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136 GENDER ISSUES SURROUNDING WATER DEVELOPMENT … Background & introduction A large proportion (70 per cent) of Zimbabweans live in rural areas and their livelihood is closely linked to access, use and management of natural resources such as water for both subsistence and income generation. Water is increasingly being recognised as a strategic resource that is a hallmark of sustainable development (IUCN 2005). It is essential to human beings and all forms of life and is perceived to be an entry point for poverty alleviation. One of the major challenges faced in rural areas is that women, who are traditionally recognised and accepted as managers and users of water, are absent from the mainstream of decision making processes relating to water management. (Agrawal 1991; Fortmann and Nabane 1992; The World Bank Report 1994; Rocheleau et al. 1996). Most women depend on land water resources to produce food and energy and to earn income, yet they lack legal rights and control over resources and their rights of access are insecure (Rocheleau et al. 1996). The World Bank Report (1994) states that, in relation to access in some customary-based resource systems in Zimbabwe, males hold resources in custody for future generations. Women are not customarily allocated land in their own right. By implication, women only exert usufruct rights, unlike their male counterparts who are allocated land and therefore rights to other resources on the land such as water. Women still have a chance to map their own destiny by being part of the decision making process within the context of community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) (Agrawal 1991). Women’s can increase their opportunities in access to resources such as water. The greater the participation of women in decision making with regard to water allocation and control, the less their vulnerability and the greater their ability to escape poverty. Prior to operationalising strategies and programmes of sustainable management of water resources, it is necessary to have robust and clear supporting policy and legal instruments (IUCN 2005). This need is even greater where there are elements of social differentiation along lines such as gender. IUCN (2005) 9 Gender Issues Surrounding Water Development & Management in Chishawasha Settlement Area Chipo Plaxedes Mubaya 137 Chipo Plaxedes Mubaya contends that it is the recognition of this need for strong policy and supporting legislation in the management of water resources that has seen the emergence of a wide range of national and regional policy and institutional reforms in the SADC region. In Zimbabwe, there has been a fundamental shift in national policy and institutional reforms towards integrated water resources management . These reforms are manifest in the new Water Act (1998) and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority Act (ZINWA) Act (1998) and emphasise economic efficiency, environmental sustainability and social equity (Chikozho 2001). These acts incorporate the principles of stakeholder participation and decision making and the concept of ‘user pays’ for urban and large-scale water users. Besides the urban and large-scale water users, the majority of Zimbabweans have primary use rights that guarantee them access to water for drinking , washing, watering livestock and maintaining small gardens, and this does not require any statutes or form of payment (Derman and Gonese 2003). While the new Water Act is useful in that it seeks to redress the fact that most of the available water in Zimbabwe was being used by a small fraction of the population, i.e. large-scale commercial farmers, it remains disturbing that the Act does not adequately address gender imbalances. The water reform institutions and process recognise a host of fundamental sectors of society, but ignore gender (Derman and Gonese 2003). Among other natural resources such as woodlands and grazing areas, water is considered to be a gendered resource. Water resources are mainly harvested by women and children (Fortmann and Nabane 1992). This chapter explores gender issues surrounding the management of water resources on the basis of a case-study conducted in Chishawasha settlement area in Zimbabwe. The study investigated gender differentiation in access to, use of and control over water resources. It identified the water sources in question , the policy context for gender entitlements of water resources and the perceptions of the community on the effectiveness of existing institutional arrangements to enhance equitable access, use and management of water resources for both gender groups. Conceptual framework Since the early 1980s, policy focussed on preventing women from being marginalised in social and economic development (Doyal 2000). This resulted in programmes aimed at integrating women into...

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