Browsing by Author "Merrey, Douglas J."

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African Models for Transnational River Basin Organisations in Africa: An Unexplored Dimension
(2009) Merrey, Douglas J.
"One of the many legacies of colonialism in Africa is the multiplicity of river basins shared by two or more – and often far more – countries. Since changing national boundaries is not an option, African governments have no choice but to develop transnational institutions for developing shared water resources. Therefore, one finds a plethora of bilateral and multilateral committees, commissions, and authorities intended to facilitate agreements for infrastructural investments, management of water flows (quantity and quality), and response to disasters, especially floods. These efforts are supported by – indeed often, at least behind the scenes, driven by – western and international development partners. With few exceptions, the results to date are not impressive, as governments drag their feet on ratifying or implementing agreements and investing in creating the necessary institutional infrastructure, and donors’ funds go unspent because such agreements are conditions precedent for investment. Despite the work done by many international and local non‐government organisations (NGOs) as well as some governments, hardly any of the residents of African river basins are aware of these commissions. All of them are based on organisational models derived from western experiences and governing principles and are created by inter‐governmental agreements. The citizens residing in the basin are rarely consulted. In some cases,powerful national hydraulic bureaucracies seek to control the process in an effort to gain leverage over infrastructural investments. There is a body of literature seeking to explain the ineffectiveness of transnational river basin management to date, largely based on political science, sociology and economics. Some but not all observers are concerned with the degree of democracy in the political process. This paper addresses a dimension that has received very little attention and therefore complements the existing literature. It explores the hypothesis that transnational river basin management institutions will achieve a higher degree of legitimacy and effectiveness in the long run if they are based on African institutional models rather than pursuing the current approach of imposing external models. This assumes the existence of local African indigenous models or principles that can be adapted to such large‐scale hydraulic institutions. The paper argues this may indeed be the case though more detailed research is needed to document them, and a creative consultative political process would be needed to build on these foundations."
Assessing Water Availability under Pastoral Livestock Systems in Drought-prone Isiolo District, Kenya
(2006) Mati, Bancy M.; Muchiri, John M.; Njenga, Kennedy; Penning de Vries, F.W.T.; Merrey, Douglas J.
"This paper is based on a study conducted in Isiolo District of Kenya between 2002 and 2003 in collaboration with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology; the Ministry of Water Resources Management and Development-District Water Office, Isiolo; the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development-Isiolo and Meru Dryland Farming Project. The study received the support from Catholic Organization for Relief and Development (Cordaid). The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) provided support for the preparation of this publication. Names of government ministries have been retained as they were at the time of the study."
Costs and Performance of Irrigation Projects: A Comparison of Sub-Saharan Africa and Other Developing Regions
(2007) Inocencio, A.; Kikuchi, Masao; Tonosaki, Manabu; Maruyama, Atsushi; Merrey, Douglas J.; Sally, Hilmy; De Jong, Ijsbrand
"High irrigation investment costs together with declining world prices for food and the failures of a number of high profile past irrigation projects are the main reasons for the reluctance of development agencies and governments in sub-Saharan Africa to invest more resources in irrigation. This study aims to systematically establish whether costs of irrigation projects in sub-Saharan Africa are truly high, determine the factors which influence costs and performance of irrigation projects, and recommend cost-reducing and performance-enhancing options to make irrigation investments in the region more attractive. It analyzes 314 irrigation projects implemented from 1967 to 2003 in 50 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America funded by the World Bank, African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development."
Experiences and Opportunities for Promoting Small-Scale/Micro Irrigation and Rainwater Harvesting for Food Security in Ethiopia
(2005) Awulachew, Seleshi Bekele; Merrey, Douglas J.; Kamara, Abdul; Van Koppen, Barbara; Penning de Vries, F.W.T.; Boelee, Eline
"This paper reports on government institutions involved in the development and promotion of smallholder water and land management interventions, especially small-scale irrigation, microirrigation and water harvesting, for improving the livelihoods and food security of millions of poor rural people."
From Integrated to Expedient: An Adaptive Framework for River Basin Management in Developing Countries
(2007) Lankford, Bruce; Merrey, Douglas J.; Cour, Julien; Hepworth, Nick
"The authors reflect on the theory and process of creating effective strategies for adaptive river basin management. We formulate our framework from observations of responses to environmental and hydrological change in the Great Ruaha River in Tanzania. We find that problems occur in the pursuit of 'integrated water resources management' (IWRM) that can be attended to by applying a focused expedient approach in three states of the water availability regime: 'critical water', 'medial water' and 'bulk water'. In particular, less reliance on broad generic 'principles' and greater reference to solutions being drawn up by local resource users in relation to identified conflicts helps guide adaptive problem solving."
Impact of Management Interventions on the Performance of Five Irrigation Schemes in Sri Lanka
(1995) Imbulana, K. A. U. S.; Merrey, Douglas J.
"This working paper is the outcome of a data collection process initiated under the advice of Dr. Shigeo Yashima of the International Irrigation Management Institute (IIMI). The objective of this data collection process was to make a preliminary assessment of irrigation performance in Sri Lanka using irrigation systems with different backgrounds to identify areas for further research."
