More than half of world’s poor live in developing countries and, in the main, the poorest of these communities depend heavily on exploitation of local natural resources for their livelihoods. Management becomes important as a productive resource becomes scarce, and this is particularly true in the case of the water resource. Water policies of many emerging nations have long focused on developing the resource; and optimizing was directed at the efficiency of water infrastructure. As water available for any given use has become increasingly scarce, optimization has focused on improving the productivity of water itself. Understanding the fundamental principles by which resources are managed and the relationships between people, governing institutions and the environment is central to the development of viable approaches to natural resources management within river basins. Rapidly-growing populations, expanding irrigation areas, and growing urban and industrial complexes are placing ever greater demands on water resources while increasing awareness about the environment calls for reduced water abstractions and higher-quality return flows.
At the same time, as rapid demographic changes place increased strains on the availability of, and access to, water resources, many government organizations are being encouraged to disengage from direct control and supervision of water and other resources, passing ever greater control and responsibility to the stakeholders in the resources, most frequently the local community of water users. The transfer of responsibility from formally-trained professional organizations to communities of users requires the development of new capabilities and capacities in these communities. What is perhaps less well recognized is that there need to be changes in attitudes and development of new capabilities in organizations relinquishing some authority and responsibilities. Furthermore, policy-makers and political leaders in these organizations in transition also need to develop new understandings and capabilities in order to support changing regulatory regimes. This paper summarizes some of the experiences of the IWMI in providing and supporting capacity building efforts in natural resources management, with a specific focus on water resources management for agriculture.
The paper draws on the experiences of a broad range of the IWMI research team and highlights what the authors believe are the highest-potential components of successful capacity building efforts. It does not seek to minimize the complexity of the challenges facing those involved in establishing effective water resources management in any environment, nor does it suggest a "magic recipe" that can be applied in any situation. It does attempt to identify: the essential elements that are required in establishing the capacity for water resources management; the key stakeholders to be involved; and successful capacity development strategies to be employed. While the focus is on the IWMI’s experience in capacity building, the observations and conclusions in the paper are, in general, consistent with the efforts of other major organizations active in water and development, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, Global Water Partnership and World Water Council.
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Ian W. Makin, Tushaar Shah, Doug Vermillion and Mehmood Ul
Hassan |
In recent years, river basins have emerged increasingly as the most logical unit of management for land, water and other natural resources, and as the basis for increased integration of planning and greater devolution of decision-making to local communities and stakeholders. Many developed countries such as Australia, France and the United States of America have evolved highly-advanced and resilient institutional regimes for integrated river basin management (IRBM) over a period of many decades of gradual change. However, many other countries now face with the challenge of developing effective institutions in relatively short periods as the available resources become constraints on development (Shah, Makin and Sakthivadivel, 2002). Some of these countries are having to rediscover local institutions and devolved decision-making after a period of more-centralized resource management introduced as a consequence of government-led irrigation and other water resources development efforts. As these governments now seek to reduce the burden on the national exchequer of the provision of irrigation and natural resource management, the transfer of successful experiences from the more developed basins to these countries has emerged as a growth industry.
Shah, Makin and Sakthivadivel (2002) have explored the issues involved in attempts to assist countries short-circuit the slow transformations that have characterized the development of effective management institutions in the developed basins, which they refer to as "institutional leapfrogging", noting large differences in climate, hydrology, demographics, etc. as major constraints. Their idea was not to undermine the significance of the lessons from success but to emphasize the need for sagacity and critical analysis in assessing what will work and what will not, given the differences in the context. This paper attempts to illustrate how the capacity to achieve the necessary level of sagacity can be developed by a combination of research, training, communication and local experience.
Shah, Makin and Sakthivadivel (2002) note that the phrase "institutional change" is used to describe how communities, government and society change recurrent patterns of behaviour and interactions in coping with water scarcity and its socio-ecological effects. It requires understanding of laws and rule-making, roles, policies and institutional arrangements at different levels. The overarching premise is that the effectiveness of a pattern of institutional development is determined by at least four realities of a river basin that must be viewed in conjunction with one another, namely: the hydrogeological reality; the demographic reality; the socio-economic reality; and the organization of the water sector. By implication, institutional arrangements that have proved effective with one set of these realities may require major adaptation before they become appropriate to the needs of a river basin context defined by an alternative set of realities.
