Many southern Africa countries have adopted integrated water resource management (IWRM), claiming that this promotes democratic water management, transparency and responsiveness to needs.

A paper [1] from the University of Zimbabwe and the UK International Institute for Environment and Development highlights constraints to achieving IWRM in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Water is scarce, while food security is threatened by watershed degradation, over-cultivation, overgrazing and deforestation. One in three SADC residents lives in drought prone areas. Water bodies are increasingly polluted.

The role of state agencies responsible for water management remains problematic, and dependence on external funding is risky. In Zimbabwe democratically elected catchment councils are weakened by the inability of representatives to travel to meetings, and the exclusion of non-farm stakeholders. Fast-track land reform, with its disregard for regulations, has reversed some gains of the water reforms.

Advocates of IWRM need to realise that the participation of stakeholders does not automatically mean that water resource management has been democratised.  Effective stakeholder participation cannot occur without supportive governance.

[1] ‘Water for All: improving water resource governance in Southern Africa’ by Emmanuel Manzungu. Gatekeepers Series 113, International Institute for Environment and Development, June 2004. Download a copy (pdf).

Contact:Emmanuel Manzungu, University of Zimbabwe ; or Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods Programme, IIED, UK, Email

Source: id21, 7 Apr 2005

Tags: participatory management, policies & legislation, water resources management