Publications

This article discusses ways in which the South African Government and grassroots organizations envisage and implement democracy achieved since 1994 in the eld of water resources management. The focus is on the democratic, political and economic freedom and equality in resource rights for poor black women, who are central to poverty eradication. While the new water policy and law provide an enabling framework for achieving these goals, implementation on the ground encounters both new opportunities and constraints. This is illustrated by several cases of establishing South Africa’s new water management institutions: catchment management agencies and water user associations. The important nexus between state-led democratization of water resources management and bottom-up grassroots movements is also discussed. The article concludes that the Government’s af rmative and targeted intervention is indispensable for redressing gender inequalities and eradicating poverty.

Efficient use of water in the agricultural sector is an issue of national importance in South Africa and the science required to achieve this goal is relatively mature. However, a recent survey among commercial farmers showed that they ranked irrigation scheduling as priority number four or five amongst their major concerns. Most farmers are prepared to admit that their system is not perfect, but at least it works. After a period of trial and error they have settled on management system that satisfied them and they need a good reason to re-evaluate it. Small-scale farmers were preoccupied with issues such as their access to land, water, credit and markets and showed little awareness of the importance of water use efficiency. This project introduced a Wetting Front Detector to farmers with the purpose of stimulating a re-think about irrigation management on their farms. The Wetting Front Detector (WFD) was designed to be the simplest tool that could assist farmers to improve their understanding of irrigation. To achieve this aim, the wetting front detector must pass two tests. First, the device itself and how it works must make intuitive sense to farmers. It should be relatively easy to install and give “believable” results that challenge the farmer’s perceptions. Second it must pass the accuracy test. We have to demonstrate that crops irrigated according to the principles of the Wetting Front Detector perform adequately against standard scientific procedures. A combination of research and extension was employed to satisfy these objectives.

FAO-Netherlands Partnership Programme (FNPP) on Sustainable Development and Management of Wetlands

A report commissioned by the Swedish Government and produced by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) as input into the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and its 2004–2005 focus on water and related issues.

When considering water management, formal institutions tend to overshadow the local informal ones although the latter guide day-to-day interactions on water use. Conversely, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has demonstrated a bias toward the formal state-based institutions for water management. A study was carried out to examine how local water rights and local informal institutional arrangements influence water management in the Great Ruaha River catchment in the Rufiji basin in Tanzania. Participatory appraisals were carried out, supplemented by focus group discussions, interviews, and a stakeholders workshop. It was found that local water rights, local water rotations and local water user groups are widely in use and are more influential than the formal water rights, water fees and water user associations (WUAs). Water allocation at the driest period depends on local informal relations among irrigators. More than 70% of water users surveyed choose to settle disputes over water via informal channels and the latter are more effective in resolving water conflicts and reconciling the antagonists compared to the formal routes. It was also found that although much emphasis and many resources have been expended in transforming local water rights and water related organisations to formal registered ones, the former have remained popular and water users feel more affiliated to local arrangements. The paper concludes that local informal water management can offer the best lessons for the formal management arrangements and should not be simply overlooked. Finally, the paper recommends that the formal and informal institutions should be amalgamated to bring forth a real Integrated Water Resource Management framework.

Upstream-downstream water conflicts are common phenomenon in most basins. Such conflicts take a different dimension when they occur during dry season with an already low level of river flows. This context aggravates the spatial externalities on downstream communities and water-dependent ecosystems, causing serious socioeconomic and ecological effects. Utilizing an analytical framework to capture the causes and consequences of the spatial nature of these externalities and relying on both primary and secondary data pertaining to the Upper Ewaso Ngiro North basin in Kenya, this paper (1) shows how these externalities are caused more by upstream land and water use changes than by any climatic and hydrological factors, (2) evaluates the nature and magnitude of their impacts on different downstream community groups, (3) assesses the extent and success of past policy responses and local initiatives, and (4) concludes by indicating the needed approach and interventions for finding a durable solution to the problem of upstream-downstream water conflicts and externalities.

A nationwide assessment in Pakistan showed that the direct use of untreated wastewater for agriculture, particularly vegetable production, was common in most cities. The main reasons for this use were the absence of alternative water sources, the reliability of the wastewater supply, the nutrient value and the proximity to urban markets. It was estimated that 26% of the total domestic vegetable production of Pakistan was cultivated with wastewater. The importance of the wastewater was reflected in high water and land fees. Policy makers have to take the importance for local livelihoods and food security into account when making decisions regarding direct wastewater use

India’s water sector is crying for institutional and policy reforms. Its public irrigation systems are performing far below par. As a direct consequence, farmers are turning to groundwater for their irrigation needs. Booming groundwater irrigation has become the mainstay of Indian farming but it has also all but wrecked the country’s power economy because of perverse policies of pricing of electricity for agriculture. Yet, there is no firm strategy of dealing with these and other challenges. Other south Asian countries are in much the same boat. Based on two spells of fieldwork in six provinces of north China, this article shows that, facing much the same problems as its south Asian neighbours, China is responding differently to its water problems. This is by no means a suggestion that the approaches China is trying out would work in India – or even in China itself. However, by including China’s experience in its discussions, Indian policy-makers will clearly have a wider repertoire of institutional alternatives with which to experiment.