Local and External Support Services in Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems in Nepal: Implications for Performance Enhancement

Abstract

"Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS) in Nepal are not restricted to small units. Irrigation systems may be less than one hectare while farmer-managed systems as large as 15,000 hectare sizes have been identified. There are a total of 16,700 FMIS in Nepal. During the past few years many agencies (both governmental and non-governmental) have started either providing a modest level of support services or are trying to coordinate with relevant agencies to make provision for providing essential services. The level and types of support services vary with the agencies involved. The paper examines different processes and intensities of interventions in providing support services to FMIS in Nepal. Systematic and comparative analysis of 18 FMIS under intervention programs of 15 different agencies were included to assess the impacts of intervention. The aim was to explore ways and means of assisting numerous FMIS, located in different parts of the country, in order to improve the performance of irrigated agriculture. The variables included in the analysis were: policy and institutional environment for support services, process of providing support services, cost sharing criteria, basis of resource mobilization and resulting changes in agricultural performance upon intervention. While some processes of interventions were found effective, the impacts of others were found either less effective or negative. Several issues pertaining to intervention process and irrigation performance pertaining to FMIS were identified. The paper draws on policy implications on providing institutional support for improvement of performance of FMIS in Nepal."