Improving Irrigation System Performance in Egypt

International Journal of Water Resources Development

ISSN: 0790-0627 (Print) 1360-0648 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cijw20

Improving Irrigation System Performance in Egypt: First Experiences with the WUA Approach Martin Hvidt To cite this article: Martin Hvidt (1996) Improving Irrigation System Performance in Egypt: First Experiences with the WUA Approach, International Journal of Water Resources Development, 12:3, 261-276, DOI: 10.1080/07900629650169 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07900629650169

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Date: 16 November 2015, At: 21:49

W ater Resources D evelopm ent, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 261± 276, 1996

Im proving Irrigation System Perform ance in Egypt: First Experiences w ith the W UA A pproach 1

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M AR TIN H V IDT O dense U niversity, Center for Contem porary M iddle East Studies, Cam pusvej 55, D K-5230 O dense M , D enm ark

A BSTRACT This paper analyses the extent to which W ater Users Associations (W UAs) contribute to increased levels of farmer water control. Drawing extensively on ® eld data collected in command areas rehabilitated by the Egyptian Irrigation Improvement Project (IIP), the author documents key features of the W UA formation process and changes in farmer water control resulting from the main and micro-system improvem ents. W UA organizational strength is found to play a decisive role in securing farmer water control in situations when main system water supply is unstable. It is argued that the impact of W UA organizational strength on water control is likely to increase further when the farming system has developed a highly diversi® ed and moisture sensitive cropping pattern.

I ntrodu ction W ater users’ associatio ns (WUA s) are a relatively new concept in irri gation m anagem en t. M any scholars and irri gation practitioners term the con cept `revolution ary’ because it o ffers a new approach to the w ay irri gation system s may be desi gn ed, operated and m aintain ed. The W UA approach has em erged from the experi en ce gained in practical ® eld application. It is a set of guideli nes concern ing how to in volve farm ers an d how to institutionalize the relationshi p between farm ers an d irri gation bureau crats. U ltim ately the approach prom ises to solve w hat is probably the m ain operational pro blem in irri gatio n system s: how to provide farmers w ith adequate, reli able an d fair control over irri gatio n w ater. Involvin g farm ers through W UA s has proved very successfu l on a num ber of sm aller irri gation system s around the world, e.g. Spain , Indon esi a, the Phi lippin es an d Sri Lan ka. Experi en ces with large-scale system s are m ore diversi ® ed an d gen erally less en couraging, e.g. in Pakistan w here the W UA buildi ng pro cess has largely failed. W orldw ide, Egyp t is one of the places w here the W U A approach is being im plem en ted m ost forcefully today. At the sam e tim e Egyp t possesse s a large-scale irri gation system . Thi s makes the experien ces from Egyp t extrem ely useful. Thi s paper provides an overvi ew of the W UA approach, and analyses the ® rst experien ces with this approach in improving irri gation system perform ance in Egypt. It seeks to answ er the qu esti ons: (1) w hat is the W UA approachÐ and 0790-0627/96/030261± 16 $6.00 Ó

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w hat problem s does it prom ise to solve?; (2) how has the approach been im plem en ted in Egy pt?; and (3) which effects are attributable to the W UA s in securing farm er w ater control?


T he W UA Approach T he notion of farm er involvem ent in m anaging irriga tion sy stem s stem s back to the Philip pines in the early 1970s, w hen it becam e increasingly eviden t that irriga tion system perform ance ranged far below its potential. T w o reasons were accountable for the em phasis on farm er inv olvem en t: ® rst to in clude the considera ble knowled ge and skills possessed by the farm ers in designin g, operating and maintaining irriga tion w orks in the im provem ent process of the system s, and second, to recover fund s from the farm ing comm unity to pay for irriga tion improvements (Cow ard, 1983, pp. 213ff.). T hese tw o sets of reasons continu e to be the fund am ental motivation behind the involvem ent of farmers in irriga tion system m anagem ent today (see, e.g., Johnso n, 1995, p. 62). T he successes of the participatory approaches in small-scale system s has prom pted interes t in applying these to large-scale irrig ation schem es (30 000 ha 2 or m ore) (Cow ard, 1983, p. 217). Here a more lim ited num ber of cases exists, and the results gained are more diversi® ed and less en couraging. One exam ple is the 60 000 ha G al O ya Schem e in Sri Lanka. W ith organized farm er cooperation the w ater issue w as redu ced by one-third and tail-end farm ers, w ho prior to the project had suffered from total lack of w ater durin g the dry season, obtained irriga tion w ater through farm er-operated rotations (Uphoff et al., 1985, p. 2). Another success is reported in the Pochampad schem e in India (also 60 000 ha) where the irriga ble area w as extend ed by 25± 35% through better farm er-operated water rotation (Uphoff et al., 1985, p. 2). T he Pakistan O n-Farm W ater M anagem ent Project, on the other hand, has shown less success. It aim ed at involvin g farm ers in reh abilitation of a large num ber of tertiary w atercourses. How ever, the formation of W U As as stipulated in the project never becam e successful. One reason was that the W UAs were 3 forced on the farmers. It has been subject of much debate w heth er or not the project resulted in higher yield s and savings in water (Steinberg et al., 1983, pp. 53± 54).

