Baseline Studies Conducted
Introduction:
Dams are integral elements in water resource management with various purposes and beneficial roles. These include water supply for domestic, irrigation and industry. Dams are also important for flood mitigation, hydropower generation as well as providing other amenities for a growing population. While a number of benefits can be derived from dams, some negative ecological and socio-economic impacts will inevitably occur as a result of their construction (Robin et al., 2016). The creation of dams can negatively impact ecosystems by triggering land use and land cover (LULC) changes in the dam catchment area through anthropogenic influences in natural areas. This adds pressure on ecosystems which are necessary to the health of catchment areas. Also, the creation of reservoirs floods existing forests and habitats which will disrupt the health of an environment, and subsequently will threaten the survival of the animals that depend on that ecosystem (Neal et al., 2015). The disruption in the LULC system in the catchment could also lead to increase in sediment flow which in turn would cause harm to the dam itself should the sediment be plentiful enough to threaten dam safety and longevity (Zhao et al., 2010). It is of vital importance to understand the spatial and temporal LULC changes in the dam catchment prior to the dam and during the life of the dam to ensure that the environmental impacts caused by the dam and to the dam may be mitigated. The research determines the LULC changes that have taken place in Tugwi-Mukosi Dam catchment since 1990 to 2018.Methodology:
A digital elevation model (DEM) was used to delineate the catchment area of Tugwi-Mukosi dam using Arc Hydro Tools in ArcGIS. Supervised image classification of four Landsat satellite images for the years 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018 were used to produce land cover changes in the catchment. Landsat images were downloaded from Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) of the University of Maryland, USA website (http://glcf.umd.edu/data/landsat/). Land cover changes in the catchment were assessed based on buffer zones of 5000m and 10000m and the rest of the catchment area. Field surveys with hand held GPS receivers were conducted to obtain ground truth data for image classification as well as for classification accuracy assessment. Purposive sampling was used to administer questionnaires to ascertain the causes of various land use changes, impacts and mitigation measures. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with different key stakeholders to buttress or triangulate the findings of the research.Introduction:
The United Nations Guiding Principles are the first guidelines developed within the context of human rights and humanitarian law to address internal displacement and Development Induced Displacement (DID). On a parameter of logic, the basis for the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (GPID) is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other international conventions and treaties mainly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Zimbabwe is a signatory to all these protocols if not a majority of them, meaning the covering and rights as dictated by the conventions are equally applicable to the Tugwi - Mukosi Community and to any other displacements that may follow. Equally critical is securing an analogue of the same experiences in Africa and other regions of the world since this makes a judicious provision of justice and peace as the process of compensation is initiated during the rehabilitation process. Construction regime of the Tugwi - Mukosi Dam does not escape these provisions on protection of the displaced otherwise it would be quite prejudicial.Methodology:
Structured and unstructured questionnaires, interviews and observation were employed complemented by the SPSS program. Descriptive and comparative data analysis, complimented by quantitative and qualitative data analysis were extensively employed.Introduction:
This study provided a religious perspective on the impact of displacement on the Tugwi-Mukosi communities in light of the law in Zimbabwe. The world over, indigenous communities have suffered disproportionately from the effects of dams built on their land, while the potential benefits rarely reach them. According to Masundire (1994), problems related to displacements and resettlements include lack of adequate finance for compensation, loss of family heritage and shrines. Within the African Traditional Religion, the family heritage and shrines constitute the basis of being African. The issue of African identity lies at the heart of displaced peoples of Tukwi-Mukosi. Their plight calls not only for a listening ear but a tenderness of heart that reaches out in compassion to affected peoples. Chitando (2007) avers that churches must have long arms to reach people in all types of difficult circumstances. It is against this background that the study argues that religion is so central in people’s lives such that failure to acknowledge the cultural beliefs, values and identity of the affected people is tantamount to denying their humanity and dignity.Relevance of the Study:
The study sensitizes policy makers to make an undertaking to compensate and to make constant follow-ups on the displaced Tugwi-Mukosi communities. It also sensitizes the host communities to accommodate and show hospitality on the displaced people. Since the study was conducted under the auspices of the Religious Studies department, it foregrounds the importance of religion, cultural heritage and African philosophy in helping the affected communities to cope with the disruption to their lives emerging from the displacements.Methodology:
The study applied purposive sampling technique of the displaced communities. The targeted population was 100 families from the displaced people including the traditional leadership and local government officials. In terms of data gathering, in-depth interviews, observation techniques and documentary analysis of print and electronic media were utilized. The study was informed by the Afro-centric paradigm that calls for all African phenomena and activities to be interpreted from the worldview of Africans (Gray, 2001:3). It also employed the grassroots approach which is a 'bottom-up' research process and technique that gathers 'ground-level' perspectives from the targeted population (Leavitt, 2006:2).Introduction:
This study drew a leaf from the experiences of the BaTonga people when handling the Tukwe-Mukosi issue so as to avoid history repeating itself. The BaTonga people in Zimbabwe were relocated to pave way for the dam and were ‘forced’ to settle in the dry, tsetse infested and arid areas notably Binga, parts of Gokwe (Simchembo) and surrounding areas far removed from their ancestral lands (Saidi 2016) economic and social advantageous areas. The visibility of the BaTonga over the years that followed and the role they played in the writing of the history of the Kariba dam wall was soon overshadowed by European discourses (Hughes 2010; MacGregor 2009). While the Zambezi shores further provided tourist centres, the BaTonga played marginal roles in the history, narratives, and emerging socio-cultural life along the shores. Ironically, the shores had been their ancestral home (Colson 1971; Hughes 2010; Mashingaidze 2013; Saidi 2016), housing their history, religious spaces, ancestral graves, beliefs and general livelihoods. As we approach Tugwi-Mukosi in an attempt to share and understand realities around the dam and the dam itself, questions, however, that needed to be asked are how can the Tugwi-Mukosi people’s (whose ancestral lands have been given up for the dam), history, culture, heritage be preserved as well as communicated in the development and general discourses of the dam? The aquaculture that now characterise the area; how far will it incorporate the visibility of the indigenous people, who risk being immersed by damming-discourses and ‘domination’ [by] ‘outsiders’ keen on exploiting economically, the advantages brought by the dam? What and which lessons can the Tugwi-Mukosi people as well as government draw from the experiences of the BaTonga especially in matters of, social history, culture and heritage?- d) Relevance of the Study: Most studies on displacements largely focus on questions of livelihoods and human rights violations due to the non-consultative nature of dam constructions and barely touch on the cultural/ heritage impacts of dam constructions. This study was quite relevant because it provides that missing link through exploring on how the people of Tugwi-Mukosi tried to 'salvage' and 'reconstitute' their cultural capital in the areas where they relocated or resettled.
- e) Methodology: Using a combination of historical and qualitative research methods, the study achieved an in-depth understanding of the impacts of dam constructions on the social, religious and cultural meanings and practices of the affected rural people. Using purposive sampling techniques, the researchers visited two areas; that is around the dam itself and Chingwizi where some of the displaced people were sent targeting at least 30 families in each area. In addition, at least 10 headmen in the affected areas were interviewed.
TOKWE MUKOSI BASELINE SURVEY REPORT
By
Dr N.M. Zhou and Dr. T. Muziri