Your search found 11 records
1 Allan, T.; Keulertz, M.; Sojamo, S.; Warner, J. 2012. Handbook of land and water grabs in Africa: foreign direct investment and food and water security. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. 488p.
Land acquisition ; Land tenure ; Land ownership ; Land development ; Soil erosion ; Customary law ; History ; Water availability ; Water acquisition ; Water resources ; Water management ; Water scarcity ; Water security ; Virtual water ; Water balance ; Water productivity ; Food security ; Food prices ; Agricultural production ; Rainfed farming ; Catchment areas ; Moisture content ; Pastures ; Foreign investment ; Organizations ; International cooperation ; Irrigation projects ; Water power ; Oils ; Biofuels ; Climate change ; Evapotranspiration ; Environmental effects ; Dams ; Human rights ; Case studies ; Rural poverty ; Social aspects ; Economic aspects ; Environmental effects / Africa / Sudan / Liberia / China / Ethiopia / Morocco / Zambia / Egypt / Ghana / Mali
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 333.91 G100 ALL Record No: H045667)
2 van Koppen, Barbara; Schreiner, B. 2018. A hybrid approach to decolonize formal water law in Africa. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 45p. (IWMI Research Report 173) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2018.219]
Legislation ; Legal pluralism ; Customary law ; Water law ; Water resources ; Water users ; Water use ; Water rights ; Water management ; Water allocation ; Water policy ; Water governance ; Water distribution ; Water security ; Colonialism ; Economic aspects ; State intervention ; Authorities ; Investment ; Rural population ; Political aspects ; Regulations ; Small scale systems ; Equity ; Marginalization / Africa / South Africa / Kenya / Malawi / Uganda / Zimbabwe
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H048956)
(639 KB)
In recent decades, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have pursued national water permit systems, derived from the colonial era and reinforced by “global best practice.” These systems have proved logistically impossible to manage and have worsened inequality in water access. A new study conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Pegasys Institute, with support from the UK government, traces the origins of these systems, and describes their implementation and consequences for rural smallholders in five countries – Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The authors of this report propose a hybrid water use rights system to decolonize Africa’s water law, lighten the administrative burden on the state and make legal access to water more equitable. This would strengthen smallholder irrigation, which is vital for boosting Africa’s food production and making it more resilient in the face of worsening drought.
3 Schreiner, B.; van Koppen, Barbara. 2018. Establishing hybrid water use rights systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: a practical guide for managers. Pretoria, South Africa: Pegasys Institute; Pretoria, South Africa: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 48p.
Water use ; Water rights ; Water resources ; Water management ; Guidelines ; Rural communities ; Economic aspects ; Smallholders ; Monitoring ; Customary law ; Irrigation management ; Catchment areas ; Food security ; Sustainable Development Goals ; State intervention ; Regulations ; Legal aspects ; Financing / Africa / Africa South of Sahara
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048975)
(12.1 MB)
4 van Koppen, Barbara; Schreiner, B. 2019. A hybrid approach to statutory water law to support smallholder farmer-led irrigation development (FLID) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Water Alternatives, 12(1): 146-155.
Irrigation management ; Water law ; Water allocation ; Water users ; Smallholders ; Farmer managed irrigation systems ; Legal pluralism ; Decolorization ; Customary law ; Permits ; Farmer-led irrigation ; Prioritization / Africa South of Sahara
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049088)
http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol12/v12issue1/483-a12-1-9/file
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049088.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049088.pdf
(566 KB)
Millions of small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa who are driving farmer-led irrigation development (FLID) have been turned into criminal offenders or, at least, categorically marginalised under widespread water permit systems. Under these systems, small-scale water users are obliged to apply for a permit, but very few have done so, largely because states lack the administrative capacity to inform such large numbers of people scattered across widespread rural areas with this obligation, to process large numbers of applications and enforce conditions tied to permits. Those who use water below a usually very low threshold, are exempted from this obligation, but small-scale farmers are generally above this category. This viewpoint, based on research and policy dialogues in a range of African countries, elaborates an alternative that addresses these injustices: a hybrid approach to water use authorisation. The proposed hybrid approach provides a suite of tools to legalise the water use of smallholder farmers and to overcome the colonial legacy of the side-lining of customary water law. These tools which can be combined and adjusted to suit specific contexts include: permits, targeted at, and enforced for, the relatively few high-impact users; collective permits; non-permit tools, in particular, first, general authorisations with equal or priority legal standing relative to permits and, second, the recognition of customary water law; and prioritisation.
5 van Koppen, Barbara; Schreiner, B.; Sithole, P. 2019. Decolonising peasants’ marginalisation in African water law. Journal of Water Law, 26:51-61.
