The appropriation of African Indigenous Knowledge System in WASH activities by Women at Tongogara Refugee Camp, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Migrations, whether forced or voluntary, are often characterised by cultural insecurities for immigrants, refugees and displaced persons. This study focuses on the appropriation of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS) in the implementation of water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities by women at Tongogara Refugee Camp (TRC), Zimbabwe. It argues that despite the impact of modernist predispositions on personal and collective identity, refugee women continually tap from their indigenous epistemic cultural memories in the context of their place-based social amenities and alternatives supplied by refugee camp authorities. Informed by a Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) theoretical framework; and drawing from a qualitative research method, the study used interviews, focus group discussions and participatory observations as the major data collection tools. The study established that in the face of resource scarcity in the camp, women creatively utilized strategies anchored on AIKS to enhance water sanitation and hygiene. In addition, the research noted that very little is being done towards the promotion of AIKS in the camp as the prevailing structures favour western innovation and technological advancements in WASH activities. The study concludes that it is praiseworthy and fundamental to resuscitate AIKS and blend it with modern scientific knowledge to resolve the vicissitudes of refugee women in the era affected by Cyclone Idai and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

• African indigenous knowledge system
• feminist political ecology
• resource scarcity
• water sanitation and hygiene
• Tongogara Refugee Camp
• Zimbabwe

Public statement

The appropriation of African Indigenous Knowledge System in WASH activities by Women at Tongogara Refugee Camp, Zimbabwe strives to show how refugee women are making use of their indigenous knowledge to deal with pandemics that might arise in the camp in the area of water, sanitation and hygiene. There is a tendency to believe that refugees, being people on the move, lack knowledge and skills to solve problems that might befell them. This article provides insight on how women tackle the issues of water shortage, poor sanitation and menstrual hygiene management. Women have vast knowledge on the traditional ways of preserving water as well as maintaining their reproductive health. They are prepared to have their African Indigenous Knowledge Systems fused with modern scientific knowledge to resolve the challenges that might befell them especially in this era of Cyclone Idai and the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Introduction

Migrations, whether forced or voluntary, are often characterised by cultural insecurities for immigrants, refugees and displaced persons. Migration involves movement and relocation from one place to another. It prompts the retention of some cultural and epistemic attributes of the homeland, and the reconstruction and re-making of new life-worlds in the new contexts (McBrien, 2017). Thus, it can be asserted that migration entails patterns of socio-religious continuity and transformation where African Indigenous Knowledge System (AIKS) is a guide to lived experiences of migrant communities. This study was designed to examine the extent to which women appropriate AIKS in WASH activities at TRC. It also sought to explore the factors influencing the marginalization and exclusion of AIKS from mainstream development processes. The research also sought to reveal the magnitude of WASH problems and the existence and practicability of traditional water treatment knowledge employed by women in the study area especially during Cyclone Idai and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper endeavours to give an account of the role played by women in the appropriation of AIKS in WASH activities at TRC, Zimbabwe. It is based on the premises that despite the impact of modernist predispositions on personal and collective identity, refugee women repeatedly tap from their indigenous epistemic cultural memories in the backdrop of the place-based social amenities provided by refugee camp authorities.

A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence (United Nations Children`s Fund, 2019). In most instances people become refugees due to fear of persecution and this can take on many forms: religious, national, social, racial, or political. Globally, at least 79.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes. There are nearly 26.6 million refugees in the world whilst 45.7 million are internally displaced people (UNHCR, CARE and ActionAid, 2020). In Africa, 27 million people are refugees or have been displaced. Such people are understood to have migrated due to war, human rights violations, environment and climate issues, and economic hardship (United Nations Children`s Fund, 2019). As migrants integrate with the host communities, cultural fusion takes place since migration is not simply a demographic phenomenon, but a socially constituted process in which cultural identity, economic, and political strategies play a definitive role (Kanengoni, et al., 2018).

AIKS, also sometimes referred to as Indigenous knowledge (IK) or Traditional knowledge (TK), is defined as, “the understandings, skills and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings” (UNESCO, n.d.). Such knowledge is conveyed from one generation to another in resource-use practices on a wide-ranging knowledge base on the intricate ecological structures in their own vicinities (Borthakur & Singh, 2020). According to Chemhuru and Masaka (2010) traditional knowledge is significant in preserving the environment and providing the local people with their day-to-day necessities. This refers to the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities around the world (Eitzel et al., 2020). It is collectively owned and takes the form of stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, cultural values, beliefs, rituals, community laws, local language, and agricultural practices, including the development of plant species and animal breeds (Kaya & Seleti, 2013). IKS is local knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society, built by societies through generations of living in close contact with nature (Mapara, 2009). Put differently, it refers to traditional knowledge associated with African cultures related to particular geographical areas (Chanza, 2014 in Mugambiwa & Makhubele, 2021). This includes norms, taboos, a system of classification of natural resources, a set of empirical observations about the local environment and a system of self-management that governs resource use (Nkuba, et al., 2020). Such vast indigenous knowledge of conservation which can assist modern environmental management efforts is often vested in rural women within a community. The two research questions guided the study, namely: (a) To what extent is the appropriation of AIKS in WASH activities being mainstreamed in TRC? (b) What are the major challenges that women face in the appropriation of AIKS in WASH projects in TRC?

