Barbara Tapela

The challenge of integration in the implementation of Zimbabwe’s new water policy: case study of the catchment level institutions surrounding the Pungwe–Mutare water supply project

Abstract Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is viewed by policy makers and practitioners as facilitating the achievement of a balance between water resource use and resource protection, and the resolution of water-related conflicts. The IWRM approach has found particular use in the new water policies of Southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, where water scarcity, after the land question, is perceived to be a major threat to political, economic, social, military and environmental security. Ultimately, IWRM is seen as providing a framework towards ensuring broader security at the local, national, regional and global levels. However, the pilot phase implementation of the new water policy in the various regional countries has revealed that although the legal and institutional frameworks have been put in place, the implementation of the IWRM approach has tended to be problematic (J. Latham, 2001; GTZ, 2000; Leestemaker, 2000; Savenige and van der Zaag, 2000; Sithole, 2000). This paper adopts a case study approach and empirically examines the institutional challenges of implementing the IWRM approach in the post-pilot phase of Zimbabwe’s new water policy. The focus is mainly on the institutional arrangements surrounding the Pungwe–Mutare Water Supply Project located within the Save Catchment Area in Eastern Zimbabwe. The major findings of the study are that, while there persist some problems associated with the traditional management approach, there have also emerged new challenges to IWRM. These mainly relate to the transaction costs of the water sector reforms, institutional resilience, stakeholder participation, and the achievement of the desired outcomes. There have also been problems emanating from unexpected political developments at the local and national levels, particularly with regard to the government’s “fast track” land resettlement programme. The paper concludes that there is a need for a more rigorous effort towards integrating the management of water resources by the catchment level institutions.

TOWARDS BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA: THE CASE OF THE MAKULEKE COMMUNITY AND THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK

ABSTRACT Some of the most underdeveloped communities in Africa live in areas surrounding national parks. More recently, there have been policy shifts towards the integration of wildlife conservation concerns with the socio-economic needs of the rural communities living in the neighbourhoods of national parks. The emerging policy shifts have often yielded ‘trickle-down’ benefits to the communities, and concrete progress in rural development has so far remained tentative. In the case of South Africa, the post-apartheid state retains the legacy of a highly polarised space economy, and the challenge is to restructure the present inequalities and achieve development that is both equitable and sustainable (IDRC, 1995). The focus is on the most impoverished and underdeveloped communities in the country, particularly the rural communities living in the neighbourhoods of protected areas (South Africa, Rep., 1996). In view of the challenges experienced by other African countries in articulating integrated conservat...

Livelihoods in the wake of agricultural commercialisation in South Africa's poverty nodes: insights from small-scale irrigation schemes in Limpopo Province

Small-scale irrigation farming is envisaged to play a progressively larger role in rural development and to help reduce some inequalities in South Africas space economy. Since the late 1990s, the government has aimed to ‘revitalise’ government-owned small-scale irrigation schemes, many located in former homelands. Its macro-policy shifts seem to favour the creation of a black farming elite. Important questions are whether neoliberal policies will harm the poorest and most vulnerable in irrigation farming communities, and whether a new class of petty commodity producers can establish themselves in global commodity chains. This paper looks at vulnerability and marginalisation in selected small-scale irrigation schemes in Limpopo Province. The findings suggest that existing approaches to agricultural commercialisation may not reduce rural poverty and inequality. Although these approaches help to integrate resource-poor irrigation farmers into globalised commodity production sectors, they could undermine the livelihoods of the poorest and most vulnerable in these communities.

Roman water law in rural Africa: the unfinished business of colonial dispossession

This paper discusses four questions about the recent water law reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa, which strengthen permit systems. First, do permit systems continue to dispossess rural small-scale users, as intended by European colonizers who introduced principles of Roman law? Second, is it wrong to assume that one can convert one legal system (customary water rights) into another legal system (permits) in the short term? Third, do current permit systems discriminate against small-scale users? And lastly, do fiscal measures ingrained in permits foster rent seeking and strengthen water resources as a commodity for nationals and foreigners who can pay? As all the answers are positive, the paper concludes by recommending measures to recognize and protect small-scale water users and render state regulation more realistic.

Joint ventures in the Flag Boshielo Irrigation Scheme, South Africa: a history of smallholders, states and business

The report analyzes the changing tripartite constellations between South African black smallholders, the pre- and post-apartheid state, and the country’s large-scale agribusiness and irrigation industry. A recent mode of farming is the ‘joint venture’, in which smallholders hand over land and share in the net profits, while a strategic partner manages the cultivation with own inputs and equipment, and markets the output. With a focus on the 13 sub-schemes of the Flag Boshielo irrigation scheme in the former homeland of Lebowa (current Limpopo Province), the report analyzes the emergence of six joint ventures - the collapse of three and the troubled continuation of the other three. For the government’s support to joint ventures as one of the options of the revitalization of smallholder irrigation schemes in former homelands, it is recommended to ensure there is a robust bilateral contract between smallholders and the strategic partner, to strengthen land tenure arrangements, and to diversify irrigation technologies for women and men smallholders.