Proceedings of Regional Seminar on Governance for Integrated Water-Resources Management in a River-Basin Context, organized by the International Water Management Institute in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute and Kasetsart University.
In many developing countries, their governments dominate the field of water resources management. Even in “participatory irrigation management” efforts, the governments play a dominant role. As these efforts are rarely based on any internally generated demand from the water users, they usually fail to create viable organizations at the local level. A similar setback can be seen in the more recent institutional reforms in Asia’s water sector, which are promoted by the donor agencies and, national and international development professionals. A survey of experiences in Asian countries shows that no country has successfully completed establishing new water sector policies and laws and river basin organizations, as prescribed. The need to improve current performance of water resources management is widely appreciated.In managing the scarce water resources, a change in attitude and approach is seen to be essential. Participatory learning and action methods conducted in a study of selected river basins in five Asian countries surfaced a distinct need for coordination at the river basin level. They also indicated a clear stakeholder preference for establishing coordinating mechanisms, by way of adapting the existing institutions, as an initial step towards greater stakeholder control of river basin management. Essentially, cost-effective and contextually appropriate institutional arrangements were preferred over the prescribed standard models, in order to meet the varying needs related to integrated water resources management.
Case studies were conducted in five selected Asian countries on their water policy reform initiatives. Of the five countries, China stands out as the country that has derived the most from on-going global efforts in promoting water sector institutional reforms and the concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM). China has emerged as the leader in adapting these concepts to suit the context of the country. Advanced stages of water development in many parts of the country and increased water shortages due to rapid economic development have prompted China to forge ahead in the search for institutional solutions to make the water sector more productive, and the management of water resources more sustainable. In the other selected countries, efforts to replicate the models of developed countries without much adaptation and due reference to their stages of development have generally failed. The dominance of irrigation within the water sector and the informality of the economy related to water in these countries seem to make the application of prescribed IWRM principles rather unfeasible. The lesson to be drawn from policy reviews of the five countries is that effective waterinstitutions are not static systems, but are adaptive and dynamic institutional developments compatible with the local context, particularly with the structure of the overall economy of the country and its water sector.
A five-country river basin study in Asia used a participatory method for diagnostic investigations to learn about contextual processes, as well as for stakeholder consultation to develop action plans. The use of this methodology was encouraged by the positive results of an earlier action research program conducted in Pakistan for mobilizing farmers to form their own organizations. The method was found to be exceptionally effective, and had many advantages over the conventional methodsof field research and action planning where the stakeholders are treated as objects of research and passive recipients of development messages. The contribution of participatory learning and action in developing institutions appeared to vary across the five selected river basins, depending on thedegree to which stakeholder participation was forthcoming. This variation could be attributed to study constraints in terms of time and other resources, which acted differently on the five study teams. In some cases, conducting full-fledged participatory methods was not possible due to sociopolitical constraints, and in some others, time was too short to build sufficient awareness among the large number of stakeholders for meaningful participation. Of the five river basin case studies in China, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines and Sri Lanka, satisfactory participation levels achieved in the cases of Sri Lanka, Philippines and Indonesia generated a momentum on their own, which helped them to initiate action plans for further institutional development.
This book provides recent understanding about the sustainable development in agriculture. It includes information regarding new approaches for sustainable development in agriculture, horticulture and fisheries. It examines the effect of climate change and provides information on climate smart practices. In addition, some important aspects like quality seed production, role of bioinoculants, on-farm water harvesting, non-thermal processing of food, importance of water use in organic agriculture have also been discussed. It also presents in detail plant disease aspect and their management strategies. This book aims to provide an overall understanding of all aspects related to the study of environment resources, its protection for sustainable development. To meet the growing food demand of the over nine billion people who will exist by 2050 and the expected dietary changes, agriculture will need to produce 60 percent more food globally in the same period. The goal of sustainable agriculture is to meet society’s food and textile needs in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Practitioners of sustainable agriculture seek to integrate three main objectives into their work: a healthy environment, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. Every person involved in the food system growers, food processors, distributors, retailers, consumers, and waste managers can play a role in ensuring a sustainable agricultural system.
This volume is an analytical summary and a critical synthesis of research at the International Water Management Institute over the past decade under its evolving research paradigm known popularly as 'more crop per drop'. The research synthesized here covers the full range of issues falling in the larger canvas of water-food-health-environment interface. Besides its immediate role in sharing knowledge with the research, donor, and policy communities, this volume also has a larger purpose of promoting a new way of looking at the water issues within the broader development context of food, livelihood, health and environmental challenges. More crop per drop: Revisiting a research paradigm contrasts the acquired wisdom and fresh thinking on some of the most challenging water issues of our times. It describes new tools, approaches, and methodologies and also illustrates them with practical application both from a global perspective and within the local and regional contexts of Asia and Africa. Since this volume brings together all major research works of IWMI, including an almost exhaustive list of citations, in one single set of pages, it is very valuable not only as a reference material for researchers and students but also as a policy tool for decision-makers and development agencies.
This report analyzes a case from southern Sri Lanka, where the Samanalawewa dam and the Kaltota Irrigation Scheme (KIS) compete for the water of the Walawe river. At the catchment level, it is shown that dam releases are well attuned to the needs of KIS and to the occurrences of natural runoff, and that little of the dam water is "lost" to the river.
An international river basin is an ecological system, an economic thoroughfare, a geographical area, a font of life and livelihoods, a geopolitical network and, often, a cultural icon. It is also a socio-legal phenomenon. This book is the first detailed study of an international river basin from a socio-legal perspective. The Mekong River Basin, which sustains approximately 70 million people across Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, provides a prime example of the socio-legal complexities of governing a transboundary river and its tributaries. The book applies its socio-legal analysis to bring a fresh approach to understanding conflicts surrounding water governance in the Mekong River Basin. The authors describe the wide range of uses being made of legal doctrine and legal argument in ongoing disputes surrounding hydropower development in the Basin, putting to rest lingering caricatures of a single, ‘ASEAN’ way of navigating conflict. They call into question some of the common assumptions concerning the relationship between law and development. The book also sheds light on important questions concerning the global hybridization or crossover of public and private power and its ramifications for water governance. With current debates and looming conflicts over water governance globally, and over shared rivers in particular, these issues could not be more pressing.
This report explores options for enhancing regional environmental governance in Southeast Asia. It characterizes transboundary environmental challenges in MSEA, and examines the political, economic and environmental response to these challenges via four prominent regional institutions.