A major challenge that many countries are facing with regard to natural resources is that the acts, rules and regulations governing the management of these resources have been developed with individual sectors in mind. As a result, there are conflicting and contradictory provisions in various acts and rules. These result in a lack of consistency at policy level, leading to confusion and problems in integrating the demands of different sectors at the local level (Pant et al., 2003; Vermillion, 2003). Where policy is confused or contradictory, then the chances of achieving integrated management of the resources are minimal as each sector exploits the uncertainties. Where the message from policy-makers to the agencies is uncertain, and where "governance mechanisms" of new incentives and accountability arrangements are not included in institutional reforms, the capacity to make the necessary sweeping changes to the existing institutional frameworks in order to actually devolve decision-making to the most appropriate levels is absent (IWMI, 2003).
The constellation of stakeholders of irrigation and drainage systems and river basins is extensive. Farmers that obtain services from irrigation and drainage networks are vitally involved. Much of the work in recent years on irrigation management transfer (IMT) and WUAs has focused on the development of appropriate regulatory frameworks and the human resources necessary to enable these policy initiatives to progress (FAO, 1999; IIMI and DID, 1989).
Where farmers and water users are encouraged, cajoled or forced to take greater responsibility for the O&M of the irrigation and drainage systems they rely upon, there is a direct impact on the work environment of the agency that previously provided these services (Svendsen and Vermillion, 1994). Therefore, the staff of these agencies is also a stakeholder in the management of the resources and must develop new motivations and capacities to match the changing responsibilities and institutional realities.
Transformations in the formal arrangements for resource management, such as IMT and greater WUA authority, are generally the result of a policy decision at the political level. In many cases, these policy decisions are driven by the need to reduce the costs of provision of these services by government agencies (Vermillion, 1997). Introducing such policy initiatives is not without costs for the political leadership responsible; the farmer lobby is considerable and such changes can result in massive loss of popular support. Therefore, politicians and political parties are stakeholders in these transformations, and a failure to develop the necessary knowledge of the need for and implications of the changes will reduce severely the probability of implementing a successful and sustainable resource management framework. Management devolution generally involves important transformations in the roles and skill requirements of government agencies, including a shift from direct management of irrigation systems to regulation of the irrigation and water sectors, capacity building and provision of support services for WUAs (e.g. cost sharing, technical advice, management training, and dispute resolution).
Many countries seeking to make the sort of institutional reforms discussed here have utilized investment funds from public multilateral and bilateral developing finance organizations, which come together with funds for investments in irrigation rehabilitation or modernization. No matter whether donor or lending agencies, these financing institutions are normally concerned with whether such investments achieve the development goals at which those investments were aimed. Increasingly, these are aimed at poverty alleviation rather than increased productivity of agricultural systems (Van Koppen, Parthasarathy and Safiliou, 2002). Many interventions aim to reduce the role of centralized agencies and to empower the users of the systems, increase the sharing costs between farmers and service providers, and improve the effectiveness of decision-making and service provision. As the ADB summarizes in its water policy document (ADB, 2001), communities "are the de facto resource managers and protectors of the environment." The policy goes on to state that: "ADB will promote participation in the management of water resources at all levels and collaborate in fashioning partnerships between governments, private agencies, NGOs and communities". Funding agencies want to be identified with successful interventions and work with the recipient agencies to achieve development goals. Therefore, these agencies are also stakeholders in the resource systems that they work in, and they need to ensure they have the appropriate knowledge and capacities to support the interventions they fund.
