Your search found 9 records
1 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.
2 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.
3 Mukuyu, Patience; van Koppen, Barbara; Jacobs-Mata, Inga. 2022. Operationalising hybrid water law for historical justice. Final project report submitted to the Water Research Commission (WRC). Pretoria, South Africa: Water Research Commission (WRC). 92p. (WRC Report No. 3040/1/22)
Water law ; Water resources ; Water allocation ; Regulations ; Legislation ; Water policies ; Strategies ; Water tenure ; Customary tenure ; Legal pluralism ; Water rights ; Water sharing ; Water use ; Water management ; Catchment areas ; Infrastructure ; Agrarian reform ; Constitution ; Licences ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Small-scale irrigation ; Rural areas ; Communities / South Africa / Inkomati Catchment
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051685)
(1.46 MB) (1.46 MB)
4 van Koppen, Barbara. 2023. Restoring the commons: a gendered analysis of customary water tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of the Commons, 17(1):1-11. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1164]
Water tenure ; Customary tenure ; Gender analysis ; Women ; Men ; Legal pluralism ; Water resources ; Infrastructure ; Water sharing ; Commons / Africa South of Sahara
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051756)
https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/10.5334/ijc.1164/galley/1207/download/
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051756.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051756.pdf
(0.55 MB) (567 KB)
Customary water tenure in low-and middle-income rural areas has received limited academic, policy, and legal attention as yet. This paper seeks to conceptualize and analyse gender-differentiated living customary water tenure, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa. Extensive literature review suggests four gendered domains: first, water needs and uses; second, strategies to meet those needs by directly accessing water sources, and, with increasing wealth by investing individually or collectively in water infrastructure for self-supply, creating infrastructure-related ‘commons’ in the case of collective systems; third, at community scale, the ‘sharing in’ of communities’ naturally available water resources that flow into infrastructure; and, fourth, ‘sharing out’ of those resources with neighbouring communities but also powerful third parties of foreign and national high impact users. Rendering the gendered community more visible as the main agent to manage its water resources as the commons provides evidence for a range of policies, laws and interventions, including gender equitable and community-led water infrastructure development integrating domestic and productive spheres; strengthening customary arrangements to share water resources as a commons within a community or with neighbouring communities, and the long overdue formal protection of customary water tenure against ‘water grabs’ by powerful third parties.
5 Mapedza, Everisto. 2023. Managing African commons in the context of Covid-19 challenges. International Journal of the Commons, 17(1):105-108. (Special issue: Managing African Commons in the Context of Covid-19 Challenges) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1268]
Commons ; Gender ; Climate change ; Forestry ; Co-management ; Water tenure ; Customary tenure ; Communities ; COVID-19 / Africa
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051881)
https://storage.googleapis.com/jnl-up-j-ijc-files/journals/1/articles/1268/64367d2440982.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051881.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051881.pdf
(0.71 MB) (725 KB)
6 Mapedza, Everisto. (Ed.) 2023. Managing African commons in the context of Covid-19 challenges. International Journal of the Commons, 17(1):1-108. (Special issue with contributions by IWMI authors)
Commons ; Gender ; Climate change adaptation ; Climate change mitigation ; Water tenure ; Customary tenure ; Agroforestry ; Co-management ; Institutions ; Women ; Water sharing ; Infrastructure ; Political aspects ; Governance ; Financing ; Communities ; Resilience ; Social aspects ; COVID-19 / Africa / Ghana
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051882)
(0.18 MB)
7 Keega, M.; Manishimwe, E.; Schreiner, B.; van Koppen, Barbara; Amarnath, Giriraj. 2023. Integrity management in community-based water tenure in Kajiado County, Kenya. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience. 38p.
