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Exempel 8, sid 21-22

Water, Women and Power in Nungwi, Zanzibar

– access in times of shortage

 

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Abstract    This study concerns the water shortage in the village of Nungwi in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It aims to

uncover the perspective of the main provider and user of water – women. The objective of this

study is to understand and demonstrate in what ways the local women of Nungwi have adjusted

to today’s water shortage and in what ways this adjustment impacts on their lives. Moreover, the

study strives to provide a deeper understanding of water availability and accessibility on a

tropical island as Zanzibar.

Feminist political ecology was used as a framework to understand how uneven power over

decisions and gendered societal responsibilities affects water access and management. The

findings of the study show not only an imbalance in accessibility to safe water between men and

women, but also between the Nungwi villagers and the tourist industry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key words; water, accessibility, Nungwi, female perspective, tourism

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Acronyms  

LIC Low income country

MDG Millennium Development Goal

NGO Non-governmental organization

TZS Tanzanian Shilling

ZAWA Zanzibar Water Authority

ZAWCO Zanzibar Women’s Cooperation

UN United Nations

ISCEE The International Collaborative for Science, Education and the Environment

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Contents    Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 1

Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................... 2

1. Background ............................................................................................................................... 4

2. Purpose of thesis ...................................................................................................................... 6

3. Theoretical framework ............................................................................................................ 10

4. Method .................................................................................................................................... 17

5. Results .................................................................................................................................... 25

6. Analysis and Discussion ......................................................................................................... 34

7. Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 39

8. References ............................................................................................................................. 40

Appendix 1: Tourism in Zanzibar; direct arrivals ......................................................................... 44

Appendix 2: Map of Zanzibar ...................................................................................................... 45

Appendix 3: Interview themes ..................................................................................................... 46

List of Tables

Table 1. Summary of methods.

Table 2. Summary of respondents.

List of Figures

Figure 1. Zanzibar Tourist arrivals

Figure 2. Map of Zanzibar

Figure 3. Exponential Non-Discriminative Snowball Sampling

Photo on cover: Lotten Lundgren. Empty water dooms, Nungwi.

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1.  Background

Over the last fifty years, tourism has become one of the most striking, yet controversial, socio-

economic forces. This sector alone represented the world’s most valuable export category, by the

end of the twentieth century. When an industry like tourism develops in a low income country

(LIC) it is inevitable that economical, physical and social changes will take place.

Tanzania has had higher growth in tourism than the world average.1 The island of Zanzibar is

located in an archipelago in the Indian Ocean outside the Tanzanian mainland. Zanzibar is the

center for much of the tourism investments made in Tanzania; new hotels are continuously built,

existing facilities restored and the island has its own airline, Air Zanzibar. Tourism was

introduced to the island in 1980 and ever since, the annual number of arrivals has increased

steadily (see Appendix 2). However, there have been questions about whether Zanzibaris are

benefitting from the rapid development of the tourist industry, particularly when it comes to the

women.2 Nungwi is a village located in the north of Zanzibar, known for its beaches and

favorable weather. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Zanzibar and currently

suffers from chronic water shortage.3 Tourism is a sector which has high demands on water and

water scarcity is common in Zanzibar's tourist areas.

The fundamental health determinants for a human population are dependent on a sufficient

amount of safe water. Among other things, the water is needed for drinking, production in

agriculture, daily personal and domestic hygiene as well as sanitation.4 The global funding,

institutional and infrastructure development of the water sector are largely in the control of men.

However, the essential provider and user of water are women. Globally, there is little attention to

women's right to water, especially in the communities where female status is low.5 Just as in

Tanzania as a nation, in Zanzibar and Nungwi there is a patriarchal society where women in

general have a subordinate position to men.6 The international development targets of the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) incorporate domestic water provision in Goal 7, but do                                                                                                                          1  Sharpley  R.  Telfer  D.  Tourism  and  Development  in  the  Developing  World,  Routledge,  Oxfordshire,  2008,  p.  1-­‐2.  2  Saunders  F.  The  Politics  of  People,  not  just  mangroves  and  monkeys;  A  study  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  communitybased  management  of  natural  resources  in  Zanzibar,  Sodertorn  Doctoral  Dissertations,  2011,  p.  17-­‐22.  3  Sukhdev  M.  Singer  A.  Behind  Your  Beach  Vacation,  A  review  and  Evaluation  of  EIAs  as  a  Legal  Framework  to  Regulate  the  Environmental  Impacts  of  tourism  in  Zanzibar,  Zanzibar,  2009,  p.  49.  4  Lindstrand  A.  Bergstrom  S.  Rosling  H.  Rubenson  B.  Stenson  B.  Tylleskar  T.  Global  Health,  An  introductory  textbook,  Studentlitteratur  AB,  Lund,  2010,  p.  75.  5  Coles  A.  Wallace  T.  Gender  water  and  development,  Oxford  International  Publishers  Ltd,  New  York,  2005,  p.  8-­‐10.  6  Utrikespolitiska  institutet,  Landguiden,  2011-­‐12-­‐03.  

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not address a gender perspective in water provision. The focus is on coverage rather than

accessibility and equity. Thereby the MDGs, as well as several other development practices,

neglect the issues of how the burden of water providing may affect girls and women's access to

education – which is targeted in both MDG 2 and 3. Women have been identified as the group

that will most likely benefit from improved water supplies, as their burden of domestic tasks will

be lightened.7

The focus of this study is to investigate Nungwi's household's availability and accessibility to

safe water, in the context of the tourism development. Moreover, it is of interest to put the

females of the households in focus, in order to understand the perspective of the main family

provider and user of water. When doing so, the study is able to provide deeper and concrete

understanding of how the water providing by women changes as the availability and accessibility

changes. Thus, this study could contribute to highlighting the importance of striving for gender

equality in a sector like water, in international development goal setting.

                                                                                                                         7  Coles  A.,  Wallace  T.  p.  8-­‐10.  

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2.  Purpose  of  thesis  

The purpose of the proposed thesis is to investigate the female perspective in Nungwi on the local

household's availability and accessibility to safe water, in the context of tourism development in

Zanzibar. The objective of the thesis is to understand how the local people – mainly women – of

Nungwi have adjusted and adapted to the 'new' (possibly decreased) availability and accessibility

to safe water - in the context of development of tourism. In this way the study will be able to

show if, and in what ways, water availability and accessibility affects women and their water

supply. Moreover, the thesis aims to provide a deeper understanding of water availability on a

tropical island with a developing tourist industry as well as clarifying the existing gender roles in

the water sector. By uncovering the perspective of the main provider and user of water,

perceptions of causes for, and implications of water scarcity in the context of tourism

development, can be identified. Thus, this study will show the relationship between water

providing, gender roles and tourism development.

The following research questions will help achieve the purpose;

1. Is safe water available and accessible to the household's in Nungwi?

2. What factors hinder households from accessing safe water?

3. For whom is safe water available and accessible in Nungwi?

 

 

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2.1.  Study  area    Zanzibar is made up of 16 islands; the two main islands are Unguja and Pemba. This study

concerns Unguja, which it will

refer to as Zanzibar. Most

Zanzibari people are Muslim and

speak Kiswahili which is the

national language, while English

is the official language.8

Nungwi is a coastal village in the

northern parts of Zanzibar (see

Appendix 2) and is made up of

three fishing villages. There are

three schools and a health center

in Nungwi and the main economic

activities are connected to fishing

and tourism.9 The majority of

Nungwi’s population live below

the poverty line of US$1 per day,

as the average district income per

capital is US$229 per year.10

Approximately 7500 villagers

inhabit Nungwi and as the first

coastal tourist destination in

Zanzibar, the village has

experienced a large share of labor-

induced immigration from other areas of Zanzibar and Tanzania mainland. The labor-induced

                                                                                                                         8  Saunders  F.  p.  17  9  Revolutionary  Government  of  Zanzibar,  Pilot  Project  to  Improve  Nungwi  Village  Water  Supply  Services,  Zanzibar,  Gamba,  p.  3.  10  Labayka,  2012-­‐05-­‐01  

Figure  1.  Map  of  Unguja  and  Pemba.  

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immigrants search for or work in various tourism developments in Nungwi, such as the hotels.