2. Literature review

In Africa, AIKS are holistic and produce a deep understanding of the inter-relationships among the different elements of a habitat (Siambombe et al., 2018). They are knowledge forms that have failed to die despite the racial and colonial onslaught that they have suffered at the hands of Western imperialism (Bruchac, 2014; Mapara, 2009; Mugambiwa, 2018). Therefore, IKS in most communities in the southern hemisphere are “diluted” or “overshadowed” by Western epistemologies preached and enforced during colonial periods and even in today’s post-colonial era (Mapara, 2009; Sithole & Chundu, 2020). Hence, former colonised nations face the same destiny of devaluation and marginalisation of their social and cultural resources (Mapira & Mazambara, 2013). Thus, dehumanisation of the colonies’ own IKS became part of the major colonial practice as evidenced in their deliberate exclusion from the education systems (Kaya & Seleti, 2013).

The use of indigenous knowledge in Africa goes back to the history of humankind in the continent. However, the coming of colonialism saw the inheritance of cultural values different from those existing in most African indigenous societies thereby causing basic fundamental problems for the continent (Maunganidze, 2016). The former colonial masters marginalized the integration of African cultural values and indigenous knowledge systems in their development agenda (Mabvurira, 2018). This has seen most academic and research activities being carried out in English, French and Portuguese, thus undermining the development of research and theory based on indigenous conceptual framework and paradigms (Mapara, 2009). Kaya and Seleti (2013) blame the lack of political will by western researchers on the education provided in African academic and research institutions which is not meant to address the intellectual and research needs of the African people, but designed to support the economic exploitation of natural resources on the assumption of the primitive nature of Africa. This is besides the general view by Maunganidze (2016) that IKS in emerging economies and rural Africa in particular have historically been considered one of the most valuable assets rural people own but also the least mobilized for developing rural communities. However, avenues for the preservation of traditional knowledge are fading and are at risk of being lost altogether (Tanyanyiwa, 2019), culminating in a decline of indigenous identity and a severe reduction in the recognition and understanding of an invaluable sustainable knowledge system (Nkuba, et al., 2020). Thus, the need to synthesize the existing information on the use of AIKS in WASH interventions being delivered to women and children in refugee camps has led to the undertaking of this study with TRC as a case study.

In most parts of the globe, indigenous people have a special relationship with their traditional lands and waters, and possess unique languages, knowledge systems and beliefs in relation to water management, that subsequently differ from those of western researchers (Agyemang et al., 2019; Nguyen & Ross, 2017; Nkuba, et. al., 2020; Mugambiwa & Makhubele, 2021). Researchers, Vega, N (2013), Agrawal (1995) and Al-Roubaie (2010), acknowledge the important role played by AIKS in development, arguing that ignoring AIKS often leads to development failure. Furthermore, AIKS is the basis for local decision-making and problem solving in areas such as health care, education and natural resources management (Mapira & Mazambara, 2013; Nguyen & Ross, 2017). This is coupled by the water culture that has always been at the core of the culture of indigenous African people, despite efforts by the colonialists to dismantle the status quo to modify it to an unsustainable colonial culture (Vega, N, 2013). African culture recognizes indigenous women as the main heirs, and the ones who transmit the knowledge that involves the principles and values of their communities (Agyemang et al., 2019; Mapira & Mazambara, 2013; Mugambiwa & Makhubele, 2021; Nkuba, et al., 2020). Women recognize water as a sacred element that is integrated into life cycles, health, water quality and community organization (Ayaa & Waswa, 2016). Women play a fundamental role in the social organization of life in the communities where they live, but they are disadvantaged by their gender and minority status (Yetunde, 2020). Women also perform different water-related festivals and ceremonies including water-related, songs, sacred sites and daily activities such as use of water. Water points (WP) are also a place for social interaction, where women meet to wash clothes while children play (Chanza, 2014). It is the focus of this study to unearth the relevant literature and examine the specific roles of women in the mainstreaming of such knowledge systems and how it has influenced their participation in WASH activities.

Globally, access to safe water and sanitation continues to plague the developing countries of the world with the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting important needs in WASH services and standard practices for infection prevention and control in sub-Saharan Africa (Kanyangarara, et al., 2021). Many refugees face challenges of accessing WASH services. However, there is limited literature on WASH access for refugee populations, including for menstrual health services (Calderón Villarreal1 et al., 2022). Lack of WASH access may therefore be hidden, amplifying morbidity and mortality risks for already vulnerable refugee populations (United Nations Children`s Fund, 2019). In TRC, this was exercabated by the Cyclone Idai disaster that ravaged the district. The World Health Organization estimates 2.6 billion people live without adequate access to safe water and good sanitation (WHO/UNICEF, 2020). About 2 billion of these are found in rural areas of South Asia, Eastern Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa where the practice of open defecation, poor sanitation services, and use of unsafe water persists because of knowledge gaps and arrogance, making people unable to practice basic hygiene (Als et al., 2019. Improving access to water supply and associated services is important for human health and well-being and is crucial to the development of a country or region (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2020). The existence of a gap between knowledge and practice on WASH, has also been associated with socio-cultural factors that are seldom considered when intervention programmes are introduced (Wasonga et al., 2014). Thus, in most water management schemes in Africa, local people continue to be largely ignored despite their desire to be part of the decision-making process (Agyemang et al., 2019). In addition, most water management bureaucracy has a range of policies and principles based on science and ideology that leave little room for IK and local desires within the science dominated policies (Nguyen & Ross, 2017). The study therefore, views harnessing of AIKS as contributing to making safe water and sanitation accessible to all members of the refugee community. This paper endeavours to establish the extent to which AIKS has been mainstreamed into WASH activities in Tongogara Refugee Camp.

