Browsing by Author "ul Hassan, Mehmood"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

'Bright Spots' in Uzbekistan, Reversing Land and Water Degradation while Improving Livelihoods: Key Developments and Sustaining Ingredients for Transition Economies of the former Soviet Union
(2005) Noble, Andrew; ul Hassan, Mehmood; Kazbekov, Jusipbek
"Following the dissolution of the former Soviet Union (FSU) and the collapse of existing trade arrangements, the newly independent states of Central Asia have been left with the task of developing their own independent market economies. The region has undergone tremendous economic and social changes. Economies have shrunk, incomes have fallen, poverty has increased and food security has been compromised. Significant agricultural reform has occurred, mainly targeted at privatizing the large collective farms that were established during the Soviet era. These reforms include the establishment of smaller private and cooperative farms in order to improve the efficiency and equity of existing production systems. Within Uzbekistan, this move to privatize farms has, in the majority of cases, led to declining productivity and net incomes. However, there are instances where privatized farms and smaller collectives have been able to capitalize on these changes and perform at levels exceeding the norm. The objectives of this study were to identify the key attributes of these successful farms that have been termed 'bright' spots. A multistage purposive sampling technique was used to identify three cases in degraded areas of Uzbekistan, that is, locations experiencing a slow and gradual transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-based economy. Subsequently, we compared an improved farming system (research object) and the norm (control), closely analyzing each of the farming operations to identify the key drivers contributing to the success of the research objects."
Inadequacies in the Water Reforms in the Kyrgyz Republic: An Institutional Analysis
(2004) ul Hassan, Mehmood; Starkloff, Ralf; Nizamedinkhodjaeva, Nargiza
"Transition economies in Central Asian countries and elsewhere face unique challenges of carrying out synchronized reforms in most of the sectors simultaneously. A study of such reform efforts provides useful insights and lessons for many other similar countries. This report analyzes the evolving water-management institutions and their performance of five core water management functions, in the context of the ongoing economic and agrarian reform in the Kyrgyz Republic. These core water-management functions are, operation of water systems, maintenance, resource mobilization, conflict resolution and organizational management. Besides, the separation of the institutional powers of the four basic roles of regulation, governance, management (or implementation) and arbitration has also been studied. The separation of these functions supports clear relations of accountability and avoids conflicts of interest, which may occur if some of these powers are vested in the same organization. The report also identifies key issues and challenges that constrain effective stakeholder participation in water-resources management."
The Reliability Improvement in Irrigation Services: Application of rotational water distribution to tertiary canals in Central Asia
(2006) Abdullaev, Iskandar; ul Hassan, Mehmood; Manthrithilake, Herath; Yakubov, Murat
"Land and agricultural reforms in Central Asian countries, following the collapse of the Former Soviet Union (FSU), have led to a big increase in the number of individual farm units along secondary and tertiary canals. Given the new setting, the methods for water distribution, as applied under the former large-scale collective farming system, have become irrelevant, leading to much chaos, inequity and unreliability in water supply to farmers. Thus, many farmers and water managers have had to resort, with variable success, to some alternative water distribution methods to meet these new challenges. Nevertheless, transparency and equity in local water use still remains an issue. With this in mind, an action research to study an arranged intermittent (rotational) water distribution was undertaken in a typical distributary canal in collaboration with a Water Users Association (WUA) in the Kyrgyz Republic during 2003 and 2004. The rotational water distribution method employed was performed in a truly participatory manner and allowed farmers involved to always be aware of their specific time schedules, including when to irrigate their fields and for how long. This alone has translated into huge time savings for farmers when waiting for their irrigation turns and more equitable water distribution between different canal reaches. This has also allowed those at the tail ends to increase crop yields and net incomes, resulting in better Irrigation Service Fee (ISF) collection. At the same time, there has also been a change in the nature and pattern of water disputes. The work conducted on rotational water distribution suggests that it is the needs and concerns of the end users that provide a good entry point for collective action, to pragmatically understand and analyze the situation, from where appropriate remedial strategies and methods can be further devised and employed. This is also a good starting point to initiate farmer debates and discussions on public participation, which should ultimately lead to a truly farmer-owned process and action. Legal instruments alone, though being an important factor, per se are rarely sufficient to fully enable, sustain and institutionalize required change to local communities. Unfortunately, this has mostly been the case in Central Asian economies so far, and it is this that requires major change."