Almost without exception, in the countries that are introducing reforms to water resources management frameworks, there are organizations emerging (especially in civil society) that are raising concerns about the state of the environment and the impact of agricultural water management on river systems. These organizations may be international environmental activist groups or local NGOs. What is clear is, that as a country becomes wealthier and an expanding middle class emerges, concerns over the impact of human activity on the environment and the state of the world to be bequeathed to the coming generations also emerges. Although many of this middle class will live in urban areas, the direct links between rural and urban areas, often most visibly represented by rivers, make these groups increasingly vocal stakeholders in water resource management policies. While the majority of the international lobby groups have highly capable and dedicated professionals supporting their campaigns, appropriate knowledge of local conditions, cultures and capacities is essential if objectively-structured results are to be obtained.
It is clear that the stakeholders in water resources in any given location are manifold. In addition, as IWRM is adopted and applied more widely, so the constellation of stakeholders becomes more complex and extensive. The capabilities and knowledge that an individual needs will be determined by where in this group of interested parties the individual operates. The following section considers the types of knowledge and capabilities that these different stakeholders require in order to be effective stewards of water resources.
"If there is any conclusion that springs from a comparative study of river systems, it is that no two are the same" (Gilbert White cited in Jacobs, 1999). Each river basin must differ from another in a thousand respects. That does not mean that lessons of success in one are of no value to another. However, it does mean that uncritical "copycat" replication of successful institutional models - either by enthusiastic national governments or at the behest of enthusiastic donors - is a recipe for failure. The history of institutional reform in developing-country water sectors is dotted with failures of such copycat reforms (Shah, Makin and Sakthivadivel, 2002). The central message from the paper by Shah, Makin and Sakthivadivel (2002) is that attempts at uncritical transplantation of a water resources management framework from one, successful, location to another are almost certain to fail.
When considering capacity building in the irrigation, drainage and wider water resources sector, the key requirement is to establish the capability in the different stakeholder communities (including farmers, service providers and agencies, politicians, donors and the broader society) to make critical assessment of the needs of the local situation. The knowledge and capacity for analysis required by these different groups will vary considerably. However, communication between these different stakeholders and negotiating resolutions to conflicting objectives and aspirations is perhaps one of the most critical capacities for everyone involved in water resources management. Many of the initiatives in the irrigation and drainage sector that have focused on management transformations have been aimed, at least nominally, at "levelling the playing field" between the service provider and the service users to enable effective communication about the constraints on both sides of the table. IMT should not mean abandonment of the irrigation sector by government, but creation of a "new partnership" between farmers, government and the private sector in the regulation, provision, financing and utilization of irrigation services.
The primary motivation for empowering the service users through involving them in decision-making has often been to transfer a part of the O&M costs from the service provider to the user community. It is widely accepted that traditional, hierarchical, state-centred irrigation management institutions have proved to be a barrier to improving irrigation and drainage system management. In many countries, attempts at institutional reform in the sector have focused on enlisting the participation of farmers in irrigation management by devolving some responsibilities to water user groups. Different varieties of participatory management arrangements have been tried out in recent decades. However, despite some successes, it is now widely accepted that there is a growing need to also build higher-level institutional arrangements for management at the river basin or watershed level (Samad and Bandaragoda, 1999). The IWMI study on river basin institutions, led by Samad and Bandaragoda (1999) emphasized that institutional development should not focus exclusively on the development of new organizations or extensions to existing ones. The importance of the "rules of the game" (i.e. the interrelationships between organizations) is frequently ignored and replaced with a preoccupation with organizational development. Samad and Bandaragoda argue that this lapse has resulted in the limited success to date in attempts to establish comprehensive institutional mechanisms for water management. Although the failure to provide adequate rules for the changing institutional changes has been observed with respect to IMT and water user groups (Vermillion, 1997), the capacity to develop, apply and understand such rules is required at many levels, from user groups to agencies, consultants and policy-makers.
Access to personal computers, networks and the Internet is enabling access to volumes of information that ten years ago would have been unimaginable. The tools, techniques and technologies available to help in the management of irrigation, drainage and water resources are advancing rapidly. Developing advanced tools and the capability to apply them in the management of water resources will offer resource managers new opportunities to become more responsive to the needs and aspirations of the user communities they serve. After many years of being promoted as valuable technologies, remote sensing data and tools and geographical information systems (GISs) are now viable tools for use in the routine management of systems and basins. Development of information management systems and skills are important priorities for many government and civil society organizations. Furthermore, the opportunities to share information between agencies involved within the same geographical area of operation, through shared database systems accessible via the Internet, is opening new opportunities to improve knowledge-based decision-making. Adoption of these tools and techniques by line agencies will depend on the development of the appropriate skills within the technical cadres and the recognition of the value of these developments by the policy-makers and managers of these groups. The information tools are challenging conventional notions of how government and non-governmental agencies should work and relate to each other.
