The belief that groundwater in rural areas is best managed according to the Community Based Management (CBM) model is the dominant paradigm across Sub-Saharan Africa. While donors and governments focus on extending the supply network to meet the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of universal access to clean water, at any one time a third of handpumps are non-functional. Basing our case on ethnographic fieldwork, surveys and interviews, and working closely with policy implementers over the course of three years in mid-west Uganda, we argue that non-functionality of handpumps, and the precarious status of many, cannot be blamed solely on poor technology or siting of wells: rather the problem stems from a dearth of maintenance funds and management failings. The CBM model is an uneasy coalition of ideologies from across the political spectrum that meshes neo-liberal inspired commodification with theories of collective action and Common Property Resources. We demonstrate conceptually and empirically how the wings of the CBM model individually and collectively are contributing to the disappointing outcomes amid the messy complex reality of rural environments. Recommendations calling for modifying participatory processes, technological solutions and more external support all fall within the existing CBM framework, which we will empirically demonstrate is a blueprint for breakdown in these contexts. A resolution to the financing of handpump maintenance must be found if the SDG is to be realised, and we argue that academics, policy makers and practitioners need to accept this may lie outside the CBM paradigm.
This paper argues that participation in natural resource management, which is often coupled with moves for more local ownership of decision making, is based on three sets of assumptions: about the role of the state, the universality of application of such approaches and the transformatory potential of institutional reform. The validity of these assumptions requires investigation in view of the rapid institutionalisation and scaling-up of participatory approaches, particularly in developing country contexts. Post-apartheid South Africa is widely recognised as a pioneer of participatory and devolutionary approaches, particularly in the field of water resources. It is 12 years since the promulgation of the forward-thinking 1998 National Water Act, and thus an opportune moment to reflect on South Africa's experiences of participatory governance. Drawing on empirical research covering the establishment of the first Catchment Management Agency, and the transformation of existing Irrigation Boards into more inclusive Water User Associations in the Inkomati Water Management Area, it emerges that there may be fundamental weaknesses in the participatory model and underlying assumptions, and indeed such approaches may actually reinforce inequitable outcomes: the legacy of long-established institutional frameworks and powerful actors therein continues to exert influence in post-apartheid South Africa, and has the potential to subvert the democratic and redistributive potential of the water reforms. It is argued that a reassessment of the role of the state is necessary: where there is extreme heterogeneity in challenging catchments more, rather than less, state intervention may be required to uphold the interests of marginalised groups and effect redistribution.
The participatory model of management for natural resources, particularly water, rapidly became a global phenomenon in the early part of the 21st century. In many developing and transition countries, such as South Africa, expectations from it were disproportionately ambitious, despite little evidence that better results in the form of sustainable outcomes would follow. There is an urgent need for evaluations that assess what can and cannot be expected from participation. Empirically based processes and outcome-orientated evaluations are likely to prove more balanced, although they are challenging and thus rarely attempted. This article proposes an evaluative framework that allows for comparison, and differentiates between processes and participatory governance and sustainable outcomes. Four South African vignettes of participatory initiatives, operating at different scales with varying degrees of stakeholder heterogeneity, are measured against the framework, and broader lessons learnt about both participation and attempts to evaluate it.
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