Water, politics and the persistence of uneven development in the Zambian Copperbelt

PhD ThesisImproving African water and sanitation has been a central objective of international development policy for many years. Alongside high profile awareness campaigns and global initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals, there have been fundamental transformations to African water and sanitation governance since the early 1990s. World Bank and International Monetary Fund structural adjustment policies have led to the adoption of neoliberal water reforms across large parts of the developing world, especially in urban regions of Africa. However, it is only in the last few years that the extent of the social, economic and political impacts of these reforms have begun to become apparent. An investigation has been made of the impacts of recent ly-adopted neoliberal reforms on water and sanitation development in an urban region of Zambia called the Copperbelt Province. Postcolonial theory and interdisciplinary approaches have been used to develop an analysis of neoliberal water policy impacts on: (1) provision of water supply and sanitation; (ii) the politics of development; and (iii) the history of uneven development in the Copperbelt. A critical analysis of neoliberal water and sanitation development reveals that, while the reforms have prompted greater conservation of water, there is continued water and sanitation poverty and widening inequality between the minority water-rich and majority water-poor populations. Also, scrutiny of the politics of water and sanitation development in the Copperbelt reveals that power is concentrated in the hands of a number of visible and less visible non-state actors, most notably the World Bank. These non-state actors are shown to have a considerable influence over decisions regarding the future of Copperbelt water governance. Analysis of neoliberal policies in relation to the history of development revealed the persistence of three key elements of uneven development: water and sanitation inequality; political marginalisation of the urban poor; and uneven power relations between Zambian and non-Zambian development actors. The resilience of these three dimensions of uneven development can be traced back to the policies and practices of British colonial water governance. A number of contributions to knowledge in this field of study have been made. This is one of the first analyses of the impacts of neoliberal water and sanitation development in Africa. It is also one of the first attempts to apply postcolonial theory to the study of an important material issue such as water and sanitation. It has given rise to serious questions over the applicability of neoliberal water reforms in urban Africa. It is concluded that policy makers need to consider the embedded, spatially inscribed, material inequalities that characterise many former European colonies in Africa, such as Zambia.Economic and Social Research Council: Natural Environment Research Council

Water, politics and the persistence of uneven development in the Zambian Copperbelt

Improving African water and sanitation has been a central objective of international development policy for many years. Alongside high profile awareness campaigns and global initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals, there have been fundamental transformations to African water and sanitation governance since the early 1990s. World Bank and International Monetary Fund structural adjustment policies have led to the adoption of neoliberal water reforms across large parts of the developing world, especially in urban regions of Africa. However, it is only in the last few years that the extent of the social, economic and political impacts of these reforms have begun to become apparent. An investigation has been made of the impacts of recent ly-adopted neoliberal reforms on water and sanitation development in an urban region of Zambia called the Copperbelt Province. Postcolonial theory and interdisciplinary approaches have been used to develop an analysis of neoliberal water policy impacts on: (1) provision of water supply and sanitation; (ii) the politics of development; and (iii) the history of uneven development in the Copperbelt. A critical analysis of neoliberal water and sanitation development reveals that, while the reforms have prompted greater conservation of water, there is continued water and sanitation poverty and widening inequality between the minority water-rich and majority water-poor populations. Also, scrutiny of the politics of water and sanitation development in the Copperbelt reveals that power is concentrated in the hands of a number of visible and less visible non-state actors, most notably the World Bank. These non-state actors are shown to have a considerable influence over decisions regarding the future of Copperbelt water governance. Analysis of neoliberal policies in relation to the history of development revealed the persistence of three key elements of uneven development: water and sanitation inequality; political marginalisation of the urban poor; and uneven power relations between Zambian and non-Zambian development actors. The resilience of these three dimensions of uneven development can be traced back to the policies and practices of British colonial water governance. A number of contributions to knowledge in this field of study have been made. This is one of the first analyses of the impacts of neoliberal water and sanitation development in Africa. It is also one of the first attempts to apply postcolonial theory to the study of an important material issue such as water and sanitation. It has given rise to serious questions over the applicability of neoliberal water reforms in urban Africa. It is concluded that policy makers need to consider the embedded, spatially inscribed, material inequalities that characterise many former European colonies in Africa, such as Zambia.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceEconomic and Social Research Council : Natural Environment Research CouncilGBUnited Kingdo

Water, politics and the persistence of uneven development in the Zambian Copperbelt

