Suchergebnisse

In IIMI, Participatory management in Sri Lanka's irrigation schemes. Digana Village via Kandy, Sri Lanka: IIMI

This paper presents a simulation of world-systems theory's iteration model of early human societies. The polities modeled are composed of sedentary foragers and/or simple horticulturalists that rely upon basic subsistence technologies and display low levels of internal differentiation. World-systems theory's iteration model integrates several processes of demographic regulation: environmental constraints, migration, intra-polity conflict, and inter-polity warfare. Computer simulation of this model reveals that different degrees of resource richness, land area, and initial population size have important effects on the average population levels and the behavior of interacting polities. A well-known ecological phenomenon, "the paradox of enrichment," emerges when polities interact through warfare. Variations in the size and resources of local and regional areas, along with climatic variation, provide explanations of patterns of warfare in such systems. Finally, to make the iteration model compatible with other existing simulations of early human societal demographic regulation, we demonstrate that the ability of polities to regulate fertility has large consequences for both population sizes and inter-polity relations. A simulation of the world-systems iteration model would provide insights about how world-system dynamics produce selection pressures for the emergence of technological development, interpolity trade, and within-polity hierarchy, but these are subsequent steps. Our initial simulation holds technology and social organization constant in order to examine the demographic consequences of resource use and competition among polities for resources.

Drip irrigation, in its various forms, is the dominant mode of micro-irrigation in India. The benefits of these technologies in water scarce regions have been widely studied all over the world. A review of literature on drip-irrigation technologies strongly suggests that there are significant financial, economic and social benefits in the adoption of these technolgoies. In the Maikaal region of Central India, a grassroots innovation called 'Pepsee' has become a popular choice for farmers. At less than half the cost of conventional drip systems, this innovation promises comparable returns. What is most interesting is that while government and non-government agencies have struggled to promote water-saving technologies across the country, the people in this area have adapted and adopted these technologies on their own. This paper looks at the various aspects of this grassroots innovation, its spread, adoption behavior and impacts. The authors find that while Pepsee and other water-saving technolgoies do lead to farm level improvements in water efficiency, they will not contribute to system level 'real' water saving unless a favorable policy environment encourages their adoptin on a large scale.

Examines the extent to which the Government of Indonesia's aspirations were realized through turnover program adopted in 1987. The impacts of management turnover on irrigation management and irrigated agriculture in selected systems in West and Central Java are analyzed. This study is part of a comparative research program to examine the impacts of irrigation management transfer in several countries using a common methodology.

From the mountains of South America to the deserts of northern Africa to the islands of south Asia, people have devised myriad ways of moving water to sustain their communities and nourish their crops. Many of these irrigation methods have been used over long periods of time and continue to function in diverse ecological and sociopolitical contexts. This book presents case studies and comparative essays about local institutions for managing water resources. Drawn from around the globe, the cases clearly demonstrate that "indigenous" irrigation is often more sustainable, cost-effective, and flexible than has been generally believed. The contributors discuss a wide range of environments, cultural traditions, and historical contexts in which such systems operate, maintaining a common focus on incentives for cooperation, operational rules, collective-choice arrangements, principles of allocation, and conflict-resolution mechanisms. Canals and Communities can serve as a sourcebook for social scientists and development planners investigating the cultural ecology of irrigated agriculture, the ethnology of cooperative social formations, the politics of collective-resource institutions, and the sociology of rural development. The book also provides examples and generalizations about the cross-cultural characteristics of sustainable water resource management and intensive agriculture. Aside from its theoretical contributions to human ecology and anthropology, the book is of practical importance to development studies. The cases it presents make a convincing argument for perpetuating small-scale irrigation systems as part of the world's repertoire of irrigation knowledge and resources. CONTENTS Introduction The Ethnology of Irrigation: Cross-Cultural Characteristics of Local Water Management, Jonathan B. Mabry Patterns of Cooperation and Conflict in Local Irrigation 1. La Gente es Muy Perra: Conflict and Cooperation over Irrigation Water in Cucurpe, Sonora, Mexico, Thomas E. Sheridan 2. Dhasheeg Agriculture in the Jubba Valley of Somalia, Catherine Besteman 3. The Dry and the Drier: Cooperation and Conflict in Moroccan Irrigation, John R. Welch 4. The Political Ecology of Irrigation in an Andean Peasant Community, Paul H. Gelles Methods and Models for Analyzing Local Irrigation 5. Rapid Rural Appraisal of Arid Land Irrigation: A Moroccan Example, John R. Welch, Jonathan B. Mabry, and Hsain Ilahiane 6. Simulation Modelling of Balinese Irrigation, J. Stephen Lansing 7. Institutional Innovation in Small-Scale Irrigation Networks: A Cape Verdean Case, Mark W. Langworthy and Timothy J. Finan Development Lessons from Local Irrigation 8. Qanats and Rural Societies: Sustainable Agriculture and Irrigation Cultures in Contemporary Iran, Michael E. Bonine 9. The Utility of Tradition in Sri Lankan Bureaucratic Irrigation: The Case of the Kirindi Oya Project, Pamela Stanbury 10. The Relevance of Indigenous Irrigation: A Comparative Analysis of Sustainability, Jonathan B. Mabry and David A. Cleveland Conclusion The Hydraulics of History: Evolutionary Trajectories of Local and Centralized Irrigation, Jonathan B. Mabry

