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Conference Paper Dealing with Closed Basins: The Case of the Lower Jordan River Basin(2006) Venot, Jean-Philippe; Molle, François; Courcier, Rémy"During the last 50 years, the Lower Jordan river basin experienced a rapid and comprehensive process of development of its rare water resources. This led to its progressive closure: almost no water is left to be mobilized and used while demand, notably in urban areas, keeps increasing. Despite the need to give priority to demand management options to alleviate the Jordanian water crisis, the potential of these options appears limited in the mid-run; the growing demand of the population and the sustaining of agriculture are unlikely to be met without supply augmentation measures which will reopen the basin."Journal Article Nirvana Concepts, Narratives and Policy Models: Insights from the Water Sector(2008) Molle, François"Analysis of water policy shows the importance of cognitive and ideological dimensions in the formulation of policy discourses. Ideas are never neutral and reflect the particular societal settings in which they emerge, the worldviews and interests of those who have the power to set the terms of the debate, to legitimate particular options and discard others, and to include or exclude particular social groups. This article focuses on three types of conceptual objects which permeate policy debates: nirvana concepts, which underpin overarching frameworks of analysis, narratives – i.e. causal and explanatory beliefs – and models of policies or development interventions. It successively reviews how these three types of concepts populate the water sector, investigates how they spread, and then examines the implications of this analysis for applied research on policy making and practice."Conference Paper Balance and Imbalances in Village Economy: Acces to Water and Livelihoods in Three Villages of Central Thailand(2002) Molle, François; Srijantr, Thippawal; Latham, Lionel"Village economies in Asia are undergoing a growing process of integration to the national and wider cultural and economic spheres. Factor endowments, transportation facilities and other socioeconomic and human factors account for differentiated responses. In the Chao Phraya Delta, Thailand, access to water is a crucial factor governing agricultural diversification and intensification. This paper compares the household structure, the land resources, the means of livelihood, sources of income and their distribution among households in three villages with contrasting levels of water control. It is shown that while there is a huge gap in land productivity among the three villages, economic diversification, both agricultural and non-agricultural, operates a rebalancing of household incomes, without however totally bridging the gap. The implications for planning of water resource development are discussed."Journal Article Water, Politics and Development: Introducing Water Alternatives(2008) Molle, François; Mollinga, Peter P.; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth"Water’s critical life-sustaining role in ecological functioning, food production, economic activities, health and recreation, and its importance as spiritual value, makes it a resource that traverses both nature and society. Judging from the multiplication of global forums and initiatives, the numerous ongoing water policy reforms, and the spate of related literature, water is high on many countries' policy agendas. That is likely to remain so as diversions of water from streams and extraction of water from groundwater aquifers rise and the disruptions brought by climate change become increasingly manifest."Working Paper Development Trajectories of River Basins A Conceptual Framework(2003) Molle, François"The development of societies is shaped to a large extent by their resources base, notably water resources. Access to and control of water depends primarily on the available technology and engineering feats, such as river-diversion structures, canals, dams and dikes. As growing human pressure on water resources brings actual water use closer to potential ceilings, supply-augmentation options get scarcer, and societies, therefore, usually respond by adopting conservation measures and by reallocating water towards more beneficial uses."Journal Article Ostrich-like Strategies in Sahelian Sands? Land and Water Grabbing in the Office du Niger, Mali(2012) Hertzog, Thomas; Adamczewski, Amandine; Molle, François; Poussin, Jean-Christophe; Jamin, Jean-Yves"In recent years, large-scale agricultural investment projects have increased in sub-Saharan Africa as a result of the growing appetites of local and international investors for land resources. Research has so far mainly focused on land issues, but the water implications of these land deals are starting to surface. Taking the Office du Niger (ON), in Mali, as a case study, we show that while around 100,000 ha is currently being cultivated, mostly by smallholders, a total of 600,000 ha of land has been allocated in the past ten years to investors in large-scale farming. This process has largely bypassed the official procedure established by the ON at regional level. The allocation of new lands has shifted to the national level, with an attempt to recentralize the management of land deals and associated benefits at the highest level, despite contrary efforts by foreign donors to strengthen the ON. This article describes the complex allocation process based on 'behind-closed-doors' negotiations. It then analyses the implications of the land deals on water issues by focusing on the strategies of actors to limit the risk of future water shortages, the current and expected difficulties in water management and allocation, and the emerging spatial and social redistribution of benefits and risk that signals a process of water grabbing."Conference Paper To Price or not to Price? Thailand and the Stigma of 'Free Water'(2002) Molle, François"In a context of closing river basins, where most water resources are allocated and depleted, there are strong incentives to place emphasis on water-demand management and to reform the water sector. Theoretically, water pricing has the potential not only to influence users' behaviors towards water saving, but also to contribute to reallocation of water towards more profitable crops or other uses. Pricing water is also a way to recover part of the costs incurred by irrigation infrastructure and its operation. The paper analyzes this rationale in the context of Thailand where the water used in agriculture is free. It investigates the reasons for, and the consequences of, this particular policy, and examines whether the current proposals to establish water fees can be expected to produce benefits that would offset the costs of the reform. It shows that water pricing can hardly be justified in the absence of a wider framework of institutional reform. The prospects for success of such a reform are briefly debated."Working Paper Developing and Managing River Basins: The Need for Adaptive, Multilevel, Collaborative Institutional Arrangements(2007) Molle, François; Wester, Philippus"Pressure on water resources heightens hydrological, social, and ecological interdependencies in river basins (as well as the basins of lakes and aquifers). More interdependency demands more integrated approaches to developing and managing water resources at the basin level. Many countries have implemented or are testing such approaches. Even more are struggling with how to put in place institutional arrangements to support more integrated management. The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture (CA) analyzed river basin governance and management in the context of increasing competition for water for agriculture and other uses, pollution of water resources, and degradation of ecosystems. This analysis showed that to cope with the diversity of competing values and political and economic interests in basins and increasing water scarcity, natural hazards, and climate change, we need adaptive, multilevel, collaborative governance arrangements. It also showed that progress in establishing such arrangements has been slow---often with undue emphasis on form over process and a lack of redistribution of decision-making power from centralized 'hydro-bureaucracies' to users. To speed progress, the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership (GWP), whose regional and country partnerships are engaged in different aspects of basin management, has undertaken this joint brief with the CA and the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO)."Working Paper Evolution of Irrigation in South and Southeast Asia(2004) Barker, Randolph; Molle, François"In what some may regard as an overly ambitious exercise, we have chosen in this report to present some salient aspects of the evolution of Asian irrigation. Our objective is to identify the major factors that have influenced irrigation development, to focus on the current issues, and to suggest what this implies for the future development of irrigation and for the steps needed to promote this development."Working Paper Water Pricing in Thailand: Theory and Practice(2001) Molle, François"This paper explores the rationale for the implementation of water pricing and water markets in Thailand, and reviews these options within the historical, socio-economic and technical context specific to this country. Despite Thailands peculiarity, there is little doubt that the problem of water allocation demands regulation and interventions, against the view held by some NGOs that concepts and practices inherited from a situation of open-access resource should continue to prevail. Demographic and economic changes in Thailand will not, in the short run, allow free access to water to last as a sustainable solution."