This article explores communication processes between irrigation engineers and farmers in Northern Senegal to identify opportunities for joint learning aimed at improving the design process of small-scale irrigation schemes. Scale models and maps are shown to be useful tools to facilitate dialogue.
This article is a case study from communities on the island of Leyte in the Philipppines where farmers were found to be using a wide range of technologies to try to stop environmental degradation. The article reports on how visual mapping methods were developed and used to study the role of the agricultural information system in helping farmers to cope with change and improve sustainability.
Drawing on case studies from six countries, this report examines recent innovative applications of PRA in research, development and impact analysis of irrigation and water resource management programmes. The case studies are taken from different socio-technical contexts and range from the use of PRA to examine water user's perspectives of irrigation performance to watershed management planning. Lessons learnt from the examples are outlined and finally challenges and opportunities for the use of participatory methods in water resource management are summarised. Issues considered include, confusion over definitions and objectives, the degree of importance placed on methods, confusion over the role of professionals, the influence of politics and power, measuring of impacts, complementarity between conventional research methods and PRAand finally the challenge of institutionalising participatory approaches in government bureaucracies.
Presents the case study of the Accelerated Irrigation Transfer Program in Turkey whereby transfer of government built and operated systems has taken place. The case study is of particular interest because of the speed of the process and also because the transfer of responsibility has been to local village or municipal governments or representative federations of villages or municipalities rather than to farmer associations which has been the norm in other countries.
The process adopted for transferring management responsibility is documented and reveals that there has been little participation by water users. Factors facilitating the process are identified and an initial assessment of impacts, benefits and costs is made and potential future problems and challenges suggested.
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This paper describes how the combination of chemical soil and water analyses and PRA exercises were found to be complementary methods in assessing the magnitude of the pollution problem caused by the tannery industry in Kamtchipuram village, Tamil Nadu.
Drawing on the experience of Anil Shah in facilitating participatory irrigation management in Gujarat, this paper explores how policy can be influenced to facilitate the spread of participatory approaches.
This World Bank Technical Paper presents a discussion on participatory development at all stages of the development process, with a specific emphasis on participatory evaluation. Involving stakeholders closely in all aspects of the program is argued to foster ôownershipö, accountability, and a willingness on the part of users to manage and invest in services. A mechanism is needed to allow for learning, correction, and adjustment to be built into this participatory development process. To do this, a clear set of objectives and indicators of success which promote accountability and participation and which can be monitored and evaluated. This document is geared to provide policymakers, managers, and planning and evaluation staff with ideas about participatory processes and indicators that may be used to involve community members and others in program evaluation. The focus is on the development of key indicators that can be measured to determine progress of water and sanitation programs, their sustainability, effective use, and replicability. Short summaries (ôfield insightsö) of projects are included throughout to complement the discussions.
This case study presents examples of field uses of participatory tools for monitoring and evaluations of community-based resource management. The study is based on the premise that analytical tools developed through the rapid and participatory appraisal process (PRA) have applicability for monitoring and evaluation. It further builds from the assumption that by helping local communities select and monitor indicators, devise and record baseline data systems, there is a greater likelihood that local projects will increase sustainability, productivity, and transparency. Data is derived from field work carried out in 1996 in three communities in Kenya. Findings of the study concluded that participatory methods can help identify community-based indicators to measure impacts of resource management effectively and at low cost, which can have meaning both for the local community as well as for regional/national policy and decision makers (such as NGOs or government units). A summary of indicators used in all three communities is provided, including the tools used, where and how they were applied, and their effectiveness. The study further concluded that participatory methods were useful in developing effective baseline data which may be used by the community to inform district and regional policy and planning staff about more effective ways of implementing local development. The study highlights the need for building and strengthening two way linkages of information based on partnerships between local and national institutions, viewed as essential for achieving sustainability in livelihood production and resource conservation. Final sections discuss the factors that seem most influential in the adoption of resource management practices, and identify key areas for future research.
This paper recognises that the irrigation sector provides a rich source of experience and lessons in user participation. It argues that participation by farmers in system design and management helps to ensure sustainability of the system, reduces the public expenditure burden, and improves efficiency, equity and standards of service. The report further presents that mobilising support at all levels and establishing the participatory process, however, involves costs; this also demands knowledge of the incentives facing each group of stakeholders, and of the essential elements in building effective usersÆ organisations. The paper costs, benefits and limitations involved in participation in this irrigation projects, it looks at the role and the incentives required in engaging the various participants, who are World Bank Task Managers, Policy Makers, Agency Staff, Farmers and others. Lessons learnt in organising Farmer Participation in different contexts is discussed and finally the process of building participation into the projects cycle through identification, preparation, appraisal supervision and evaluation is discussed.
This paper reports on a participative research process, in which farmer knowledge was integrated with standard research techniques, to develop a method for irrigation farmers to estimate paddock water use efficiency (WUE) and accessions to the watertable. Facilitating farmer trust and involvement in the research process was seen to be particularly important given the sensitive nature of the issue of WUE.