Abstract

The water sector reform process in Zimbabwe culminated in 1999 with the establishment of catchment councils and their respective sub-catchment councils in all the seven delineated catchment areas of the country. These councils provide the formal arena where stakeholders articulate and safeguard their interests in the water sector through representational participation. This study focussed on the key stakeholder, formal and informal smallholder irrigation and investigated their representation in the sub-catchment and catchment levels respectively. A framework of analysis, informed by the notions on representational participation was constructed to help us understand how smallholder irrigation gains representation in the new water councils. Using the case of the Mzingwane catchment in southwest Zimbabwe, the study found that the new water councils were virtually unknown to the water users on the ground. The representational participation of smallholder formal and informal irrigation in the Mzingwane catchment can be best described as a mirage. The research study recommends the adoption of the micro-catchment level as the lowest tier for integrated water management and a union for smallholder irrigation Water Users Associations (WUAs). Also, more financial support to provide technology can leverage the participation of more community members in productive water use. A review of the framework to include the role of politics is also recommended to improve its analytical power.

Key words: Smallholder formal and informal irrigation, water users association (WUA), representational participation, catchment councils, sub-catchment councils, Mzingwane Catchment, Zimbabwe.