Your search found 22 records
1 Naz, Farhat. 2014. The socio-cultural context of water: study of a Gujarat village. New Delhi, India: Orient BlackSwan. 255p.
Sociocultural environment ; Watershed management ; Development projects ; Water policy ; Water supply ; Natural resources management ; Rural communities ; Community involvement ; Gender relations ; Farmers ; Irrigated farming ; Irrigation schemes ; Irrigation canals ; Wells ; Groundwater irrigation ; Groundwater development ; State intervention ; Political aspects ; Land tenure ; Living standards / India / Gujarat / Sabarkantha / Mathnaa
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 333.91 G635 NAZ Record No: H046391)
(0.35 MB)
2 Mochalova, Elizaveta; Anarbekov, Oyture; Kahhorov, U. 2014. Institutions as key drivers of collective action in WUAs [Water User Associations] of Uzbekistan. Paper presented at the 22nd International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage, Gwangju, Korea, 14-20 September 2014. 8p.
Water user associations ; Performance evaluation ; Performance indexes ; Water supply ; Technology ; Economic aspects ; Sociocultural environment ; Farmer participation ; Organizational development ; Valleys / Central Asia / Uzbekistan / Fergana Valley
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046739)
(0.29 MB)
This paper presents a multifactor approach for performance assessment of Water Users Associations (WUAs) in Uzbekistan in order to identify the drivers for improved and efficient performance of WUAs. The study was carried out in the Fergana Valley where the WUAs were created along the South Fergana Main Canal during the last 10 years. The farmers and the employees of 20 WUAs were questioned about the WUAs’ activities and the quantitative and qualitative data were obtained. This became a base for the calculation of 36 indicators divided into 6 groups: Water supply, technical conditions, economic conditions, social and cultural conditions, organizational conditions and information conditions. All the indicators assessed with a differentiated point system adjusted for subjectivity of several of them give the total maximal result for the associations of 250 point. The WUAs of the Fergana Valley showed the score between 145 and 219 points, what reflects a highly diverse level of the WUAs performance in the region. The analysis of the indicators revealed that the key points of the WUA’s success are the organizational and institutional conditions including the participatory factors and awareness of both the farmers and employees about the work of WUA. The research showed that the low performance of the WUAs is always explained by the low technical and economic conditions along with weak organization and information dissemination conditions. It is clear that it is complicated to improve technical and economic conditions immediately because they are cost-based and cost-induced. However, it is possible to improve the organizational conditions and to strengthen the institutional basis via formal and information institutions which will gradually lead to improvement of economic and technical conditions of WUAs. Farmers should be involved into the WUA Governance and into the process of making common decisions and solving common problems together via proper institutions. Their awareness can also be improved by leading additional trainings for increasing farmers’ agronomic and irrigation knowledge, teaching them water saving technologies and acquainting them with the use of water measuring equipment so it can bring reliable water supply, transparent budgeting and adequate as well as equitable water allocation to the water users.
3 Biggs, E. M.; Boruff, B.; Bruce, E.; Duncan, J. M. A.; Haworth, B. J.; Duce, S.; Horsley, J.; Curnow, Jayne; Neef, A.; McNeill, K.; Pauli, N.; Van Ogtrop, F.; Imanari, Y. 2014. Environmental livelihood security in Southeast Asia and Oceania: a water-energy-food-livelihoods nexus approach for spatially assessing change. White paper. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 114p. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2014.231]
Environmental sustainability ; Environmental management ; Ecological factors ; Biodiversity ; Living standards ; Water security ; Energy conservation ; Food security ; Climate change ; Temperature ; Precipitation ; Cyclones ; Agriculture ; Farmland ; Demography ; Urbanization ; Sociocultural environment ; Gender ; Community management ; Institutions ; Political aspects ; Remote sensing ; Natural disasters ; Monitoring ; Sustainable development ; Assessment / Southeast Asia / Oceania
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H046758)
(5 MB)
4 Acciavatti, A. 2015. Ganges water machine: designing new India's ancient river. San Francisco, CA, USA: Applied Research and Design Publishing. 402p.