T he Problem s of Participation in Large-scale System s T here seem s to be a good reason why participation in large-scale system s is dif® cult to acquire and sustain. Steinberg et al. (1983, p. 57) point out that often there are serio us dif® culties in adm inister ing large system s inv olving extensive populations and complex engine erin g requirem ents, and for such reasons governm en t control in contrast to user control is alm ost alw ays req uired. Uphoff et al. (1991, p. 36) point out that larg e-scale sy stem s tend to take on a `more prom inently bureaucratic form ’, w hich tend s to àdminister’ the system s as opposed to `managing’ them . Administered system s are likely to adopt a high degree of standardization, form alization and routinization. W hile this might positiv ely in¯ uence predictability and reliability of w ater ¯ ow s, it m ight act detrim entally to farmer involvem ent in managem ent of the system . T o facilitate


Improving Irrigation System Performance in Egypt

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participation, one need s `m anaged ’ system s that apply a learning approach to system managem ent. In dealing with the m ain lesso ns learned from the participatory experiences in the 1970s Coward (1983, pp. 215ff) ® nds that ª expanding farmer participation in irriga tion develo pm ent requires not only better farm er organization but new agenc y structures and processesº that allow for farm er inv olvement in design , construction and operation. A second lesson learn ed is that farmer involvem ent m ust be em phasized at the earliest possible stage (i.e. in the design and construction phases) if it is expected to become successful. Korten (1982, pp. 7± 8) points out that ª efforts to organize farm ers into water users’ associations after the system is completed genera lly are m et w ith apathy. Once water is ¯ ow ing, those receiv ing it are likely to see little reason to spend their tim e in organizational meetings. Since no sh ared sen se of comm itment to m anagin g and m aintaining the system w as developed during the creation of the system , an èach 4 m an for him self’ m entality is likely to reignº . The above statemen ts that summ arize world wide experienc e w ith farm er in volvem ent thus m ake tw o points very clear; First, that in ord er to develo p and sustain farm er participation in large-scale public irriga tion system s, the irrigation bureaucracy m ust adapt new participatory m anagem ent structures and procedures. Second, the farm ers w ho are supposed to participate must feel it w orth while to do so. O ne way to ensu re this is to involve the farm ers actively in the design of their ow n system s.

W ater U ser A ssociations D e® ned In the 1980s and 1990s farm er participation in irriga tion schem es has become syno nym ous w ith the form ation of W UAsÐ the sine qua non of success of w ater m anagem ent, as Steinberg et al. (1983, p. i) conclude. A W UA is de® ned as: ª a private organization ow ned, controlled and operated by m ember users for their bene® ts in im proving water deliv ery, w ater use and other organizational efforts related to w ater for increasing their production possibilitiesº (IIP, 1990b, p. 3). Even though the above de® nition em phasizes that farm ers should bene® t it is im portant to recognize that the concept of W UA s origina tes from governm ent and state planners’ wish to expand agricultural production and productivity w ithin irriga ted agriculture and to m ake the farmers pay for these improvem ents. In other w ords, the initiative does not origin ate from the farmers them selv es. A second obviou s point often overlooked is the fact that W U As can only perform their function(s) if farm ers accept, adopt and use them . This places lim its on the w ay agencies can stim ulate the form ation process of W UAs. Freem an (1991, p. 59) reports that farmers are w illing to engage in organization if and only if they gain in econom ic or non-economic term s by doing so.

W hat Problem s D oes the W UA A pproach Prom ise to Solve? It is unthink able that an irrigation agen cy could or w ould try to m anage w ater all the w ay down to the ® eld level, because of the cost inv olved, staff requirem ents and inform ation needed to do this successfully. The question, thus, is not w heth er to have farm er participation, but w hat kind , how m uch, and at w hat


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levels? Participation sh ould be optimal rather than m aximum according to the situation (Uphoff et al., 1985, p. 2). The genera l und erstandin g am ong irrig ation practitioners of the objectives for 5 irriga tion organizations can be summ arized under ® ve heading s: (1) greater production and productivity; (2) improved w ater distribution; (3) redu ction in con¯ ict; (4) greater local resource m obilization; (5) sustained system perform ance. The listed objectives are highly interre lated and their ranking w ill vary from system to system and over tim e. Increased production and productivity usually rank as the prim ary objectives (Uphoff et al., 1991, pp. 59± 60). O ne objective, the im provem ent of water distrib utionÐ or water control as it is term ed in this paperÐ attracts special attention from researchers w ithin the ìrriga tion m anagem ent’ school (see, e.g., Bagadion & Korten, 1991; Freem an, 1991; Freem an & Low derm ilk, 1991; Freem an et al., 1989; Low derm ilk & Sven dsen , 1983; Lusk & Parlin, 1991; Samaha & Abu-Zeid , 1980; W ade & Seckler, 1990). The interes t in w ater control is stim ulated by the notion that it is a precondition for im provem ents in the other four objectives. Furtherm ore m ost large-scale system s do not provid e farm ers with adequate w ater control. In this paper only the issue of the im pact of W UAs on w ater control will be dealt w ith.

W hat is W ater C ontrol? W ater control is de® ned as ª the capacity to apply the proper quantity and quality of water at the optimum tim e to the crop root zone to m eet crop consum ptive needs and soil leaching requirem entsº (Freem an et al., 1989, p. 10). In other w ords, the term m eans the relative control over quantity and tim ing of supplies. W ater control is of utmost im portance because it directly affects productivity. ª If water comes too soon, too late, in amounts too great or too sm all, the productivity of that w ater is sharply redu cedº (Freem an et al., 1989, 6 p. 12). It is furtherm ore critical to farm ers’ decisio ns concerning which crops to grow , w hen to grow them , and whether or not to adopt new agro-technologies such as fertilizers, pesticid es and high-y ieldin g crop varieties (W ade, 1990, p. 7 175). Finally, water control has an environmental im pact. If farm ers lack w ater control they tend to counteract this by applying too m uch w ater (Clem m ens, 1987, p. 60; W ade, 1990). W ater control is both a technical and a social/political endea vour. Technical because the main- and m icro-delivery system s must be physic ally capable of 8 exercising this control. Social/political because w ater control is an outcome of proper m anagem ent at all levels of the irriga tion system . Ultim ately ª w ater control is a function of collective actions and can be enha nced only through disciplined organizationsº (Freem an & Low derm ilk , 1991, p. 122).

