is the People 20 2.5 Shona Cosmo-vision 21 2.6 Landscapes and Narratives: Differing perceptions – The Genesis of Conflict 24 2.7 Definitions and Relevant Issues Of Governance 32 2.8 Traditional Political Organisation 36 Chapter 3 Setting the Stage ........................................................................................................................ 39 3.1 Geography 39 3.2 Climate 40 3.3 Natural Regions or Agro-Ecological Zones 40 3.4 Vegetation 41 3.5 Mineral Resources 41 3.6 Population 42 3.7 Economy 42 3.8 Agriculture 43 3.9 Land Tenure 43 3.10 Administrative Divisions 45 3.11 Second Tier (Local) Government 45 3.12 River Catchment Councils 46 3.13 Traditional Governance 46 3.14 Conclusion 46 Chapter 4 Narratives of Landscape: Their Influence on the Evolution of Policy in Regard to Land, Natural Resources and Local Government............................................................................. 48 4.1 Background 48 4.2 Landscapes, Worldviews and Conservation Policy 49 4.3 ‘Scientific Agriculture’ 51 i 4.4 Alvord – The Architect of Centralisation 52 4.5 The Native Land Husbandry Act 1951 54 4.6 Community Development and Local Government: 1962/72 57 4.7 The Tribal Trust Land Act 1965 64 4.8 Post-colonial Era 68 4.9 Summary 70 Chapter 5 Murisa Dunhu: Changing Landscapes, Constant Visions ..................................................... 72 5.1 Introduction 72 5.2 Orientation 73 5.3 Bepura Chiefdom (Nyika yaBepura) 73 5.4 The Murisa Community (Dunhu raMurisa) 75 5.5 Environment 75 5.6 History 76 5.6 Central Government Institutional Arrangements 79 5.7 Local Government – Guruve Rural District Council 81 5.8 Traditional Governance 81 5.9 Spatial Issues 83 5.10 Jurisdictional Issues 84 5.11 Institutional Complexity and Issues of Legal Pluralism 85 5.12 Settlement Patterns: The Resilience of Culture 86 5.12 Musha Settlement 88 5.13 Musha and Environmental Influences 88 5.14 Musha and Political Control of Territory 89 5.15 Proximity to Leadership 90 5.16 Population Density and Access to Resources 92 5.17 Centralisation, the Native Land Husbandry Act (1951) and its Influence on Current Land Use Practise 93 5.18 Husbandry Practises 94 5.19 Livestock and Grazing 95 5.20 Customary Law and its Place in Local Level Traditional Governance 97 5.21 The Case Study: A Traditional Rural Court Case 100 5.22 Observations 104 Chapter 6 Management of a Common Pool Resource on Techno-Bureaucratic Principles............... 106 6.1 Introduction 106 6.2 Water Allocation and the Management of Agricultural Water 108 6.3 Water: A Common Pool Resource 108 6.4 The Water Act: Act 41 of 1976 109 6.5 A Case Study: The Msitwe River Board Catchment Area 111 6.6 The Msitwe River Board: Background and Formation 112 6.7 Early Activities of the MRB 113 6.8 Water Rights 113 6.9 Monitoring of Water 117 6.10 Conflict Management 118 6.11 Conflict on the Upper Mutorashanga River 1993-97 118 6.12 Observations 128 6.13 Conclusion 129 ii Chapter 7 Managing Water through Systemic Holism: A Case Study ................................................ 131 7.1 Introduction 131 7.2 Shona Perceptions of Water and Water Usage 134 7.3 A Case Study: Murisa Dam 135 7.4 Observations and Discourse 148 7.5 Exclusion and Proprietorial Rights 151 7.6 Summary 152 Chapter 8 Culture, Continuity and Change............................................................................................ 157 8.1 Introduction 157 8.2 Epistemologies 158 8.3 Scale, De-centralisation and Levels of Jurisdiction 159 8.4 Discourse and Disagreement on Institutions, Landscape, Tenure and Settlement Patterns 161 8.5 Patterns of Settlement and Landscape: The Interface of Culture and Environment 166 8.6 Surprise 168 8.7 Balancing the Centrifugal and the Centripetal 168 8.8 The Past is the Present Country: Iterations of History and Landscape 169 8.9 Adaptive Management 172 8.10 The New Institutionalism in the Context of Continuity and Change 173 8.11 Concluding Observations: Constraints and Opportunities 177 Chapter 9 Breaking the Paradigm: A Case Study for the Future ........................................................ 