Disturbing ‘Development’: The Water Supply Conflict in Canhane, Mozambique

The Mozambican village of Canhane has been frequently cited as a successful case of ‘community development’. This is the result of the implementation of a ‘community-based’ tourism venture, which began in 2004. However, this positive image hides conflicting social processes that have been caused by the emergence of ‘untraditional’ modes in the village. This article shows how new perceptions of water and forms of its control, which were an outcome of the project's tourism ‘benefits’, are shaking up social relations in Canhane. With profound water shortages persisting in the village, its residents decided to invest revenue generated through tourism initiatives in a water supply system. Since its completion, however, the village has experienced apparently contradictory social upheaval. Although the water system is functioning, in practice it is not being used. Based on empirical fieldwork, this article addresses the reasons behind the water supply conflict in Canhane. By showing how inhabitants of Canhane responded to ‘tourism benefits’ and how these responses caused changes in customary practices of control over water, this article discusses how social organisation relies on spatial forms of the control of the commons and, in turn, the importance of such spatial forms of control for ordering the social.