There are approximately 50 hotels in the village, with numerous additional tourism facility

developments planned. The immigrants and tourist visitors have dramatically increased the

demand for limited resources, such as water.11 The daily water consumption in Nungwi includes

use for domestic, commercial, tourism, livestock, gardening and irrigating green areas.12 The

demand for water has increased and nearly reaches 700 liters per tourist per day where the hotels

are located, compared to recommended guidelines of 200 liters per tourist per day.13 These

figures for daily water consumption for tourists contrast dramatically with the average local

Zanzibari's consumption of less than 40 liters.14 In Zanzibar, the average daily demand based on

rural requirement standards is 50 liters per person and per day. The total water demand in

Nungwi exceeds 600m3 per day.15

In Zanzibar town, there is a freshwater aquifer flowing under the capital and a pipe network

pumps water to the coastal communities. As Nungwi is at the very end of the pipe network, it is

the most acute area for water scarcity on Zanzibar.16 Nungwi is connected to a water scheme in

Mkwajuni (see Appendix 2). The water scheme in Mkwajuni is a public system, which means

that several villages are dependent on the scheme for its water supply. There are no restrictions

on making connections for water supply in villages located along the scheme, which causes

water to fail to reach the terminal points. As the water pumping station is located far away and

Nungwi is the terminal point for the scheme, Nungwi is poorly supplied with water.17 Today,

water availability is a source of conflict between the local population and the hotels in Nungwi as

the village suffer from chronic water shortage.18

The electricity supply in Zanzibar has for long been subject to poor quality of services and low

reliability, both in commercial and domestic sectors. The demand of electricity is higher than the

supply, on both Unguja and Pemba, partly due to the population growth, economic developments

                                                                                                                         11  Sukhdev  M.  Singer  A.  p.  12.  12  Revolutionary  Government  of  Zanzibar,  p.  4.  13  Gossling  S.  Tourism  and  development  in  tropical  islands:  political  ecology  perspectives,  Edward  Elgar  Publishing  Limited,  Cheltenham,  2003  p.  194.  14  McIntyre  C.  McIntyre  S.  Zanzibar,  Bradt  Travel  Guides  Ltd,  Buckinghamshire,  2009,  p.  32.  15  Revolutionary  Government  of  Zanzibar,  p.  3-­‐6.  16  McIntyre  C.  McIntyre  S.  p.  32.  17  Revolutionary  Government  of  Zanzibar,  p.  4.  18  Sukhdev  M.  Singer  A.  p.  36,  49.  

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and the unreliability of supply from the mainland. The fluctuation and lack of electricity

aggravates delivery of water through power driven pipeline systems.19

                                                                                                                         19  Ilskog  E.  The  Zanzibar  Blackout  –  a  case  study  on  consequences  from  an  electricity  power  crisis,  2011,  p.  1-­‐5.  

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3.  Theoretical  framework  

This chapter will introduce the theoretical framework which has guided this study. The aspects

of feminist political ecology structures the study by focusing a gendered investigation and an

analysis. The capability approach complements this approach by providing a means to detect

issues of power and access in the collection of the empirical data.

3.1.  Feminist  political  ecology  

Political ecology is an analytical approach which is concerned with social justice and the impact

of global economic and political processes on local environments. The approach is dominated by

four narratives; environmental conflict, conservation and control, degradation and

marginalization as well as environmental identity and social movements. In short, political

ecology focuses on the difficulties of resource access and control. In Zanzibar, there is definitely

a struggle over the access and control over water.20

This study is based on the scholarship of feminist political ecology. Feminist political ecology

is a framework of analysis of ecological, economic and political power relations through a

feminist perspective.21 It addresses gender issues in resource-based conflicts, either in rural or in

industrial urban environments. Feminist political ecology are in some ways associated with

ecofeminism. However, the latter equates female oppression with the domination of the

environment and thereby essentializes women, while feminist political ecology rather explores

gender as a factor in political, ecological and the relations of economic production.22 The

contribution of this theory is to emphasize the need for an understanding, both of how gender

interacts with the use and management of natural resources, and how social relations can impact

women's use of environmental resources, compared to men's. Borrowing from feminist political

ecology, this study will view gender as a social construction which plays an important role in the

shaping of access to and control over resources.23 In this study, the environmental, natural

resource will be represented by water. By investigating the role of gender and its place in the                                                                                                                          20  Coles  S.  A  Political  Ecology  of  Water  Equity  and  Tourism,  a  case  study  from  Bali,  Annals  of  Tourism  Research,  2012,  p.  1225-­‐1226.  21  Rocheleau  D.  Thomas-­‐Slayter  B.  Wangari  E.  Feminist  political  ecology:  global  issues  and  local  experiences,  Routledge,  London,  1996.  p.  13.  22  Hovorka,  A.  The  No.1  Ladies'  Poultry  Farm:  A  Feminist  Political  Ecology  of  Urban  Agriculture  in  Botswana.  Gender,  Place  &  Culture,  Vol.  13,  No.  3,  Routledge,  2006,  p.  209.  23  Rocheleau  D.  Thomas-­‐Slayter  B.  p.  4-­‐5,  211.  

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political and ecological landscape, as well as the reproduction of family life, research questions

1-3 are likely to be more adequately answered, than if the role of gender was not taken into

account. Feminist political ecology helps to provide some key variables that might influence the

access to safe water in Nungwi. Gender needs to be an integral variable of this study as men and

women are both affected by decreased water accessibility, possibly in different ways. The micro-

politics of households and communities, the increasing water scarcity, the lack of women in

water policy-making and the patriarchal structures in Zanzibar are some of the key factors of this

study that are likely to affect Nungwi women’s access to water. The broader experience suggest

that women are worst affected by water scarcity; if not by being the first one to reduce their daily

water consumption, then by being the one with increased burden of providing water. As feminist

political ecology helps to identify factors that help to centralize women’s responsibilities and

relative influence or not over different water management activities and use.

According to feminist political ecology women often have the responsibility of financially less

attractive aspects of environmental resources, while men often participate in the lucrative

market-linked activities. This study has intended to recognize and investigate such gendered

division of resource rights in water. Moreover, it is equally important to acknowledge the

gendered division of responsibilities. Responsibilities include procurement of inputs for

household functioning and management of particular resources, for instance the protection of

water sources. The political ecology literature tells us that the distribution of responsibilities

between men and women is often imbalanced. Women carry the majority of responsibilities, yet

they have disproportionately few rights to participate in determining future resource availability

and quality. This is caused by limited economic and political means to participate. Being able to

participate includes participating and influencing resource use planning, resource use change,

structure of homes, neighborhoods and landscape design. It also includes having access to and

not being excluded from ‘the corridors of power’; environmental decisions in government,

industry, and mainstream environmentalist groups.24

Bina Agarwal has recommended that in order to change gender inequalities, feminist

environmentalists should strive to transform ideas about propertied resources and the actual

division of work between men and women.25 Water is certainly a propertied resource which is

                                                                                                                         24  Rocheleau  D.  Thomas-­‐Slayter  B.  p.  13-­‐14.  25  Agarwal  B.  The  Gender  and  Environment  Debate,  Feminist  Studies,  1992,  p.  198.  

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often accompanied by an uneven division of work between men and women. Therefore, this

study on women's role in accessing safe water could contribute to challenging the existing

dominant ideas of some of the relationships between nature and people, as well as ownership. In

conclusion, the aspects of feminist political ecology provide the thesis with a framework in

addressing current gender imbalance between responsibilities and rights in water management,

here, in the context of tourism development.

3.2.  Capability  approach  

The capability approach focuses on people's valuable functionings and capabilities; what they are

able to do and be. The approach can be used to evaluate the inequality, development, well-being

and poverty of an individual. A capability defines a person’s freedom and ability to achieve a

certain goal, whereas functionings represent the actual achievement. Functionings include being

respected, employed, healthy, included in a community – beings and doings which together can

form a valuable life. In order to achieve a valuable life, capabilities in terms of commodities

(goods and services) are needed. The characteristics of a good will enable certain functionings.