Improving African water and sanitation has been a central objective of international development policy for many years. Alongside high profile awareness campaigns and global initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals, there have been fundamental transformations to African water and sanitation governance since the early 1990s. World Bank and International Monetary Fund structural adjustment policies have led to the adoption of neoliberal water reforms across large parts of the developing world, especially in urban regions of Africa. However, it is only in the last few years that the extent of the social, economic and political impacts of these reforms have begun to become apparent. An investigation has been made of the impacts of recent ly-adopted neoliberal reforms on water and sanitation development in an urban region of Zambia called the Copperbelt Province. Postcolonial theory and interdisciplinary approaches have been used to develop an analysis of neoliberal water policy impacts on: (1) provision of water supply and sanitation; (ii) the politics of development; and (iii) the history of uneven development in the Copperbelt. A critical analysis of neoliberal water and sanitation development reveals that, while the reforms have prompted greater conservation of water, there is continued water and sanitation poverty and widening inequality between the minority water-rich and majority water-poor populations. Also, scrutiny of the politics of water and sanitation development in the Copperbelt reveals that power is concentrated in the hands of a number of visible and less visible non-state actors, most notably the World Bank. These non-state actors are shown to have a considerable influence over decisions regarding the future of Copperbelt water governance. Analysis of neoliberal policies in relation to the history of development revealed the persistence of three key elements of uneven development: water and sanitation inequality; political marginalisation of the urban poor; and uneven power relations between Zambian and non-Zambian development actors. The resilience of these three dimensions of uneven development can be traced back to the policies and practices of British colonial water governance. A number of contributions to knowledge in this field of study have been made. This is one of the first analyses of the impacts of neoliberal water and sanitation development in Africa. It is also one of the first attempts to apply postcolonial theory to the study of an important material issue such as water and sanitation. It has given rise to serious questions over the applicability of neoliberal water reforms in urban Africa. It is concluded that policy makers need to consider the embedded, spatially inscribed, material inequalities that characterise many former European colonies in Africa, such as Zambia.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceEconomic and Social Research Council : Natural Environment Research CouncilGBUnited Kingdo

Palm oil not polar bears: climate change and development in Malaysian media

To date, debates about climate change reporting in national media focus largely on Western democracies. We aim to broaden the scope for cross‐national comparison by looking at climate change reporting in Malaysia – an emerging economy in the global South facing developmental tensions common to many, specifically an ambitious national climate change agenda in the face of an economy largely reliant on the extraction and export of primary commodities. Our questions are: How is climate change framed in Malaysian media? How do Malaysian narratives compare with those found elsewhere? How do climate change and development narratives interact in a ‘second tier’ emerging economy? And lastly, what do these interacting narratives say about the salience of neoliberal and North–South perspectives on climate change and development? To answer these questions, we undertook a content analysis of climate action stories published over a three‐year period (2009–2011) in five English‐language news sources. In addition to a high proportion of environmental‐framed articles across all the news sources, our findings show that climate change has been framed as both a multi‐scalar responsibility and a positive opportunity for two key stakeholders in development, i.e. neoliberal market forces and geopolitical actors keenly interested in restructuring the international political economy along lines reminiscent of the new international economic order (NIEO) demands of the 1970s. We label the key themes emergent from our analysis as climate capitalism and green nationalism (neither of which are unique to Malaysia), while demonstrating that debates about palm oil are particularly illustrative of the interaction of these themes in the Malaysian context. In the final section we suggest thinking of the interacting elements as a singular, structuralist model of green development – one reminiscent of discourses at work in other emerging economies

A Preliminary Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emission Trends in The Production and Consumption of Food in Malaysia

In the past decade, a small but growing body of research has drawn attention to the environmental concerns of rising greenhouse gas emissions associated with the consumption and production of food; this is an issue of increasing importance in Southeast Asia where rapid population growth is leading to year-on-year increases in food demand. To date, countries in Southeast Asia have shown little interest in addressing greenhouse gas emissions across the whole life cycle of food—production, processing, transportation, retailing, consumption, and final disposal—despite a growing awareness of climate change andits effects. This paper serves as a starting point to explore the relatively under-researched topic of greenhouse gas emission trends and the production and consumption of food in Southeast Asia, with particular focus on the Malaysian food sector. Previous research documenting greenhouse gas emissions from specific food products and components in the food supply chain has been used to determine the likely greenhouse gas ‘hotspots’ in Malaysia. The paper concludes by recommending the development of an overarching framework for Sustainable Food Systems in Malaysia and identifies specific areas of research to support this framework

