Search Results

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Conference Paper
    History of the Irrigation, the Constitution of Water Rights and the Role of the State and Peasants' Communities in Ecuadorean Andes
    (1995) Ruf, Thierry; Gilot, Luc
    "The subject of the paper is the constitution of water rights in the Ecuadorian Andes mountains, looking at all the history of water conflicts from colonial times to now, when the state begin to privatize the old systems of irrigation."
  • Conference Paper
    Chaos on the Commons: Considering the Implications of Nonequilibrium Theory for Common Property Research
    (1995) Morgan, Betty
    "The rapidly emerging 'new science' of nonequilibrium systems theory may offer common property researchers and scholars an exciting alternative ontology from which to consider the development, behavior and efficacy of common property systems. Deriving from the dynamical holism of quantum physics, nonequilibrium theory engages the spontaneity, chaos, interrelatedness and interconnectedness of complex natural systems, such as common property regimes, and considers these system behaviors temporally. Viewing system evolution, or iteration, in this way permits researchers to assess the entire range of system behavior from episodes of equilibrium to episodes of chaotic or unpredictable behavior which suggest that the system is self-organizing and adapting to environmental stimuli. This study explores the connections between common property scholarship and the recent theoretical developments in nonequilibrium analysis. Using the Navaho Indian Irrigation Project as a case study, this paper explores the aspects of nonequilibrium theory which may be instructive in an expanded vision of common property research. Nonequilibrium theory holds that the behavior of all natural systems, of which human systems such as common property regimes are clearly a part, can be understood differently, and more completely when the tools and concepts of nonequilibrium theory are employed. After presenting the theoretical elements of nonequilibrium theory, the paper turns to an examination of the developmental history of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project from a nonequilibrium perspective. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of nonequilibrium theory for common property research scholarship."
  • Conference Paper
    Transfer of Irrigation Management: An Experiment and an Assessment
    (1995) Khouzam, Raouf F.
    "Availability of adequate irrigation water at the right time is a main constraint on both vertical and horizontal agriculture expansion in Egypt. To rlax that constraint, the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources (MPWWR) have adopted four main approaches to: structural works, enforced rationing, cost recovery, and management transfer. The first is the most expensive. Considerable funds are being allocated by both the Egyptian government and foreign donors to rehabilitate and improve the system and its management. The Irrigation Management System (IMS) is a notable example of such efforts. "In addition to the rehabilitation huge funds, the operation cost is in increase year after another; in 1974-76, it ranged from LE 45 to 54 million (Cuddihy, 1980). In 1990/91-1993/94, it increased from LE 254 to 807 million (MOF, n.d.). That burden has risen with the liberalization of the Egyptian economy. Irrigation water was used to be charged for implicitly through price and quantity controls of the agriculture sector. Currently, with the liberalization process controls have been lifted. Since then, water is truly provided free. Subsequently, the government financial burden has increased tremendously. "Management transfer (MT; the main theme of this paper) and cost-recovery (CR) are two approaches to followed to reduce MPWWR financial burden. MT merits qualify it as a powerful solution to many of the irrigation-related issues. Nonetheless, those merits should not delude decision makers. Inadequate planning or deficient design could turn out destructive to the whole agriculture region. It is, thus, imperative, in the light of the absence of a well documented body of knowledge on the subject matter, that specialists exchange experiences. "This paper analyses MT model that has been applied in an Egyptian region. Farmers attitudes towards the model are investigated and analyzed. Lessons are derived. Qualifications that minimize MT failure are proposed. The following two sections describe the study area and the applied model with farmers attitudes summarized in a text box. Based on farmers'attitudes and other literature. Section III introduces aspects to be considered in MT design."
  • Conference Paper
    Common Property, Ethnicity, and Social Exploitation in the Ziz Valley, Southeast Morocco
    (1995) Ilahiane, Hsain
    "Contrary to much of the accumulated scholarship on indigenous resource management institutions in various parts of the developing world, this paper argues that common resources or property management in the small-scale irrigation communities of the Ziz Valley paints a complex historical situation where ethnicity, power, and religious ideology are employed to exploit the lower social classes. One of the essential claims of this paper is that sustainable and robust long enduring common property institutions can also exist in conflict-ridden and exploitation based communities and that just rules or the concept of law as understood in the West can not be applied to understand some components of common property management in the developing world."
  • Conference Paper
    Local and External Support Services in Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems in Nepal: Implications for Performance Enhancement
    (1995) Shivakoti, Ganesh P.
    "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."
  • Conference Paper
    Governance and Legal Pluralism: Challenges in Irrigation Management Transfer
    (1995) Pradhan, Ujjwal
    "This paper presents the rationale and issues that confront irrigation management transfer (IMT). It first deals with the broad topic of implications and challenges of privatization, the context for Nepal and irrigated agriculture and then focuses on two aspects: those of gender issues and institutional arrangements. The gender aspect is often ignored in the IMT process. Though a great deal of emphasis can be seen on institutional arrangements, it focuses on institution building around rules and the need to take a social science view of legal pluralism. Such an approach and understanding would enhance the knowledge of crucial elements in institution building for IMT and also provide policy intervention windows to bring about justice and nature resource management."