Moreover, the capability approach considers the relation between the functioning and the

commodity to be influenced by examining three conversion factors; personal, social and

environmental characteristics. All three characteristics will impact on a person's ability to

convert the characteristics of the commodity to function as a person in society. The personal

characteristics include a person's physical condition, reading skills, sex, and intelligence. The

social characteristics include discriminating practices, social norms, public policies, gender roles,

etc. The environmental characteristics are for instance climate, infrastructure, institutions and

public goods. In other words, the approach focuses on means and ends of well-being and

development, and the distinction between those two terms. The means are of instrumental value,

whereas the ends are of intrinsic importance. The ends of well-being and development are

represented by achieved functionings. In the capability approach, development and well-being

are comprehensive and integrated concepts, which include economic, political, cultural and

social dimensions of life. It is therefore important to be aware of the connection between

material, social, spiritual and mental well-being and development. 26

This study will operationalize the capability approach, first by identifying the functioning of

                                                                                                                         26  Robeyns  I.  The  Capability  Approach:  An  Interdisciplinary  Introduction,  University  of  Amsterdam,  2003,  p.  3-­‐7.  

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focus as having access to safe water. The study will then strive to identify the Nungwi villager's

chances (capabilities) of accessing safe water and thereby achieving a function in terms of this

theoretical approach.

3.3.  Literature  review

In this chapter, the literature which has been useful to the study is presented. The field of

literature relates to the topic of interest; the relationship between tourism, environmental

resources and development. Stefan Gössling has written several articles about how these areas

are connected. He focuses on climate change, in particular mobility and environmental impacts

on islands. Gössling’s work has been useful in providing guidance on how to examine tourism,

natural resources, income opportunities and tropical islands. Gössling has also undertaken

studies of these interactions in Zanzibar, so his work provides useful contextualized insights

about these interactions. Gössling is therefore referred to several times in this chapter.

In one article, Gössling investigates the causes and consequences of water abstraction made by

the tourist industry. The results of this study show non-sustainable withdrawal levels of water

and daily deficits of water for local populations. Overexploitation of water resources in Zanzibar

has lead in some cases to land subsidence, deteriorating groundwater quality, groundwater table

as well as salt water intrusion. These consequences will be felt by both the tourist industry and

the local population.27 The relationship between tourism and environmental resources is further

explored in his book about tourism and global environmental change, where the role that tourism

plays in a selection of countries and islands is investigated. The amount of water which the

tourism industry demands depends on water use per tourist, number of tourist arrivals as well as

the average length of stay for those tourists. Gössling concludes that it is difficult to predict

which areas of the world suffer from serious or severe water scarcity as a consequence of

tourism. However, he states that it is likely that coastlines and small coralline islands (such as

Zanzibar) can be identified as those most vulnerable to water stress. Gössling argues that the

availability of water in Zanzibar is linked to tourism, as water resources are used for tourism at

the expense of local populations. Despite this, the inequalities in water are backed up by

economic and political elites who are financially involved and have interests in promoting what

                                                                                                                         27  Gössling  S.  The  consequences  of  tourism  for  sustainable  water  use  on  a  tropical  island:  Zanzibar,  Tanzania,  Journal  of  Environmental  Management,  2001,  p.  180.  

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they see as the broader national interest.28

The findings in his research about tourism-related migration in Zanzibar, written together with

Ute Schulz, show the demographic characteristics of the workforce in the sectors connected to

tourism. The survey show that labor migration, which is related to tourism, accounts for the

majority of the total workforce in Zanzibar and that the majority of the migrants are male.

Moreover, the migrants usually have substantially higher incomes than native Zanzibaris.29

These findings are enhanced by the findings in Schulz’s study on tourism-induced labor mobility

in Tanzania, which focuses on Zanzibar as a case study. This study reveals that unemployment of

locals is still high despite the development of Zanzibar as a mass tourism destination and a

related substantial demand for local labor. Schulz attributes this in part at least to the large labor

surplus among the local population and the rapid population growth of about 3% pa., i.e., labor

demand is still smaller than the supply. As employment opportunities within the tourism sector

are mainly represented by migrant workers, the benefits of tourism for the local community are

limited. The study suggests a potential conflict arising between the local Zanzibari population

and the migrant workers as a reaction to this. Furthermore, Schulz raises the question of whether

such a conflict, in combination with an over-use of natural resources such as water, is an

environment conducive to achieving sustainable development.

In the article, Women and community water supply programmes by Nandita Singh et al.,30

water supply programmes targeted to benefit women as well as their effectiveness, are assessed.

The article explores the difficulties that may occur in the implementation of community water

supply programmes, due to social and cultural intricacies. Singh shows that physical availability

often is a criterion for successful programme performance. However, more focus is needed on

the local socio-cultural context as it is a dynamic factor which sets the stage for performance

implementation. The local socio-cultural context actually determines access to water more so

than its physical availability, although studying the interaction of the two dimensions that a

comprehensive understanding is derived. Therefore, integrating socio-cultural factors as a

dimension when designing community water supply programmes is of greatest importance for

achieving successful programmes. A State-run community water supply programme and its                                                                                                                          28  Gössling  S.  Tourism  and  Global  Environmental  Change  –  ecological,  social,  economic  and  political  interrelationships,  Routledge,  New  York,  2006,  p.  190-­‐192.  29  Gössling  S.  Schulz  U.  2005,  p.  7-­‐8.  30  Singh  N.  Jacks  G.  Bhattacharya  P.  Women  and  Community  Water  Supply  Programmes:  an  analysis  from  a  socio-­‐cultural  perspective,  Natural  Resource  Forum,  Vol.  29,  No.  3,  2005.  

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outputs in rural India are analyzed at micro-level, in order to answer how effective such

improvements are and how socio-cultural aspects interact with the implementation.

Singh argues that a common myth among project donors in the water sector is that all

members of a community will gain equal advantages when improvements in water supply

systems take place. This myth originates from the misperception that all members of society

participate in water management and that no members are excluded from the use of water.

However, in India for instance, there are female minority groups who cannot access communal

water facilities due to their socio-cultural status. Hence, improved water supply will not have the

same benefits for all people and may not even include all people of a community. In order to

provide those in need with real benefits of improved water access, it is vital to integrate the

socio-cultural context into programme designing of water supply programmes.31

The need to become aware of such contextual factors as well as broader socio-political issues

which cause competition for limited resources of water and conflicting needs in communities

was presented in a study of water provision in East Africa, called Drawers of water. The study

focuses on water use, individual costs, health and other social challenges. It notes that women

carry the main responsibilities of water at household level in most societies in Africa. However,

it is most often men who determine household arrangements such as the location of the house

and financial investments, for instance in equipment for water collection. Thus, the males in the

household are significant decision-makers as they can determine how heavy or light the woman’s

work burden will be. Moreover, the study shows that women bear the main burden of water

collection in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. In these countries, the number of children collecting

water is increasing and the number of males who collect water for commercial purposes are

increasing. There are common modes of transporting water for water vendors; 75% use a bicycle

or a cart to transport water over large distances. The authors point out that modes of transporting

water are gendered; women and children do not use any mechanized transport, but commonly

walk to the location of the water source and back. This leads to health issues; general fatigue and

exhaustion, headache as well as neck, waist, back and chest pain.

There is a obvious correlation between the time spent collecting water and the distance to the

water source; if households are located far away from the water source, more time will be spent

when collecting water. However, the study show cases where efforts to improve access to the

                                                                                                                         31  Ibid,  p.  34  

16  

 

source resulted in shorter distance than before (a decrease of 113 meters), but increase in time.

This is due to increased times spent queuing as the source becomes more attractive.32

The literature mentioned in this section served as a guiding direction for this study when

developing research questions and understanding the field. Literature studies were part of the

research and will be described in the following section, along with the other methods used in this

study.

                                                                                                                         32  Thompson  J.  et  al.,  Drawers  of  Water  -­‐  30  years  of  change  in  domestic  water  use  and  environmental  health  in  East  Africa,  International  Institute  for  Environment  and  Development,  2001.  p.  59-­‐61.  

17  

 

4.  Method    The chosen methods for this study are waterpoint analysis and semi-structured interviews.

Qualitative data collection has been carried out in Nungwi, through a field trip to the location.

