Decentralized Natural Resource Management: Equity Impacts on Groundwater Recharge through JFPM in India

Abstract

"This study evaluates the economic impact of Joint Forest Planning and Management (JFPM) an institutional innovation with decentralized planning process. This has enabled to manage forests and water at local level through collective action of farmers with the help of the line Departments focusing on groundwater recharge. The economic impact on productivity, wage income, income generating activities and equity in the distribution of benefits are evaluated in Chitradurga and Davanagere identified as the most vulnerable districts by the National Planning Commission. Field data were collected (for 2008) from the population of all the participating farmers possessing irrigation wells in villages which have (1) only JFPM, (2) JFPM and Watershed program; (3) only Watershed program and (4) with neither JFPM nor Watershed programs as Control situation. The net return per acre, net return per acre inch of groundwater and net return per rupee of irrigation water were respectively Rs.5709, Rs.413, Rs. 3.26 in JFPM + Watershed village, Rs.43978, Rs. 1716, Rs.8.42 in JFPM village, Rs. 8060, Rs.675, Rs.3.05 in Watershed village and Rs. 3369, Rs.247, Rs.1.04 in Control village. Conspicuously when open / dug wells are a failure all over the State, in this area, due to JFPM, all such wells became functional yielding water due to good recharge from the program. Accordingly from open wells net return per acre, net return per acre inch of groundwater and net return per rupee of irrigation water were Rs.76740, Rs.1738 and Rs.11.30 respectively. This was possible through collective action of the village community through JFPM which is proved to be cost effective, remunerative and equitable in improving the groundwater recharge in the open/dug wells which had become defunct due to the advent of modern deep borewells. The results also were significant using ANOVA. There were also gender impacts as in JFPM + Watershed village, 46 women benefited from employment realizing return of Rs.2400 per capita per year and in JFPM village, 16 women benefited."