Improving Irrigation Project Planning and Implementation Processes in Sub-Saharan Africa: Diagnosis and Recommendations
(2006) Morardet, S.; Merrey, Douglas J.; Seshoka, J.; Sally, Hilmy
"Weaknesses in planning and implementation (P&I) have been identified as one of the main reasons for the disappointing results of agricultural water development and management projects. Based on a review and critical analysis of experiences and case studies in sub-Saharan Africa, this study component proposes practical ways of improving performance related to planning and implementation and thereby enhancing the returns to investments in agricultural water."
Innovative Approaches Agricultural Water Use for Improving Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa
(2003) Inocencio, A.; Sally, Hilmy; Merrey, Douglas J.
"This paper provides an overview of innovative options for developing and using water for food production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in light of the growing scarcity and competition for water resources. These options include rainwater harvesting selective development of wetlands for agriculture, exploitation of shallow groundwater, and recycling urban waste. The options are largely based on low-cost individualized technologies, which lend themselves to private-sector promotion. Water-demand management approaches are also discussed."
Institutional Alternatives in African Smallholder Irrigation: Lessons from International Experience with Irrigation Management Transfer
(2002) Shah, Tushaar; Van Koppen, Barbara; Merrey, Douglas J.; de Lange, Marna; Samad, Madar
"This report reviews several decades of global experience in transferring management of government-run irrigation systems to farmer associations or other nongovernment agencies in an attempt to apply the lessons of success to the African smallholder irrigation context. Based on a comparative study of the experience of several countries, analysts have suggested that Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) works provided certain preconditions are met, viz., supportive legal-policy framework; secure water rights; local management capacity building; and an enabling process to facilitate management transfer. This paper reasons, however, that straightforward IMT-even with all these conditions fulfilled-is unlikely to work in the African smallholder context. It suggests that institutional alternatives most likely to work in this context are those that successfully deal with the entire complex of constraints facing African smallholders and help them move to a substantially higher trajectory of productivity and income from where they can absorb the additional cost and responsibility of managing their irrigation systems. In developing such institutional alternatives, rather than focusing only on direct transfer of irrigation management, African governments need to begin by enhancing the wealth-creating potential of smallholder irrigated farming by strengthening market access, promoting high-value crops, and improving systems for providing extension and technical support to smallholder irrigators."
Institutional Design Principles for Accountability on Large Irrigation Systems
(1997) Merrey, Douglas J.
"Two systems of management are distinguished systems controlled and managed by local user organizations, and systems owned and controlled by government agencies. There is a consistent, but not perfect, relationship between governance arrangements and performance. Using a variety of measures of performance, a number of studies provide statistical evidence that the performance of self-governing systems is higher than that of government-managed systems. Other studies document improvements in performance of government systems through the creation of water users associations (WUAs), although the sustainability of these improvements is often problematic. The sustainability of these improvements is often uncertain, primarily due to problems in accountability."
On Physical Remodeling and Institution Strengthening: An Evaluation of the Implications of the Pilot Field Channel Experience for the Rehabilitation Project at Uda Walawe, Sri Lanka
(1988) Merrey, Douglas J.; Jinapala, K.
"This paper is a substantially revised version of a draft paper previously circulated to some officials in Sri Lanka. The title of that paper was 'Testing a New Field Channel Design: A Pilot Project of the Uda Walawe Rehabilitation Project, Sri Lanka. It was reviewed by the International Irrigation Management Institute (IIMI) - Sri Lanka Consultative' Consultative Committee at its January 1988 meeting; as the minutes of that meeting indicate, the Committee members recognized- the significance of the main findings of the draft report, and agreed that physical rehabilitation by itself could be counter productive unless supported by proper institutional changes. The paper is based on periodic observations (approximately weekly) of farmers' use of a rehabilitated pilot field channel (FC), and interviews with both farmers and field level officials, over two seasons in the Uda Walawe Scheme, Sri Lanka."
Redressing Racial Inequities Through Water Law in South Africa: Interaction and Contact Among Legal Frameworks
(2002) Van Koppen, Barbara; Jha, Nitis; Merrey, Douglas J.
"During the apartheid era in South Africa, control over water was unequally partitioned between the white Republic of South Africa and the black Homelands, which were reserves created for Africans by the white state. In the former, which controlled the bulk of water available in the country, riparian rights were granted mainly to high-volume users with the relevant state department playing an overseeing role. In the latter, the Homeland governments held some responsibilities for water management while delegating others to communal authorities like traditional chiefs. After the end of apartheid, a radical and far-sighted National Water Act was promulgated, which seeks to redress the race and gender inequities of the past in the arena of water management. This paper focuses primarily on how the Act tries to redress racial inequities. It demonstrates how the implementation of this pro-poor act has come up against barriers imposed by the de facto persistence of the legal framework that governed the white areas. At the same time, the implementation of this act in the former Homelands seeks to reconcile old and new governance forms. The paper suggests that a more integrated vision of water management is needed, with a more pro-active interpretation of the law in favour of the poor. This will enable the new law to achieve its stated ends, viz., the redress of past inequities and the alleviation of poverty through better water management in river basins."