179 9.1 Introduction 179 9.2 Methodology 179 9.3 Scenario Planning 184 9.4 Critical Issues 186 9.5 The Traditional Leaders Act (Chapter 29:17) of 1998: Ambiguity, Plurality and Overlap 189 9.6 Land Tenure and Resource Management 191 9.7 Successional Experimentation and Modelling 192 9.8 Final Reflections 195 Appendix 1 Extracts from the Southern Rhodesia Community Development Review, 1968 ............... 197 References ................................................................................................................................ 200 iii List of figures Figure 1: Main research areas within Zimbabwe 25 Figure 2: Map of main research areas in Guruve and Zvimba district 27 Figure 3: Genealogy of Chingowo 28 Figure 4: Map of Africa 39 Figure 5: Map showing the traditional wards, Guruve District 74 Figure 6: Organagram of Local Government 80 Figure 7: Theoretical traditional institutional organisation 82 Figure 8: Map of musha and VIDCO boundaries in Murisa dunhu 84 Figure 9: Map of Murisa musha land distribution 87 Figure 10: Schematic representation of the Upper Mutorashanga catchment 119 List of tables Table 1: Villages within the Murisa community and number of households 75 Table 2: List of Murisa leaders 77 Table 3: Murisa Traditional Ward (Dunhu) Core Development Committee (Ward 27B of GRDC) 141 Table 4: The Dam Committee 141 Table 5: Kayoyoma (Murisa) Garden Committee 142 List of boxes Box 1: Worldviews in collision...................................................................................... 20 Box 2: Institutional endurance........................................................................................ 24 Box 3: Examples of the board’s lack of influence in regard to water rights ................ 116 Box 4: Rationale for adaptive management ................................................................. 137 iv Acronyms AGRITEX Department of Agriculture: Technical and Extension Services ANC African National Congress/Council CA Communal Area (Synonym for Communal Land) CA Community Adviser CASS Centre for Applied Social Sciences CB Community Board CBNRM Community Based Natural Resource Management CBO Community Based Organisation CC Catchment Council CD Community Development CDA Community Development Agent CL Communal Land(s) (Synonym for Communal Areas) CPR Common Pool Resource/Common Property Resource DA District Administrator DC District Commissioner DDF District Development Fund DNA Director of Native Agriculture/Department of Native Agriculture GDP Gross Domestic Product GOR Government of Rhodesia GOSR Government of Southern Rhodesia GOZ Government of Zimbabwe GPS Global Positioning System GRDC Guruve Rural District Council GTZ German Development Organisation IKS Indigenous Knowledge Systems LG Local Government LMSCC Lower Manyame Sub Catchment Council LSCF Large Scale Commercial Farms (/Farming area) LSU Livestock units MAR Mean Annual Run-off MCC Manyame Catchment Council MOWD Ministry of Water Development NADA Native Affairs Department Annual ND Native (Affairs) Department NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NLHA Native Land Husbandry Act NRB Natural Resources Board PDS Priority Date System RDC Rural District Council RW River Watchmen SCC Sub-Catchment Council SCCF Small Scale Commercial Farms SIA Secretary for Internal Affairs SRG Southern Rhodesian Government TLA Traditional Leaders’ Act v TLA Tribal Land Authority UDI Unilateral Declaration of Independence UIM Urban Industrial and Mining USAID United States Aid to International Development VDC Village Development Committee VIDCO Village Development Committee WADCO Ward Development Committee WPC Water Point Committees WRMS Water Resources Management Strategies WUB Water User Board ZANU(PF) Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) ZAPU