3. Background to the study area

Tongogara Refugee camp is situated in the South western part of Chipinge District in Manicaland Province in Zimbabwe. The study area falls under Natural Region V which receives very low rainfall (300–600 mm/annum) and is very dry (UNHCR, CARE and ActionAid, 2020) making the extraction of water very difficult, and consequently impacting negatively on women who bear the brunt of fetching water. The camp is in the rural area of Chipangai. It borders the Save Conservancy to the West and the small-scale farmers to the North and East. To the south is Maronga Village, the host, whose land was annexed by Government to establish the refugee camp. The camp was established in 1981 to house over 60,000 Mozambican refugees fleeing the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) insurgency. This lasted until the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and RENAMO ceasefire in 1992 which saw the large-scale return of Mozambican refugees and closure of the camp in May 1995. However, some remained behind and were integrated into the Ndau culture of Chipinge. This fusion of Mozambican and Zimbabwean culture did not lead to loss of identity by either party. The camp was re-opened in early 1998 for refugees from various parts of Africa. Currently, TRC is hosting more than 16000 refugees (Calderón Villarreal1 et al., 2022) from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan and lately Mozambique. These have brought an Afrocentric fusion of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems into the camp.

The camp is run by the UNHCR, an arm of the United Nations, together with the Department of Social Welfare (DSW), representing the host Government, of Zimbabwe. The camp is divided into 9 residential sections. There is a transit camp where new arrivals are housed as they wait for their asylum status to be approved. This is a temporary residential area that houses refugees who trickle in in small numbers. The sanitation in the camp is characterized by inadequate toilets and water supplies for both domestic and agricultural use. The camp community uses pit latrines which are mainly communal. Over-crowding in the camp has prohibited the construction of additional toilets, forcing most residents of sections 1–4 to look for alternative places to defecate.

A game reserve and Save River borders the camp to the west, where predators like lions and elephant parade. This makes open defecation very risky at night. Collection of fuel wood and timber in the area is difficult due to the indiscriminate cutting down of trees by the community that has resulted in the felling of some medicinal trees. The clearance forces those who want to relieve themselves to go further afield, risking encounters with wildlife. The main source of water is ground water, extracted using 12 manually operated bush pumps, 2 solar powered and 2 electric-powered boreholes (Mhlanga & Zengeya, 2016). Refugees get their drinking water as well as water for domestic uses, bathing and sanitation purposes from these boreholes. However, the solar panels for the boreholes were stolen in 2019 and were yet to be replaced by the time of this research in March 2020. The current power cuts being experienced in the country have worsened the water situation in the camp, thereby forcing women to look for alternative water sources. The water is sometimes salty in taste. The refugees are given storage containers that will ensure that they are able to store water and that minimum standards for the amount of water per person per day are achieved (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2020). Research on women’s security and empowerment have been carried out in TRC and elsewhere in a refugee setting (Calderón Villarreal1 et al., 2022; Prisco, 2018; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2020; Carlson, 2016; Ramier, 2016; Freedman, 2010), but little or nothing has been done on the appropriation of AIKS in WASH activities by women in refugee camps.

4. Theoretical framework

The main theoretical framework advanced in this study is the Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) scholarship to research the appropriation of AIKS in WASH activities by women at TRC. The research, rooted in a FPE perspective, connects gender in resource access struggles to indigenous knowledge and local socio-environmental changes (Sundberg, 2015). FPE scholars suggest gender as a crucial variable in relation to class, race and other relevant dimensions of political ecological life in constituting access to, control over, and knowledge of natural resources (Sundberg, 2015; Gay-Antaki, 2016. The approach examines the intersections of gender and the natural environment in ways that illuminate the gendering of intersecting power relations linking humans and natural environments (Sato & Alarcón, 2019). Thus, it draws attention to how gender and other power dynamics between men and women and/or between women intersect to shape their access to and control over a resource or property in a specific place (Cole, 2019). Intersectionality, as a social variable, understand gender crosscuts with social variables such as age, ethnicity, class, religion, disability, sexual orientation, language or political identity (UNHCR, CARE and ActionAid, 2020). Taking an intersectional approach, this study examines the distinct ways through which diverse socially and culturally constructed categories interact at different levels to produce different forms of power relations and inequalities.

Through the use of an FPE framework, the gendered power dynamics that intercede the knowledge, valuation, and use of indigenous knowledge, is explored. FPE further established how women’s everyday practices, traditions, and resistance strategies are being deployed to promote indigenous knowledge (Tavenner, 2016). A co-management structure that takes women’s knowledge into account could encourage the sustainable use of these resources and consequently, help maintain the indigenous knowledge (Adams et al., 2018) associated with the implementation of WASH activities. The divide between indigenous people and scientific technological advancement in terms of their beliefs about water, where it comes from and how it should be managed, causes an indirect barrier to the engagement of indigenous people (Zanotti et al., 2020). Within FPE, gender is seen as a critical variable in affecting relationships between human beings and the environment (Lamb et al., 2017). Gender relations also influence environmental management and it is recognized that the environment also constitutes gender relations (Clement et al., 2019). The interdependencies between women and men position women’s relationship with nature, instead of the environment in the “material, historical, socio-cultural, and political realities of specific places, along gender lines (Salley, 2018).

