Berg, Torsten Rødel. 2004. "Irrigation Management in Nepal: Livelihoods Diversification and Institutional Responses." Presented at "The Commons in an Age of Global Transition: Challenges, Risks and Opportunities," the Tenth Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Oaxaca, Mexico, August 9-13.

Abstract

From introduction:
"Globalisation and economic integration is strongly associated with local, regional and global markets. In the case of rural Nepal it would appear that resultant changes chiefly manifest themselves in livelihoods diversification and demographic transition through migration, at a rather rapid pace. This raises the question of the extent to which irrigation institutions are affected if agriculture is no longer central to people's livelihoods? The question is particularly relevant because current irrigation management approaches and the agricultural policies on which they are based do not reflect increased complexities. This suggests a need for examination of common property institutions in terms that go beyond their institutional capacity, to include both socio-economic circumstances and the livelihood strategies played out within institutional, social and economic contexts.

"The issue of how external forces may influence common property institutions has generally focused on penetration of government authority, legal pluralism and focused on tensions between formal legislative and regulatory frameworks and the traditional laws of collective institutions, with concern that dominance by the former may lead to erosion of capacity for collective action. Concern with the disappearance of indigenous management and technological skills is particularly evident in the case of irrigation in Nepal, where a great deal of research, by seeking to define factors of success, organisational form, functions and logics has sought to reverse a trend towards governmentalisation of irrigation management."