W hat are the Need s to Im prove W ater C ontrol in Egyp tian Agriculture? M ost large-scale irriga tion sy stem s are design ed to operate as upstream control 9 system s. The sh eer size of the system s, the functions they perform and the organizational levels inv olved make them ill-eq uipped in regard to the problem s



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faced by farmers in securing local control over irriga tion w ater (Freem an & Low derm ilk, 1991, p. 119). The Egyp tian irriga tion system is enorm ous. Around 59 BCM of w ater is stored and distrib uted annually to 2.8 million ha of cultivated land holding three m illio n individ ual farm s. Further water is delivere d for m unicipal and industrial use. It is used to gen erate hyd roelectricity and facilitate navigation of freighters and tourist boats on the N ile. Several resea rch projects and studies provide ample eviden ce of the need for im provem ent in farm er w ater control in Egyp t (Abu-Zeid & Rady, 1992, p. 96; EW UP, 1984, pp. 11± 26; IIP, 1990c, p. 9; Replogle, 1986, p. 119; W orld Bank, 1993, p. 26). These studies document how the operation and physical conditio ns of the delivery system place a signi® cant constrain t on im proved farm water m anagem ent. The rigidit ies of the present system do not allow for satisfying different w ater dem ands reg arding frequency and quantity for differen t crops. One study points out that ª Increased reliability, predic tability and equity of water supplies are need ed, especially at m idd le and tail reaches of canals, from A pril through A ugustº (IIP, 1990c, p. 9). A n in-dep th analysis of the w ater control situation in the three areas in w hich the ® eld survey reported below w as condu cted support the ® ndings above. Shortages of irrigation w ater during the peak summ er period , severe inequ alities in w ater distribution throughout the system , and deterio rating condition of the physical structures (canal and regu lators) w ith w hich the water w as m anaged w ere found to be factors that all contributed to a near absence of water control in these areas (IIP, 1990a, p. 3, 1991a, p. 2/12, 1991b, p. 2/12). M ethodology of the Study The prim ary data were collected during O ctober and N ovem ber 1992 in three C anal Comm ands in M iddle Egypt: H erz-N um aniya and Beni Ibeid located close to the city of M inya, and Q im an Arus, adjacent to the city of Ben i Suef. Data w ere collected through structured interview s underta ken by local interview ers. A total of 137 W U A council mem bers w ere interv iewed each located on different ® eld turnouts (marwas). All the selected resp ondents owned land on mesqas (w atercourses) that w as im proved by IIP and had been in operation for more than tw o months. The farm er interv iew s w ere supplem ented by interview s w ith key inform ants in the areas, a review of the W UA ’s ® nancial status and by physic al measurem ents of, for exam ple, land savings. H ow were W UAs Implem ented in Egypt? Im plem en tation of W UA s in Egypt is condu cted by the Irrigation Im provem ent Project (IIP) within the M inistry of Public W ork and W ater Resources (MPW W R). The project is ® nanced by U SA ID and the M PW W R. The IIP project is a pilot project designed to ® eld test the outcomes of a 15-year resea rch and ® eld trial und ertaking . The overall goal of IIP is to increase production and productivity in agriculture. M ore speci® cally it aim s at im proving the w ater delivery and distribution system s to at least 1200 m esqas com manding more than 38 600 ha. Total funding requirem ent is budgeted at US$ 63 389 000 for the period 1988 to Septem ber 1995 (D evres Inc., 1993, p. xviii). The project is design ed to give guidance in the dev elopm ent of a process of w ater control and application to the

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M PW W R, including constru ction, training, capacity build ing, institu tional and policy change. It ® eld tests a shift from rotation to continu ous ¯ ow at the branch canals, new application techno logies at the mesqa level, and the formation of 1200 W UA s in a cross-section of Egy ptian env ironm en ts (Devres Inc., 1993, p. xiv). M ore speci® cally this includes:

· ·

a strengt hening of the institu tional capacity of M PW W R in m anageria l and adm inistra tive skills, and in operational policies and procedures; develo pm ent of a rational interd isciplinary approach in planning, design ing and im plem en ting the renov ation of speci® c canal com mand s; develo pm ent of an Irrigation A dviso ry Service (IAS) to transfer w ater m anagem ent technic al inform ation and technical assistance to W U As; organization of operational W UA s in all IIP areas w hose tasks include: schedu ling of w ater delivery on m esq as, perform ance of maintena nce and resolu tion of disputes, increasing com m unication links betw een farm ers and governm ent of® cials; establishm ent of policies and procedures for the recovery of an appropriate portion of operation and m aintenance costs, and 100% of the nom inal costs of mesqas and on-farm improvements.


·

·

·

IIP has de® ned a seven -phase strategy to establish W UA s: entry, initial organization, preparation for mesqa im provem ents, participation in m esq a improvem ents, regu lar W UA operations, W UA federation and m onitoring and 10 evaluation (IAS, 1992) Th e process is thought to gradually enable the W UAs to assum e the feeling of ownership and resp onsibility for the mesqa im provem ents. Despite a number of im plem en tation problem s, all the surveyed m esq as were in 11 the ® fth phase: regu lar W UA operations. Utmost care has been taken w ithin IIP to design the W U As in accordance w ith the traditional form s of farm er participation and con¯ ict reso lution w hich exist fully or partly today. These encom pass the `Munawaba and Taraf’ system s of leadership and w ater allocation at m esqa level, the `Saqia’ rin g for collective pum ping of water, the `H aq al-Arab’ (rights of the Arab) w hich is a traditional Islamic legal system for maintaining peace and resolving con¯ ict, and ® nally contem porary law which desig nates w ater as a public good but the m esq a system as private property belonging to the w ater users (Aziz, 1994, pp. 1± 3; M eh anna et al., 1984, pp. 18± 66, 92± 133). Build ing the W UAs on these traditional form s of participation is thought to increase the farm ers’ acceptance of the im provem ents, and to secure a good found ation for buildin g and m aintaining stron g farm er participation in the irriga tion system s over tim e (Aziz, 1994, p. 3). Experienc es w ith Establishm ent of W U As Below different sets of data are presente d to docum en t key features of the W UA 12 form ation process. The ® rst show s the degree to w hich essential organizational and know ledge attributes were im plem ented. The data depicted in Table 1 in dicate that the W U A build ing process has succeeded in establishin g what is consid ered by IAS to be the essential organizational features to operate the im proved m esq a system s. Basically the features are in place after the system s have been in operation for more six months. Another way to quantify the formation process of the W UAs is to consid er the