The discussion above has evidenced the fact that there is no single formula for building the necessary capacities to improve irrigation, drainage and water resources management. The capacities that have to be developed range from effective communication skills, through the application of advanced technical techniques, to the development of analytical skills for policy-makers and decision-makers. The target groups for these different skills range from, frequently, poorly-educated farmers and water users, through skilled service providers and technicians, technical service managers and researchers, to political leaders and policy-makers. Furthermore, returning to the arguments of Shah, Makin and Sakthivadivel (2002), the environments in which these different groups deploy their skills and capacities span an enormous range of conditions.
Since its inception in 1984, the IWMI has been active in capacity building. However, the importance given to these activities has varied from time to time depending on resource availability and demand. In general, demand outstrips available resources, whether for coorganizing workshops and conferences, participating in training events and seminars, hosting visiting researchers, or organizing study tours. However, the IWMI seeks to maintain a balance between the resources assigned to knowledge generation, a clear priority for a research organization, and efforts to promote the application of best practices and new knowledge.
The IWMI implements capacity building in the sector through a combination of: seminars and short courses as part of research projects; roundtables to increase awareness among top policy-makers of water issues and IWMI research findings (e.g. in 2002, the IWMI sponsored ministerial policy dialogues in Ghana for African water sector ministerial delegations, and in Bangkok for Asian water sector ministerial delegations); publications of practical guidelines for adoption of innovations (FAO, 1999; Yoder, 1994); sabbaticals and fellowships for staff from collaborating universities and research institutes; and the institution of a PhD and postdoctoral fellowship programme aimed at training some 50-60 professionals in the next five years. In addition, IWMI staff provide intellectual guidance, research supervision and facilities to graduate students to work at IWMI study sites on topics linked to the research agenda.
In 2003, 28 PhD fellowships were awarded, which included support to nine IWMI staff following PhD studies in various centres. Nine of the PhD scholarships were taken up by female candidates, and the IWMI continues to actively promote application by female candidates. IWMI staff are providing guidance and research facilities to a further 60 students studying at MSc level. Fifteen postdoctoral researchers are members of the IWMI research team, with a further five associate experts sponsored by their governments. The IWMI organizes a number of workshops and training seminars as part of ongoing research projects, typically implementing about 20 events each quarter, reaching some 500-600 participants.
Box 1 summarizes a case of IWMI capacity building in West Africa, which built capacity among several young researchers to conduct interdisciplinary research and communicate research findings to a wide community of interested parties.
Box 2 summarizes IWMI capacity building activities for developing policy and institutional reform frameworks for the irrigation sectors of Cambodia, Indonesia, and Gujarat (India).
Boxes 3 and 4 summarize more development-focused capacity building where IWMI researchers have provided training and capacity building to help water users take on greater roles in the O&M of the irrigation systems supplying their fields in two schemes in Central Asia.
Imbalances between female and male users in access to water and other services continues to be a problem in many areas despite gender balance being a priority on the agenda of irrigation policy-makers, intervention agencies, irrigation leaders and researchers (Van Koppen, 2002). The gap between positive intentions and concrete actions remains considerable often, as argued by Van Koppen (2002), the result of a lack of adequate conceptualization and methodological tools that can provide insights that policy-makers and changes agents need. The challenge of closing this gap prompted the IWMI to develop of the poverty performance indicator for irrigation to identify the gender issues rooted in a society’s agrarian structure.
Box 5 summarizes an action research study in Pakistan where the IWMI worked with the local community to raise awareness of the potential for improved resource management by involving both male and female members of the community. The study helped the community form separate organizations for the men and women in the village as vehicles for the development of shared visions and to implement joint action.
