WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION IN ZIMBABWE’S RESETTLEMENT AREAS: A CASE STUDY APPROACH

Abstract

Access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation facilities is a basic human right, yet this remains a huge challenge in many developing countries of the world. The study sought to assess access to safe water and sanitation in a resettlement area in Zimbabwe. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to collect primary data. The study revealed a precarious, and unacceptable, situation regarding access to safe water and adequate sanitation in the study area. 74% of study respondents lacked access to safe water, while 57.3% had no toilet facility at their homesteads. The results of the study highlight the general poor state of service provision in the country’s resettlement areas, largely due to a poorly planned and politicized resettlement programme; in addition to highlighting the drastic demise of water and sanitation infrastructure in the country following economic decline and political isolation since the turn of the century, as most of the country’s water and sanitation initiative’s funding partners left the country. The need for properly planned and depoliticized resettlement areas, adequately served with essential social services such as water and sanitation infrastructure, cannot be overemphasized. Zimbabwe should also desist from over-depending on donor funding for its water and sanitation initiative, and set aside specific budgetary allocation from treasury. Only then can the country have a viable and sustainable water and sanitation provision programme, with donor funding only playing a supportive role. Hence, the collapse of the water and sanitation sector following the withdrawal of funding by donors and other partners should be treated as an important eye-opener.

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