Water resources development ; River basins ; Irrigation development ; Canals ; Water distribution ; Watercourses ; Surface water ; Tube wells ; Surveys ; Maps ; Models ; Decentralization ; Urbanization ; Sociocultural environment / India / Ganges / Himalayan Region / Allahabad / Narainpur / Varanasi
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 333.91 G635 ACC Record No: H047002)
(1.28 MB)
5 Yami, M. 2016. Irrigation projects in Ethiopia: what can be done to enhance effectiveness under ‘challenging contexts’? International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 23(2):132-142. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2015.1057628]
Irrigation projects ; Irrigation schemes ; Small scale systems ; Governance ; Sustainability ; Farmers ; Living standards ; Villages ; Sociocultural environment ; State intervention ; Institutions ; Capacity building ; Agricultural extension / Ethiopia / Kuhar Michael / Angot / Mesanu / Chelekot / Suka
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047062)
(0.73 MB)
Investment in small scale irrigation (SSI) is crucial to sustain food security and livelihoods of smallholders. In Ethiopia, the government and development partners show a growing interest in developing irrigation projects. The success of irrigation projects is determined by governance and socio-cultural contexts. Yet the lack of thorough understanding of the challenging contexts undermines the efforts to achieve sustainability outcomes in irrigation projects. This article identifies the challenging contexts to irrigation projects, examines how the challenging contexts influence the effectiveness of irrigation projects, and indicates ways of improving the effectiveness of irrigation projects under the existing challenging contexts. Data were collected between April and December 2011 in three regional states of Ethiopia using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The lack of governance capacity and accountability are critical challenges for the sustainability of the irrigation projects. In addition, the poor consideration of local knowledge and the use of top-down approaches in planning and implementing the irrigation projects, and lack of equitable access to the irrigation schemes result in poor ownership of projects among farmers. Improving the funding scheme to support long-term capacity building at national and local levels, and in understanding the socio-cultural contexts of the intervention areas; planning irrigation projects with due consideration of the existing challenging contexts, and with active engagement of the local community, are important for the long-term viability and sustainability of irrigation projects.
6 Kibret, S.; Lautze, Jonathan; McCartney, Matthew; Nhamo, Luxon; Wilson, G. G. 2016. Malaria and large dams in sub-Saharan Africa: future impacts in a changing climate. Malaria Journal, 15:1-14. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-016-1498-9]
Malaria ; Dams ; Reservoirs ; Climate change ; Public health ; Health hazards ; Disease prevention ; Population growth ; Sociocultural environment / Africa South of Sahara
(Location: IWMI Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047719)
https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12936-016-1498-9?site=malariajournal.biomedcentral.com
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H047719.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H047719.pdf
(1.39 MB)
Background: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has embarked on a new era of dam building to improve food security and promote economic development. Nonetheless, the future impacts of dams on malaria transmission are poorly understood and seldom investigated in the context of climate and demographic change.
Methods: The distribution of malaria in the vicinity of 1268 existing dams in SSA was mapped under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) representative concentration pathways (RCP) 2.6 and 8.5. Population projections and malaria incidence estimates were used to compute population at risk of malaria in both RCPs. Assuming no change in socio-economic interventions that may mitigate impacts, the change in malaria stability and malaria burden in the vicinity of the dams was calculated for the two RCPs through to the 2080s. Results were compared against the 2010 baseline. The annual number of malaria cases associated with dams and climate change was determined for each of the RCPs.
Results: The number of dams located in malarious areas is projected to increase in both RCPs. Population growth will add to the risk of transmission. The population at risk of malaria around existing dams and associated reservoirs, is estimated to increase from 15 million in 2010 to 21–23 million in the 2020s, 25–26 million in the 2050s and 28–29 million in the 2080s, depending on RCP. The number of malaria cases associated with dams in malarious areas is expected to increase from 1.1 million in 2010 to 1.2–1.6 million in the 2020s, 2.1–3.0 million in the 2050s and 2.4–3.0 million in the 2080s depending on RCP. The number of cases will always be higher in RCP 8.5 than RCP 2.6.
