Institutional Barriers and Enablers of Co-Production in Fragile Governance Contexts: Evidence from Zimbabwe
Keywords:
Participatory governance, Public value creation, Policy innovation, Stakeholder engagement, Civic space, Decision-making processes.Abstract
Introduction: Co-production is becoming more and more acknowledged as a governance technique to improve public policy's responsiveness, legitimacy, and inventiveness. However, its actual use is frequently influenced and limited by deeply ingrained institutional realities in fragile political contexts. Examining these processes is crucial given Zimbabwe's history of centralized decision-making, limited civic space, and inconsistent reform initiatives. This study examines the institutional enablers and barriers that impact co-production's efficacy in Zimbabwe from 2019 to 2023, with a particular emphasis on stakeholder capacity, political climate, and governance structures.
Methodology: A mixed-methods approach was used, combining structured questionnaires (n = 60) with semi-structured interviews (n = 35) targeting policymakers, civil society actors, and local governance representatives. Purposive and snowball sampling employed ensured representation across sectors and regions. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics in JASP, while qualitative data underwent thematic coding.
Results: Barriers to effective co-production included bureaucratic inertia, politicization of participatory spaces, weak legal structures for citizen engagement, and limited stakeholder resources. These restraints often led to tokenistic consultations rather than genuine power-sharing. Conversely, enabling factors emerged were decentralised decision-making, supported by legal mandates, civic education initiatives, and donor-funded capacity-building programmes. Successful cases, such as participatory budgeting pilots and community-driven local development plans demonstrated that institutional support combined with inclusive facilitation could overcome entrenched obstacles.
Conclusion: The success of co-production in situations with fragile governance is significantly influenced by the institutional context. In Zimbabwe, embedding co-production in statutory frameworks, protecting civic space, and investing in stakeholder capacity are essential to transform symbolic participation into meaningful policy influence. These findings offer lessons for other politically constrained settings seeking to institutionalise collaborative governance.