Operational research report on water ownership and access rights in Malawi: customs, practice and statutory laws

Community Water Sanitation and Health (COMWASH) Project is a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Government of Malawi (Gom) funded project which is being implemented in Thyolo and Phalombe districts in southern Malawi to strengthen national, district and community capacity to implement sustainable water, sanitation and health programmes through gender sensitive demand responsive approaches.

This report serves to answer some questions relating to:

• traditional practices or customs regarding ownership and access to local or nearby water resources in rural areas
• government laws governing ownership and use of water resources
• effects of decentralisation on ownership
• access and allocation of management responsibilities
• the Ministry of Water Development’s strategy and guidelines as they relate to the statutory laws and customary practices.

The research results reveal that:

• there are various customs and beliefs that relate to access to and control of water resources
• people recognize water as a God-given resource and every person has the right of access
• ownership becomes stronger if the people near the water facility are the ones maintaining it
• the water point committees, scheme and branch committees believe that they are the rightful owners of the water facilities
• rural people are not aware of the law requirement in order for them to claim ownership of the facilities.

Based on the research findings, the authors recommend that:

• there is a need to evaluate and document as well as promote the good traditional practices that relate to the access and ownership of water resources
• there is a need to intensify awareness campaigns on the policy changes and the legal framework governing access to and control of water resources
• the District Coordinating Team (DCT) with support from the COMWASH project should assist the Water Point Committees (WPCs) and branch committees to develop by-laws to govern use and management of the water facilities
• the government, donors and the Non-governmental Organization (NGO) community need to deliberately focus on strengthening the capacity of the local government authority.