Promoting Equitable Access to Water Resources

Principal Investigators: Anne Ferguson and Michigan State University; Wapulumuka O. Mulwafu, University of Malawi

Publications & Outputs   |   Project Proposal

Problem & Objective
Water is one of the most critical productive assets in Southern Africa. In response to increasing water scarcity in the region, Malawi has instituted water, land, and irrigation reforms, decentralizing the management of these resources. These reforms however have been proceeding independently of each other. This lack of integrated planning and harmonization of reforms not only reduces their impact, but also can limit the participation of some disadvantaged groups, such as poor farmers and women, that the reforms were intended to include.

Research Context
BASIS examines the impacts of water and irrigation reforms in social contexts where the rights and access of women and poor farmers to water resources differ significantly in areas of Malawi. The research will track the new water, irrigation, and other related reforms in order to examine how national, district, and local social structures and power relations shape implementation, and hence limit or promote access among poor farmers and women.

Policy Implications
This project identifies and documents best policies and practices for enabling poor farmers' and women's participation in this decentralized resource management. BASIS alerts policy makers to the equity impacts of the reforms and assist disadvantaged groups to advocate for their interests in the new institutional context. The research assists technicians and bureaucrats in promoting genuine participation by women and the poor in these new governance institutions.

NOTE: Though the project began by examing issues surrounding water policy reform in both Malawi and Zimbabwe, the research in Zimbabwe was brought to a close in October 2002.

Publications and Outputs

BASIS Briefs   |   Other Publications   |    Trip Reports

• The Differential Effects on Rural Income and Poverty during a Decade of Radical Change in Malawi, 1986-97, by Pauline E. Peters, October 2004, 4 pages. (BASIS Brief 23)
  [Adobe Acrobat PDF 227K]
• Gender and Broadening Access to Land and Water in Southern Africa, by Pauline E. Peters and Anne E. Ferguson, with input from Mark Darroch, Bill Derman, Ben Fuller, Francis Gonese, Michael Lyne, Wapu Mulwafu, Joel das Neves, Ragan Petrie, and Lovemore Rugube. August 2002, 4 pages. (BASIS Brief No. 12)
  [Adobe Acrobat PDF 186K]
• Promoting Equitable Access to Water Resources, by Bill Derman, Anne Ferguson, and Pauline Peters. February 2002, 4 pages. (Basis Brief no. 9)
  [Adobe Acrobat PDF 328K]