The sacred groves along the forest belts of south India, which were traditionally managed by village communities, are gradually disappearing. This study conducts an analysis of how this community‐based resource management institution has evolved over time and what socio‐economic factors have caused its gradual disintegration. Commercial agriculture, changing demographics and weak property‐rights systems are found to be some of the enabling factors. While the grass‐roots enthusiasm to save the sacred groves is still alive, government action is needed to strengthen the traditional village organizations, which are still perhaps in the best position to manage local resources. Several economic and financial incentive mechanisms at the local level that might lead to more efficient and equitable resource use outcomes are suggested.

The potential of smallholder-irrigated agriculture to enhance food security and improve livelihoods has led the government of Ethiopia to invest significantly in irrigation establishment. This article aims to investigate the impact of small-scale irrigation on households' livelihood. To deal with the problems of purposive targeting and self-selection which are likely to occur for this type of intervention, we use a sophisticated econometric technique called 'propensity score matching' to study this impact. Our findings confirm the presence of a statistically significant difference in income, overall expenditure, asset accumulation and expenditures on agricultural inputs between the treated and control households. In contrast, no statistically significant differences in livestock resources, food consumption, and expenditure on education and health were found. Furthermore, the proportion of poor is respectively 20 and 30% for the treated and control households. So, overall it can be concluded that participation in the small-scale irrigation has robust and positive effect on most of the livelihood indices and that an expansion of irrigation schemes is a good strategy in the water-stressed and drought-prone areas of Ethiopia. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. RÉSUMÉLe potentiel de l'agriculture irriguée à améliorer la sécurité alimentaire et améliorer les moyens de subsistance des petits exploitants a conduit le gouvernement éthiopien à investir de manière significative dans l'établissement d'irrigation. Cet article vise à étudier l'impact de l'irrigation à petite échelle sur les moyens de subsistance des ménages. Pour faire face aux problèmes de ciblage téléologique et d'auto-sélection qui sont susceptibles de se produire pour ce type d'interventions, nous utilisons une technique économétrique sophistiqué appelée score de propension pour étudier cet impact. Nos résultats confirment la présence d'une différence statistiquement significative dans le revenu, les dépenses globales, l'accumulation d'actifs et des dépenses sur les intrants agricoles entre les ménages traités et de contrôle. Nous n'avons par contre pas trouvé de différence sur ressources en cheptel, la consommation alimentaire et les dépenses d'éducation et de santé. En outre, la proportion de pauvres est respectivement 20 et 30% pour les ménages traités et de contrôle. Donc, dans l'ensemble, on peut conclure que la participation à l'irrigation à petite échelle a un effet robuste et positif sur la plupart des indices de subsistance et que l'expansion des systèmes d'irrigation est une bonne stratégie pour gérer les stress hydrique et la sécheresse régions d'Ethiopie.

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Negative externalities in groundwater irrigation arise due to overdraft of groundwater leading to premature well failure, and reduced yield and age/life of wells. A watershed development program aiming at recharging aquifers, facilitating sustainable groundwater use, is the focus of this study. Primary survey data from farmers using groundwater for irrigation in a dry land watershed in peninsular India are analysed. Results indicate that, even after considering (i) amortized cost of watershed, (ii) amortized cost per acre-inch of groundwater, and (iii) electricity cost of groundwater extraction, the net returns in watershed are economically viable. This can aid policy-makers, addressing groundwater overdraft leading to negative externalities, reach solutions with the assistance of a watershed development program enhancing groundwater recharge in dryland areas in developing countries.

Historically the temple forests in India have served many spiritual and religious purposes. This paper stresses on the use of the underused repertoire of sacred acts to integrate the benefits of temple forests in rural development. The tree/plant species, planting design and the rituals related to their worship documented in the great epics, vedas and upanishads are of great value especially in the context of promoting forest development and the forest development led agricultural development. The Star, Planet and Zodiac forests contain a large number of native tree species ideally suited to tropical stress and drought. The promotion of temple forests would help developing forests in the upstream areas which can help create climax forests and aid in soil and moisture conservation to help improve the productivity of downstream agriculture. As the chief utilitarian value of these temple trees and plants is in terms of the native (ayurvedic) medicine, their propagation would not only develop the downsteam farming opportunities, but also promote the native medicine sector.