Conclusion: In the absence of changes in other factors that affect transmission (e.g., socio-economic), the impact of dams on malaria in SSA will be significantly exacerbated by climate change and increases in population. Areas without malaria transmission at present, which will transition to regions of unstable transmission, may be worst affected. Modifying conventional water management frameworks to improve malaria control, holds the potential to mitigate some of this increase and should be more actively implemented.
Methods: The distribution of malaria in the vicinity of 1268 existing dams in SSA was mapped under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) representative concentration pathways (RCP) 2.6 and 8.5. Population projections and malaria incidence estimates were used to compute population at risk of malaria in both RCPs. Assuming no change in socio-economic interventions that may mitigate impacts, the change in malaria stability and malaria burden in the vicinity of the dams was calculated for the two RCPs through to the 2080s. Results were compared against the 2010 baseline. The annual number of malaria cases associated with dams and climate change was determined for each of the RCPs.
Results: The number of dams located in malarious areas is projected to increase in both RCPs. Population growth will add to the risk of transmission. The population at risk of malaria around existing dams and associated reservoirs, is estimated to increase from 15 million in 2010 to 21–23 million in the 2020s, 25–26 million in the 2050s and 28–29 million in the 2080s, depending on RCP. The number of malaria cases associated with dams in malarious areas is expected to increase from 1.1 million in 2010 to 1.2–1.6 million in the 2020s, 2.1–3.0 million in the 2050s and 2.4–3.0 million in the 2080s depending on RCP. The number of cases will always be higher in RCP 8.5 than RCP 2.6.
Conclusion: In the absence of changes in other factors that affect transmission (e.g., socio-economic), the impact of dams on malaria in SSA will be significantly exacerbated by climate change and increases in population. Areas without malaria transmission at present, which will transition to regions of unstable transmission, may be worst affected. Modifying conventional water management frameworks to improve malaria control, holds the potential to mitigate some of this increase and should be more actively implemented.
7 Fernando, Sudarshana; Semasinghe, Christina; Jayathilake, Nilanthi; Wijayamunie, R.; Wickramasinghe, N.; Dissanayake, S. 2016. City region food system situational analysis, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI); Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE); Rome, Italy: FAO; Accra, Ghana: Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF). 251p.
Food consumption ; Food supply ; Food safety ; Food policies ; Food production ; Food chains ; Food security ; Stakeholders ; Corporate culture ; Institutions ; Government departments ; Municipal authorities ; Private sector ; International organizations ; Legal aspects ; Legislation ; Regulations ; Policy making ; Decision making ; Human nutrition ; Malnutrition ; Sociocultural environment ; Poverty ; Natural resources management ; Climate change ; Land use ; Economic aspects ; Small scale systems ; Vegetables ; Fruits ; Livestock ; Milk production ; Crops ; Market prices ; Waste disposal ; Waste management ; Public health ; Health hazards ; Sanitation / Sri Lanka / Colombo
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047774)
(7.37 MB)
8 Burek, P.; Satoh, Y.; Fischer, G.; Kahil, M. T.; Scherzer, A.; Tramberend, S.; Nava, L. F.; Wada, Y.; Eisner, S.; Florke, M.; Hanasaki, N.; Magnuszewski, P.; Cosgrove, B.; Wiberg, D. 2016. Water futures and solution - fast track initiative. Final Report. Laxenburg, Austria: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). 115p. (IIASA Working Paper WP 16-006)
Water supply ; Water demand ; Water use ; Water security ; Water scarcity ; Water availability ; Surface water ; Groundwater extraction ; Irrigation water ; Domestic water ; Sociocultural environment ; Economic growth ; Income ; Energy demand ; Climate change ; Agricultural development ; Food supply ; Food production ; Cultivated land ; Land use ; Population growth ; Deforestation ; Assessment / Africa / Asia / Europe / India / China / Pakistan / Ethiopia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047862)
9 Munch-Petersen, J. 2017. Public participation in environmental impact assessment of hydropower plants in Nepal: a context-specific approach. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 32p. (IWMI Working Paper 175) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2017.215]
Environmental impact assessment ; Public participation ; Water power ; Energy generation ; Decision making ; Developing countries ; Environmental protection ; Local communities ; Rural communities ; Community management ; Dam construction ; Watersheds ; Rivers ; Sociocultural environment ; Flow discharge ; Investment ; Infrastructure ; Stakeholders ; Case studies / Nepal
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H048299)
(2 MB)
This paper investigates the public participation (PP) process in environmental impact assessments (EIA) of three large-scale hydropower plants (HPs) in Nepal, and looks at how the process can be improved to include the interests of citizens impacted. It is the theoretical standpoint of this paper that improvements to the PP process can be implemented only within a given context, wherein the proponent (owner of the HP) allows sharing of decision making with citizens. By comparing the PP process as it is written in the Nepali EIA law, execution of it by proponents and citizen experience with its execution, discrepancies are identified and analyzed to ascertain the difficulties that are experienced and what this implies in terms of decision making. Recommendations for improving the PP process as experienced by citizens are proposed by seeking solutions to overcome the discrepancies identified and also through new methods and timing of PP.
