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Wichelns, Dennis

doi:10.1023/a:1006144708954

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 65 publications

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“…Our search for relevant published literature revealed that the majority of scholars who have directly addressed canal management have done so in the context of irrigation systems as opposed to having a specific focus on floodplain canals (e.g. see Baxter and Laitos 1988;Wichelns 1998;Meinzen-Dick et al 2000;Nkoka et al 2014).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search of socio-ecological resilience and adaptive capacity: articulating the governance imperatives for improved canal management on the Barotse floodplain, Zambia

Chikozho

Mapedza

2017

Int J Commons

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Governance of the commons through collective action remains an ongoing challenge in many rural areas of Africa. In this paper, we articulate how resource governance systems and proprietorship have affected management of canals on the Barotse floodplain in Zambia. We draw from community-based natural resources management and socio-ecological resilience theories to unpack the role of governance in enabling collective action for the management of common pool resources. Our analysis establishes that it is not only the maintenance of the physical infrastructure that matters in governing the commons and ensuring socio-ecological resilience but also the sustenance of collective action among users and key actors. However, when a whole range of uncoordinated national and local institutional structures are active at the local level, proprietorship over the resource is contested and management of the canals becomes sub-optimal. There are clear indications that shifts in political authority from the local to the national level of government in Zambia have negatively affected the institutional arrangements for management of canals on the Barotse floodplain leaving both social and ecological components of the system open to neglect. We conclude by suggesting that the absolutely necessary ingredients for effective operation, maintenance and governance of the canals include ensuring that proprietorship over the resource remains with the users and bottom-up planning approaches are enabled.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%