Qualitative research methods are suitable given that the aim of the study to achieve an in-depth

understanding of the contemporary phenomenon of water scarcity and its context. Compatible

with qualitative research method, the focus is to answer questions of 'why' and 'how', rather than

'what, where, when'. By uncovering the female perspective of water accessibility in the context

of tourism development, the study will be able to identify perceptions of causes for, and

implications of water scarcity. As the main provider and user of water, women are likely to

contribute with a deeper perspective, due to their experience, of the importance of water

accessibility, than males. With a qualitative approach, the study will clarify deeper consequences

of changing water accessibility, from a female perspective.

Tanzania has experienced higher growth in its tourism sector than world average.33 As

Zanzibar is the center for Tanzania's tourism and Nungwi is one of the most acute areas for water

scarcity on Zanzibar, Nungwi was chosen as the site for investigation.34 Zanzibar (Unguja) is a

geographically bounded island, which can put additional stress on environmental resources, such

as water. The combination of these factors makes Zanzibar an interesting subject for analysis.

Moreover, a growing number of tropical LIC’s are becoming economically dependent on

tourism, which makes Zanzibar increasingly representative.35 Thus, the results of this report will

be useful for understanding other similar situations.

Prior to the field trip, a research phase took place in Sweden and previous research on this

subject was studied. Literature studies were carried out prior to, during and after the field trip.

The waterpoint analysis was used to understand the technical data, use data and management

data of water supply in Nungwi. It is a useful approach as it provides a quick profile of the water-

using community. Moreover, waterpoint analysis offers access to the female perspective, which

is not always possible with other methods.36 Therefore, waterpoint analysis is an approach which

is compatible with feminist political ecology. As women are usually the ones responsible for

                                                                                                                         33  Sharpley  R.  Telfer  D.  p.  1-­‐2.  34  McIntyre  C.  McIntyre  S.  p.  32.  35  Gossling  S.  Tourism,  Ecosystem  Functions,  and  Human-­‐Environmental  Relations,  Lund  University,  2000,  p.  39.  36  Cleaver  F.  Elson  D.  Women  and  water  resources:  Continued  Marginalization  and  New  Policies,  Gatekeeper  Series  No.  49,  1995,  p.  12.  

18  

 

water management, safeguarding and providing,37 the female perspective is of primary interest to

this study. In this study, the female and male perspectives are kept separately as their views on

water supply may differ substantially. The research questions were answered through semi-

structured interviews as well as through literature studies.

The local guide for the research was Maryam Aboubakar, from the Zanzibar Women’s

Cooperation (ZAWCO) project, who helped to establish contact with interview subjects and

undertake interviews. The ZAWCO project was first organized to help improve the undermined

well-being of children and women in villages, caused by lack of safe water. ZAWCO is a project

under the organization The International Collaborative for Science, Education and the

Environment (ICSEE). Due to the local guides’s position in a local non-governmental

organization (NGO) and insight into water-related issues in Zanzibari villages, female and

relevant contacts for this study were established. In semi-structured interviews the respondents

are the main focus to enable deeper understanding of the individual perspective. The purpose of

the interviews was to obtain the respondent's experience of water accessibility, from an in depth

discussion of the issue. The interview themes (see Appendix 4) were developed in connection to

the theoretical framework of feminist political ecology. In the research process, the study

identified the Nungwi women’s functioning as having access to safe water, and their primary

capabilities in achieving that functioning as income, time and capacity (as described in the

chapter Theoretical framework). Thus, the capability approach also helped shaping themes for

the interviews. Respondents were meant to be selected through non-probability chain referral

sampling, referred to here as snowball sampling. Exponential non-discriminative snowball

sampling is suitable for this project as it allows the sampling of natural interactional units and

therefore allows the study to reach those respondents who would not be possible to reach with

other sampling methods. Moreover, this sampling technique is cost-and time-efficient as it does

not require a large workforce or comprehensive planning. However, due to some issues in

organizing, as will be described in this chapter, it was not possible to implement snowball

sampling throughout the research.

                                                                                                                         37  Coles  A.,  Wallace  T.  p.  4.  

19  

 

 

Figure  3.  Exponential  Non-­‐Discriminative  Snowball  Sampling  

The criteria for inclusion in this study are that the subject is a female, over the age of 18 and is

permanently living in Nungwi. As snowball sampling relies on the initial subject to generate

additional subjects, it is of importance for the local guide to be able to verify the eligibility of the

initial subject.38 This independent verification was an advantage in this study as it helped identify

suitable respondents, and then generated access to other relevant respondents. In this way, it was

possible to increase the otherwise little control that the researcher has over the sampling method.

Sampling bias is a risk in snowball sampling, as subjects tend to nominate people from similar

social networks as themselves, with similar situations.39 This study avoided this by making sure

that the initial respondent did not solely nominate family members, close friends or relatives. By

carrying out interviews, the individual female's perspective on water availability and

accessibility in Nungwi was obtained – a perspective that is quite scarce.

4.1.  Research  process  

First, a group interview with five women was conducted. The respondents in the group interview

are members of a grassroot organization called Nungwi Imara Women’s Group who bake bread

for sale on the local market. The group interview was followed by two individual interviews

with two local female inhabitants of Nungwi. Prior to the interviews, contact was established

with the local leader (the Sheha) of Nungwi and it was decided that the Sheha would organize

two groups of women with five women in each group. It was requested that the Sheha base his

choice on the criteria for inclusion in this study and select women of different socio-economic

                                                                                                                         38  Biernacki  P.  Waldorf  D.  Snowball  Sampling,  Problems  and  Techniques  of  Chain  Referral  Sampling,  Pacific  Institute  for  Research  and  Evaluation,  San  Francisco  State  University,  1981,  p.  141-­‐143.  39  Ibid  

20  

 

backgrounds and ages in order to get a group which approximates representativeness for Nungwi

women. The plan was to then use snowball sampling by getting recommendations from the

women in the group interviews. However, on the day of the group interviews the Sheha

cancelled the meeting and after that, he was uncontactable. This complicated matters as it can be

difficult to get five women together as it takes time away from their daily activities to participate

in an interview. Luckily, Imara Women’s Group is located in the centre of Nungwi and the

women were already gathered and able to answer questions and discuss water issues, while

baking bread. The women in the individual interviews were the ones who were available

outdoors and the ones who had time to participate in an interview. The two women who were

available for individual interviews were unemployed. In this way, women from different socio-

economic backgrounds participated in the interviews, as the Imara Women’s Group represents

women who have an income, and the other women represent women without income. The group

interview was to large extent a discussion amongst the participating women and the individual

interviews were more focused on the themes of the interviews and took the form of a dialogue.

For that reason, the combination of group and individual interviews was useful to this study. It

would have been preferred to conduct the interviews with the villagers in the way which was

planned, with the Sheha, as the women would then be free from work and possibly more

engaged in the discussions. However, there are also advantages in catching the women in their

daily activity where discussions occur more naturally and in a situation where the women felt at

ease. It also gave the respondents an opportunity to illustrate the quality of the water from the

pipeline by offering a sample to taste, which of course was of interest to the study.

The technical director at Zanzibar Water Authority (ZAWA), Mohamed Ilyasa Mohamed,

was interviewed about the water distribution in Nungwi, accessibility and shortage as well as

previous and planned efforts in the water sector. By interviewing ZAWA, it was possible to gain

technical information about water distribution and management, which would not have been

possible to gain from the interviews with the female villagers. Therefore, the interview with

ZAWA provided this study, not only with useful information about challenges of water in

Nungwi, but also in Zanzibar more generally. By combining interviews with local villagers and

the technical director at ZAWA, a more comprehensive waterpoint analysis was able to be

conducted.

21  

 

Labayka Development Fund (referred to here as Labayka) is a local non-governmental

organization (NGO) which was founded in, and is currently operating in, Nungwi. It focuses on

the village’s socio-economic challenges such as education, unemployment and water issues. A

semi-structured interview was conducted with Labayka’s founder Hassan Jani, which meant

interviewing not only an inhabitant of Nungwi, but also a person who is aware of the complexity

of a range of the problems and challenges which Nungwi faces.

