Policies Lost in Translation? ─ Unravelling Water Reform Processes in African Waterscapes

Since the 1980s a major change took place in public policies for water resources management. The role of governments shifted under this reform process from an emphasis on investment in the development, operation and maintenance of water infrastructure to a focus on managing water resources systems by stipulating general frameworks and defining key principles for water allocation.
This interdisciplinary research examines how this water reform process unfolds within four African waterscapes that are historically constituted by natural and social processes. The study analyzes the interplay between public policies designed and implemented by government agencies and the institutions that govern access to and control over water resources among groups of agricultural water users.
The findings of this research show that the water reform policies have led to similar outcomes in dissimilar contexts and that water policy only to a limited extent leads to progressive institutional change concerning agricultural water use, especially in this neoliberal era. Moreover, this research shows that excluding targeted investments in the development of hydraulic infrastructure for historically disadvantaged groups has narrowed the options of the governments to redress the colonial legacy and the capacity of small-scale farmers to move their livelihood beyond subsistence.

Jeltsje Sanne Kemerink-Seyoum holds a lecturer position in Water Governance with the department of Integrated Water Systems and Governance at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, The Netherlands. Kemerink obtained a master degree in civil engineering from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands with a specialization in river engineering and management. For her PhD research, Kemerink conducted research on the interplay between policies and institutions within four African waterscapes and how this is affected by changes in water legislation. Her research interests include understanding institutional change processes that govern water use, constitutive processes of socio-nature within waterscapes and water politics.