Dissertation
Water use conflicts are widely reported and are said to affect socio-economic
development. This study examined the main types and factors of water use conflicts in the
Ngerengere catchment in Morogoro Region. A cross-sectional research design was
adopted and 136 respondents participated in the study. A combination of purposive and
simple random sampling techniques was used to select wards and respondents. A
structured questionnaire for the household survey and a checklist of questions for focus
group discussions and key informants interviews were the main tools for data collection.
Descriptive statistics complemented with qualitative data described the types of water use
conflicts. Convention mapping was used to map the existing water resource management
institutions while content analysis was used to establish the roles, functions, and
relationship between these institutions. The binary logistic regression model estimated the
factors associated with water use conflicts in the study area. Findings from this study
shows that domestic users are the most affected group by water use conflicts particularly
because conflicts between them were reported by almost upstream and downstream water
users (27.2%) and domestic users and irrigators (22.8%). Education level, misallocations
of water points and failure of water resource management institutions were significantly
associated with water use conflicts P<0.05). The study also found that WRMIs are formal
and informal in nature playing three major roles in the Ngerengere catchment area namely:
water catchment management, water catchment protection and water uses planning. The
study concluded that, water catchment management institutions are not adequately
accountable for water service delivery in the Ngerengere catchment area thus leading to
frequent water use conflicts and other challenges associated with these conflicts.
Therefore, the study recommends that water catchment management institutions should be
accountable for water service delivery in the Ngerengere catchment area to avoid water
use conflicts and overcome factors associated with these conflicts.