Adams et al. (2018)observed that women’s participation in conservation projects depends on gendered livelihood strategies that are outcomes of negotiations within both communities and households, in response to specific gendered opportunities and constraints. These gendered opportunities and constraints are connected to wider historical, cultural, political, and economic elements influencing the human-environment nexus (Lamb et al., 2017). Gender intersects with class, age, and ethnicity to influence the relationships people establish with nature and the way they use natural resources (Sundberg, 2015). These gendered power relations shape how natural resources are accessed, allocated, and controlled (Elmhirst, 2015). FPE assists in giving women a voice to speak about their situation in their own words to challenge simplistic analyses of their victimization or their valorization as symbols of resistance (Beuchler & Hanson, 2015). Such methodologies combine political engagement, participatory approaches and critical analysis relevant to everyday lives (Clement et al., 2019; Rocheleau et al., 1996), as portrayed in this study.

FPE believe both women and men derive their knowledge from their specialized roles and the gender-specific ways in which they access the environment (Cole, et al., 2019). Thus, FPE as an orienting framework elucidates the multiple uses of indigenous knowledge held by resident people as they negotiate their diverse livelihood strategies (Adams et al., 2018). This knowledge is dynamic and mediated through social, political, and economic transformations. When these knowledge systems are threatened, people may adapt different strategies to ensure the survival of this knowledge (Zanotti et al., 2020). Thus, the theoretical framework is justified by the way women negotiate their marginal positionality by creating opportunities to continue their AIKSs in WASH. This means understanding the use of AIKS in WASH projects by women in TRC.

5. Rearch methodology

Being a qualitative study that endeavours to investigate the extent to which women appropriate AIKS in WASH activities in TRC, the study focus was on the eminence of women’s experiences in WASH. Participatory techniques were used to learn through observation the practices and procedures involved in traditional purification of turbid water. This also includes the use of AIKS in sanitation and hygiene. The aim here is to provide a practical dimension and also to make findings context specific and reflective of reality.

The camp situation is characterized by a critical shortage of WASH facilities. Most households (HH) do not have toilets. Although the transit centre has got some public toilets, they are now being privatized. Each water point has a water point user committee (WPUC) composed of 7 members. The WASH projects in the camp are run by two NGOs, GOAL Zimbabwe and Terre des homes (TDH), who monitor their proper implementation. TDH is responsible for hygiene and disease surveillance while GOAL ensures the availability of water and sanitation facilities.

5.1. Data collection

Interviews were conducted exploring the extent to which women appropriate AIKS in WASH activities at TRC. Qualitative information was collected with a bias towards women since they are the ones who bear the effects of WASH shortages. The study used purposive sampling to select households according to country of origin and to get equal representation from all sections. Snowball approach was also used during household interviews as the last household will inform us of the next household to interview, as this saves on time.

Secondary data was obtained from the UNHCR offices. Information was collected through 68 household interviews conducted in the nine residential sections purposively selected and five in-depth interviews with key informants, local NGOs (Goal Zimbabwe and TDH), and government representatives (Department of Social Welfare, Department of Public Works and Department of Public Health). The Field surveys were conducted with the assistance of four research assistants (two men and two women) selected because of their fluency in Kiswahili as this is the main language being used in the camp. A total of eight Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 48 participants selected from six major countries present in the camp (DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Mozambique). Efforts were made to select a group of 5–8 people from each section and country to ensure equal representation. The research also interviewed a group of country leaders and one Water Point User Committee (WPUC). Each country chooses two males and two females to represent them in camp meetings. These will then cascade the meeting deliberations to their fellow countrymen and women.

FGDs were held at the community hall, market stall, school and church premises for convenience since we could not find an alternative place to accommodate such big groups. In-depth interviewing was done mostly with key informants such as the Camp Administrator, Engineer and three NGO staff members (2 GOAL Zimbabwe and 1 TDH).

All interviews and FGDs were conducted in confidentiality, and the names of the respondents were withheld by mutual consent. For accountability and to ensure the reliability of the results, verification of the findings was done by triangulation between different types of sources that include the key informants, participant interviewees and FGD participants. Most Household (HH) interviews conducted lasted from 45 min to one and a half hours. The research guide gave room for probing hence the different timeframes experienced. The research also utilized separate interview guides for key informants and FGDs.

6. Results

The research findings from the data collected in the camp pointed to the extent to which AIKS is integrated in WASH projects in the camp as this would bring about positive results for women refugees. Such findings from the study were understood to positively inform the UNHCR, Government planners, law and policy makers in framing policies that are friendly to women and their lived realities. The findings are categorized into five sub-sections for a better understanding.

6.1. Challenges in accessing WASH facilities in refugee camps

Research findings show that given the multiple uses of water, there are different aspirations over its use between the different stakeholders in the camp. On the one hand, there are women who believe water management is their domain, hence want water use management to be in their hands, principally for household use. Such AIKS may challenge the rigorous scientific technological theories instituted by the NGOs. On the other hand, there are men, the implementing NGOs and the government who value water for its multiple uses but forget the involvement of women. The different water use aspirations are at the centre of conflicts between women and men in the camp. Although all the participants recognise the differences in aspirations in water management, with different scientific requirements, they all agree that a one size fits all approach to their needs does not apply as their desires differ with age, sex, ethnic background and status. Women want to be involved in the management of water resources because they possess the knowledge and are by nature, closer to water than men, this woman laments:

From time immemorial, water belonged to the water spirits (mermaids). No one is allowed to manage the resource except the queen mother, who is a woman. We stand because the water is female and so we stand with the water. As women we should be at the helm of water management according to our indigenous culture, but the government and its partners have brought despondency in the camp. Instead of us performing our rituals to thank our ancestral spirits for the good rains and the water that they give us, we are being denied by these NGOs who look down upon us.