Tackling wicked problems in the Malaysian water industry: A framework for university-industry research partnerships

Despite the relative abundance of rainfall and plentiful surface water resources, recent reports suggest that Malaysia is faced with the prospect of water scarcity.The predicted scarcity is less related to changes in rainfall patterns but in the diminishing availability of water resources and treatment capacity for urban populations, both of which are linked to the inadequacy of the current water management regime.Further to this, growing concerns over dilapidated infrastructure, urban water pollution, institutional weaknesses, and political interference to the implementation of recent water reforms have sought to characterize Malaysia’s modern day water industry.One way of addressing the current un sustainability of the water industry is for greater collaboration and partnership between the industry’s key players, including developing robust and relevant university-industry collaborative partnerships. To date, there is no evidence of a strategy to coordinate and integrate broad interests of industry and university stakeholders; instead, research tends to be done in an ad hoc manner, focused on specific technical issues without addressing some of the more fundamental and complex industry challenges.With this in mind, this paper aims to present the findings of a recent research project aimed at developing an interdisciplinary research framework for university-industry collaboration in the Malaysian water industry

Dissolved Organic Carbon Concentrations in an Oil Palm Plantation at South Selangor Peat Swamp Area, Malaysia

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a complex collection of organic carbon molecules produced as a result of plant or animal materials decay and dissolved in water. The DOC concentrations were monitored from May 2013 until October 2014 at an oil palm plantation on peat swamp area in South Selangor, Malaysia. Bimonthly samplings were made on groundwater (GW) in piezometers installed at different ages of oil palm blocks (1- to 14-year old) and their respective nearby drains (DW), collection drains (CD) and main drains (MD). Based on the 13 months sampling, the overall average DOC was 89.44mg L-1 which were higher by 85.1% and 31.5% respectively than those in severely drained disturbed peat swamp forest and intact peat swamp forest in Sebangau river basin, Central Kalimantan. Average DOC in GW at the 14-year�olds was the highest with 113.50mg L-1 while the lowest at the 4-year-olds with 18.41mg L-1. For the DW, average DOC was the highest at the 8-year-olds (107.15mg L-1) and lowest at the one-year-olds (24.12mg L-1). Overall average DOC in both GW and DW from blocks of less than 8-year-old were lower than those at the older blocks which could be due to higher biomass in older palms. Average DOC in DW at the 8-year oil palm area was also negatively correlated with dissolved oxygen (R2 =0.85) and surface water temperature (R2 =0.67) within the 1-year-olds. The DOC in DW was positively related to that in GW especially at the 8-year-olds (R2 = 0.77) while DOC in GW were higher than those from nearby drains, as DOC in the latter were diluted by direct rainfall. Hydrological factors such as precipitation, evaporation and temperature coupled with soil properties especially moisture increase DOC in peat. The above show that DOC follow seasonal pattern and storm events, and groundwater depth which determines soil moisture and fluctuations of GW affects DOC concentrations. The above trends of DOC seem to agree with studies in temperate and tropical areas

Co-producing a research agenda for sustainable palm oil

The rise of palm oil as the world’s most consumed vegetable oil has coincided with exponential growth in palm oil research activity. Bibliometric analysis of research outputs reveals a distinct imbalance in the type of research being undertaken, notably a disproportionate focus on biofuel and engineering topics. Recognizing the expansion of oil palm agriculture across the tropics and the increasing awareness of environmental, social, and economic impacts, we seek to reorientate the existing research agenda toward one that addresses the most fundamental and urgent questions defined by the palm oil stakeholder community. Following consultation with 659 stakeholders from 38 countries, including palm oil growers, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and researchers, the highest priority research questions were identified within 13 themes. The resulting 279 questions, including 26 ranked as top priority, reveal a diversity of environmental and social research challenges facing the industry, ranging from the ecological and ecosystem impacts of production, to the livelihoods of plantation workers and smallholder communities. Analysis of the knowledge type produced from these questions underscores a clear need for fundamental science programmes, and studies that involve the consultation of non-academic stakeholders to develop “transformative” solutions to the oil palm sector. Stakeholders were most aligned in their choice of priority questions across the themes of policy and certification related themes, and differed the most in environmental feedback, technology and smallholder related themes. Our recommendations include improved regional academic leadership and coordination, greater engagement with private and public stakeholders in Africa, and Central and South America, and enhanced collaborative efforts with researchers in the major consuming countries of India and China