In order to incorporate the aspect of tourism in these challenges, an interview at Zanzibar

Tourism Board was also conducted. The interview with Ashura Haji from the Tourism Board

made it possible to get a deeper understanding of one of Nungwi’s (and Zanzibar's) largest

economic sectors. The interview was semi-structured like all the others, and centered mainly on

tourism, women in hotels and income opportunities in Nungwi.

A meeting for an interview with the owner of a large hotel resort in Nungwi was organized.

The interview was planned to focus around the water consumption of hotels in Nungwi, water

distribution and what role tourism plays in water security for the local community. The

interview was scheduled for the last week of the field trip, as it was the only week that the hotel

owner would be in Zanzibar. However, on the day of the interview, the meeting was cancelled

by the hotel owner for unknown reasons. It was not possible to organize a new interview with

another hotel owner due to the time limitations of the study.

It would have been of interest to the study to interview water vendors. Information about the

choice to become a vendor, income derived from the water business as well as the gendered

division of water vendors could have been obtained. However, the idea to use water vendors as

respondents for the study occurred at the end of the field trip and was not followed through.

4.2.  Critical  approach  

Feminist political ecology explores gender as a factor in political and ecological relations.40

However in some cases, the focus on factors such as class, age or ethnicity may be just as

important, or even more important, than focusing on gender and should therefore not be

forgotten and neglected when implementing feminist political ecology. Moreover, when making

a particular group the main focus, there is a risk of reducing representation of a community’s

social diversity. For instance, if a study uses feminist political ecology when investigating a

                                                                                                                         40  Hovorka,  A.  2006,  p.  209.  

22  

 

phenomenon within a society that has a caste system, the study may focus on the lack of rights of

the women from the lowest cast, and neglect the males. By overlooking this social diversity, the

study risk blindness to some inequities which are not caused by gender.41 In this study, it was of

greatest importance not to categorize all women as one group who all has the same preconditions

in accessing water. The study rather aims to understand the individual preconditions of every

woman, as they differ depending on their capabilities.

Critique has been directed towards the capability approach for being too vague, as it does not

identify a list of functionings which it can later refer to. There are countless numbers of

functionings which could be relevant in terms of people’s well-being. The lack of identified

functionings does not provide any specific capabilities either. However, Sen responds to this

criticism by stating that the capability approach is not a well-defined theory, but rather a general

approach to use when evaluating social arrangements and individual advantages. When choosing

the functionings of focus, authors need to see it as an act of reasoning, which would make a list

with identified functionings irrelevant. The capability approach is deliberately too underspecific

in order to promote the freedom of choice in selection of relevant functionings and capabilities.

When applying the capability approach, it should be combined with another social theory.42 Each

specification of a functioning of concern will result in different selection of capabilities. In this

study, the functioning of having access to safe water, resulted in a number of capabilities which

are necessary in order to achieve the functioning.

4.3.  Definitions    

Safe water has been defined as potable water (which may have odor, color, or taste issues

as a result of dissolved minerals) but is completely free from harmful substances and

microorganisms.43

Access to safe water is measured and defined by the amount of people who have safe

water located within a convenient distance and have access to sufficient amounts of

water.44 The UN Habitat defines adequate access as water with affordable pricing,

                                                                                                                         41  Schubert  J.  Political  Ecology  in  Development  Research,  An  Introductory  Overviw  and  Annotated  Bibliography,  North-­‐NCCR-­‐South,  IP  7  Working  Paper,  2005,  p.  22.  42  Robeyns  I.  2003,  p.  36.  43  Business  Dictionary,  2012-­‐05-­‐12  44  United  Nations,  2012-­‐05-­‐26  

23  

 

available amounts for family use as well as water which is available without subjecting the

household members to excessive time and physical effort.45

                                                                                                                         45  Revolutionary  Government  of  Zanzibar,  p.  5.  

24  

 

Table 1. Summary of method Method description Aim/Purpose

Waterpoint analysis To understand technical data, use data and management data of water supply in Nungwi from a female perspective.

Semi-structured interviews To obtain in-depth understanding of issues central to this study by conducting open discussions about challenges and possibilities in regards to safe water.

Table 2. Summary of respondents.

Respondent Description/Purpose

Village respondents Six females, permanently living in Nungwi, over the age of 18. One semi-structured group interview and two semi-structured individual interviews. Provide a local female perspective of water management, gender aspects and hardship of shortage.

ZAWA Mohamed Ilyasa Mohamed, technical director at ZAWA. One semi-structured individual interview. Provide technical use data and information about previous and planned efforts to improve water distribution in Nungwi.

Labayka Hassan Jani, founder of Labayka. One individual semi-structured interview. Provide the perspective of an NGO and their view of the main challenges as well as solutions for the problems facing Nungwi.

Zanzibar Tourism Board Ashura Haji, employed at Zanzibar Tourism Board. One individual semi-structured interview. Provide information about employment, growth and difficulties of the tourism sector in Nungwi.

Hotel resort in Nungwi Henry Salo, owner of hotel resort in Nungwi. One individual semi-structured interview. Provide information about a Nungwi hotel’s water distribution, consumption and use data. Discuss the conflict between the local community and the tourism sector and obtain a hotel’s point of view and possible efforts to solve the conflict. This interview was cancelled and not conducted.

25  

 

5. Results    This study identified having access to safe water as a functioning in accordance with the

capability approach. The respondents in this study identified the following conditions as

functionings which will be achieved when safe water is accessible;

- being healthy

- having healthy livestock – hence food of better quality

- having access to adequate sanitation and hygiene

- feeling safe and not fearful of water

- having harmony within the family.

5.1.  Availability  

The interviews with the villagers of Nungwi and ZAWA show that it is possible to access water

for drinking and other purposes in Nungwi through the local deep well, power-driven public

pipelines and water vendors. The local well is not centrally located and provides water which is

not safe for drinking as it is salty and unprotected. Therefore, the well is the last alternative for

most villagers in Nungwi and is only used if the other two alternatives are not available.

The public pipelines are centrally located in Nungwi and even if its water is not as salty as the

water in the well, it is not safe for drinking. The pipelines were constructed by the government in

the early 80's, prior to the development of the tourism sector. All material required to build the

pipeline was financed by the government and the

villagers of Nungwi contributed by building the

pipeline. At first, it was a service intended solely for

the villagers. However, the interviews with the

village respondents show that accessing water in the

pipeline today is not always possible as hotels in

Nungwi use pumps in order to draw water from the

public pipeline to the hotels. The villagers have no

access to the water in the pipeline when the hotels

switch on their pump, and sometimes the water is Photo:  Lotten  Lundgren.  Pipeline  with  hotel’s  pump  activated,  Nungwi.  

26  

 

finished in the pipeline when the hotel is through with their pumping. There is no schedule for

when the hotels will activate the pump, the hours are irregular and can vary from two hours up to

two days. The villagers are never informed of the hours that the hotels will switch on the pump,

which essentially means that the villagers lose their water access for the period that it is being

used by hotels. When visiting the pipeline during the research process, approximately 10-15

people were gathered around it. The majority of them were sleeping on their carts under a large

tree to get shade from the beaming sun as it was in the middle of the day. They had already been

there for hours and were waiting for the hotels to switch off their pump. This random visit to the

pipeline, which was built by and meant for the local villagers, exemplifies the situation of water

in Nungwi rather well; water is there but is not always accessible.

“The hotel’s pump affects the whole community. Even though clean water is available in the

pipeline right outside our door, we have to buy water from the vendors. The time we spend

getting to the vendors, queuing and coming back means lost working hours and essentially

a smaller income.”

- Bi. Aska Silma Makame, Imara Women’s Group.

Water vendors are the only alternative for the Nungwi villagers to access safe drinking water

and are the only alternative which is not free of charge. The location of the vendors' delivery is

one mile away from the center of Nungwi. One doom (approximately ten liters) costs 400

Tanzanian Shilling (TZS) or about US$ 0.5.

According to the UN Habitat, 50.7% of Nungwi households use the public pipeline as the

main source of drinking water, 19.7% use water vendors and 5.4% use unprotected wells.

When safe water is available and accessible it is used for drinking, cooking and personal

hygiene. The salty water is used for washing dishes and other sanitation purposes. However,

75.9% of the households in Nungwi use the same source of water for washing, cleaning and

bathing, as for drinking. The village respondents state that if they do not have enough safe water,

they will use the unsafe water for washing, showering, livestock and sometimes drinking.