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BOX 1 The project "Improving the rural-urban nutrient cycle through municipal waste recycling for urban and peri-urban agriculture" (funded by the International Development Research Centre), of the IWMI subregional office for West Africa, was initiated in three Ghanaian cities in order to analyse economically- and socially-acceptable options for organic waste composting for urban and peri-urban agriculture and to create related awareness. Capacity building for research and policy support was crucial, especially as "urban and peri-urban agriculture" was not well known in the national research context despite the fact that it is a common phenomenon in all the cities concerned. Throughout the three-year period of the project (2001-03), human resources development was strengthened at different levels including partnerships with local and foreign universities. In total, 15 university departments covering a wide range of disciplines at three local universities, with 38 different academic supervisors of a total of 102 BSc, MSc and PhD students, contributed with their theses to the project, including 10 students from other countries (e.g. Canada, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands and Switzerland). The students were introduced to urban and peri-urban agriculture and their individual topic through joint seminars with their supervisors and IWMI staff. They then worked in three cities, forming teams especially with foreign students, exchanged methodologies, etc. Related university departments received Internet access and workstations for the students as well as a local resource person employed at each university. Some of the MSc students visited related project sites in other West African cities, such as Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Cotonou (Benin), Lomé and Tsévié (Togo), and Ibadan (Nigeria). Others were supported to present their results at international conferences. In addition, 22 students from universities had internships on various activities within the project, thus exposing them to scientific research, different cultures, and enriching the various teams. Linkages were established with the municipalities, farmer groups (their formation was supported) and a local NGO (CEDEP) for the implementation of a pilot cocomposting station, community-based compost initiatives, and special school programmes (with Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency). About 2 300 junior secondary schools pupils in the three cities were involved in project-related household surveys to record food consumption and waste generation habits for one week. The final scientific report is currently in preparation. Contact: IWMI Ghana, Dr Pay Drechsel, [email protected] |
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BOX 2 The IWMI has provided support to policy working groups in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Gujarat (India) for their development of policy statements, legislation and regulations for irrigation sector reform. In Cambodia, the IWMI assisted the government in formulating a policy for its participatory irrigation management and development (PIMD) programme and supporting decrees and subdecrees on PIMD, farmer water user communities, and irrigation management transfer. It also helped prepare a training manual and monitoring and evaluation system for the PIMD programme. In collaboration with the World Bank and an interorganizational work group, the IWMI has assisted Indonesia in formulating the institutional framework for irrigation sector reform, which includes federating WUAs to scheme level and transferring management authority to them. This policy support has included development of ministerial regulations for restructuring the financing of the irrigation sector and for reorienting the roles and functions of irrigation sector organizations. The IWMI is monitoring pilot adoption of a new demand-driven, cost-sharing mechanism for providing financial and technical assistance to WUAs. In Gujarat (India), the IWMI has collaborated with the Participatory Irrigation Management Task Force of the State of Gujarat to develop a legislative act on participatory irrigation management. In each of these cases, the IWMI has drawn on its synthesis of best practices and assisted these countries to consider a wide range of policy and institutional options aimed at providing the locally-appropriate combination of policy direction, institutional arrangements, and governance mechanisms. Contact: Dr Doug Vermillion, IWMI-Bangkok, [email protected] |
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BOX 3 In Karalpakstan (Uzbekistan), the IWMI assisted in WUA development in 2002 by implementing a series of seminars with the participation of all farmers, WUA specialists, rayon (local administration) level agriculture and water resources management units, Khakimiyat (district local government) and the Ministry of Agriculture. The seminars focused on creating awareness of the WUA roles, main goal and tasks. By the end of December of 2002, the field staff of these new water management organizations had participated in seminars on WUA in Tashkent (conducted by the IWMI and Ministry of Agriculture), and in workshops on water resources management in Uzbekistan. These events provided the opportunity to increase the level of knowledge of the field staff, and enabled IWMI researchers to accumulate knowledge on WUA development in the area. In addition to activities at the field level, the IWMI and its collaborator, the Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Commission on Water Coordination, organized a series of policy-dialogue workshops to develop an institutional framework for IWRM in the Ferghana Valley, which included drafting a regulation on canal water management committees. Contact: Iskandar Abdullaev, IWMI-CAC, [email protected] |