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T ab le 1. Status of implem enting organizational features, b y age-groups, in percentages Feature


Irrigation sched ule exists A ccou ntant appointed Financial record exists B ank account established M oney in reserve fund Pu m p operator appointed Pu m p record exists

3± 6 m o nths (n 5 52) 44.2 100 90.4 59.6 73.1 100 65.4

7± 10 m on ths (n 5 17) 94.1 100 100 100 100 100 100

20± 24 m onth s (n 5 68) 98.5 100 100 100 100 100 100

degre e to w hich know ledge concerning their day-to-day operation was presen t am ong the water users. T he data in T ab le 2 provid e evide nce that the level of kn ow ledge concernin g these issues improves over time. It is seen, though , that the acquire d level of knowledge differs accord ing to the issue in question. T he ge ne ral picture is that the issue of m ost concern for the farm ers, i.e. the pum ping charge s, is kn ow n fully, w hil e issu es m ore rem ote from daily operation, e.g. how and w he re to ge t the pum p ® xed in case of a b reakdow n, are less well kn ow n. T he reason for the lack of know ledge ab out the current irriga tion schedule im plemented on the m esqas is that the sche dules w ere change d quite frequently during sum m er season 1992 b ecause of instab ility of the b ranch canal ¯ ow s. T he data indic ate that comm unication within the W U A is functioning w ell; for exam ple, inform ation on the m onthl y status of the different ® nancial accounts seem s to b e widespread am ong the W U A m emb ers. T he level of kn ow ledge re¯ ects b oth the experienc es the farm er has gaine d from operating the syste m, and the know ledge transferred through the IA S. A s part of the W UA formation process four course s are cond ucted b y the IA S: a b asic course in W UA form ation and responsib ilitie s, a course in ® nancial accounting , a course in mainten ance and ® nally a course in on-farm w ater m anagem ent. T he latter course however, was not offered prior to the tim e of this survey. Data rev eal that 74% of the respondents had take n part in one or more of these events and 13% had participated in all thre e course s. View ed b y age -groups approxim ately 83% of the W U A council m em b ers of m esqas older than seven m onths had take n part in a training event whil e around 63% of the council m emb ers on m esqas less than seven m onths had done so. T he rel atively high level of acquire d know ledg e and im plem entation of the organizational features in dicate tw o aspects: ® rst, that the know ledg e ne eded to operate the system s at this level of developm ent does not exceed the capacities of the farm ers, whe n they receive appropriate support from IA S; second, that the farm ers have found it worthw hil e to inv est valuab le tim e and effort in acquiring these skil ls and b uilding the organizations. A ® nal issue in relation to estab lishing the W UA s is the contacts b etw een W UA mem b ers and different categorie s of ® eld staff. T he data depicted in T ab le 3 provide evid ence of a shift in the dire ction of farmer comm unication. Before the IIP im provem en ts, the M inistry of Agriculture (MO A) extension w orke r, the G ate Keeper and to a lesser extent the District Engine er w ere the m ain sources

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M . Hvidt T ab le 2. Level of responde nts’ know ledge ab out W UA issues/m atters, b y age-groups, in percentages 3± 6 m onths Good Full


Irrigation sch ed ule Pu m ping charges R epair ch arges W here to ® x pum p B alance b ank accou n t B alance pum p account

25.0 1.9 17.3 25.0 7.7 7.7 n5

44.2 98.1 34.6 42.3 59.6 63.5

7± 10 m on ths Good Full

20± 24 m onths G ood Full

58.8 Ð 35.3 17.6 Ð 23.5

10.3 1.5 19.1 11.8 1.5 16.2

41.2 100 64.7 82.4 100 76.5 n5

52

88.2 98.5 77.9 83.8 98.5 83.8 n5

17

68

T ab le 3. Quantity and quality of contacts b etw een respond ents and categorie s of ® eld staff, b efore and after IIP (n 5 137)

C ontact M O A Extension W orker D istrict Eng ineer G ate K eeper IA S Field Ag ent IA S Eng ineer IIP Design Eng ineer IIP Con struction En g.

