Performance assessment, irrigation service delivery and poverty reduction: benefits of improved system management

Abstract

Effective irrigation service provides the environment for productive and sustainable agriculture vital for incomes and employment, economic growth and lifting people out of, and keeping them out of, poverty. Poorly managed irrigation can have the opposite effect. Irrigation performance assessment is an important management tool to aid in providing sound service. Performance assessment in irrigation and drainage is the systematic observation, documentation and interpretation of activities related to irrigated agriculture with the objective of continuous improvement. In this paper we provide basic concepts of performance assessment, then pay particular attention to aspects of performance assessment and service provision related to poverty alleviation. Particularly important are the management specifications for irrigation service, providing rules for access to water and payment for service. Inequitable access to water and poverty in irrigation are related to the degree to which specifications are met; who is included and excluded from the specifications; and whether specifications encompass the multiple uses and users of water. Primary focus for irrigation service has typically been given to irrigated crop farmers. For poverty alleviation, service provision and related performance assessment programmes need to give due attention to the many other people dependent on irrigation water including the landless, livestock keepers, fishermen and domestic water users. Advances in performance assessment techniques are needed in this area. Copyright lutter contre la pauvreté, la fourniture du service et les programmes d'évaluation des performances doivent prêter une plus grande attention aux nombreuses autres personnes qui dépendent de l'irrigation, tels que paysans sans terre, pasteurs, pêcheurs, et usagers d'eau domestiques. Les techniques d'évaluation des performances doivent faire des progrès dans ce secteur.

A remote sensing-based irrigation performance assessment: a case study of the Office du Niger in Mali

“…Water may fail to reach the irrigators at the tail of a canal due to poor condition of control structures, illegal water use by irrigators, or poor irrigation management (see e.g. Molden et al 2001). The spatial estimates of water consumption and rice yields provide objective and unbiased data to quantify potential head-tail problems.…”

“…Improved water management is therefore required for an efficient use of the available resources to maximise the productivity of water. An effective service to irrigators in terms of adequate and reliable water supplies is a key determinant in sustaining and increasing agricultural production (Molden et al 2001).…”

“…Murray-Rust and Snellen (1993) and Molden et al (2001) describe several ways how, and for which purpose, irrigation performance tools can be applied. Operational performance assessments describe the functioning of operational management processes.…”

Evaluation of the Water Allocation and Delivery Performance of Jiamakou Irrigation Scheme, Shanxi, China

“…Performance evaluation of the irrigation scheme has been carried out for different purposes, such as performing diagnostic analysis [5,6], understanding irrigation behavior and general irrigation trends [7], and comparing the performance of one irrigation scheme with another [8,9]. Evaluation indicators can be categorized into two main groups: external and internal performance.…”

Revisiting dominant notions: a review of costs, performance and institutions of small reservoirs in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Assessment of irrigation performance is often seen as an important management tool to aid irrigation projects to deliver on their promises (Molden et al 2007). Performance assessments have long been managerial in nature and limited to hydraulic, agronomic and economic indicators.…”