When asking the respondents for their opinion of the reason for the water shortage in Nungwi,

the responses varied. The village respondents pointed out the tourist industry and the hotels as

the main reason. The respondent from Labayka stressed the importance of responsible leadership

27  

 

from authorities and donors. ZAWA stated that the primary cause for the lack of water in

Zanzibar has to do with the fluctuating provision of electricity.

5.2.  Capabilities  

According to the village respondents, several factors are needed in order to collect safe drinking

water from the water vendors, factors which in accordance with the theoretical framework of this

study will be represented by capabilities. First of all, the existence of the service and good that

the water vendors provide is obviously crucial for the Nungwi villagers to access safe water. The

most significant capability of all is the ability to pay for the water – hence, an income. Moreover,

due to the distance between the households and the water vendors, certain commodities are

needed to enable transporting the water. A bicycle, car or a cow as well as a cart is needed to

bring the water to the household. Once again, an income is required to get these commodities.

The village respondents consider that a household with 4-5 members will purchase

approximately 4 dooms of water per week. As ten liters costs 400 TZS, the weekly cost is about

1600 TZS and the monthly cost about 6400 TZS, for a small household.

“Of course we would prefer to spend our money on other

things than water. But water is vital for surviving so we

have no choice. That is why we started this small

business, to be able to pay for the water we need to live.”

- - Bi. Fatima Ali Juma, Imara Women’s Group.

A survey made in 2010, which investigated water expense

as a function of household income in Zanzibar shows that

a person with a low income (15,000 TZS or less) will

spend approximately 45% of their salary on purchasing

water, compared to a person with a high income (150,000

TZS or more), who will spend approximately 3% of their

salary on water.46 The United Nations Development

                                                                                                                         46    Revolutionary  Government  of  Zanzibar,  p.  5.  

Photo:  Lotten  Lundgren.  Bi.  Fatima  Ali  Juma,  Imara  Women’s  Group  kitchen,  Nungwi.  

28  

 

Programme identifies that spending more than 3% of one’s income on water as a hardship.47

Time is also a determining factor and capability, in terms of accessing safe water. The village

respondents will spend up to two hours in one day collecting water; getting to the location,

queuing in line and returning back home. The women of the Imara Women’s Group complained

about slow business due to water collecting; they collect water in shifts and are forced to leave

their bread baking during certain hours to collect water. The respondent’s income-generating

activity is negatively impacted by the considerable time it takes to collect water, particularly

given the uncertainty posed by the hotels unplanned, preferential access.

 

5.3.  Gender  and  children    

All the respondents of this study agree that in the majority of the households in Nungwi, women

are the ones responsible for collecting, safeguarding and using the water. As the section above

discussed collecting either safe or unsafe water is a time-consuming task which requires

women’s time away from other important obligations such as childcare, cooking, cleaning,

income-generating activities and paid labor. As it also is an energy-consuming task, it will

impact the women’s ability to perform these obligations. The village respondents of this study

were unanimous about the hardship that comes with being responsible for water. They all

described the chore as tiring and exhausting, and at times when they return from collecting water

to do other chores, they are so tired that they do not know what they are doing. The women also

stressed the difficulties with leaving their children home alone.

If a woman has many chores, some responsibilities will be allocated to the children of the

household. Water collecting is one of these activities. As parents encourage the children to

participate in water-collecting, etc. they have less time for studying. High dropout rate amongst

students in the lower secondary level is a challenge in Nungwi. This is partly caused by

participation in water-related activities, as well as, by a lack of trained teachers who can

adequately prepare students for the national examinations. Obviously time away from school

engaged in water collection for family can affect the student's opportunities of gaining

employment in the longer term.

                                                                                                                         47    United  Nations  Development  Programme,  2012-­‐05-­‐14  

29  

 

The interviews of this study show that boys and girls participate equally in these activities.

The difference in responsibilities comes during late adolescence; then girl's start to have more

responsibilities in water-related activities than boys. The respondent from Labayka suggested

that this equality between boys and girls lasts until the late adolescence as that is normally the

time for marriage. Once the teenagers have married, the gendered responsibilities in the

household become apparent and it is no longer the man’s responsibility to worry about water.

Prior to marriage, responsibilities of natural resources are not as gendered as after marriage.

According to the findings of this study and in line with feminist political ecology, men normally

don’t participate in the management of water; the collecting, safeguarding and using of water for

household purposes. The aspect in which the Nungwi men participate and have a clear role in is

in the economically lucrative water vendoring. The respondents have seen an increase in the

number of people being involved in water vendoring. All the respondents said that the water

vendoring business has flourished, which they saw as is positive as it provides income. As water

vendoring is not a formal sector; the workers are not registered and there are no figures on the

number of people who are involved in this type of business. However, all the respondents of this

report confirm the trend of steadily increasing number of water vendors. The majority of all

water vendors in Nungwi are male. As feminist political ecology suggests, women are often

responsible of the financially less attractive aspects of natural resources, whilst men participate

in the lucrative market-linked activities.48 The Labayka and the village respondents give similar

responses on why there are almost no female water vendors. Water vendoring is a very difficult

task; it requires physical strength and capacity to transport water, which all women may not

have. Moreover, women usually do not own the assets which are needed for water vendoring,

such as a bicycle. Water vendoring is a time-consuming task and women are usually so busy

with their household chores that even if they were physically strong enough and owned a bicycle,

they would not have enough time.

The village respondents explained that sometimes, certain households are able to purchase

enough water to satisfy their own consumption and then sell what they have left to their

neighbors. This is another type of water vendoring, which according to the village respondents,

also is performed exclusively by men. The income that men derive from this activity is not

                                                                                                                         48  Castree  N.  Braun  B.  Social  Nature:  Theory,  Practice,  and  Politics,  Blackwell  Publishers,  2001,  p.  158.  

30  

 

guaranteed to be invested in the household and is therefore it is not guaranteed that women will

benefit from it.

5.4.  Income    

The main economic activities in Nungwi consist of fishing and tourism-related activities.

However, interviews with the village respondents and the Tourism Board show that the majority

of the employees in the tourism sector in Nungwi are not Zanzibaris. Nungwi hotels are known

to prefer to employ labor induced migrants from Kenya and mainland Tanzania, rather than

Zanzibaris. The migrants usually have greater capital availability as well as skills in language

and business management. In accordance with the capability approach, the Nungwi villager’s

lack of language knowledge and overall competence can be identified as a personal characteristic

which hinders them from achieving several functionings, such as employment and having access

to water.

The Labayka respondent explained that before tourism started flourishing in Nungwi, the main

source of income for households was fishing. Once tourism started developing, the Nungwi

villagers were not equipped nor qualified enough to have a chance in the new sector. The

respondent stresses that enabling the villagers to participate for effectively in tourism sector is

dependent on providing them with such qualifications. When tourism started to develop in

Zanzibar and Nungwi, salaries for those who were employed started to increase. As the incomes

increased, the price of fish and other commodities and services increased as well. This was a

positive development for those who were still involved in fishing and for those with

employment. However, the respondent states that that was not the case for most Nungwi

villagers. Moreover, for Zanzibaris being Muslim can hinder employment opportunities in the

tourism sector; this is particularly true for the women. They may, for instance, not be able to

serve alcohol, wear the hotel uniform, etc. Due to cultural patterns, women may also be hindered

by their chores in the household, and not have enough time to search for an employment or to

work outside the household at all. One village respondent suggested that the number of

employed women is increasing, and that traditional roles are changing. However, women are still

a minority in the tourism sector in Nungwi. The Zanzibar Tourism Board explained that the

women that are employed in the tourism sector, whether they are Zanzibaris or immigrants, are

31  

 

usually given the least attractive tasks, such as gardening or cleaning. The absence of Zanzibaris

employed in hotels for instance, does not show in the official registrations of the employees, as it

is common that immigrants claim to be Zanzibaris and get registered accordingly. The hotels

often prefer to hire trainees instead of employees, which reduces the chance even more, for

Zanzibaris of getting employed as the trainees are also migrants. The Zanzibar Tourism Board

considers these factors problematic as it complicates the local villager’s chances of being

employed even more.