Urban Wastewater: A Valuable Resource for Agriculture A Case Study from Haroonabad, Pakistan
(2002) Van Der Hoek, Wim; ul Hassan, Mehmood; Ensink, Jeroen H. J.; Feenstra, Sabiena; Raschid-Sally, Liqa; Munir, Sarfraz; Aslam, M. Rizwan; Ali, Nazim; Hussain, Raheela; Matsuno, Yutaka
"Farming communities in water-scarce regions increasingly practice the use of urban wastewater in agriculture. Untreated urban wastewater is generally considered unacceptable for direct use because of potential health risks. However, in many parts of the world, poor farmers in peri-urban areas use untreated wastewater. This practice is likely to continue in the foreseeable future due to the high investment cost associated with the installation of treatment facilities. In order to systematically document the advantages and disadvantages of using untreated urban wastewater, a case study was undertaken in Haroonabad, which is a small town in the southern Punjab in Pakistan. Information on costs and benefits associated with wastewater use was obtained by monitoring a group of 20 wastewater farmers and a group of 20 non-wastewater farmers over a one-year period. Water and nutrient applications and the quality of groundwater and soil were investigated in nine fields, of which some were irrigated with wastewater and others with regular canal water. To assess the human health impacts, a comparison was done between a settlement where wastewater irrigation was practiced and one where regular canal water was used. "The greatest benefit for farmers using wastewater was the reliable water supply, which allowed them to grow high-value vegetable crops. However, water and nutrient applications to wastewater-irrigated fields were excessive in relation to the recommended values. From this we can deduce that, with the improved distribution of wastewater, more farmers could benefit from the water and the nutrients it contains. Although there were signs of accumulation of heavy metals in wastewater-irrigated soils, the values did not exceed internationally recommended standards. However, there were negative health impacts, especially in the form of an increased prevalence of hookworm infections among wastewater farmers. "Irrigation with untreated wastewater is practiced in most cities in Pakistan because of its high productivity. Wastewater use also has an indirect benefit associated with the reduction of pollutants discharged into natural watercourses. The study concludes that there is a need to identify methods to prevent or lower the health risks associated with the use of untreated urban wastewater while maintaining or increasing its socioeconomic and environmental benefits under the prevailing social and economic conditions."
Water Productivity in the Syr-Darya River Basin
(2003) Murray-Rust, Hammond; Abdullaev, Iskandar; ul Hassan, Mehmood; Horinkova, Vilma
"This report analyses water productivity and water-saving initiatives in the Syr-Darya river basin (SRB) of Central Asia. The report presents institutional and political aspects of water management in the basin - particularly a brief description of pre- and post-soviet developments in water management. Water allocation elements principles for different hierarchical levels in the basin are also discussed. The assessment of the performance of irrigation in SRB is presented as an analysis of the water-saving competition, funded by the World Bank (from 1999 to 2000). The competition itself is no longer operational, but the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Commission on Water Coordination (SIC) based in Tashkent are funding the collection of data on water use. Water delivery, crop yields (cotton, wheat and rice) and water productivity were used as major indicators of performance for the irrigation system of the basin. The analysis was done for different levels of water use and management - farm, irrigation-system and basin levels were studied. The study was conducted for the head, middle and tail reaches of the basin. This analysis can be used by water managers, policymakers and potential donors as a tool for identifying the hierarchical levels and areas of the basin, where water management needs to be improved and water conservation is a possible solution for the existing water-related environmental problems."