Increasing production efficiency of irrigation systems through stakeholder participation

Abstract

Irrigation projects have elicited ambiguous views, if not outright animosity, during the past four decades. Aside from environmental and relocation concerns, low productivity is a source of criticism. Irrigation management systems in developing countries seem to have historically underperformed due to government control. Weak institutional arrangements have hindered effective and timely water distribution. There is widespread dissatisfaction with technocratic top-down programmes imposed with little community support. A rising recognition that more advanced engineering and information technologies are not the primary drivers of increased irrigation potential utilisation has resulted in an emphasis on farmer-led irrigation. Many developing countries have introduced reform instruments since the 1980s, with the most notable paradigm being a move from government control to participative management by stakeholders. This study looks into the situation in Cambodia where participation of farmers in managing irrigation schemes is being sought through the formation of Farmers Water Users Committees. The study quantifies the improvement in project performance with farmers’ participation through Farmers Water Users Committees and finds it significant. Furthermore, using difference-in-difference methodology, this research finds that the improvement is not a blip and is sustained over the medium term.

Impact of mindfulness on irrigation water consumption

“…In 1975, after this long neglect, "irrigation infrastructure was given priority, in fact too high a priority, when the genocidal Khmer Rouge came to power. Between 1975 and 1979, the provision of irrigation was taken to extremes and the whole population was effectively reduced to slave labor" (Asthana, 2022(Asthana, , p. 1064) in a rural programme of mainly irrigation works. During these 4 years, millions of Cambodians suffered forced labor, torture and starvation and mass executions causing the death of about 1.7 million Cambodians-approximately one quarter of the Cambodian population at that time (Stammel et al, 2020).…”

“…Policymakers usually estimate water conservation improvement of an irrigation project by increase in the command area. This increase in command area can be brought about at a high cost by better engineering; but often at low cost by better administrative arrangements (Asthana, 2022). The literature on behavioral response to water conservation usually assumes an irrigator to be homo economicus whose utility is a function of profit or often multiple attributes including risk aversion etc.…”

Does organizational support affect the governance performance of the farm irrigation system? Evidence from the Yellow River basin in China

“…However, farm irrigation systems are weakly exclusive and competitive within geographical areas or specific management scopes. Such cases may face challenges in the governance of common pool resources, including the risk of ‘some people use, but no one manages’ and ‘inefficient operation’ (Asthana, 2022; Janssen et al, 2011; Yang et al, 2018).…”