Peaceful waters: Community action in sustainable scarce resource management in a rural Zimbabwean setting

Abstract

I explored community collation approaches to sustainable water management by a rural Zimbabwean community for social justice and equity with inclusivity. Informants were a convenience sample of 27 community dwellers; including villagers (n = 20), community leaders (n = 2), and policy makers (n = 5). They responded to semi-structured interviews regarding their engagement in community action for sustainable water resource management. Thematic analysis of the data yielded themes to suggest diversity in stakeholder interest, the importance of collective community participation, and attending to group cohesion processes. Regular community dwellers appeared to value local oversight and control of the water resource management; while policy makers were more invested in water resource management institution building than the mundane water resource management issues. Sustainable water resource management in rural settings is likely with identifying and bridging any gaps between local user interests and institutional policy interests.