Gendered tenurial niches and access to the informal irrigation in - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Gendered tenurial niches and access to the informal irrigation in the Kandeu area of Malawi: Policy Implications for SDGs attainment in Africa Everisto Mapedza Senior Researcher, IWMI, Ghana. Presented at the Stockholm World Water Week (SWWW), 25-30 August 2019

Organization • Introduction • Study Area • Methods • Findings • Conclusion

Introduction • “Tenure is not about land, it is about people ( men, women and youths). It is about land only as far as land can serve the needs of people (men, women and youths )” (à la Westoby 1967)

Study Area • Kaziputa Irrigation Scheme (Kandeu EPA) • 75 irrigators (22 men and 53 women) • Clubs: Gobeke, Chikamba, Chimwalira, Namichimba and Lithethe • Ntcheu District in Malawi • Central Region • 155-184 people/km² • 70-90% poverty levels – 52% at national level

Methods

Research Findings • Matrilineal and matri-local society (75-80%) – Ngoni (70%)! – customary recognition of women land ownership • Land inherited through women • Tenure – tenurial niches (Fortmann 1992; 1996 – going beyond De Soto security of tenure through titling • Avoid binary of male and female ownership – gradient from female to male – multiple stories “ I was given a piece of land by my grandparents from my father’s side since I had come to stay with my father after I separated with my wife long ago ”

Research Findings (cont’d) • Land and Water – nexus – right to use water is linked to land ownership • Paradox of land ownership - not translating into control of benefits • Women in matrilineal ‘better than’ patrilineal – land ownership

Research Findings (cont’d) • Governance – WUA – male decision making i. Rule making ii. Rule enforcement iii. Rule compliance iv. Rule adjudication v. Accountability mechanisms • Markets – gender roles – ‘its not safe for women to travel overnight across the mountain range to the market’ – land tenure within the broader cultural spectrum • Men are involved in marketing – some say prices were ‘not good’ most of the time

Research Findings (cont ’ d) • Divorce your husband – torch (gendered access and control over land) • Role of uncles in decision making – men in key decision making

Whose Labour?

Conclusion • Land and water nexus – gendered tenure needs to be strengthened • Move away from the binary – gradient • Centrality of legal and customary land-water nexus tenure • WUA representation ‘I participate. You participate. He participates. She participate. We participate. They rule’

Thank You, Merci, Tatenda, Medase Acknowledging the support of the study partner communities in Malawi