A verage no. of con tacts U sefulness of contacts per m onth (m eans) (m eans, scale 0± 5) a a B efore A fter Before A fter 3.71 1.69 3.99 1.4 1.08 0.72 1.04

3.71 1.15 2.23 4.52 4.04 1.44 2.04

3.6 1.56 3.43 1.47 1.22 0.67 1.04

3.64 1.38 1.82 4.53 4.08 1.57 2.12

% of farm ers w ho know : n am e o f w here to O f® cial contact of® cial 84.7 51.1 97.2 92.6 89.7 22.8 40.4

83.9 49.6 94.1 91.9 88.2 25.0 43.4

N otes: A contact is de® ned as a situation w h en a water user and an of® cial m eet face to face to d iscuss issues and chang e info rm ation. a `Before’ refers to the period b efo re the m esqa 1 pum p started operation, but after W U A was form ed.

of com munication; After the im plem entation of the mesqa syste ms the num b er of contacts and the usefulne ss of these have decreased for the latter tw o categorie s. One reason for this is that the job of the gate ke eper has b een made super¯ uous b y the continu ous ¯ ow syste m. It may b e seen that the IAS ® eld age nts and the IAS engine er b oth have more than four face-to-face meetings with indiv idual farm ers each m onth and , more im portantly, that the farmers conside r these meeting s `very useful’. T his is furthe rm ore re¯ ected in percentage s of farm ers w ho know the nam es of the of® cials and w he re to contact them. T his ind icates that IAS staff are prese nt in the areas on a daily b asis, and that they have m anaged to estab lish them selves as trustw orthy and useful in the eyes of the farm ers. T he latter two categories of IIP staff, the design and constru ction engin eers, are supposed to b e in the ® eld onl y during the initial phase of constru ction.

D o the IIP Im provem en ts Increase W ater C ontrol? In operational term s water control can b e analyse d und er three he adings:


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T ab le 4. Estim ated adequacy of water supply, b efore and after IIP, in percentages (n 5 137) A d equacy


N ever adequate Som etimes adequate A d equate

Befo re IIP W inter Sum m er 2.2 27.7 70.1

10.9 75.9 13.1

A fter IIP W inter Sum m er Ð 5.0 95.0

Ð 20.6 79.4

adequacy, reliab ility and fairn ess of water ¯ ow s. T w o ind icators of adequacy w ill b e represe nted, adequacy and numb er of days w ith critical water sh ortage . Adequacy T he data in T ab le 4 show that follow ing the IIP im provements a m arked change in the estim ated adequacy of water supply has take n place. M ost notab le is the change in relation to the sum mer data, from a situation whe re onl y 13.1% found the water supply adequate to a new situation where some 80% rated the situation adequate; 74% of the resp onde nts reported im provem en ts in the 13 adequacy situation follow ing the IIP im provem en ts. From T ab le 5 it m ay b e seen that the num b er of days with critical w ater shortage has b een red uced following the IIP im provem en ts. Before IIP intervention a total of 2217 days with w ater sh ortage s w ere reported. After IIP, the 14 reported num b er w as 322. T his is a decrease of 85.5% T he numb er of farmers reporting days w ith critical w ater shortage pre-proje ct is high. In the three critical sum mer m onths, more than half of the farm ers in the sam ple (June 57% , July 73%, A ugust 69% ) reported days with critical w ater shortages. O nly some 15 3% of the sam ple farm ers gave such a report in the post-proje ct situation. Even though the reported data m ight b e sub ject to some uncertainty, there can b e little doub t that a sizeab le decrease in the numb er of days w ith critical w ater shortage has occurre d as a result of the IIP improvements. Reliability In the thre e areas surve ye d only one, H erz-N umaniy a, had an operational continuous ¯ ow syste m at the time of the surve y. Below, data on one aspect of the reliab ility situation of water ¯ ows are depicted. T he se data focus on the planning of the individu al farm er. If an inte rruption in w ater supply is com municated to the farm ers in advance, or if w ater arrives the exact day the rotation w as supposed to b egin, no deviations are reported. O n the other hand , if w ater is not present w hen the farm er had reason to b elieve it would b e, deviations exist. T his ind icator is important b ecause a range of production decisions in irriga ted agriculture depends on the access to w ater at the time req uire d. T he data in T ab le 6 show that, for b oth w inter and sum mer season, the num b er of deviations are reduced follow ing the IIP im provements. For the sum mer season, prior to the IIP improvements less than 10% reported `no deviations’ . After the improvements m ore than 80% reported `no deviations’ . A t the other en d of the scale, 26.2% of the farm ers reported `m any or often

270

M . Hvidt T ab le 5. Estim ated numb er of days when a critical w ater sh ortage affecting crop yie lds occurre d, and nu mb er of farm ers reporting. a (n 5 100 ) Before IIP N o . of farm ers N o. of days reporting


M on th Feb ruary M arch A pril M ay June July A ugust Septem ber O ctober Total

A fter IIP N o. of farm ers N o. of days reporting

61 67 76 90 520 704 588 704 41

5 6 6 9 57 73 69 6 3

20 20 20 20 44 57 57 42 42

2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 2

2217

234

322

21

a

N ote: N o reporting from B eni Ibeid com m and area.

T ab le 6. Estim ated num b er of deviations from planned irriga tions, b efore and after IIP, in percentages (n 5 137) N o. o f d eviations M any dev iations O ften dev iations Few d eviations N o dev iations

Befo re IIP W inter Sum m er 0.7 8.8 41.2 49.3

3.6 22.6 64.2 9.5

A fter IIP W inter Sum m er 1.0 1.0 1.0 96.9

0.7 0.7 16.8 81.8

N ote: Deviations listed under `Befor e IIP’ refers to dev iation at beginning and end of rotation. In the À fter IIP’ situation dev iation relates b oth to the m ain and m esqa system.

deviations’ b efore, and onl y 1.4% after IIP inte rve ntion. In total, 86% of the sample farm ers reported fewer deviations following the IIP im provem en ts for the sum mer m onths. For b oth winte r and summ er seasons a m ajor shift has occurred in relationship to the num b er of deviations from farm ers’ planne d irriga tions. In other word s, the reliab ility of the w ater supply has increased .

Fairness T he term fairness , as used here, re¯ ects farm ers’ perceptions of w hat is fair and w hat is not fair. T hose perceptions m ight differ from results of a strict physical m easurem ent of w ater ¯ ow s in mesqas. T he re are technical reasons to assume that there will b e onl y sm all Head± T ail (H± T ) differen ces along the im proved m esqas. T he m esqa syste ms are designe d so that the same quantity of w ater pum ped into the syste m ¯ ow s out through the ® eld turnouts. So H ± T differences in the delive red volum es of w ater will occur only to the extent that leakage s or friction along the m esqa b ecome factors.


