AAMR Fellows

After graduating with a BSc Honors degree in Psychology with the University of Zimbabwe in 2009, I furthered my studies focusing on the human-environment nexus, an area which left me being a holder of a Master of Science degree in Social Ecology in 2013 with the University of Zimbabwe. After realising the close link between change in milieu and human behaviour, I decided to explore current trends in human behaviour that have been driven by global changes in economic and spatial changes. A doctoral project on agrarian and water issues brought me face to face with rural farmers abandoned by migrant husbands to neighbouring countries. This drove me into becoming an aamr fellow working on the instrumental role played by technology and communication in keeping bonds between migrants and their 'remaining behind' spouses. My interest in this particular area of study was developed after observing that Guyu-Chelesa was a high male migration zone, there was therefore need to understand how these male migrants kept their family ties intact. I made this realization during my PhD studies in Water Institutions, where the participation of women in such institutions were brought to light. I completed PhD with the University of Zimbabwe in 2020.

My initial entry into research was when I studied gender and health related practices as I worked on women's coping strategies, particularly focusing on their sexual coping strategies, during my BSc Honors in Psychology studies. I later on continued focusing on gender but instead I took an agrarian and water resources approach to the analysis. The water resources management research gave me some hands-on experience in river basin planning and irrigation institutions and management. From a different angle my gender work covered gender and the implications of academic titling in higher institutions of learning. I also ventured into migration, gender and generations where I focused on the cultural implications of migration and remittances on particular ethnic groups. Currently, I have widened my research work to cover aspects of migration, gender, communication and technology. I aspire to work more on the implications of migration on gender and social relationships in rural contexts.

(a) Emelder Tagutanazvo, Vupenyu T. Dzingirai, Everisto Mapedza and Barbara Van Koppen (2015). ‘Gender Dynamics in Water Governance Institutions: The case of Gwanda's Guyu-Chelesa Irrigation Scheme in Zimbabwe’, WH2O Journal 4 (1): 55-64.
(b) Kazbekov, J., Tagutanazvo, E. and Lautze, J., (2016). ‘A Global Assessment of Basin Plans: Definitions, Lessons, Recommendations’. Water Policy, 18 (2): 368-386.
(c) Everisto Mapedza, Emelder Tagutanazvo and Barbara Van Koppen (2017). ‘Gender Representation and Collective Action in Institutions of Water Resources Management in Matrilineal Societies of Malawi’, Routledge
(d) Emelder Tagutanazvo, Vupenyu Dzungirai and Everisto Mapedza (2019. ‘Women’s Participation in Water Resources Management Institutions in Zimbabwe: The Case of Guyu-Chelesa Irrigation scheme’, ZAMBEZIA.
(e) Emelder Tagutanazvo, Vupenyu Dzingirai and Kefasi Nyikahadzoi (2018). ‘The Nature of Gender Representation in Water Resources Management Institutions: The case of Guyu-Chelesa Irrigaton Scheme, Gwanda, Zimbabwe’, ZAMBEZIA.
(f) Tagutanazvo E. and Bowora J. (2019). ‘Institutions and Sustainability of Community Borehole Water Supplies in Chiredzi Rural District, Zimbabwe’, WH2O.
(g) Tagutanazvo E. (2019). ‘The Position of Women in Water Resources Management Institutions in Southern Africa’, Lambert Publishing.
(h) Tagutanazvo E. M (2021). ‘Gender Dynamics, Academic Titling and Leadership’, University of Zimbabwe, Pending.
(i) Tagutanazvo E, Dzingirai V. (2022). ‘A child is born: Gender, remittances and Patrimony: The case of Chivi District in Zimbabwe’, Journal of African and Asian Stusies. Pending.