Integrated Water resources ManageMent, InstItutIons and lIvelIhoods under stress BOTTOM-UP PERSPECTIVES FROM ZIMBABWE collin calvin mabiza Integrated Water Resources Management, institutions and livelihoods under stress: bottom-up perspectives from Zimbabwe DISSERTATION Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Board for Doctorates of Delft University of Technology and of the Academic Board of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education for the Degree of DOCTOR to be defended in public on Wednesday, 6 February 2013, at 10:00 hours In Delft, the Netherlands by Collin Calvin MABIZA born in Chivhu, Zimbabwe Bachelor of Arts Honours in Geography and Environmental Science, Masters in Environmental Policy and Planning, University of Zimbabwe This dissertation has been approved by the supervisor: Prof. dr. ir. P. van der Zaag Composition of the Doctoral Committee: Chairman Rector Magnificus TU Delft Vice-Chairman Rector UNESCO-IHE Prof. dr. ir. P. van der Zaag UNESCO-IHE / Delft University of Technology, Supervisor Prof. dr. ir. H.H.G. Savenije Delft University of Technology Prof. dr. ir. C.M.S. de Fraiture UNESCO-IHE / Wageningen University Prof. dr. D.S. Tevera University of Swaziland, Matsapha, Swaziland Dr. E. Manzungu University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe Dr. ir. J.A. Bolding Wageningen University Prof. dr. ir. N.C. van de Giesen Delft University of Technology, reserve member CRC Press/Balkema is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013, C.C.Mabiza All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information contained herein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written prior permission from the publishers. Although all care is taken to ensure the integrity and quality of this publication and the information herein, no responsibility is assumed by the publishers nor the author for any damage to the property or persons as a result of operation or use of this publication and/or the information contained herein. Published by: CRC Press/Balkema PO Box 11320, 2301 EH Leiden, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] www.crcpress.com - www.taylorandfrancis.com ISBN: 978-1-138-00036-0 (Taylor & Francis Group) Abstract Most of southern Africa is semi-arid. Parts of the region, such as the Limpopo river basin, are characterised by low rainfall totals. More than half of the region’s population has limited access to water. High dependence on rainfed agriculture to a large extent accounts for food insecurity and high incidence of poverty in the Limpopo river basin. These factors make improved water resources management a critical need as it can potentially contribute towards raising the standards of human welfare and socio-economic development. As part of efforts towards improving water resources management most countries riparian to the basin have adopted Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as a framework within which water is managed. Early adopters of IWRM, such as Zimbabwe, have already gone past the first decade of implementing IWRM. Given the time that has passed since the adoption of IWRM, it is important that an analysis be made on whether, and how, IWRM has improved practices in water resources management and contributed towards improved livelihoods within the river basin. This is critical, either for the improvement of IWRM as it is being implemented, or for the development of new water management frameworks. Using a bottom-up approach, this study analyses water management practices and livelihoods at the local level. The context of the study is a river basin under stress, both in terms of the agro-ecological (natural) conditions, and in terms of socio-politico-economic conditions. The purpose of the study is to try and understand what are the practices in water resources management at the local level, and what are the drivers of those practices? Water resources management, among other things, is supposed to improve livelihoods, and this need to understand livelihoods explains why a bottom-up approach was chosen for this study. The study also opts for a multi-foci approach to broaden understanding of practices in water resources management in different livelihood contexts. In literature it is common to find analyses that fragment livelihood issues, such as focusing on access to water for domestic uses only, or on water for productive uses only. This gives an incomplete picture of how water resources are managed at the local level. The study adopts a case study approach, and analyses five cases on: practices in access to water for domestic and productive uses, efforts at sustaining livelihoods and the environment, water management for agriculture, contestations over urban water services and river basin planning. In all cases an understanding of what actually drives practices in water resources management was sought. The study made a review of IWRM as a water management framework. The review analysed IWRM from a conceptual perspective and from a practical standpoint in terms of implementing the framework. At the conceptual level a critical observation made was that IWRM appears not to directly target improving livelihoods. This to a large extent explains why the development of physical infrastructure, which can improve people’s access to water, is often not considered in IWRM programmes. Furthermore, it was observed that IWRM is not clear on what needs to be integrated. On the aspect of integration IWRM was found to be under criticism on two fronts. On the one hand IWRM is accused of not being realistic about what can be integrated. It is considered to i be bringing too many issues under the umbrella of water resources management. On the other hand it is attacked for not being integrative enough. Critics argue that a lot of important issues are left out of the framework. However, challenges encountered in the implementation of IWRM have led to calls for ‘Light IWRM’ to be substituted for full IWRM. The first empirical case presented in this study tried to answer the question, what drives practices in water resources management at the local level? Practices of water users were analysed at different sources of water and water infrastructure, specifically a borehole, a wetland and a wind-powered water infrastructure. The concepts of practice, interaction and institutional bricolage were used to investigate local water resources management. Focus group discussions, interviews and participant observer methods were used to gather data for the chapter. The study found out that, although in Zimbabwe IWRM has been in place for about a decade, practices in water resources management at the local level were still taking place outside the framework. Catchment and subcatchment councils were found to be absent at the local level, and therefore not influencing practices in water resources management. The chapter found that practices in water resources management at the local level were mainly influenced by the socio- economic and physical context in which water exists and is managed. At some waterpoints it was found that the semi-arid conditions in the catchment, combined with dysfunctional technology, heightened perceptions of an impending water scarcity. This to an extent account for why rules put in place by local committees were often broken by water users. An important finding was that at waterpoints where water was used for productive uses, infrastructure tended to be better maintained than where it was used only for domestic uses. This suggests that within the IWRM framework more effort should be made to ensure that vulnerable groups in society have increased access to water for productive uses. The chapter concluded that the approach of forming new institutions in response to water resources management challenges needs to be questioned. There is potential that water resources management can be improved by addressing livelihood concerns, such as through providing water for productive uses. An investigation into how local actors try to ‘sustain’ livelihoods and the environment (catchment management) was also made, as the second case of the thesis. The context in which the analysis was made was characterised by an adverse socio-economic and physical environment. Analysis centred on two cases, one on gold panning and another on a gully reclamation project, both activities which have a bearing on water resources. It was found that actors at the local level were being driven by the socio-economic and semi-arid environment to exploit the physical and the institutional resources at their disposal. Actors were found to adopt contradictory practices, on the one hand engaging in environmentally-friendly projects, and on the other hand creating environmental hazards in the same catchment. Taking part in environmental reclamation projects implemented by non-state actors as Food For Work (FFW) projects enabled local actors to access food hand-outs. However, when non-state actors stopped handing out food actors dropped out of the environmental management project. This supports the view that although FFW try to address livelihood challenges, the reality is that the majority of the world’s vulnerable population are affected by chronic hunger which cannot be solved through piecemeal and ii short-term efforts. Furthermore, treating water as an economic good as currently formulated in the fourth Dublin Principle can potentially worsen environmental management by reducing access to water by the poor. An improvement of that particular Dublin Principle is therefore necessary. Another aspect of local water management investigated was that of agricultural water management at the field-level, focusing on rain-fed farming, which made the third case. Narratives of different actors were used to analyse how field level water management techniques are being promoted as conservation agriculture among smallholder farmers. It was found that the main tenets of conservation agriculture being promoted include minimum tillage, nutrient management and mulching.