The Southern Africa Trust funded this critical research by partners Good Governance Africa and the Centre for Natural Resource Governance, conducted in two phases during 2022 and 2025, to examine community-centered resource governance as Zimbabwe's Cabora Bassa Basin oil and gas project moves from exploration to potential production.
Through community-based fieldwork in Mbire and Muzarabani districts, the study reveals how communities facing extreme poverty (88.4% in some wards) and acute climate vulnerability remain excluded from decision-making about resources on their land. Despite sitting atop estimated reserves of 9.25 trillion cubic feet of gas and nearly 300 million barrels of oil, residents report that employment access depends on political affiliation rather than merit, with only two people from Mbire employed at project sites.
The research exposes critical gaps that risk replicating Zimbabwe's historical pattern where extractive wealth fails to translate into community development. Yet it goes beyond documentation of harm to amplify community voices articulating clear priorities: transparent benefit-sharing mechanisms, merit-based employment systems, meaningful continuous engagement beyond traditional leadership, and strategic investments in climate adaptation and essential infrastructure. Women respondents specifically call for gender mainstreaming to address mining's disproportionate impacts on women and girls, including increased gender-based violence and economic exploitation.
This study demonstrates that inclusive resource governance is both possible and necessary—offering practical pathways for investors and government to build genuine social license while creating shared prosperity in communities that have suffered decades of marginalization.