This story was written by CuratEast as part of their engagement with IUCN through the BRIDGE Gender Grants Programme.
As our journey documenting women, water, and culture across Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe came to an end, our final destination was Gutu District in Zimbabwe’s Masvingo Province. Along the Makoholi and Pokoteke Rivers, we encountered two community gardens that are doing far more than producing food. They are functioning as Water User Associations (WUAs), community-based institutions that bring together local water users to manage shared water resources, protect river ecosystems, and participate in freshwater governance.
Through the Swiss-funded Building River Dialogue and Governance (BRIDGE) Programme, implemented by IUCN in partnership with EnviroPress Zimbabwe and the Mutirikwi Sub-Catchment Council, these Water User Associations are becoming more inclusive by strengthening women’s participation and leadership within local water governance structures.
For generations, women have been the primary users and managers of water at household level. They fetch water, irrigate crops, prepare food, care for their families, and depend on healthy rivers for their daily livelihoods. Yet despite carrying much of the responsibility for water, women have often had limited opportunities to influence how water resources are governed or represented within formal decision-making structures. Through BRIDGE, communities are beginning to address this imbalance by promoting gender-responsive freshwater governance that recognises women not only as water users, but also as leaders and decision-makers.
Nyarayapera Community Garden: Growing Food, Protecting Rivers and Strengthening Women’s Leadership
Located along the Makoholi River, Nyarayapera Community Garden was established in 2016 after local leaders recognised that uncontrolled cultivation along the riverbanks was degrading the river and its surrounding wetlands.
All images are courtesy of CuratEast.
Before the garden was established, households farmed individually wherever land was available along the river. While this supported food production, it also increased pressure on the river ecosystem.
“People used to farm along the riverbanks and everyone was doing their own thing,” recalled Melody Mogambedze, one of the garden members. “The village leaders realised the river and the environment were being damaged, so they brought the community together to find a better way.”
Leaders from Jacobsdale 1 and Jacobsdale 2 mobilised 72 households to establish a communal garden away from the riverbanks. Together, community members cleared the land, fenced the site, and laid the foundation for what has become an important centre for sustainable agriculture, environmental conservation, and community governance.
Recognising the initiative’s potential, the Mutirikwi Sub-Catchment Council supported the community with proper fencing, a borehole, a water tank, irrigation infrastructure, a solar-powered pumping system, and technical support. These investments reduced dependence on direct river abstraction while protecting the integrity of the Makoholi River.
Today, the 1.2-acre garden is divided into communal commercial plots and individual household plots. Income generated from the communal section is reinvested into purchasing seed, maintaining infrastructure, and sustaining the activities of the Water User Association, reducing the financial burden on members.
Although membership has reduced from the original 72 households to 36 active households, members attribute the association’s continued success to strong governance structures, a locally developed constitution, and collective accountability.
Importantly, responsibilities are assigned to households rather than individuals based on gender. If one family member is unavailable, another represents the household, creating opportunities for women, men, and young people to participate in community activities while strengthening family ownership of conservation efforts. This ensures that responsibility for the garden is shared across families and generations, allowing knowledge, conservation practices, and farming skills to be passed on from parents to children while maintaining each household’s commitment to the project.
Certain physically demanding activities, such as operating ox-drawn ploughs or transporting heavy materials, are often undertaken by men. However, planting, irrigation, weeding, harvesting, environmental monitoring, and conservation activities are shared responsibilities, reflecting an increasingly inclusive approach to community management.
Beyond managing agricultural production, the committee also serves as the leadership structure of the Water User Association. Members oversee irrigation infrastructure, coordinate conservation activities, enforce environmental by-laws, resolve local water-related challenges, and represent community interests within broader freshwater governance processes.
Importantly, Water User Associations are more than local community groups. They form part of Zimbabwe’s catchment governance system. Active and respected members have the opportunity to represent their communities within the Mutirikwi Sub-Catchment Council, where decisions concerning water allocation, river protection, catchment planning, and sustainable resource management are made. This makes the committee an important leadership platform where women and men can develop governance experience that extends beyond the garden itself.
Monica Ndora, an active committee member, explained: “Before we do anything, we sit together as a committee and discuss what needs to be done. We decide what to plant, when to plant, and how we should manage the garden according to the season.”
The committee consists of 4 men and 2 women, While women remain underrepresented in formal leadership positions, members observed that women’s participation during meetings has increased considerably. Women are increasingly contributing ideas on crop planning, environmental conservation, irrigation management, and the sustainable use of water resources.
Community members acknowledged that achieving equal representation remains a work in progress. Domestic responsibilities and long-standing cultural expectations continue to limit some women’s participation in leadership. Nevertheless, women are becoming more confident in expressing their views, participating in planning meetings, and contributing to decisions that affect both the garden and the wider community.
The garden follows seasonal production cycles, planting sugar beans in February, maize in August, while maintaining year-round production of tomatoes, covo, onions, and other vegetables through continuous nursery establishment.
Members also associate the establishment of the Water User Association with improved environmental stewardship. Since conservation measures were introduced, they have observed healthier riverbanks and more consistent river flows. While acknowledging that rainfall patterns are influenced by many factors, they believe protecting wetlands, reducing cultivation along riverbanks, and promoting sustainable farming practices have contributed positively to the health of the Makoholi River.
Zuvaharinagodo Community Garden: Women at the Centre of Community Leadership.