[Interview participant]

It was gathered that the NGOs ignored women largely because their knowledge and understanding of the scientific technology is very low hence involving them in the management of water points in the camp will see a decline in the implementation of modern technology at water points. The NGOs find it very difficult to involve women in the management of WASH activities in the camp because of the traditional perception that women hold over water. They (NGOs) resent their indigenous beliefs that water spirits control water resources in the camp putting the whole water point management into disrepute. The desire by women to expand their knowledge base to include scientific technology will allow them to contribute to management. Women believe that water belongs to the ancestral spirits and mermaids. Hence, the application of western scientific knowledge on such water points will anger the water spirits.

Although the NGO employees recognize some indigenous knowledge such as prediction of droughts and flooding, the existence of local customs on protection of the water source and the rain-petitioning ritual (mukwerera), they reach an agreement that local knowledge is outdated and irrelevant to the modern management systems. Nevertheless, they were quick to accept that it was very challenging a task to change the traditional practices and uses of water resources.

Research findings also show that AIKS is not exclusively positioned in the past. Despite the participants of the FGDs being aware of the low level of education among women refugees in the camp, as not many of them could read or write, they still believe that they have a role to play in the management of WASH activities in the camp. They blame their illiteracy on patriarchy, a western disposition that tends to favour men while restricting women to domestic work, depriving them of attending school, while men work with the NGOs because of their physical status. As a way of circumventing this quagmire of perceived low level of scientific knowledge and the outdated nature of the indigenous knowledge of women, there is urgent need for the NGOs to empower them, whilst they also tap from their indigenous knowledge on water management.

Most women interviewed blamed the lack of appreciation of AIKS by the government due to the widespread privileging of scientific knowledge in the application of national policies in natural resources management. Many women believed that they have awareness, understanding and knowledge of natural resources use and management inherited from their ancestors. They advocate for the sharing of indigenous knowledge with scientific knowledge in order to increase the knowledge base of women and NGOs by blending the two. This is because the old generation, who understand AIKS, lack the capacity to be involved in modern water management whereas the young, who have a high level of education and scientific knowledge, lack traditional knowledge. It is imperative to increase indigenous knowledge resource base to document the precious knowledge and experience of refugee women and to build their capacity and ensure their voice in decision-making related to WASH is heard. The fact that the UNHCR, through the NGO, is quite satisfied to see women participating in WASH activities and learning from them, but the women want the NGOs to reciprocate through a two-way system of knowledge sharing. The indigenous women believe that their knowledge needs to be acknowledged by the NGOs just as much as they recognise their greater need for scientific technology.

6.2. Traditional water harvesting strategies

Findings from FGDs show that traditional water harvesting, storage, and other water-associated knowledge have allowed the indigenous communities to survive in conditions where patent chemicals were not available especially after the Cyclone Idai landfall. With most water points down and toilets washed away, people had to rely on streams or stagnant water that was usually dirty with pathogens and not palatable for human consumption. The situation called for the use of AIKS of treating water. Since there has always been an intimate relationship between water and sanitation within the African nation, people would wash their hands after visiting the “bush”. Women also applied AIKS of water purification through the use of barks from the sausage tree (kagelia Africana) and leave the water to settle for some hours. Research findings also show that those with tinned roofs would harvest the water for use in the household. It is women`s responsibility to ensure the proper health and wellbeing of the family. Such knowledge is vested in women since they are believed to be closer to the water spirits, who are purported to be female. As one elderly woman from Burundi had this to say:

The use of AIKS came in handy after the devastating effects of Cyclone Idai. We had to resort to the traditional method of sieving turbid water meant for drinking. This water is sprinkled with ash from barks of a baobab tree and left to settle for some time before drinking. This task was mainly for women since all water and hygienic issues are seen as a responsibility of women in an African traditional household. Women assist as pillars of knowledge system within an African household. If hygienic challenges in water and sanitation are to be combated, women can play a huge role in ensuring that it happens.

It was also gathered from the FGDs that most households in the study area apply traditional methods for purification of turbid water. To purify water for drinking and cooking purposes, ash is used. Ash is sprinkled in a clay pot full of water and left to settle for some hours before use. Ash is also used for such activities as laundry, bathing and washing utensils. Water for drinking and cooking purposes is stored in a clean clay pot and stored in a cool place. Research findings have revealed that in AIKS, drinking water from upstream is believed to be more hygienic than water from downstream, which is for bathing and washing. In addition, the use of ash in AIKS is useful in killing bacteria to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera, diarrehoea and COVID-19. However, documented research findings reveal that such knowledge falls short to inform local aspirations for the direct involvement of women in decision-making about water resources management.

6.3. Maintenance of Water Points

Traditionally, water resources management has the capacity to create a sense of ownership, equitable distribution, solid management practices, and consistent operation and maintenance of traditional water points (WP), among the users. Due to the limited understanding about indigenous rules and customs pertaining to the maintenance of water points, the NGOs often assume that indigenous knowledge is outdated. Women are believed to be responsible for the maintenance of such water points, hence some are named after them. It was observed that women have the knowledge of how the water points should be maintained and kept clean so that the water users will access clean water. Research findings also reveal that indigenous knowledge among the refugees has kept the water points in good shape and clean always. Their traditional systems promote ownership to all users and women contribute the operation and maintenance of these resources. In case of non-compliance by users, punitive actions are taken against members who refuse responsibilities. It is the duty of women to ensure all members contribute to the maintenance of the water points. The traditional system promotes issues to do with recovering user fees in kind, instill communal ownership, ensure equity in access and use, enforce traditional by-laws to the use of the WP and unity of purpose as this will please the “water gods.” Such systems were replicated by the modern systems who advocate Community Based Management (CBM) of water resources that favour men at the expense of women. This was confirmed by one woman from Rwanda who had this to say:

Our AIKS does not allow one to bring dirty utensils with soot to the water point as this does not please the water spirits. Such utensils would make the water source dry up forcing to look for alternative sources. With modern technology, we are forced to raise funds for the maintenance of our Water Points. Although this makes every user to be responsible and accountable, it took away our traditional responsibilities as women.

