Assessing Effectiveness and Sustainability of Communitymanaged Informal Irrigation in Africa: A Comparative Institutional Analysis of “Temporary" Irrigation in Malawi
Assessing Effectiveness and Sustainability of Communitymanaged Informal Irrigation in Africa: A Comparative Institutional Analysis of “Temporary" Irrigation in Malawi
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评估非洲社区管理的非正式灌溉的有效性和可持续性：马拉维“临时”灌溉的比较制度分析
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发表时间：
2011
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Mine Sato
中科院分区：
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作者：
Atsushi Hanatani;Mine Sato
自2000年初以来，马拉维农民广泛采用了一种以群体为基础的非正式灌溉方式，灌溉面积很小，平均不到两公顷。这项技术被称为“临时”灌溉，利用农民自己的劳动力和当地可用的材料建造河流导流结构和运河，这些都是由非正式的“俱乐部”管理的。本文试图从受益者的角度评估这一技术的有效性和可持续性，采用一个分析框架，侧重于产权和集体行动，将其作为影响技术选择和采用的关键因素。对Dowa地区选定的非正规灌溉案例进行比较研究后发现，尽管对土地和水缺乏有保障的保有权，农民也缺乏强有力的集体行动激励措施，但临时灌溉满足了大部分有效性标准，从而促进了技术推广。这是因为资源相对丰富，而且至少到目前为止存在的灌溉设施是临时性的。但是，非正规灌溉技术的“成功”正在改变资源的性质：在溪流中的水变得稀缺的地方，河岸土地已经商品化，临时引水结构已经升级为永久性结构。确保临时灌溉可持续性所需的具体政策措施应包括：（1）提供农业推广服务，以提高灌溉的利润，（2）促进全流域的流域管理，包括为利益攸关方提供解决冲突的对话机会，同时提高用水效率，以确保公平获得生产资源，（3）在深入理解农民采取集体行动的动机（成本和收益）的基础上，谨慎地加强用水者协会。
Since early 2000, a type of group-based informal irrigation for irrigating a very small area – less than two hectares on average, has seen widespread adoption among Malawian farmers. The technology, called “temporary” irrigation, uses farmers’ own labor and locally available materials for constructing river diversion structures and canals, and these are managed by informal “clubs.” This paper attempts to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of this technology from the beneficiaries’ point of view, by employing an analytical framework that focuses on property rights and collective action as critical factors affecting technology choice and adoption. A comparative examination of selected informal irrigation cases in the Dowa district reveals that, in spite of the absence of secure tenure over land and water and of strong collective-action incentives among farmers, temporary irrigation has satisfied most of the effectiveness criteria and thus has contributed to technological expansion. This is attributable to the relative resource affluence and temporary nature of irrigation facilities which have existed at least up to the present. But the very “success” of the informal irrigation technology is changing the nature of the resources: where water in the streams has become scarce, river-bank lands have been commoditized and temporary diversion structures have been upgraded to permanent structures. Specific policy measures necessary to ensure sustainability of temporary irrigation should include: 1) provision of agronomic extension services to improve the profitability of irrigation, 2) promotion of basin-wide watershed management including provision of opportunities for stakeholder dialogues for conflict resolution while improving water use efficiency to enable secure and equitable access to productive resources, and 3) a cautious approach in strengthening water users’ associations based on deeper understandings of the farmers’ incentives (cost and benefit) for taking collective action.