Water law ; Peasant workers ; Smallholders ; Water rights ; Customary law ; Colonialism ; Water resources ; Regulations ; Legislation ; Licences ; Water authorities ; Land tenure ; Water users ; Marginalization / Africa South of Sahara / South Africa / Kenya / Malawi / Uganda / Zimbabwe
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049188)
(0.49 MB)
6 Pradhan, R.; Meinzen-Dick, R.; Theis, S. 2019. Property rights, intersectionality, and women's empowerment in Nepal. Journal of Rural Studies, 70:26-35. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.05.003]
Property rights ; Gender ; Role of women ; Empowerment ; Households ; Personal property ; Social aspects ; Customary law ; Ethnic groups ; Norms ; Living standards ; Life cycle / Nepal
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049400)
(0.29 MB)
Property is widely recognized as an important resource for empowering women. Many development policies worldwide therefore call for strengthening women's rights to property, especially to physical assets such as land and livestock. However, the relationship between property and women's empowerment is more complex than generally assumed because of the overlapping and dynamic nature of property rights. In this paper, we explore how property rights affect the empowerment of women at different stages of the life cycle and different social locations, ethnicities, household structures, and social classes, using the lens of intersectionality. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted for the “Evaluation of the Welfare Impacts of a Livestock Transfer Program in Nepal,” we examine patterns in women's strategies to exercise specific rights over joint and personal property within their households. The findings show that legal categories of property rights in Nepal fail to account for nuanced rights to assets shared within households. Rather than emphasize individual control over assets for women's empowerment, the social relations around property need to be considered to understand which rights women value. The paper makes recommendations for how research and development projects, especially in South Asia, can avoid misinterpreting asset and empowerment data by incorporating nuance around the concepts of property rights over the life cycle.
7 Schreiner, B.; van Koppen, Barbara. 2020. Hybrid water rights systems for pro-poor water governance in Africa. Water, 12(1):155. (Special issue: Selected Papers from 2019 World Water Week) [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010155]
Water rights ; Water governance ; Water law ; Licences ; Customary law ; Legal pluralism ; Legislation ; Water users ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Small scale systems ; Irrigation / Africa South of Sahara / Kenya / Malawi / Uganda / South Africa / Zimbabwe
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050006)
(0.49 MB) (503 KB)
Water-permit systems are widely used across Africa as a blanket requirement for small and micro irrigation enterprises, as well as large enterprises. The present study aimed to, first, further understand the implications of permit systems for both the most vulnerable and the state, and, second, based on the findings, identify options for pro-poor water legislation that also meet the water governance requirements of the state. The growing recognition of the importance of farmer-led irrigation development for food security across the continent underlines the importance of these questions. Focusing on Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and other African countries, we found that permit systems criminalized instead of protected the water rights of small-scale farmers. Moreover, little if any attention is paid to the logistical burdens and costs to the state of implementing such systems relative to the intended revenue generation. As many small-scale farmers in Africa were found to operate under customary land and water tenure systems, the study proposes a hybrid system of water rights that formally recognizes such practices, along with the use of permits, including enforcement of conditions for large users, to serve the interests of both the state and small-scale farmers.
8 van Koppen, Barbara. 2017. Water allocation, customary practice and the right to water: rethinking the regulatory model. In Langford, M.; Russell, A. F. S. (Eds.). The human right to water: theory, practice and prospects. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp.57-83. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/9780511862601.004]
Water allocation ; Customary law ; Right to water ; Water rights ; Human rights ; Regulations ; Legislation ; Water law ; Water resources ; Reforms ; Water use ; Multiple use water services ; Small scale systems ; Land tenure ; Licences ; Policies ; Living standards ; Colonialism ; Dispossession ; State intervention / Africa South of Sahara / Latin America / South Africa
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050076)
(1.99 MB)
9 Otte, A.; Coates, D.; Connor, R.; Roder, G.; Hebart-Coleman, D.; Klimes, M.; Yaari, E.; Gutierrez, M. T.; Crawhall, N.; Kinna, R.; de Souza, M.; Mach, E.; van Koppen, Barbara; Webley, N. 2021. Culture and the values of water. In UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP); UN-Water. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2021: valuing water. Paris, France: UNESCO. pp.97-106.