It is the duty of women in the WPUC to ensure the WP is clean. Children are not allowed to play at the water point in-case they irritate the “water spirits.” Research revealed that the use of indigenous knowledge during the siting of water points was ignored by the NGOs drilling boreholes in the camp. Women expressed dissatisfaction with the distribution of water points as they believed their involvement would have made the water points drilled away from toilets. Their knowledge of the area would enhance ownership feeling among the users once this was made good use of. Women, especially the elderly, resented the system of water point maintenance being enforced by the local NGOs, that promote gender equality as their culture bestow this responsibility in elderly women. It is the responsibility of every water user to protect the water point from vandalism. AIKS is also awash with water survey methods that are easy to use and friendly. The use of a balancing bottle with water is one such system that is common is most African societies. Some indigenous water surveyors also use a small tree branch to detect underground water.

It was also gathered from the research that the traditional gender roles contribute to the unequal relationship between men and women in the camp. Due to their traditional roles, women generally have less access to resources, less power and are excluded from discussions and decisions at all levels of society, from their own household level upwards. This unequal power relations in decision-making have a detrimental effect on the successful implementation of WASH activities in the camp, as women were at the periphery of WASH management in the camp. Women have the knowledge of water use and have experience on how to store the resource and share it at household level. It was also gathered that it is taboo for a woman to stand in front of men talking during meetings, hence their being side lined in decision-making meetings.

6.4. Menstrual health management and WASH

Research findings show that one of the major challenges before every adolescent girl is to handle menstruation. Menstruation is an important reproductive health function, yet it has been dealt with secrecy in most African societies. A number of taboos and social and cultural restrictions still exist concerning menstruation which scares the adolescent girls and make their life difficult. As one refugee woman from DRC had this to say:

During Cyclone Idai most women lost their sanitary napkins to the floods hence they had to rely on traditional means of handling menstrual blood in a safe and hygienic way. The use of biodegradable and locally-available materials such as water hyacinth, banana fibre, bamboo fibre coupled with the use of dry cow dung was common among the adult women, young females and girls because they have always been used for this purpose in their communities, and so women are used to them.

Research findings also show that religion, culture and traditional beliefs have a bearing on the lives of mensurating girls and women. The disposal of sanitary napkins according to African tradition is not supposed to be haphazard but to use proper means like burning. Although there are myths and mysteries behind burning, as in some culture they believe burning after disposing a sanitary napkin will make the girl fail to conceive. In some cultures, they smear mud on the sanitary napkin after using it and then dispose it so that no one can temper with it. Research shows that mothers are passing on this knowledge to their daughters on the basis of their traditional knowledge.

It was also gathered through FGDs that most menstruating women had Menstrual Health Management-related challenges, including: use of non-absorbent and uncomfortable menstrual cloth and inadequate provision of sanitary materials, water, hygiene and sanitation facilities in the camp. It was observed that toilets in the camp did not have soap and water or doors and locks for privacy and had a bad odour. Women also complained of friction burns on their inner thighs during their long journey to fetch water due to chaffing of wet non-absorbent material used to make menstrual cloth. Most women preferred to dispose used menstrual materials in pit latrines and not waste bins for fear that they could be retrieved for witchcraft purposes against them. Traditional leaders and female guardians played a pivotal role in teaching adolescent women AIKS of containing Menstrual Health Management, though with unresolved challenges to Menstrual Health Management among refugee women.

Research findings also reveal that most women have very little or no knowledge about reproductive tract infections caused due to ignorance of personal hygiene during menstruation time. Lack of access to sanitary products or knowledge about the types and methods of using them and their high costs, made them unaffordable to most refugee women. This compelled them to mostly rely on reusable cloth pads which they wash and use again. Thus, the modern scientific knowledge continues to ignore the needs and requirements of the adolescent girls and women in the camp. Women manage menstruation differently when they are at home or outside. Sometimes they dispose of menstrual products in domestic wastes or in public toilets through flushing causing blockages.

6.5. Health and hygiene and the COVID-19 pandemic

Research has shown that the use of AIKS is common among refugee women who view the modern technology of water treatment as undermining their knowledge. In most households where they don`t have soap, they use ash to wash their hands after visiting the toilet. Whenever children have messed the yard with feaces, they sprinkle ash on the stool to scare away flies. In times of cholera outbreak, ash is used to cover the stool of the infected person to avoid its spread by flies. This IK of blocking the route was also proved scientifically during cholera outbreaks and is being applied worldwide.

Africans also had their own way of disposing the stool to ensure it is not accessed by flies. It came out of the interviews with Mozambican women that the cat system is common in the camp since most households do not have toilets. To avoid open defecation, they have resorted to digging a hole in the ground and covering it with soil after use. It was observed that most women will carry a hoe and go the direction of the bush as if going to the garden, yet they are in fact going to relieve themselves. Since there has always been an intimate relationship between water and sanitation within the African nation, people would wash their hands after visiting the “bush”, when they want to eat food or after attending to their babies. Women would use the leaves of a wild castard apple (muroro) tree to clean their babies and bury the leaves and the feaces underground.