271

T ab le 7. Estim ated fairne ss in water distrib ution along m esqas, b efore and after IIP, in percentages (n 5 137) D istribution

Befor e IIP


M ajor head± tail d iffer en ces Som e head± tail differences N o head± tail differences

10.3 61 28.7

A fter IIP Ð 3 97

T ab le 8. Estim ated adequacy of w ater supply, b efore and after IIP, sum mer season, in percentages B efore IIP rotation (n 5 136)

Ad equacy N ever adequate Som etimes adequ ate Ad equate Note: CF 5 a

A fter IIP a a without C F w ith C F (n 5 52) (n 5 84)

10.9 75.9 13.1

Ð 51.9 48.1

Ð 1.2 98.8

con tinuo us ¯ ow in b ranch canal.

T he data in T ab le 7 ind icate a major shift in farmers’ perception of he ad± tail differenc es in w ater supply along mesqas. T he H± T differenc es depicted b efore the IIP proje ct have b asically b een eradicated. T he data depict a rather une ven or unfair syste m of water distrib ution b efore the IIP im provem ents. All the resp onde nts w ho reported `major H± T differences’ b efore IIP w ere located at the tails of long mesqas (750± 1000 m). Find ings from another study point out that m ajor H ± T differences are also found in rel ation to the H ± T sections of b ranch canals (IIP, 1990c, p. 9). In other w ords the b efore situation w as plagued b y H± T differenc es not onl y in m esqas b ut also in canals. As shown in T ab le 7 the form er has b een eradicated whe reas no certain conclusion can b e drawn concerning the latter from the survey data. In summ ary, the ab ove data have show n that farmer water control has in creased signi® cantly following the im plem en tation of the IIP im provem en ts. M icro-syste m Improvements: D o T hey Increase W ater C ontrol ? A s m entione d, the IIP technological package included improvem ents b oth in the m ain sy stem , giving continuous ¯ ow in the b ranch canals, and in the m icro-systems, through im proved m esqas w ith singl e-point lift and the estab lishm ent of W UAs to operate the m esqa sy stem s. Bivariate analysis provid es evide nce that, ab ove all, im provem ent in b ranch canal w ater supply is the main reason for the in crease in farm er w ater control (H vidt, 1994, pp. 127ff). T his raises the important question of w he ther the increased level of w ater control follow ing the IIP im provem ents is onl y attrib utab le to im provements in the m ain syste m s’ w ater supply. If so, there will b e little reason to em phasize the estab lishm ent of W U As. Below an attempt is made to differentiate b etw een the effects resulting from the m ain system and the m icro-syste m improvem ents. T he

272

M . Hvidt

purpose of this analysis is to point out the speci® c contribution m ade by the m esq a system s’ technical and organizational features to the increased level of w ater control.


The M icro-system Contribution to Increased W ater Control The data in Table 8 show that at m esq as w ith non-operational contin uous ¯ ow the estim ated adequacy of the water supply has increased in relation to the before situation. H ow ever, w ith continu ous ¯ ow in operation the increase is found to be m uch greater as com pared w ith the situation before, and greater in relation to the after situation without continuous ¯ ow. This is a strong indicator that im provem ent of the m esq a system in itself has an effect on adequacy. A plausible explanation for the effect w ithout continu ous ¯ ow is that the adoption of technical, organizational and knowled ge-related aspects of the IIP techno logical package has put the farm ers in far a better situation to take advantage of the present (unstable) water supply. There are sound technical reasons to consider the argum ent to be valid. First, in the old system mesqas were constru cted w ith an intake pipe at a ® xed level in relation to the w ater surface. This meant that w ater w ould only ¯ ow into the m esqas w hen the water rose above a certain level in the branch canal. Upstream or dow nstrea m use of w ater had a m arked effect on the water level in a giv en location. Often it w as found that the w ater level tow ards the tail reach of the canal did not allow for irriga tion during the ® rst couple of days of the rotation’ s òn’ period, w hile upstream users took w ater. Because the intakes at the improved m esqas are low ered considera bly in relation to the old intakes, there will sim ply be m ore hours out of the ® ve days’ òn period ’ where w ater is accessible for the users in the im proved system s. Second , larger pum p capacity is likely to be an im portant factor. In the before situation the intake pipe to the m esq a had a ® xed diam eter w hich only allow ed a certain w ater ¯ ow , i.e. 30 l/s. If total pum ping along a m esqa exceeded in¯ ow , the w ater level in the m esqa would drop causing the pum ping to be red uced. In the im proved mesqas, single-point pum ping is done directly from the branch canal. M any m esq as have large pum p sets which can handle a ¯ ow stream up to 120 l/s. Third , it is lik ely that the sched uling of w ater along the mesqas distributes the am ount of w ater available m ore evenly among the farm ers. In further support of the argum ent that improvement of the mesqa system in itself has an effect on the adequacy situation is the fact that the investiga tor in m any instances has seen how a sudd en interru ption to branch canal water ¯ ow s has been counteracted by W UAs operating the pump(s) for longer hours (i.e. 20 hours/day) w hen the w ater eventu ally returned. Farmers furtherm ore indic ated that in som e instances they have shared the available water by giv ing each farm er m aybe two-thirds of his w ater need s, thereb y providing w ater for more farm ers. From the data and argum ents presented above, it seem s plausible that the m esq a system improvements have made w ay for a m ore ¯ exible distribution of the irriga tion w ater, w hich has increased farm er w ater control. W U A Organizational Strength: Does it Impact on W ater Control? Based on the data presen ted above w hich have shown a consisten t reportin g of in creased w ater control following the IIP im provem ents, the inv estigator is of


