ABSTRACT

Environmental justice is a burgeoning subject that dominates debates around climate change the world over. Scientists, environmentalists and ethicists have expended tremendous efforts and resources in a bid to address environmental issues. Whilst their efforts are not in vain, what appears to be obtaining is that there seems to be a missing link between what indigenous religion can do in terms of environment management and justice, and efforts by Environmental Management Agency (EMA) in Zimbabwe. This missing link is the lacuna that the study intends to fill in, as it seeks to bring to the fore the role of indigenous religion as enunciated in a people’s indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in environmental issues by assessing the activities of EMA (or simply the Agency). The question is: How effective are the laws (power) that enforce the activities of EMA vis-à-vis the religio-cultural knowledge systems that used to control environmental issues? The research makes use of the qualitative design, in-depth interviews and observation methods. The study argues that EMA ought to embrace the situatedness and culturedness of the people in addressing environmental challenges in Zimbabwe. EMA’s activities must be informed by the decolonisation agenda where indigenous knowledge systems deserve recognition and acceptance for environmental justice.