10 Achandi, E. L.; Mujawamariya, G.; Agboh-Noameshie, A. R.; Gebremariam, S.; Rahalivavololona, N.; Rodenburg, J. 2018. Women's access to agricultural technologies in rice production and processing hubs: a comparative analysis of Ethiopia, Madagascar and Tanzania. Journal of Rural Studies, 60:188-198. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2018.03.011]
Agricultural development ; Technology transfer ; Gender ; Women's participation ; Women farmers ; Empowerment ; Agricultural production ; Rice ; Labour ; Corporate culture ; Constraints ; Evaluation ; Villages ; Sociocultural environment / Ethiopia / Madagascar / Tanzania
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048757)
(0.29 MB)
This study presents results from a farmer survey conducted with 560 rice farmers from 27 villages spread over five hubs (concentration areas of rice production and processing) in three different countries in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Tanzania and Madagascar). The main research objective was to assess women's access to rice technologies and constraints to adoption of technologies. Constraints were analyzed over five different categories: (1) institutional (2) access to agricultural inputs, (3) technology-contextual, (4) household and socio-cultural and (5) extension. Key providers of extension were public (government), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and international organizations. Our study identifies that the overarching constraints to technology adoption are institutional and cultural impediments and related to the mode of delivery of extension services. Furthermore, the Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with the women, revealed that empowerment of women in decision making at the household level can enhance women’s access and engagement in better farming practices suggested under extension advisory services. This is specifically true where women are able to overcome the hurdles of acquisition of extension training and access to the improved technologies.
11 Herman, M. I.; Thai, Minh Thi. 2021. Striving for sustainable value chain establishment: a multiple feasibility analysis approach. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, 11(4):379-395. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-01-2020-0002]
Value chains ; Sustainability ; Feasibility studies ; Ornamental plants ; Ferns ; Cut foliage ; Production factors ; Markets ; Environmental impact ; Sociocultural environment ; Economic aspects ; Stakeholders ; Exports ; Horticulture ; Case studies / New Caledonia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049872)
(0.55 MB)
Purpose – Over the last decade, value chain for development has shown its bias towards global value chain approaches. This article proposes a holistic framework to carry out feasibility analysis for the establishment of a value chain.
Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research approach was used to collect and analyse data from a wide range of stakeholders potentially involved in establishment of a global cut-foliage value chain based on wild harvesting of ornamental ferns in New Caledonia.
Findings – Multiple feasibility analyses revealed issues that need to be addressed, priorities for different stakeholders and possible ways forward in the establishment of a value chain.
Research limitations/implications – The framework supports businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, donors and governments in proceeding with value chain establishment with significant consideration of social, economic and environmental drivers for sustainability.
Originality/value – Relevant concepts in several fields are integrated into a single framework that can guide feasibility analysis of value chain establishment.
Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research approach was used to collect and analyse data from a wide range of stakeholders potentially involved in establishment of a global cut-foliage value chain based on wild harvesting of ornamental ferns in New Caledonia.
Findings – Multiple feasibility analyses revealed issues that need to be addressed, priorities for different stakeholders and possible ways forward in the establishment of a value chain.