273


T ab le 9. Strati® ed analysis: continu ous ¯ ow , num b er of deviations from plann ed irriga tion and W U A organizational stre ngth, sum mer season, after IIP, in percentages W U A organizational stren gth W eak Strong

C ontinuous ¯ ow

N o. of d eviations

N ot in operation (n 5 52)

Som e dev iations N o dev iations

55.9 44.1

27.8 72.2

In o peration (n 5 85)

Som e dev iations N o dev iations

3.3 96.7

Ð 100.0

the opinio n that this w ould notÐ and could notÐ have b een the case if the m esqa 16 syste m was estab lishe d technically b ut not organizationally. Below an attem pt is m ade to point out the effects on w ater control resulting from the organizational stre ngth of the W U As. T he data in T ab le 9 provid e inform ation that the stre ngth of W UAs in perform ing their tasks in¯ uences the reliab ility of the w ater supply. T he tab le shows that for m esqas at b ranch canals with non-operational contin uous ¯ ow , resp onde nts with stron g W U As reports far few er deviations than resp onde nts w ith w eak organizations. T he difference is 28.1% . O n the other hand, for farmers at b ranch canals with continu ous ¯ ow fully operational, no differences are reported in relation to organizational stren gth. T his ind icates that whe n b ranch canal w ater supply is adequate, reliab le and fair, the streng th of the W UA s does not in¯ uence w ater control. H owever, whe n the b ranch canal w ater supply is not adequate, rel iab le and fair, the ab ility of the farm ers to plan w ater usage is depende nt (gam m a 5 0.53) on the stre ngth of the organizations. At ® rst sight this is a discouraging ® nd ing. If the irriga tion age ncy is capab le of supplying continu ous ¯ ow in the m ain canals, there see m s to b e little reason to inv est time and effort in creating strong W U As. H owever, taking ye t a closer look at the availab le data, there are three concerns that ind icate that it is dif® cult (m ayb e im possib le) for the irriga tion agen cy to ke ep continu ous ¯ ow in operation w ithout any in terruptions and, thus, that W UA organizational stre ngth is in fact of utmost im portance for im proving and sustaining w ater control. First, after onl y two years of implementation, the farm ing syste m has not ye t b een developed to the extent that W U A organizational stre ngth has b ecom e crucial to the operation of the mesqa syste m . N eithe r has the cropping pattern b een diversi® ed toward s highe r yie lding and m ore moisture-sensitiv e crops (i.e. veg etab les), nor has the am ount of specialization of functions within the W UA s b een developed to the point w he re such organizations have b ecome of supreme im portance. Second, im plem entation of continu ous ¯ ow has sh ow n itse lf to b e very com plicated technically, organizationally and politically for the irriga tion age ncy (IIP, 1993a, 1993b ). T he result is that instab ility in w ater ¯ ow s has b een presen t long after im plementation of the mesqa syste ms. In other w ords, organizations are nee ded to counteract these start-up prob lems. T hird, Egypt is facing a situation of w ater scarcity (Ab u-Zeid, 1992, p. 14). T hus, it is increasingl y dif® cult for the irriga tion age ncy staff to allocate the extra

274

M . Hvidt


volu mes of w ater w hich are necessary in order to maintain the continu ous ¯ ow regim e (IIP, 1993b, pp. 20ff). In other w ords, there are reasons to believe that w ater supply interruptions (crisis) are to be seen as a perm anent feature of the Egyptian large-scale irriga tion system , at least in peak water dem and periods. It is thus to be expected that the m ore the cropping patterns are div ersi® ed, the greater the specialization of the irriga tion functions within the W U As, and the m ore predo min ant the scarcity of the w ater reso urce becomes, the more essential w ill stron g and w ell-functioning W UAs becom e in securing farm er w ater control. In other word s, the m ore successful the IIP technology becomes, the greater the dependen cy on strong and viable W UAs to m anage the w ater deliverie s. N otes 1. T his is a revised version of a paper presented at the V IIIth IW R A W orld C ong ress on W ater R esources, Ca iro, 21± 25 N ovem ber 1994. 2 T he m erits of involving farm ers in irrigation m anagem ent on sm all-scale irrigation systems (less than 1000 ha) h ave been extensively stud ied and d ocum ented (see, e.g. K orten, 1982; M aass & A n derson, 1978; U pho ff et al., 1985). 3 Pers onal d iscussion w ith Dr M ax Low derm ilk. 4. T he issue is felt to be ow nership of the system . Fo r a further elaboration of this point see B rom ley et al. (1980), C ow ard (1983, p. 218), Lusk (1991), L usk & Pa rlin (1991). 5. T here seem s to be a general consensus about these ob jectives in the irrigation m anagem ent literature. See, for exam ple, C lym a & L ow d erm ilk (1988, p. 10). Here quoted from U phoff et al. (1991, p. 59). 6 T his is especially the case in arid areas such as Eg ypt. 7. Studies from Pak istan and Ind ia sho w that im proved water control results in higher cropping intensities, larger inputs of fertilizers, higher yields and greater incom e per hectare (Low derm ilk, 1990, p. 156). 8. For an in-dep th d iscussion of this point see, for ex am ple, B urt (1987). 9. Scale is de® n ed b y the size and tiers of organization of the system. Sm all-scale system s m ay have o ne or two levels of operation and co ntrol structures. M edium -scale systems have three or fou r levels of operation at wh ich w ater ¯ ow s can b e red uced and/or divided b y control structures. L arge-scale system s often h ave ® ve or m ore levels, and serve an area b etween 20 000 and o ver 400 000 h a (U pho ff et al., 1991, p. 33). The E gyptian irrigation system serves m ore than 2.8 m illion h a. 10. For a further explanation of these phases see IA S (1992). 11. For a review of the status o f the im plem en tation of b oth see the following review s of the IIP project: D evres In c. (1993), IIP (1992). Encou ntered im plem entation problems include lack of d em onstration m esqas, un clear policy on co st reco very, m isun derstanding s am ong farm ers con cerning the techn ical fea tures of the system , resistance fro m farm ers w ho ow ned pum ps and m ade an increm en tal incom e on renting pum ping services to other farm ers prior to the im provem ents etc. 12. See Hvidt (1994, C h. 6) for an in-d epth description of the W UA for m ation process. 13. C alculated for the sum m er season. 14. T he decrease of 85% is thought to be a conservative ® gure. In B eni Ibeid an average of 19 farm ers per m on th reported days with critical w ater shortage. These data, how ever, are n ot includ ed in T able 5 because o f farm ers’ inability to provide exact num ber of days. 15. T he age of the m esqa im provem ent in¯ uences the ® nding considerably. For the category of m esqas o ver 20 m on ths the d ecrease is from 1607 days to 40 wh ich is equal to a decrease of 97.51% . For the young est m esqas ( , 6 m onths) the d ecrease w as 48% . 16. T his argum ent refers to the theoretical point that a technology n eed s to b e dev eloped technically, o rganizationally, kn ow ledg e-w ise and product-w ise if it is to be fully operational. For an in-dep th d iscussion o f this po int see M uÈ ller (1980: Ch. 2).