Cultural values ; Water resources ; Valuation ; Sustainable Development Goals ; Ecosystem services ; Customary law ; Indigenous peoples ; Cultural heritage ; International waters ; International cooperation ; Decision making
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050381)
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentViewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196&id=p::usmarcdef_0000375724&file=/in/rest/annotationSVC/DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/attach_import_db06f7c4-b33f-4833-be56-bbf54afdee3f%3F_%3D375724eng.pdf&locale=en&multi=true&ark=/ark:/48223/pf0000375724/PDF/375724eng.pdf#page=112
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050381.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050381.pdf
(0.86 MB) (15.9 MB)
10 van Koppen, Barbara. 2022. Living customary water tenure in rights-based water management in Sub-Saharan Africa. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 41p. (IWMI Research Report 183) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2022.214]
Water tenure ; Customary tenure ; Water rights ; Water management ; Water law ; Customary law ; Water resources ; Water sharing ; Infrastructure ; Water supply ; Multiple use water services ; Rural communities ; Water allocation ; Sustainable Development Goals ; water, sanitation and hygiene ; Norms ; Policies ; Legislation ; Water governance ; Water quality ; Water distribution ; Water permits ; Conflicts ; Costs ; Gender ; Women ; Right to water ; Right to food ; Households ; Living standards ; Drinking water ; Domestic water ; Farmer-led irrigation ; Pastoralists ; Livestock ; Land ; Water security ; Nexus approaches / Africa South of Sahara
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H051372)
(1.10 MB)
Living customary water tenure is the most accepted socio-legal system among the large majority of rural people in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on literature, this report seeks to develop a grounded understanding of the ways in which rural people meet their domestic and productive water needs on homesteads, distant fields or other sites of use, largely outside the ambits of the state. Taking the rural farming or pastoralist community as the unit of analysis, three components are distinguished. The first component deals with the fundamental perceptions of the links between humankind and naturally available water resources as a commons to be shared by all, partially linked to communities’ collective land rights. The second component deals with the sharing of these finite and contested naturally available water resources, especially during dry seasons and droughts. Customary arrangements shape both the ‘sharing in’ of water resources within communities and the ‘sharing out’ with other customary communities or powerful third parties. Since colonial times, communities have been vulnerable to those third parties grabbing water resources and overriding customary uses and governance. The third component deals with infrastructure to store and convey water resources. Since time immemorial, communities have invested in infrastructure for self supply, ranging from micro-scale soil moisture retention techniques to large-scale collective deep wells. As increasingly recognized in both the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and irrigation sectors, this component of self supply is rapidly expanding. In all three components, local diversity is high, with gender, class and other social hierarchies intertwining with social safety nets, neighborliness and moral economies.
The study derives two sets of implications for state and non-state policies, laws and interventions. First, state legislation about the sharing of water resources should recognize and protect living customary water tenure, especially through due process in ‘sharing out’ water with powerful third parties. Remarkably, water law, which is dominated by permit systems in sub-Saharan Africa, lags behind other legislation in recognizing customary water tenure (see IWMI Research Report 182). Second, by taking communities’ self supply for multiple uses as a starting point for further water infrastructure development, the WASH, irrigation and other sectors can follow the priorities of communities, including the most vulnerable; identify cost-effective multi-purpose infrastructure; develop local skills; and, hence, contribute more sustainably to achieving more United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 13. Further historical and interdisciplinary research to achieve these benefits is recommended.
The study derives two sets of implications for state and non-state policies, laws and interventions. First, state legislation about the sharing of water resources should recognize and protect living customary water tenure, especially through due process in ‘sharing out’ water with powerful third parties. Remarkably, water law, which is dominated by permit systems in sub-Saharan Africa, lags behind other legislation in recognizing customary water tenure (see IWMI Research Report 182). Second, by taking communities’ self supply for multiple uses as a starting point for further water infrastructure development, the WASH, irrigation and other sectors can follow the priorities of communities, including the most vulnerable; identify cost-effective multi-purpose infrastructure; develop local skills; and, hence, contribute more sustainably to achieving more United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 13. Further historical and interdisciplinary research to achieve these benefits is recommended.
11 Troell, J.; Keene, S. 2022. Legal recognition of customary water tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa: unpacking the land-water nexus. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 33p. (IWMI Research Report 182) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2022.215]
Water tenure ; Customary tenure ; Legislation ; Water law ; Customary law ; Land tenure ; Water resources ; Nexus approaches ; Freshwater ; Indigenous peoples' tenure rights ; Local communities ; Rural areas ; Water rights ; Land rights ; Forests ; Legal frameworks ; Water governance ; Human rights ; Gender ; Women ; Livelihoods ; Food security ; Sustainable development ; Government ; Regional organizations ; Constitution ; Policies ; Water user associations ; Participation ; Transboundary waters ; International law / Africa South of Sahara
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H051374)
(1.11 MB)
Despite the progress made in conceptualizing and advocating for secure community-based land and forest tenure rights, there is a critical lacuna in advocacy and policymaking processes pertaining to community-based freshwater tenure rights. Moreover, water tenure as a concept has only recently gained significant traction in global policy circles. This report analyzes national and international legal pathways for recognizing customary forms of community-based freshwater tenure rights held by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in sub-Saharan Africa. It employs a methodological framework and builds on an analysis of community-based water tenure systems that was developed and applied by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in the publication Whose Water? A Comparative Analysis of National Laws and Regulations Recognizing Indigenous Peoples’, Afro-Descendants’, and Local Communities’ Water Tenure. Based on the key findings of this analysis, in particular the frequent dependence of IPLCs’ legally recognized customary water tenure rights on their legally recognized land and/or forest rights, this report further analyzes national constitutions, national legislation governing water, land, forests, environmental protection and other related matters, international and national case law, and international and regional human rights laws, to explore how legal frameworks are recognizing and protecting customary water tenure rights across sub-Saharan Africa. The findings and recommendations provide a basis for analyzing the comparative effectiveness and potential drawbacks of these legal pathways for the recognition and protection of customary water tenure and ultimately for future work refining and improving legislation and assessing progress in its implementation and enforcement.
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