Observations during transect walk show that most households had exhausted their supply of soap for hand washing, hence they are resorting to the application of AIKS where ash is used to wash hands. This was necessitated by the frequency with which one has to wash her/his hands. Another situation where AIKS was used was when women use lippia javanica (zumbani) for steaming or to prepare a concoction for drinking, whenever one is not feeling well. They also appraise us of the medicinal effects of banana pills in treating migraine headaches that are related to COVID-19. Women would prepare hot lemon for the family to drink every morning and evening. Some would gurgle a glass of salty water or bi-carbonate of soda every evening. The use of boiled guava, mango, avocado and lemon leaves to drink, was also common. This AIKS has kept COVID-19 at bay as it has proved to be effective. In section 9, they have made use of the baobab fruit shells to as face masks. Thus, the AIKS has taught them ways of preventing the transmission of COVID-19 through the use of traditional methods available at their disposal.

7. Discussion

The findings from the conducted research shows that every community has its own identity, lifestyle, and customs to value, hence the need to be cautious in exploiting them for their sustainability. The useful traditions at the disposal of most communities need to be preserved for future generations and for the advantage of the community. However, despite its rich value and respect by the community, AIKS is largely ignored by modern scientific approaches. It is worth noting that AIKS and scientific knowledge can be fused to come up with a blend of the two compatibles for use by consumers. The research has shown that although the NGOs in the camp are trying to educate the community on the positives of using scientific knowledge, most elderly women still have faith in their traditional knowledge. It is difficult for them to accept modern technology when they have success stories of how the AIKS has prevailed over western scientific knowledge. This resonates with the findings by Mapira and Mazambara (2013) who assert that since the demise of colonial rule more than three decades ago, there has been a renewal of interest in IKS in Zimbabwe as they are regarded as a source of pride, dignity and possible solutions to some nagging challenges.

To ensure gender equality in the camp there is need to acknowledge that women have the same rights as men. For gender equality to be achieved in the camp, there is need to adopt policies and practices that emanate from the refugees themselves that will change their traditional way of viewing things. This is moulded together with the age, gender and diversity mainstreaming policy of UNHCR to ensure it suits the refugee needs, not “a straight-jacket approach”. This reverberates with the FPE advocates like Adams et al. (2018) who acknowledge the existence of multiple uses of indigenous knowledge held by resident people as they negotiate their diverse livelihood strategies. Once such policies are imposed on the refugee community, their implementation is not guaranteed as it must be a bottom-up process. Thus, the arguments on the possession of AIKS by indigenous women in WASH management resemble those found in this research, that lack of recognition of the AIKS is one of the obstacles to their participation. The knowledge gap created by the Western Scientists has resulted in NGOs despising and ignoring AIKS as being primitive for believing that water resources are given and managed by spirits. Based on this research, as argued by Behailu et al. (2016) it can be claimed that lack of recognition of the IKS into ways recognized and accepted by western scientific technology and assumptions by NGOs that IKS is outdated, pose a threat to the promotion of the involvement of IKS and refugee women in WASH decision-making in the camp.

Indigenous peoples have been using their traditional knowledge and practices to find solutions to the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. As they have done for centuries, their communities continue to adapt to change while maintaining their cultures and traditions. These traditions, practiced widely among many different indigenous peoples’ communities, are key to these communities’ resilience and ability to maintain their traditional cultures while adapting to the restrictions brought about by the pandemic. Indigenous peoples’ communities are also strengthening their efforts to protect their livelihoods and traditional ways of life in the face of the pandemic. This assertion contradicts the call by Kanyangarara et al., (2021) on the need for communities to have access to an improved water source, an improved toilet, soap and running water or alcohol-based hand rub, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is also the assertion that the NGO officials are concerned that the indigenous beliefs that water spirits control water resources in the camp may result in a failure by indigenous people to accept NGO initiated management rules. These officials are unaware of the existence of oral unwritten rules and customs that contribute to the guiding of indigenous people in the regulation of water to ensure their actions and keeping a balance between human consumption and the requirements of nature through people’s respect of the water spirits. Hence, it is ironically impossible for AIKS to be incorporated into WASH management system in general. Thus, the divide between indigenous people and scientific technological advancement in terms of their beliefs about water, where it comes from and how it should be managed, causes an indirect barrier to the engagement of AIKS in WASH management. This concurs with the FPE argument that when knowledge systems are threatened, people may adapt different strategies to ensure the survival of this knowledge (Zanotti et al., 2020). Thus, the lack of communication and knowledge-sharing between indigenous water users and the NGOs has also resulted in a number of challenges for women’s involvement in WASH decision-making.

Women also want to see a two-way knowledge-sharing with implementing NGOs also learning indigenous traditions. However, the NGOs only see knowledge-sharing as one-way; with indigenous people needing to gain scientific knowledge. This contradicts the FPE assertion by Sato and Alarcón (2019), who encourage the use of traditional knowledge being spearheaded by women. Hence, for project success and acceptance there is need to embrace the existing traditional knowledge. However, there is little basis for genuine two-way communication and knowledge-sharing especially with the vast gap between indigenous and scientific ways of knowing.

