Water resources are a crucial resource in a large proportion of economic activity, both in rural and
urban areas and resource sharing has become an increasingly important concept to achieve equitable
distribution of scarce resources which are social-ecological, socio-economic and political in their
nature (Breen et al., 2003). Water scarcity and the increased demand from high value water users
have decreased opportunities for increased stakeholder participation. The National Water Act of
1998 is part of environmental legislation promulgated to redress the historical inequitable access to
natural resources. Previous studies (Versfeld, 2000; Schreiner and van Koppen, 2001; Armitage et
al., 1999; van Wyk et al., 2006) have indicated that the current allocation mechanism of compulsory
licensing, mainly in the agricultural sector, has not resulted in meaningful resource sharing or
empowerment as agriculture does not seem to perform as well as other water use sectors in terms
of provision of economic benefits. Within the context of striving for greater equity and
empowerment (1) in resource sharing, the key issues of participatory governance of water resources in
creating sustainable revenue from sharing water resources are evaluated in this study as a basis for
the aim of investigating water trading as a suitable allocation mechanism to promote equitable water
resource sharing.
Resource sharing will “ultimately rest on negotiated trade-offs between resource users” (van Wyk et
al., 2006:9) and there are therefore two considerations for achieving equity in water allocation:
capacity through legislative means, and stakeholder perception of how access to resources can be
beneficial, which will in turn “influence how human behaviour, and ultimately resource use
patterns, evolve” (van Wyk et al., 2006:7). Traditionally, water has been allocated as a usufructuary
resource in value chains, such as agriculture, forestry, mining and industry, in addition to fulfilling
its function within the Reserve for ecological and basic human needs. Water thus becomes an
integral part of a value chain which extends from allocation and conservation of water resources,
through various production functions, culminating in the consumption and disposal functions
associated with products created from use of water, in other words, a tradable economic commodity
(Backeberg, 1997).
The objectives which guide this research are focussed on understanding the dynamics of the water value chain and status of resource sharing, and whether water trading can promote empowerment
through increased resource sharing and creation of benefits. The objectives are:
I. Using value chain methods to understand the status of resource sharing in the Mhlatuze
Catchment.
II. Using a value chain method of analysis to identify constraints to empowerment of rural
communities within the water sector, and identify how water trading as an allocation
mechanism could provide potential solutions.
III. Investigate the stakeholder perception of the suitability of water trading in promoting
resource sharing through empowerment.
Using the value chain methodology to understand the dynamics driving stakeholder participation
and production functions, the resulting water sector map was used to identify flow of benefits and
constraints in creating benefits from access to water. Further analysis of the value chain explored
the possibility of enhancing governance through increasing subjective, objective and competency
based capacity. Inductive qualitative research investigated the acceptance of water trading as an
allocation mechanism which could improve empowerment in the context of resource sharing. This
methodology could be replicated to investigate the potential of any resource allocation policy.
Preliminary literature reviews revealed the Mhlatuze catchment as a suitable case study area as it is
an over-allocated system (Versfeld, 2000; Pott et al., 2005) in which the compulsory licensing
mechanism is being implemented. The majority of economic activity still takes place through
commercial agriculture and industry in the middle and lower catchment, although demand for water
exceeds supply within these groups of participants, whilst the majority of the population resides in
the upper catchment. The sector map identified the status of the stakeholders and the extent to
which they participated and interacted within the value chain. Semi-structured interviews were then
conducted with previously identified participants selected from each of the main groups in the value
chain to determine whether there was understanding of the empowerment possibilities presented by
water trading as an allocation mechanism.
The findings of the sector study showed that the rural poor communities were an integral part of the
water value chain, although the status of creation of benefits was limited to those who had access to
additional resources to create revenue from water use. Analysis of the value chain indicated that
benefits could be created from water trading without having to increase the resource base, important in the context of scarce resources. In addition, the ability of poor communities to participate in the
value chain through water trading, as opposed to traditional resource hungry production functions,
has the potential to create meaningful empowerment in terms of improving the confidence,
opportunity and capacity of these stakeholders to participate in creating benefits. The discussions
with stakeholders indicated that water trading as an allocation mechanism would more likely lead to
empowerment of previously disadvantaged communities whilst not adversely affecting current
value chain actors by disenfranchising them of a necessary resource as could happen through
compulsory re-allocation. (1) Empowerment in this dissertation is defined as procedures and legislation which improve access to, and use of,
resources in order to create beneficial outcomes for the previously disadvantaged groups in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/2896 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Longhurst, Brendon. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
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