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BOX 4 In the three Central Asian republics sharing the Ferghana Valley, the IWMI organized a week of training activities in 2002 for the national, provincial and district water management staff of the ministries of agriculture and water resources, NGOs, and farmer representatives. In total, 30 trainees were trained. The training included: basic concepts of reforms, WUAs, new roles for irrigation and drainage service providers and water users, WUA laws and regulations, effective communications, conflict resolution, and "dos and don’ts" of social mobilization. Twenty-three trainees attended the training workshop, and the IWMI received appreciations through formal and informal communications from the Interstate Commission on Water Coordination of Central Asia, ministries of agriculture and water resources, as well as from the trainee participants. In order to demonstrate that the capacity building is a continuous process, several on-the-job group discussions were later held with the trainees when they started working in the field. Contact: Mehmood Ul Hassan, IWMI-CAC, [email protected] |
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BOX 5 In order to explore the potential for increasing the involvement of women in the management of irrigation in one pilot area (Hakra 4R) in Pakistan, the IWMI recruited volunteer social organizers, identified by the male and female members of the community. By involving community-based volunteers, the mobilizers were not viewed as outsiders (who are usually treated with some apprehension) and were better able to generate local demand for productive and sustainable social organization. The community identified candidates through separate meetings for the males and females. The volunteers received no payments for their activities in this project. After formation of the new organizations in the village, with exclusively male farmers as members, the volunteer social organizers worked with the community to promote the development of female organizations to highlight the problems of domestic water supplies and sanitation that affected their lives. These pilot activities have shown: (i) social mobilization in rural communities in Pakistan requires considerable time, particularly where females are to be fully involved; and (ii) overcoming social and cultural constraints requires local knowledge and continued support during the formation process. After the formation of the new organizations the community members were clear in their appreciation of their common interests and made wise decisions in selecting their leaders, bypassing earlier prejudices over the caste and status of the leaders. The male leaders recognized the importance of the village women in the development of the village and took a lead in establishing the women’s organization. The women also recognized the importance of their participation in decision-making and showed willingness to work with the men to develop the village water resources. How sustainable these interventions will be after withdrawal of the external support to the new groups is yet to be determined. Contact: Abdul Hamid, IWMI-Pak, [email protected] |
All IWMI research and development projects include components that contribute to capacity building, either the capacity of the research team and collaborating researchers, or the provision of new knowledge to key stakeholders that helps them perform their tasks more effectively. Capacity building events and activities are recognized as an essential mechanism for transferring research findings from the sphere of academic learning into the day-to-day operation of irrigation and drainage systems.
The IWMI is an active participant in initiatives focused on capacity building. For example, the IWMI is a partner organization of the IPTRID programme, which is increasingly focusing on capacity building for more efficient, more productive and more sustainable water use and management in agriculture. This new approach is an opportunity for partner organizations to combine their capacity building efforts in a common international programme, allowing for better coordination, more awareness and greater visibility. The IWMI is also a regional centre of the Global Water Partnership and the host for the Secretariat of the Dialogue on Water, Food and Environment. Each of these initiatives provides additional routes through which research is disseminated to professionals and other stakeholders that need access to new tools, techniques and knowledge as they take on new challenges in providing or obtaining improved irrigation and drainage services and as they take on new responsibilities for water resources management.
Capacity building will continue to be a core part of IWMI research and development activities. In the past few years, the IWMI has broadened the range of the capacity building programmes it implements. In addition, it has become an active partner in a range of initiatives to ensure that research findings reach those who need them in easily-accessible formats as quickly as possible. These efforts range from support to graduate students, through field-scale pilot activities to support to top-level regional and international policy fora. Effective capacity building in the water resources and the irrigation and drainage sectors requires the active participation of a wide range of stakeholders with vastly different perceptions of the issues at stake. Wise decisions over the future utilization of water resources will depend on these stakeholders having access to science-based information and the capability to evaluate the consequences of their decisions and actions.
