In 2008, Mutuso Dhliwayo joined the Greengrants Southern Africa Advisory Board, filling the vacancy left by former Zimbabwean advisor, Leonard Maveneka. In spite of ongoing hardships in the country, Mutuso, like many of his fellow citizens, continues to go about his daily life, hopeful that the latest political developments will bring about positive change.
Mutuso came to Greengrants through his work with Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), where he serves as Executive Director. ZELA helps environmental community groups become legally registered as non-profit entities. Like other Greengrants advisors, he is well-connected to his region’s network of environmental activists and impassioned about the work he does.
Mutuso holds a Master’s degree in Environment and Development from the University Of KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa, as well as a Bachelor of Laws Honours degree from the University of Zimbabwe. He previously served as Legal Officer at Environment Africa, one of Zimbabwe’s leading environmental organizations. He has a passion for the management of shared resources and heads ZELA’s Trans-Boundary Natural Resources Management (TBNRM) program. His other research interests include Communities and Markets, protecting Africa’s urban environments, human rights and democracy, trade aspects of intellectual property rights, and issues related to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Additionally, Mutuso was the Zimbabwean Principal Investigator on a study undertaken in conjunction with the World Resources Institute examining legislative representation and the environment in ten African countries.
Below, Mutuso talks about his work with Greengrants and the need to support environmental groups in Zimbabwe now more than ever.
Amidst the current humanitarian disaster in the country, what are the priorities of the environmental movement right now?
Waste management and environmental health are some of the most pressing issues that local environmental groups are working to address. The economic, social, and political challenges prevailing in Zimbabwe today have resulted in limited service delivery by the government and municipalities, such as non-collection of waste, inadequate supply of clean and safe water, and failure to repair burst sewer pipes. This has resulted in a dirty and polluted environment that is hazardous to human health, as testified by the cholera outbreak in 2008. The World Health Organization’s current statistics (February 2009) show the cholera outbreak has already claimed 3,200 lives and infected over 65,000 people. In terms of the Environmental Management Act, every person has a right to a clean and healthy environment that doesn’t jeopardize human health.
Another priority is sustainable livelihoods. The majority of Zimbabweans are directly dependent on the primary extraction of natural resources for their livelihoods. These livelihoods are being threatened by environmental degradation in the form of deforestation, soil erosion, siltation, water pollution, and overgrazing. Poverty and lack of alternative livelihoods and energy sources, weak policies for monitoring, inadequate education and awareness programs, and poor land use planning are also among the contributing factors to accelerated land degradation, particularly after the necessary but chaotic Fast Track Land Reform Programme.*
* The Fast Track Land Reform Programme began in 2000 in an effort to more equitably distribute land between the historically disenfranchised blacks and the minority-whites who ruled Zimbabwe from 1923 to 1979. It is one of the most bitterly contested political issues today.
What is the relationship between environmental work and building civil society?
Democracy, good governance, transparency, and accountability can only be achieved with civil society participation. Hence, building the capacity and organizational skills of community-based environmental organizations, especially those that are directly involved in environmental rights advocacy and environmental rights monitoring, will help position environmental rights as an important matrix in the promotion of democracy and good governance. It is through this building of civil society that democratic values will be entrenched in natural resource governance, service delivery, and public budgeting exercises.
What kinds of hurdles have environmental organizations run up against?
The current economic, social, and political problems have resulted in a number of hurdles for environmental organizations. In times of crises like these, environmental issues are not taken seriously by politicians and communities. Priority is given to “bread and butter issues” and the environment, unfortunately, ranks last. This is ironic because the environment is perhaps the greatest source of sustaining livelihoods. For example, Zimbabwe’s energy crisis has driven up the demand for firewood, resulting in increased deforestation and land degradation, which contribute to desertification and ultimately to global warming. Talking to communities about the need to conserve natural resources without providing an alternative livelihood source does not produce results.
Donors have also relegated environmental issues to the bottom of their list. Those organizations working on political governance are seen as the “in” thing while those working on environmental governance are not given priority in terms of funding. The democratic space for environmental organizations is also shrinking as a result of political polarization, fear, and intimidation.
How did you get involved in the environmental movement?
During my third year at the University of Zimbabwe , I attended a lecture titled “A Career as a Public Interest Environmental Lawyer,” given by Professor Owen Lynch, from the Center for International Environmental Law in D.C. His talk changed my perception about private practice and I opted, instead, to join Environment Africa as a legal officer upon graduation. In 2000, I founded ZELA with a group of former classmates.
Before you became a Greengrants Advisor, your organization, ZELA, received a grant from Greengrants. Talk about this support as well as ZELA’s work in the community.
ZELA has been working with environmental community-based organizations (CBOs) since 2003 by registering them to exist as legal entities so that they can effectively participate in environmental governance. Non existence as legal entities is one of the justifications that have been used by the state and the private sector to marginalize communities from natural resources management. However, in our experience we have come to realize that registration is not an end itself but a means to an end. Therefore, there is a need for ZELA to not only continue to support these CBOs, but to identify and register promising new organizations. Greengrants helps ZELA to do this and provides a launching pad for these CBOs to seek further funding that will enable them to grow as organizations.
In 2007, a $5,000 grant from Greengrants helped ZELA expand its environmental law education and reform program in order to meet the increasing demand for its environmental law workshops. The workshops helped to raise awareness among stakeholders about the rights and duties provided for under Zimbabwe’s various environmental laws and policies. As a result, communities are now armed with new knowledge about their own rights and better able to demand protection of these rights.
What is the overall feeling among citizens about the situation in Zimbabwe?
The economic, social, and political problems have been very depressing. Between May and July 2008, political polarization kept many groups, including ZELA, from being able to implement their projects. Despite these challenges, our work at ZELA is spurred by the realization that the communities we work with are most vulnerable during this period of turmoil. In other words, this is the time when environmental justice issues become even more relevant.
We also have hope. This is our country and community and we are part and parcel of its challenges and solutions. If political developments over the past several weeks are anything to go by, it appears as if our hopes are about to be vindicated. There are serious commitments to implement the Agreement between the Zimbabwe African National Union—Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations, on resolving the challenges facing Zimbabwe. This agreement was signed on the 15th of September, 2008 and there have been some serious delays in implementing it. However, recently the regional body, Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) set a clear timeframe for the implementation of the Agreement.
What do you hope to achieve as an Advisor on the Southern Africa Advisory Board?
I hope to contribute to the development of environmental governance in Zimbabwe by building the capacities of environmental CBOs with support from Greengrants and other donors. Lasting democratic and human rights culture can only be a consequence of sustained civic participation at the lowest levels. While CBOs are the torch bearers in grassroots democracy, it is NGOs at the national level that have largely led them in the promotion for democracy and good governance with little or no capacity building of CBOs taking place. This has resulted in traction and eventual death of the CBOs and their role as grassroots democracy activists and watchdogs.
During my tenure with Greengrants, I hope to identify, support, and build the capacity of as many grassroots organizations as possible within Zimbabwe.