Institutional Strategies for Adaptation to Water Stress in Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems of Nepal

Abstract

Institutions governing common-pool resources have survived decades of global change with mixed performance. However, we have limited knowledge on how local institutions cope with and adapt to combined environmental and socioeconomic changes. Using the case of 12 farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) in Central and Western Nepal, this paper explores the institutional coping and adaptation mechanisms to water stress. We find that local irrigation institutions manage water stress using diverse and integrated approaches broadly categorized as structural and operational measures. Structural measures include water-source expansion and infrastructure rehabilitation works whereas water reallocation and drought continency rules are examples of operational measures. We find that integration of structural and operational measures is more prevalent in highly water-stressed irrigation systems than in less stressed ones. The choice of adaptation strategies has direct implications for agricultural productivity. FMIS that implemented structural measures harvested more crops per year than those systems that adopted only operational strategies or no adaptation strategies. However, the marginal benefit of adopting adaptation measures is particularly pronounced in waterstressed systems. Climate variability and change act as a threat multiplier because they compound the existing threats the FMIS face from social and economic changes. The key to effective integration of structural and operational measures that help FMIS to maintain their productivity during water stress are collective action and governance to overcome biophysical limitations.

Integrating Institutions with Local Contexts in Community-Based Irrigation Governance: A Qualitative Systematic Review of Variables, Combinations, and Effects

“…Notably, these studies compose the mainstream scholarship that has initiated and dominated most community-based irrigation governance research. Second, from a broader ecological perspective, scholars also paid direct attention to the utilization of water resources and ecological conservation, concerning how biophysical, ecological, socioeconomic, and managerial factors affect the economic and ecological performance of a community-based irrigation system, such as efficiency and equity of water delivery and use (McCord et al, 2017;Ruttan, 2006;Trawick, 2002;Uphoff & Wijayaratna, 2000;Yu et al, 2016), agricultural production (Norman, 1997;Thapa & Scott, 2019;Villamayor-Tomas, 2014;Yercan et al, 2009), and ecological externality to other ecological systems (Bahinipati & Viswanathan, 2019). In this line of inquiry, the local community-based irrigation systems are regarded as part of the broader water resources and ecological system (Lam & Chiu, 2016;Cody, 2019), of which scholars are particularly concerned about the sustainability.…”

Institutional Performance of Collective Irrigation Systems: A Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis in the Nile Delta of Egypt

“…+ For small group size and small irrigated size, we specify the point of full membership (a score of 1) and the point full non-membership (a score of 0) based on the local knowledge of the agricultural extension engineers of Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. Schneider and Wagemann [61] indicate that when assigning thresholds of the fuzzy set scale, researchers should rely on knowledge that is external to the data at hand. The crossover point (a score of 0.5) is specified as the middle point between both thresholds.…”

“…In the context where resource location does not provide alternative sources for extracting water, resource users are more likely to engage in collective actions [31,61].…”

Factors Motivating Farmers for Collective Action for Management of Irrigation System in Nepal

“…Individuals to be rational always try to maximize their utility either they are involved in a group or not and if the group activities are not sufficiently monitored individuals tend to break the rules to maximize their utility leading to a great disharmony and disorientation in the group (Weirich, 2008). In many water user associations gradual decrease in enthusiasm for collective action for management of the irrigation system (Thapa and Scott, 2019). This study tries to understand the strategies adopted by the irrigation system water user group or the factors related to the irrigation system and its user group that determine the collective management of the irrigation system.…”