Sustaining participation in irrigation systems of Ethiopia: what have we learned about water user associations?

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cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Water Management Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.crpWater, Land and Ecosystemsen_US
cg.coverage.countryEthiopiaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ETen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africaen_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2013.031en_US
cg.identifier.wlethemeGender, Poverty and Institutionsen_US
cg.identifier.wlethemeLand and Water Productivityen_US
cg.issn1366-7017en_US
cg.issue6en_US
cg.journalWater Policyen_US
cg.volume15en_US
dc.contributor.authorYami, Mastewalen_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-06-13T14:47:24Zen_US
dc.date.available2014-06-13T14:47:24Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/40326en_US
dc.titleSustaining participation in irrigation systems of Ethiopia: what have we learned about water user associations?en_US
dcterms.abstractCommunity participation, defined as engaging users of schemes in the decision-making processes for the planning and implementation of irrigation projects, is critical for the sustainability of irrigation schemes. This study was carried out in three regional states of Ethiopia to investigate the contribution of Water User Associations (WUAs) to sustaining participation in irrigation projects. The paper demonstrates that the poor understanding of community participation and institutional development by project staff in donor-supported irrigation projects results in the poor performance of WUAs in enhancing participation in irrigation systems. The interventions of external bodies in setting up the WUA by-laws and in determining the responsibilities of users and WUA committees contributed to the low level of participation. The transfer of schemes to WUAs without building WUA committees' abilities in operation and maintenance constrained their ability to sustainably manage irrigation schemes. The WUA committees are male-dominated and the views of women are hardly represented in the decision-making. Therefore, establishing WUA committees that reflect the interests and inputs of scheme users is crucial to achieve fair decision-making. Local authorities and non-governmental organizations could do more to change perceptions and behavior on the importance of gender equity in sustaining the positive outcomes of irrigation at household and community levels.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsLimited Accessen_US
dcterms.available2013-07-12en_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationYami, Mastewal. 2013. Sustaining participation in irrigation systems of Ethiopia: what have we learned about water user associations? Water Policy, 25p. (Online first). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wp.2013.031en_US
dcterms.extentpp. 961-984en_US
dcterms.issued2013-12-01en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseOtheren_US
dcterms.publisherIWA Publishingen_US
dcterms.subjectgenderen_US
dcterms.subjectwater managementen_US
dcterms.subjectwater governanceen_US
dcterms.subjectirrigation schemesen_US
dcterms.subjectirrigation projectsen_US
dcterms.subjectirrigation systemsen_US
dcterms.subjectsmall scale systemsen_US
dcterms.subjectcommunity involvementen_US
dcterms.subjectwater user associationsen_US
dcterms.subjectequityen_US
dcterms.subjectliving standardsen_US
dcterms.subjectsurveysen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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