5.5.  Tourism  

Tourism is a sector with high demand of water in Nungwi. The water is needed for the

consumption of hotel guests, swimming pools, restaurants etc. Moreover, the increase of

commercial services, labor-induced immigration and other water demanding activities such as

agriculture for crops, car washes and gardening makes the tourism sector part of the reason for

the water shortage in Nungwi. Hotels often use a water kiosk located approximately 20 km from

Nungwi for accessing safe water. They may also use the pipeline and/or have their own well for

other uses. Previously there were restrictions and limits on how much water the hotels were

allowed to consume from the pipeline, but today there are no volume or time limits. According to

Gössling’s study on sustainable water use on Zanzibar, one of the largest water-consuming

activities in hotels are continuous irrigation for gardens.49

There is a growing conflict in Nungwi between the local community and the tourism sector.

The village respondents have an overwhelmingly negative attitude towards tourists and hotels.

Much of the negativity is centered on perceptions from villagers that tourists and hotel staff lack

respect for the villagers' culture and religion. The respondents also expressed anger about not

being employed in hotels which are located in their village as well as not being able to move

freely over the beach area due to hotel restrictions. This kind of marginalization of the villagers

seems to have resulted in a general attitude of bitterness towards a sector which could bring great

opportunities for locals, but seems to fail in doing so.

                                                                                                                         49  Gössling  S.  2001,  p.  184.  

32  

 

“If I could remove tourism from Nungwi, I would be happy to! It is absolutely useless for our

community. Now that tourism has developed here, it is difficult to make it undone. Tourism has

almost no advantages for us; it is simply a phenomenon that we have learned to accept.”

- Bi. Mize Musa Mishenga, permanent resident of Nungwi.

Labayka respondent reinforces this attitude towards tourism. He states that as prices for

commodities and services have increased, and the villagers struggle to get employed, tourism

offers very few advantages for the local community. Moreover, there is a general prejudice in

Zanzibar about Tanzanians from the mainland; many people see them as the reason for

criminality, prostitution and increased alcoholism in Zanzibar. In Nungwi however, this negative

image seems to have been even more ingrained in local people’s mentality. The respondents in

the group interview stated that one of the worst disadvantages of tourism is that it attracts a lot of

girls from mainland who do not know how to respect the local culture and who have negative

impacts on the youths of Nungwi. There were widespread concerns that the use of drugs and

alcohol, and engagement in prostitution will increase.

5.6.  Health  

The village respondents were concerned about high blood pressure due to drinking too much

saline water. The primary concern of the respondents however, is more focused around the

workload of water collecting. They describe the task as tiring for both women and children and

often leading to exhaustion and weakness.

Moreover, water shortage can bring psychological health problems. As women are commonly

responsible for family and household water provision, a shortage can incorrectly be perceived as

her fault or as her not fulfilling her role as a woman and mother. Not having enough water is for

some women mentally a heavy burden to bear. If the lack of water in a household is caused by

inability to pay for water, the man may be the one with psychological stress as the men often are

the main cash income provider of the households in Nungwi.

One village respondent mentioned that the best thing about safe water is that you can drink it

without feeling any fear – fear of getting ill, high blood pressure, head ache and so on. It is

33  

 

assumed that this fear often causes psychological stress for those who drink water from the

pipeline or the local well.

34  

 

6.  Analysis  and discussion  

 The information obtained from the village respondents was surprisingly coherent on all interview

themes. The concerns of tourism, income opportunities, health and the burdens of collecting

water seems to be the primary focus of the women. The village respondent’s cohesive opinions

implies that the difficulties and complications of water scarcity in Nungwi are affecting the

women in rather similar ways, and that there is unity of both causes and consequences of the

issue. The respondents may simplify matters by solely blaming tourism as a root for the

problems that Nungwi are facing – however, the opinions of the inhabitants of the study area are

of greatest importance to this study as they are most likely to know the area best. Therefore,

aspects of tourism and the villager’s attitudes towards the sector will be further discussed in this

section.

6.1.  Accessibility  

The findings of this study show that the lack of access to safe water in Nungwi has several

consequences for the people of the local community, and is caused and influenced by a number

of factors. The most obvious cause for the lack of safe water is the availability, as there is no

source of freshwater located in Nungwi. As the distribution and supply of water is inadequate,

water availability is insufficient. However, as water can be made available through the existence

of water vendors and pipelines, availability is not the greatest water issue in Nungwi –

accessibility is. In accordance with the capability approach, several capabilities are required for a

person to achieve the functioning of accessing clean and safe water. The three major capabilities

which are needed are income, capacity and time. In addition to these capabilities, water as a

service and good in the form of water vendors and pipelined water, is needed. In order for a

person in Nungwi to access safe water, they need to be able to pay not only for the water, but

also for the goods required to transport the water from the vendors to the household. To be able

to pay for this, an income in needed.

6.2.  Capabilities  

The largest economic activities of the village are fishing and involvement in the tourism sector.

For women, the opportunity of working in fishing or tourism is rather limited due to lack of time

35  

 

and skills as well as for cultural reasons. Also the male Nungwi villagers find it difficult to get

employed in the tourism sector, mainly due to the disadvantage they have in competition with

immigrants. As the capability approach suggests, there are factors which hinder the Nungwi

villagers from being employed – lack of skills, gender roles and to some extent religion;

characteristics which can impact on individual's ability to convert the commodity of water into a

functioning; i.e. health and wellbeing. The Nungwi villager’s lack of skills and education

(compared to the immigrants) is a characteristic of both structural and agency centered , as it is

caused by inadequate education and infrastructure (structure) and can lead to illiteracy (reducing

personal agency). The cultural and religious settings in Nungwi are social characteristics, which

impacts on local women’s ability to work in the tourism sector. The high competition for work

reduces the Nungwi villager’s chances of being employed and thereby their capability to achieve

the functioning of accessing safe water. As the households of Nungwi need capital, not only for

purchasing safe water, but also to pay for the means of transportation, a rather vicious cycle can

be created. Those who lack the capital to access safe water will not only increase their intake of

unsafe water, they will also spend more time and energy on water collecting. When more time is

spent every week on water collecting, less time is spent on income-generating activities, which in

turn will decrease the ability to purchase safe water even more. Thus, the income of a household

is a factor which not only determines the accessibility to safe water, but also the workload of

water collection for women. Being employed and earning an income is a functioning which can

help achieve the goal of providing a household with safe drinking water. This is a functioning

which is primarily in the hands of the men of Nungwi, as they are most often the household

provider. Hence, a personal characteristic such as sex can and will determine an individual's

ability to pay for water and thereby affect their access to safe water. Therefore, gender is an

important power factor and just as Singh50 points out in Women and community water supply

programmes, local socio-cultural context such as gender division in labor, can determine access

to water more so than physical availability.

6.3.  Equity  

Women work harder in the water sector than men; they collect, use and safeguard water. The

                                                                                                                         50  Singh  N.  2005,  p  34.  

36  

 

roles may be blurring out today as other roles are changing; for instance more women have an

employment now which may not enable them to carry all responsibilities of water alone, which

may ‘force’ male inputs.

If time for water collection is lacking, it usually affects children of the household as they will

have to participate in the water collection. This can essentially decrease the quality of their

education as less time will be available for homework and school attendance. In a long-term

perspective, under-education can determine the children’s future income opportunities, which in

hand will impact their future water accessibility. Other consequences of lacking sufficient time

for water-collecting is increased intake and usage of unsafe water, either from the public pipeline

or from the local well. This will have health consequences which can reduce the capabilities of

accessing safe water even more.

The findings of this study are in line with other studies of water provision in the region,

including Drawers of water. The number of people occupied by water vendoring has increased in

Nungwi and it is an occupation which is almost exclusively undertaken by men. Moreover, the

modes of transportation which are used for water vendoring by males are not used by women in

their daily water collection. This is due to the fact that the same capabilities needed for accessing

safe water, is needed to derive an income as a water vendor – income, time and capacity, which

women lack. As feminist political ecology states; gender will determine which responsibilities

and aspects of natural resources one will have. Women are left with the less economical tasks.