Research limitations/implications – The framework supports businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, donors and governments in proceeding with value chain establishment with significant consideration of social, economic and environmental drivers for sustainability.
Originality/value – Relevant concepts in several fields are integrated into a single framework that can guide feasibility analysis of value chain establishment.
12 Sharma, Akriti; Karki, Emma; Eriyagama, Nishadi; Shrestha, Gitta; Jeuland, M.; Bharati, Luna. 2020. Whose river is it?: an assessment of livelihood and cultural water flow requirements for the Karnali Basin. Ecology and Society, 25(3):22. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11763-250322]
Environmental flows ; River basins ; Livelihoods ; Sociocultural environment ; Assessment ; Water management ; Flow discharge ; Water levels ; Ecosystems ; Biodiversity ; Water pollution ; Water use ; Fisheries ; Irrigation ; Household consumption ; Tourism ; Riparian zones ; Local communities ; Women ; Sustainable development ; Socioeconomic aspects / Nepal / Karnali Basin / Terai Region / Hill Region
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050015)
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol25/iss3/art22/ES-2020-11763.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050015.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050015.pdf
(1.07 MB) (1.07 MB)
The term “environmental flows” refers to a combination of features, including quantity, quality, and timing of water flows required to sustainably maintain a river’s health, balancing both ecological and societal needs. Incorporating basic human livelihood and sociocultural aspects in environmental flow assessments alongside ecological concerns provides a more holistic perspective on water flow management. Here, we provide an assessment that complements an ecosystem functioning lens by focusing solely on quantifying the flows associated with livelihood activities and spiritual water requirements of local riparian communities in the Karnali basin in Western Nepal. This assessment is based on the first social survey related to environmental flows conducted in the Karnali basin. We collected data using mixed methods, including social surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions, across six locations in the Karnali basin that provide us with a rich and dynamic perspective on the relationship between rivers and their surrounding communities, and the challenges faced by those communities. Among the subsistence and spiritual requirements of local communities are uses for activities that include drinking, small-scale irrigation, domestic needs, fishing, and ceremonial usage. All communities we visited most strongly associated the following activities with water flow variation: small-scale irrigation, fishing, ceremonial usage, domestic needs, and tourism. The water flows required for these key activities were quantified, and results from the six sites are presented in the form of a qualitative scale of minimum water levels (ranging across poor, acceptable, and ideal) required to meet vital local needs. The minimum acceptable water flow requirement to satisfy social criteria is just > 20% of the mean annual runoff at the visited locations. These requirements are particularly vital to consider, given ongoing efforts to tap the vast hydropower potential in Nepal through construction of major storage projects. Such projects would change the flow regime of affected rivers and potentially raise concerns that existing demands might be compromised.
13 Garau, E.; Torralba, M.; Pueyo-Ros, J. 2021. What is a river basin? assessing and understanding the sociocultural mental constructs of landscapes from different stakeholders across a river basin. Landscape and Urban Planning, 214:104192. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104192]
River basins ; Sociocultural environment ; Stakeholders ; Participatory approaches ; Biodiversity ; Ecosystem services ; Landscape ; Policies ; Economic aspects ; Conflicts ; Models / Mediterranean Region / Spain / Muga River Basin / Fluvia River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050542)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204621001559/pdfft?md5=5dac0c95cb3fe809aa9b3f9c490054cf&pid=1-s2.0-S0169204621001559-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050542.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050542.pdf
(4.65 MB) (4.65 MB)
In the Mediterranean basin, climate models predict future scenarios characterized by more frequently uncertain hydrological services. European policies increasingly promote new models of water management based on river basins as socioecological systems and participatory strategies to ensure better inclusiveness and representativeness of all local actors. Practice has demonstrated the value of stakeholder engagement for achieving more productive and beneficial outcomes of decision-making in landscape management and conservation policies. However, sometimes participatory processes do not lead to effective results. One reason could be related to different understandings of concepts. There is, in fact, still limited research assessing whether the concepts or technical terms used in those processes are understood in the same way by the participants. Therefore, our study aims to explore the mental constructs of stakeholders through a combination of semi-structured interviews and hand-made drawings, using the concept of the river basin as a study concept. We found differences in the relationships between stakeholders’ ways of drawing and describing the river basin starting from its mental constructs. The results also showed that the way stakeholders construct ideas and views related to the landscape influenced some factors that stakeholders used to express them, such as the drawing shape, drawing length, emotions and associated values used in the descriptions. Likewise, mental constructs were influenced by stakeholders’ profiles and their working position. This study highlights that a better understanding of stakeholders' perceptions and their understandings could be essential if we are to achieve more effective and inclusive participatory processes in complex and dynamic socioecological contexts.