Our second stop was Zuvaharinagodo Community Garden along the Pokoteke River, established in 2021.
Like Nyarayapera, environmental conservation remains central to the initiative. However, members explained that the garden was also established to improve household incomes, strengthen food security, support children’s education, and reduce pressure on fragile river ecosystems. By encouraging cultivation within a designated community-managed garden and promoting sustainable farming practices, the initiative has reduced the need for uncontrolled farming along riverbanks. This has helped protect riparian vegetation, reduce land degradation, and lessen pressure on the surrounding river ecosystem.
The garden also serves as a Water User Association, providing a practical platform through which community members collectively manage water resources while strengthening local governance structures that contribute to the Mutirikwi Sub-Catchment Council.
Unlike many community projects, membership is predominantly made up of women.
While men assist with night security, infrastructure maintenance, and transporting heavy materials such as manure, women play a leading role in organising daily garden activities. They coordinate irrigation schedules, monitor crop production, organise work rotations, oversee conservation activities, and actively participate in decisions affecting the management of the association.
Planting, watering, harvesting, and crop management are shared responsibilities, demonstrating that agricultural leadership is increasingly recognised as a collective responsibility rather than one determined by gender.
The community also practices crop rotation to maintain soil fertility, improve productivity, and reduce the risk of pests and diseases. This approach strengthens sustainable farming practices while supporting year-round food production and improving household livelihoods.
Beyond agriculture, Zuvaharinagodo preserves an important cultural tradition that reinforces the relationship between water, nature, and community wellbeing.
Each October, before the onset of the rainy season, members prepare for a traditional rain-making ceremony. Finger millet is planted, nurtured, harvested, and later used to brew traditional beer for a communal ceremony involving singing, dancing, and prayer for rainfall.
These traditions continue to strengthen community identity while reminding younger generations that protecting rivers and wetlands is both an environmental and cultural responsibility.
Although these Water User Associations were initiated by local communities, support from the Mutirikwi Sub-Catchment Council, EnviroPress Zimbabwe, and IUCN’s BRIDGE Programme has strengthened their role as platforms for environmental learning, leadership development, and inclusive freshwater governance.
Through training on sustainable land management, freshwater conservation, gender-responsive governance, and environmental stewardship, community members have developed a stronger understanding of the relationship between farming practices, river health, and sustainable resource management.
Women described these trainings as particularly valuable because they increased their confidence to participate in discussions about environmental management and encouraged them to contribute more actively during community meetings and planning processes.
Several women explained that they increasingly see themselves not only as farmers, but also as custodians of freshwater resources, environmental stewards, and emerging leaders within their communities.
Community members further explained that the gardens provide more than food and income. They create regular opportunities for people to meet, solve problems collectively, monitor river health, enforce conservation rules, and strengthen community leadership. These interactions help sustain the Water User Associations over many years while preparing future representatives for participation in higher-level catchment governance structures.
Although barriers to women’s full participation remain, communities acknowledged positive changes. Women are increasingly consulted during planning meetings, participate more actively in environmental monitoring, and contribute to decisions affecting conservation and water management. These gradual shifts reflect the importance of creating spaces where women’s knowledge, experiences, and leadership are recognised as valuable contributions to freshwater governance.
Environmental protection has become a shared responsibility across both communities.
Members monitor activities around the Makoholi and Pokoteke Rivers, discourage cultivation along riverbanks, and actively prevent activities that threaten freshwater ecosystems and water infrastructure.
At Nyarayapera, members prevent illegal fishing using nets near irrigation pumps because the nets can damage equipment used to draw water from the river.
Community rules reinforce these conservation efforts.
“Anyone found breaking these rules can be fined,” explained Melody Mogambedze. “Depending on the offence, they may even be required to pay with a goat or a cow.”
These locally developed rules demonstrate how strong community leadership, supported by environmental awareness and local ownership, can promote sustainable freshwater management.
From Community Gardens to Freshwater Governance
The experiences of Nyarayapera and Zuvaharinagodo demonstrate that effective freshwater governance begins at community level. These gardens have evolved into thriving Water User Associations that not only improve livelihoods and protect rivers, but also strengthen the institutions underpinning Zimbabwe’s catchment management system.
By combining conservation with livelihood opportunities, the associations have remained active, cohesive, and sustainable, creating spaces where communities continuously engage in environmental stewardship, collective decision-making, and leadership development. Their success illustrates that when communities see tangible benefits from conservation, they are more likely to remain committed to protecting freshwater resources over the long term.
As women become more active within these associations, they are gaining the confidence, experience, and leadership skills needed to influence decisions at both community and sub-basin levels. Through their participation in Water User Associations, women are creating pathways to serve as representatives within Sub-Catchment Councils, ensuring that the voices of those who use and manage water every day are increasingly reflected in the highest decision-making structures responsible for freshwater governance.
Through partnerships between the Mutirikwi Sub-Catchment Council, EnviroPress Zimbabwe, and IUCN’s BRIDGE Programme, these communities are demonstrating that gender-responsive freshwater governance strengthens both people and ecosystems.
As CuratEasts’ documentation journey across Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe comes to an end, one message emerges clearly: sustainable freshwater governance is strongest when local communities are empowered to lead, and when women are recognised not simply as water users or beneficiaries, but as leaders, decision-makers, and custodians of the rivers and wetlands that sustain present and future generations.
