Conflicts and Conflict Management in the Use of Water Resources:

Abstract

Water is a basic natural resource, which sustains life and provides various social and economic needs. Water scarcity in Tanzania however is on the increase creating a number of conflicts with diverse drivers. The present study assessed water use conflicts and their drivers in two semi arid sites of Tanzania namely, Ikowa and Ukaguru catchments in Dodoma and Morogoro regions respectively. It was observed that water scarcity was common to both sites though at different extents. Overgrazing, combined with poor agricultural practices were the major reasons behind water resource degradation and subsequent water scarcity. The water scarcity has created different types of water related conflicts. Such conflicts include those related to ownership of water sources like dams, access to land under irrigation or lands with better water supply, the supply of water for irrigation and conflicts over boundaries, which are not common in the non-irrigated fields. Other conflicts emanate from livestock ownership related to gazing land and water for livestock. Such situation brings in conflicts between individual livestock owners, livestock owners and village government officials, and livestock owners versus government officials involved in conservation. There is also friction between village government leaders and conservation officials over inaction by the former. Of the known conflict management and resolution strategies, local communities predominantly use negotiation. Occasionally adjudication is used that is, relying on the judiciary system to make binding decisions though constrained by poor staffing of the courts at village level. The widely used conflict resolution mechanism is the use of “reconciliation committees” at village and ward level and by-laws enforced by village “environmental committees”. Without appropriate conflict management it is unlikely that sustainable water use will be achieved. The project will thrive to identify the nature of water use conflicts and management approaches for water resource sustainability.