Since the 1980s a major change took place in public policies for water resources management. This interdisciplinary research examines how this water reform process unfolds within four African waterscapes that are historically constituted by natural and social processes. This study analyzes the interplay between public policies designed and implemented by government agencies and the institutions that govern access to and control over water resources among groups of agricultural water users. The findings of this research show that water policy in only a limited extent leads to progressive institutional change concerning agricultural water use.

1. An introduction
2. Assessment of the potential for hydro-solidarity within plural legal conditions of traditional irrigation systems in northern Tanzania
3. Contested water rights in post-apartheid South Africa: The struggle for water at catchment level
4. The question of inclusion and representation in rural South Africa: Challenging the concept of water user associations as a vehicle for transformation
5. Why infrastructure still matters: Unravelling water reform processes in an uneven waterscape in rural Kenya
6. Jumping the water queue: Changing waterscapes under water reform processes in rural Zimbabwe
7. Discussion and conclusions: From water reform policies to water resource configurations

Jeltsje Sanne Kemerink-Seyoum holds a lecturer position in Water Governance with the department of Integrated Water Systems and Governance at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, The Netherlands. Kemerink obtained a master degree in civil engineering from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands with a specialization in river engineering and management. For her PhD research, Kemerink conducted research on the interplay between policies and institutions within four African waterscapes and how this is affected by changes in water legislation. Her research interests include understanding institutional change processes that govern water use, constitutive processes of socio-nature within waterscapes and water politics.