R eferences A bu -Z eid , M . (1992) W ater resources assessmen t for Egypt, paper presen ted at Round table on Egy ptian W ater Policy, A lexandria, E gypt, 11± 13 A pril.



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A bu -Z eid , M .A. & R ady, M .A . (1992) W ater resources m anagem ent and policies in Egy pt, in: G.L. M oigne, S. B arghouti, G. Geder, L. Garbus & M . Xie (Eds) C ou ntry Experiences w ith W ater Resources M anagem ent. Econ om ic, Institution al, Technological and Environm ental Issues, W orld Ban k Techn ical P aper N o. 175 (W ashington, D C, W orld Bank ). A ziz, Y.A. (1994) Sustainable irrigated agriculture: role of farm ers’ participation in Egy pt, paper presen ted at IC ID wo rkshop. B agadion, B.U. & K orten, F.F. (1991) D eveloping irrigators’ organizations: a learning process approach, in: M .M . Cern ea (Ed .) Pu tting People First: S ociolog ical V ariables in Rural D evelopm ent (N ew York, W orld Bank /O xford U niversity Press). B rom ley, D .W ., Taylor, D.C. & Parker, D .E. (1980) W ater refo rm and econ om ic dev elopm ent: institutional aspects of water m anagem ent in the dev eloping countries, Econ om ic Development an d C ultu ral Change, 28(2), pp. 365± 387. B urt, C.M . (1987) O verview of canal control concep ts, in: D . Zim belm an (Ed .) Proceedings of Plann ing, O peration , Rehabilitation an d A utom ation of Irrigation W ater D elivery System s, Irrig. an d Drain age D iv. (AS CE) S ym posium , Po rtland, O regon , 1987 (N ew Y ork, AS CE ). C lem m ens, A .J. (1987) A rrang ed d elivery schedu les, in: D . Zim belm an (Ed.) P roceedings of Plann ing, O peration , Rehabilitation an d A utom ation of Irrigation W ater D elivery System s, Irrig. an d Drain age D iv. (AS CE) S ym posium , Po rtland, O regon (N ew York, A SC E). C lym a, W . & L ow d erm ilk, M .K . (1988) Imp roving the M an agement of Irrigated A gricultu re: A M ethodology for D iagnostic An alyses, W ater M anagem en t Synthesis Project II, W M S Report 95 (F ort Co llins, U n iversity Services Center, Colorado State Un iversity). C ow ard, E.W . Jr. (1983) N ew directions in irrigation research and d evelopm en t, in: W .F. W hy te & D . Boy nton (Eds ) H igher-Yielding H um an Systems for A gricultu re (Ithaca, Co rnell U niversity Press). D evres In c. (1993) Evaluation of the Irrigation Im provem ent Project Com pon ent of the Irrigation M an agem ent System s Project [C . M orgelard, D. Haslem , P. Hek m at, J. L ayton, K . Sw anberg, T. W eaver & F. Shahin] (W ashington D C, D evres Inc.). E W U P (1984) Im proving Egypt’s Irrigation S ystem in the O ld L an ds. Findings of the E gypt W ater U se an d M anagem ent Project, Final Report (C airo, Egy pt, EW U P). Freem an, D .M . (1991) D esigning the organizational interface between users and the agen cies, in: B .W . P arlin & M .W . Lusk (Eds) Farm er P articipation and Irrigation O rganization (B oulder, CO , W estview P ress). Freem an, D .M . & Low derm ilk, M .K . (1991) M iddle-level farm er organizations as links b etw een farm s and central irrigation systems, in: M .M . Cern ea (E d.) Putting People First: S ociological V ariables in R ural D evelopm ent (N ew York, W orld Bank/O xford U niversity Press). Freem an, D .M . w ith B handarkar, V., Shinn, E., W ilkins-W ells, J. & W ilkins-W ells, P. (1989) Local O rganizations for Social D evelopm ent. Con cepts an d C ases of Irrigation O rganization (Bou lder, C O , W estview P ress). H vidt, M . (1994) W ater, technology and dev elopm ent: a farm -level analysis of curren t effo rts to im prove the perform ance of the E gyptian irrigation system, Ph D d issertation (O dens e, O dense U n iversity). IA S (1992) IAS strategy for sustainable private w ater user associations, unpub lished discussion paper [M . 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