Water tenure ; Communities ; Water supply ; Water governance ; Water users ; Gender ; Climate change ; Water resources ; Drought / Kenya / Kajiado
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052497)
(2.10 MB)
Smallholder production systems in low-income countries suffer the most from the impacts of climate change but receive the least benefit from climate adaptation programs. This is due to governance structures that make it difficult for governments and organizations to effectively reach marginalized communities. Technical, financial, and institutional support is provided in vertical siloes, limiting coordination between national government departments and hindering integrated climate interventions. Additionally, top-down support frameworks overlook the horizontal governance structures of rural communities, missing opportunities to recognize and build on their age-old knowledge and coping strategies to deal with climate variability. The Water Integrity Network (WIN) advocates for integrity in polycentric water governance through transparency, accountability, participation, and corruption prevention across scales. WIN partners with national governments and NGOs to implement the Integrity Management Tool (IMT) for small water supply systems (SWSS). The IMT-SWSS aims to improve management and governance practices, increase customer satisfaction, and comply with regulations. In Kenya, where only half of the rural population has access to improved water sources, WIN has collaborated with policy makers and implemented the IMTSWSS to support sustainable operation and maintenance of small-scale water supply systems, among other, in three systems in Mailua Community in Kajiado South County. This Maasai area was selected for the present study. The study aims to analyse the integrity perspective for small-scale water supply systems within horizontal polycentric governance at the local community scale. The focus is on how the community manages multiple sources of water to meet their domestic and productive needs, and on the decision-making process between water users, their leaders, and government institutions. The Mailua Community has multiple gravity water systems, boreholes, and water vendors. Representatives of the water supply systems participated in a training on the IMT-SWSS, and an umbrella committee was set up to represent the interests of the systems to other governance structures. The study methodology included a literature review of both published and grey literature for this particular area. The field research was done in two phases. Phase one involved participatory mapping, transect walks, interviews with key informants and focus group discussions. Phase two included further exploration of thematic areas with significant impact on water use and polycentric governance structures that were identified through data analysis during phase one. This included the planning of the new Namanga Dam, and the two-way vertical integration of top-down and bottom-up governance.
8 van Koppen, Barbara; Mukuyu, Patience; Murombo, T.; Jacobs-Mata, Inga; Molwantwa, J.; Dini, J.; Sawunyama, T.; Schreiner, B.; Skosana, S. 2024. Principles and legal tools for equitable water resource allocation: prioritization in South Africa. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 40(4):555-577. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2023.2290522]
Water resources ; Water allocation ; Equity ; Water law ; Water tenure ; Customary tenure / South Africa
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052564)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/07900627.2023.2290522?needAccess=true
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052564.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052564.pdf
(0.75 MB) (763 KB)
South Africa’s legally binding National Water Resource Strategy specifies a people-oriented prioritization for the equitable allocation of the nation’s public trust of surface and groundwater resources. This article analyses how the Inkomati–Usuthu Catchment Management Agency seeks to operationalize the three highest priorities in the Sabie Sub Catchment: the Basic Human Needs Reserve for domestic and constitutionally based productive water uses; customary water tenure in former homelands prioritized over the upstream commercial forestry and large-scale farming and the downstream Kruger National Park; and priority General Authorizations overcoming administrative injustices of current licensing. These highest priorities imply curtailment of the lowest priority, high-impact economic uses.
9 van Koppen, Barbara; Amarnath, Giriraj; Mweemba, C.; Schreiner, B.; Njoroge, D.; Keega, M.; Osoro, G. 2023. Community participation, equity and integrity in polycentric governance for climate resilience: evidence from Kenya and Zambia. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience. 11p.
Community involvement ; Equity ; Governance ; Climate resilience ; Rural areas ; Land ; Water tenure ; Water supply ; Public-private partnerships ; Gender / Kenya / Zambia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052645)
(467 KB)
Inclusive community participation in bottom-up polycentric governance is at the heart of recognitional, procedural, distributional and inter-generational equity and of integrity of international, national and district-scale interventions to improve climate resilience in marginalized rural areas. This Technical Brief summarizes evidence of four ClimBeR and ACTION initiatives in Kenya, in collaboration with the Water Integrity Network, and in Zambia that operationalized these concepts into a concrete diagnosis of local water tenure as basis for the identification of solutions and their funding and implementation. At the interface between communities and government or other external support agencies, this step-wise process of co-design and implementation mobilized communities’ assets and agency of their horizontal, age-old and yet dynamic, integrated water, land and other resource governance. Typical siloes in formal vertical governance were overcome. Such community participation is probably the single most important condition for effective and sustainable performance.
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