Policy, Science and Society Interaction

Abstract

Irrigated agriculture is undergoing rapid change and is facing issues related to climate change, population growth, consumption patterns, competition for resources and cost of development. The challenge is whether water availability for irrigation along with rainfed production will be sufficient to meet growing food demand and improve global food security. Traditionally governments have been responsible for developments in the irrigation sector through planning, design and construction of projects. Trends toward decentralization, fiscal crisis and growth of the private sector have led government to divest some of its role to user organizations and the private sector. This has been known as the participatory approach to irrigation management and has been adopted widely by many countries with a range of institutional arrangements. Many irrigation and drainage schemes worldwide perform below their capacity. To modernize and improve this capacity will require innovation and technical advancement, but in addition issues of policy, governance, management and institution must be addressed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Advancing irrigation development in the European Union*

“…Globally, governments have been responsible for developing irrigation systems through planning, design, and construction (Nikkels et al ., 2019). With the decentralized irrigation system planning, the state handed over the responsibility of developing LIS to associations of users and the private sector, which increased the role of the private sector (Tollefson et al ., 2014). The current approach to the transfer of LIS planning and design from the state to the stakeholder initiative is LIS development that is based on user needs.…”

Resource asymmetry and property rights in agricultural drainage systems: Implications for collective action

“…Drainage management is a challenge across the world, making it a topic of relevance for both practice and policy (Abdeldayem et al 2005). Paradoxically, however, drainage has become a 'forgotten factor' in international water discourse as a theme and a concern (Scheumann and Freisem 2002;Abdeldayem et al 2005;Tollefson et al 2014). Scholars argue that unlike irrigation management, for which institutional arrangements abound, institutions for managing agricultural drainage are lacking (Scheumann and Freisem 2002;Schleyer 2009).…”