The coming of Western technology has seen the embracing of different forms of water management depending on political, economic, cultural, traditional as well as policy and legislative frameworks. Such water governing bodies are viewed differently by the traditional indigenous people who had their own water management bodies mainly under women. The creation of these institutional and administrative frameworks fostering and encouraging the involvement of people with different interests and allowing cross cultural discussions, cooperation and coordination of management actions, need buy-in from the locals to enhance sustainability and ensure their participation. This resonates with the findings by Nguyen and Ross (2017) where the locals were largely ignored yet they were eager to be part of the decision-making process. However, the bureaucratic policies and principles based on science and technology left little room for indigenous knowledge and local desires. Involving refugee women in water management decision-making will ensure the incorporation of local knowledge in decision-making especially in the siting and construction of infrastructure in the camp. An integrated water management approach has great potential in ensuring the voices of women are heard in WASH decision-making, but a lack of communication about the different ways of knowing by the WASH implementing agencies in the camp, is a significant barrier to shared knowledge and resources management.

The challenges being faced by adolescent girls and women in accessing modern menstrual hygiene management material and their disposal has led them to resort to those recommended by the AIKS. The findings resound those by Kaur et al. (2017) where women need to be empowered about the environmental pollution and health hazards associated with them. Implementation of modern techniques like incineration can help to reduce the waste. Also, awareness campaigns should be undertaken to emphasize the use of reusable sanitary products or natural sanitary products made from materials like banana fibre, bamboo fibre, sea sponges and water hyacinth. It is important to understand local perceptions and attitudes towards menstrual blood, as well as the preferred practices of menstruating women, in order to design appropriate sanitation and solid waste management systems. Failure to take account of socio-cultural factors can jeopardise the effectiveness of such infrastructure as echoed by FPE advocates who connect gender in resource access struggles to indigenous knowledge and local socio-environmental changes (Sundberg, 2015).

The AIKS has taught refugees ownership, operation and maintenance of their water points and the respect for gender equality. The homogeneity of their traditional systems promote ownership to all users and they contribute to operation and maintenance of their resources, and where possible administer punitive actions for members who refuse responsibilities. They have a well-coordinated structure that respect the needs of the community such as (water quality, water scarcity, knowledge gaps, etc.). Thus, issues to do with ownership, equity, enforcement, integrity, and unity, which are highly pronounced in modern systems, can be found in the traditional water managements of TRC. Despising traditional knowledge and the real understanding of WASH activities in the camp has led to project failure. Modern science did not recognize local knowledge which they term to be gullible and irrelevant to modern day technology as they term it to be obsolete. Such contradiction is also attributed to a reluctance by local women in the camp to recognize the use of modern scientific knowledge in WASH activities.

Despite the notable challenges experienced in the implementation of WASH technological advancement in the camp, there is room for improvement in the living conditions of women refugees and enhanced access to information technology augmenting knowledge of their rights and responsibilities in decision-making processes. This reverberates with the findings by Chivasa and Mukono (2017) who advocated for the need for more communication and community development projects that aim to raise awareness and build knowledge and management capacity for indigenous people. It can be argued that local people are more aware of the impacts of water-related projects and how to manage it for their livelihood. Whilst the shared oppression of women and nature at the hands of industrialized patriarchy promotes male leadership on WASH-related issues, it is also important to acknowledge the varying degrees of affinity to that oppression. Thus, the FPE theorists’ argument that experiences of oppression are not the same for all women, thereby highlighting the historical and socio-cultural contingency of oppression (Maj, 2013; Lamb et al., 2017), rejects the possibility of universalizing women’s experiences, hence, it is not possible to fully understand women’s oppression without looking at how it has been constructed over time.

8. Conclusion and recommendations

The research has shown that women possess indigenous knowledge and play a significant role in the provision and management of water at household level which are ascribed by gender roles, but their knowledge and experience goes unnoticed at local level as they are relegated to be passive-onlookers. The study therefore concludes that incorporation of AIKS into modern technological advancement and the involvement local people, especially women, in water use, exploitation, maintenance, and monitoring activities may contribute to a sustainable community, especially in the era of Cyclone Idai disaster and COVID-19 pandemic. However, regardless of all these efforts, AIKS continue to face technological challenges. The study therefore, recommends:

• An increase of AIKS research to document the precious knowledge and experience of local people, and to build the capacity of their voice in decision-making related to the implementation of WASH activities in the camp.

• There is need to translate women`s knowledge of tradition and culture into ways of scientific thinking for it to be taken seriously by Westerners.

• There is need to ensure women`s capacity to participate in water use planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation through the use of AIKS in WASH projects to enhance sustainability.

• There is need for a friendly and supportive MHM environment that provides education, absorbent sanitary materials and adequate WASH facilities while providing equal opportunities for all women in the camp.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Wisdom Sibanda

Wisdom Sibanda is a PhD student in the Department of Geography at the University of the Free State and a humanitarian worker with a number of national and international organizations. This research is part of his PhD thesis titled Participation of refugee women in water, sanitation and hygiene programmes: Reflections on the experiences of Tongogara Refugee Camp. His research interests include Political Theory, Development Studies, Environmental Politics, Sustainability, Society and Environment, Human Geography and Migration, Environmental Policy and Planning, Environmental Governance, Gender and the Environment, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Water Resources Management, Social Theory, Environmental Management, Climate Change and Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, Environmental Impact Assessment, Public Policy and Management, Monitoring and Evaluation and Results Based Management. He has experience in community development that includes the use of participatory approaches in conducting research, baseline surveys, participatory monitoring and evaluation and participatory reporting.