This division of labor reinforces the patriarchal structure of the society, as it does not enable

women to develop outside of the household but rather keeps them tied to household duties. Nor

does it allow the women to become independent by earning their own income. Moreover, it

keeps the tradition of gendered division of labor in natural resources alive as girls will continue

to become the one responsible for water collection upon reaching the age for marriage.

6.4.  Hardship  

The general difficulties that the Nungwi villagers struggle with due to lack of safe water are

inadequate sanitation and hygiene, poor quality of livestock, increased work burdens and health

issues as well as worrying about health issues, such as high blood pressure.

37  

 

As women are seen as responsible for bringing enough safe water into the household, she may

also be blamed when water is availability or accessibility is lacking. The tensions that may arise

in the household due to water shortage can create conflicts and disturb the harmony within the

family. Having access to safe water therefore does provide a precondition for a peaceful home. If

the water shortage is essentially caused by a low or no income, men are likely to have already

felt the mental strain that women feel when water is lacking in the home, as the income usually is

a responsibility of the men. Despite this, women might still bear the blame for not providing

water. This can create low self esteem and a feeling of not fulfilling one’s role as a mother and a

wife. In the capability approach, there is an important connection between material, social,

spiritual and mental well-being and development. 51 In the similar cases as the one described

here, the functioning of mental well-being may not be achieved by Nungwi women due to their

lack of capabilities.

Certain hardship is created for the villagers as a result of tourism development. Natural

resources have become more limited, the villagers mobility have become restrained due to the

hotels, prices have increased although unemployment remains high and culture clashes s occur

frequently between the villagers and the tourists. In their research, both Gössling and Schulz

have raised the important question as to whether this is a favorable environment for tourism

development. As tourists are not obliged to show respect for the Zanzibari culture and religion,

by for instance, following certain dress codes, culture clashes are likely to continue. It is possible

that this conflict will grow and eventually perhaps result in villagers sabotaging the hotels or

having physical conflicts with tourists as an expression of their marginalization. On the other

hand, as new generations are replacing the older ones, and new (perhaps more modern) ways of

living are replacing traditional ones, it is also possible that the culture gap between villagers and

tourists will reduce. Hopefully, the understanding and tolerance of both parties will then

increase. If not, it is relevant to investigate further what impacts this conflict may have on one of

Nungwi’s largest economic sectors.

Moreover, there is a growing resentment towards those who benefit on tourism in ways that

Zanzibaris do not; labor-induced migrants. To be able to earn an income is often one of the

largest benefits of living in an area which is frequently visited by tourists. The benefit of earning

                                                                                                                         51  Robeyns  I.  2003,  p.  3-­‐7.  

38  

 

money may make it easier to deal with the possible negative aspects of tourism, such as

degradation of the local culture, exploitation of the natural environment, etc. In Nungwi

however, many villagers express a feeling of having to deal with the disadvantages of tourism,

but never getting to take part of the benefits.

6.5.  Recommendations  

Substantial amounts of water in Nungwi could be saved if tourist facilities took precautionary

actions on water abstraction. Irrigation for hotel gardens is proved to be one of the largest water-

consuming activities.52 Therefore, hotel managers should re-consider the structure and

composition of their gardens; type of plants and size of the area. Moreover, collecting rainwater

and supporting awareness raising among staff and guests of hotels would also have great

potential to decrease the water abstraction. Installing flow limitations on taps and showers and

reducing flush options on toilets are precautionary alternatives. However, considering the private

investors interest to make profit and attract more tourists, it is doubtful if hotel managers would

be open to such a suggestion. Limiting the hotel guest’s freedom to access water may seem more

controversial than turning to more drought-resistant plants.

Taking precautionary actions on water abstraction should be an incentive for and in the

absolute self interest of private investors in the tourist industry as well as the government of

Zanzibar, as such actions could contribute in maintaining one of Nungwi’s most important

sectors. If such precautionary actions are not taken and non-sustainable water abstractions keep

occurring, tourism in Nungwi could be in danger as it would be developing in highly un-

favorable conditions. The conflict with the local community, the marginalization of the former

and the possible environmental degradation, could risk or endanger the future development of

tourism in Nungwi.

Therefore, further studies on how the tourist industry and tourists themselves could decrease

amounts of water abstractions and thereby contribute to a sustainable development of Nungwi, is

recommended.

                                                                                                                         52  Gössling  S.  2001,  p.  184.  

39  

 

7. Conclusion  

Safe water is available in Nungwi through the existence of water vendors. However, it can be

difficult to access water from water vendors. The physical availability has limited influence on

the Nungwi villager’s accessibility of safe water. It is rather the local socio-cultural context such

as gender divided labor that determines levels of water access.

Furthermore, accessing water requires an income. In Nungwi, the major economic activities

consist of fishing and participation in the tourism sector. However, as the opportunity for local

Zanzibaris to get employment in the tourism sector is rather limited due to high competition from

labor induced migrants, income opportunities are also limited. For women, the income

opportunities are extra limited as they do not participate in fishing activities. Moreover, time is

required for water collection as well as capacity to transport the purchased water to the

household. The villagers who have enough time, capacity and money to purchase the safe water

from vendors are the first group that can be considered as having access to safe water. However,

the capabilities which enable them to access the water cannot be regarded as permanent as it is

possible that they for instance lose their income or have a physical injury which does not allow

them to collect water. As a conclusion, the price of the water and distance to the water source

determines the Nungwi villager’s accessibility.

The second identified group in Nungwi who can access water are visitors of the hotels in

Nungwi. The difference from the first group are that the hotel guests have constant access,

whereas the first group will adjust to the delivery hours of the vendors. Moreover, as the hotels

do not have any restrictions or limitations on how much water they are allowed to consume,

guests do not have any limits. The first group are again limited in terms of price and physical

capacity to transport water. This study also identified differences between men and women’s

water accessibility as water is a propertied resource. The Nungwi female villagers are almost

completely excluded from the economic lucrative business of water vendoring which implies that

men have larger accessibility to water than women.

40  

 

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political interrelationships, New York, United States of America, Routledge, 2006

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Tanzania, Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 61, 2001

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Gössling S. Tourism and development in tropical islands: political ecology perspectives,

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practice of community-based management of natural resources in Zanzibar, Södertörn Doctoral

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analysis from a socio-cultural perspective, Natural Resource Forum, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2005

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44  

 

Appendix  1:  Tourism  in  Zanzibar;  direct  arrivals    

 

 

Figure  1.  Zanzibar  Tourist  arrivals.  53

                                                                                                                         53  Zanzibar  Association  of  Tourism  Investors,  2011-­‐05-­‐16  

45  

 

   

Appendix  2:  Map  of  Zanzibar  

Figure  2.  Map  of  Zanzibar.  54  

                                                                                                                         54  Mapas  Owoje,  2012-­‐04-­‐01  

46  

 

Appendix  3:  Interview  themes  

As the interviews that were carried out in this study are of semi-structured nature, questions were

based on themes. This allowed the respondents to freely move from one theme to another, and

encouraged follow-up questions. Themes that were treated in the interviews are presented in the

following order; village respondents, ZAWA, Zanzibar Tourism Board, Labayka, Hotel.

Village respondents

● Tourism and water

● Water accessibility over time

● Water-related activities

● Individual water utilization

● Household water utilization

● Health

● Safe water

● Women's / girl's roles in water supply

● Men's / boy's roles in water

● Burdens of water providing

● Religion and tradition

● Water affordability

● Lack of water

ZAWA

•Water distribution in Nungwi

•Water shortage in Nungwi

•Water policies

•Governmental efforts – previously, present and future

•Conflict regarding water between tourism industry and local community

 

47  

 

Zanzibar Tourism Board

•Water

hotel consumption and distribution

•Income

opportunities of employment for local people

benefits for local community of tourism

• Efforts

in improving benefits for local community

in actions against ongoing conflict between tourism industry and local community

• Future investments

tourism development and growth in Nungwi

 

Labayka

• Accessibility vs. availability

• Capabilities

• Gender

• Vendors

• Income opportunities

• Tourism

Hotel (cancelled)

• Water - distribution

• Consumption

• Water-demanding activities

• Limitations; previously and presently

• Origins and preferences of employees

• Local community’s advantages of tourism/hotels

• Conflict with local community

• Hotel’s responsibilities in water shortage