In Awulachew, Seleshi Bekele; Loulseged, Makonnen; Yilma, Aster Denekew (Comps.). Impact of irrigation on poverty and environment in Ethiopia: draft proceedings of the symposium and exhibition, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 27-29 November 2007. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). ; This paper examines the institutional arrangements that facilitate irrigation management and the present state of irrigation management and establishes where problems have occurred in the operation of Gibe-Lemu and Gambela-Terre Small-scale irrigation systems. The study employed the case study approach to tackle the research. Key informant and expert interview, desk review of different documents produced about the projects, group discussion, direct observation and structured interview schedule were used to collect data. The study proved the proposition that the government has uncritically supported the irrigation systems. Enabling legal system of land and water rights, strong woreda level state irrigation agency, support services (irrigation extension) and wellestablished water users associations through which purposes of irrigation are achieved were not adequately planned and put in place. These shortcomings undermined irrigation management, ultimately risked feasibility and sustainability of irrigated agriculture. Findings revealed poor record of accomplishment, in spite of the difference between the two systems, in managing water distribution in terms of the three most important performance indicators: adequacy, reliability and equity in water distribution. Water related conflicts are rampant but not settled yet. In addition, results indicated that irrigation had positively impacted irrigators? livelihoods in terms of diversification and intensification of crop production, household income, housing and employment generation and this social effect of irrigation was significantly different between irrigation systems (due to difference in the institutional and socioeconomic context of the two irrigation systems) and locations within irrigation systems. Nonetheless, many irrigators did not maintain these positive changes for long. The constraints were scarcity and unreliability of water and management and socioeconomic problems. These, in turn, were mediated by lack of: a) clearly defined and well enforced institutions of land and water rights; b) technical problems in design and construction; c) inadequate institutional capacity of the local state irrigation agency to coordinate and support decentralized management of irrigation; d) policy related problems; e) inadequate organization of users for self management; and f) problematic social relation of power among water users. Finally, the paper draws a number of conclusions, using the theoretical notions like context, social requirement for use, social effects and social construction, about policy options and requirements in the readjustment of the surveyed irrigation systems and in the design of irrigation projects of these types.

In Manor, S.; Patamatamkul, S.; Olin, M. (Eds.) Role of social organizers in assisting farmer-managed irrigation systems: Proceedings of a Regional Workshop of the Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems Network held at Khon Kaen, Thailand from 15-20 May 1989

In Village tanks of South Asia: Papers and proceedings of the Regional Workshop, Madurai, India, March 6-8, 2002. Madurai, India: DHAN Foundation

The underlying causes of rural poverty are many in Ethiopia, however, the persistent fluctuation in the amount and distribution of rainfall is considered as a major contributing factor. Cognizant of this reality the successive Ethiopian governments, NGOs and farmers have made considerable investments in small-scale irrigation systems. This paper analyzes the efficacy of these investments in reducing poverty based on data obtained from a survey of 1024 farmers drawn from four major regional states of Ethiopia. The Foster, Greer and Thorbecke poverty indices were used to compare the incidence, depth and severity of poverty among groups of farmers defined by relevant policy variables including access to irrigation. Logistic regression model was fitted to explore the correlates of rural poverty. The main conclusion of the study is that poverty is affected more by the intensity of irrigation use than mere access to irrigation and there seem to be an economy of scale in the poverty-irrigation nexus.

During the past decade, smallholder groundwater irrigation with motor pumps has increased considerably in Zambia. The present study analyzes an important, but hitherto ignored, factor for adoption: the supply chain of imported motor pumps. Findings include types of pumps; organization of import, wholesale and retail, including after-sales services; fiscal measures (import duty waiver and VAT zero rating); prices of pumps; and financing facilities to the farmers. The main obstacles for farmers were found to be: the highly centralized supply chain and financing facilities in urban hubs; lack of information, also about prices, which vary significantly even for the same make and model of pump; lack of information and training about proper use and maintenance; and lack of financing facilities. The Zambia National Farmers Union seems best placed to remove these obstacles.