Resources

1 - 5 of 5 items

Farmer's Participation in Irrigation Management

Authors: 
DHV Consultants BV
1994

Abstract

This film addresses issues of community management in the context of a government-funded irrigation project in Andhra Pradesh, India. It looks at the problems farmers faced as a result of uneven water distribution, and how their greater participation in managing the scheme provided viable solutions. Irrigation was seen as the key to responding to growing pressure to increase food production (01). Yet with the construction of large-scale irrigation systems farmers became recipients and were no longer the planners and operators of their own systems (03). The loss of control over water distribution, combined with poor maintenance of the canal network, meant that those at the head of the system had too much water while those at the tail received too little (10). A meeting was held for farmers from all the villages concerned to discuss the problems and ways of resolving them (24). A map was drawn showing the water outlets and cropping patterns in the irrigated area. After much discussion a consensus was reached regarding water distribution, canal maintenance, and cropping patterns. Penalties for violation were also agreed (28). Having conducted their own analysis of the problems and devised their own solutions the commitment of the farmers was assured (29).

SAGA: Participation in Practice

Authors: 
BKH Consulting Engineers
1993

Abstract

This DVD is meant as a visual aid to the participatory tools and techniques as used by the Rural Domestic Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (RDWSSP II) in Nyanza Province, Kenya. It focuses on some of the techniques that were used during a one-week PRA with the project community. The objectives of the programme are to provide safe and accessible drinking water, safe and low cost disposal of human waste, and to ensure user participation and responsibility for facilities. PRA assists the community with collecting and analysing data, identifying problems and developing an action plan (04). The basics of PRA are the techniques, the team and on the spot analysis (05). A variety of techniques were used during the PRA. The film focuses on a few of them: community mapping (07), transect walk (08), semi-structured interview (09), do-it-yourself (outsiders trying village activities) (10), seasonal calendar (11), village institutions (12), wealth ranking (13), gender discussions (14), women's daily activities (15) and men's daily activities (16). The community selected team members who took part in review meetings to analyse the information and discuss the findings. The findings were subsequently presented to the community for verification (17). Having identified the problems a ranking exercise was carried out by different groups to elicit the priorities of women and men (18). This formed the basis for drawing up a community action plan (19). The week concluded with a final presentation to the community (20).

Robert Chambers on Rapid Action Learning in India

Authors: 
Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)

Abstract

In this WASH Talks video, Robert Chambers talks about the use of Rapid Action Learning (RAL) workshops, immersive research and participatory mapping methodologies in India with the purpose of checking what is actually happening on the ground, and learning from this, in relation to the national Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) (SBM-G) (clean India mission).

These methodologies have been developed and implemented with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), WaterAid, Delhi University and the Indian government.