14 Vafaei, E.; Ahangarkolaee, S. S.; Lucas-Borja, M. E.; Fami, H. S.; Zema, D. A. 2021. A framework to evaluate the factors influencing groundwater management in water user associations: the case study of Tafresh County (Iran). Agricultural Water Management, 255:107013. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2021.107013]
Groundwater management ; Water user associations ; Case studies ; Farmer participation ; Participatory approaches ; Collective action ; Legal aspects ; Institutions ; Irrigation water ; Infrastructure ; Sociocultural environment ; Social capital ; Economic aspects / Iran Islamic Republic / Tafresh / Markazi
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050571)
(5.32 MB)
In recent decades, due to the water shortage around the world and the importance of groundwater in agriculture, the role of Water User Associations (WUAs) – well-known farmer associations that manage collective irrigation in agricultural districts – in groundwater management has received much attention. To ensure sustainable groundwater management in these organizations, it is imperative to analyze the effects of the driving mechanisms, such as the “legal and institutional”, “socio-cultural”, “social capital”, “economic”, “infrastructure” and “farmers’ participation” factors, on the collective management of agricultural water. This study proposes a theoretical framework to analyze how and to what extent these factors influence agricultural water management in a case study of WUAs of Tafresh County (Iran), where irrigated agriculture strongly relies on groundwater. To validate this framework, questionnaires with 53 questions/indicators related to these factors have been supplied to 264 associated farmers and then statistically processed using Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) methods. The measurement model has confirmed the validity of the questionnaire. The structural model has demonstrated that all the identified factors are significantly effective in driving the WUAs performance. This effectiveness was shown by the high indexes of reliability (over 0.821 against an acceptance limit of 0.7) and convergent validity (over 0.511 against a limit of 0.5). Socio-cultural and social capital factors had a higher impact (confirmed by path coefficients of about 0.80), while the economic factors played a lower effect on groundwater management (path coefficient of 0.534). Moreover, the Pearson matrix showed statistically significant (p < 0.01) and positive (R2 = from 0.238 to 0.804) correlations among all the evaluated factors. Based on this framework, some actions for improving the groundwater management at the collective level are suggested, such as: (i) the implementation of new water management technologies to increase the efficiency in extraction, distribution, and consumption of irrigation water; ii) strengthening the importance of social and cultural participation in the management of WUAs, in order to create formal and informal contexts for enhancing individual participation in the short and long-term; iii) designing appropriate financing factors and diversification of the sources of revenue to execute projects on shared water resources.
15 Thorn, J. P. R.; Aleu, R. B.; Wijesinghe, A.; Mdongwe, M.; Marchant, R. A.; Shackleton, S. 2021. Mainstreaming nature-based solutions for climate resilient infrastructure in peri-urban Sub-Saharan Africa. Landscape and Urban Planning, 216:104235. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104235]
Climate change ; Resilience ; Periurban areas ; Infrastructure ; Mainstreaming ; Barriers ; Legal aspects ; Land use change ; Financing ; Sociocultural environment ; Ecosystem services ; Risk reduction ; Households ; Settlement / Africa South of Sahara / Namibia / United Republic of Tanzania / Windhoek / Dar es Salaam
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050637)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204621001985/pdfft?md5=3cae6cb42cf68d24299e83f7efa75088&pid=1-s2.0-S0169204621001985-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050637.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050637.pdf
(9.23 MB) (9.23 MB)
Despite a growing recognition of the importance of designing, rehabilitating, and maintaining green infrastructure to provide essential ecosystem services and adapt to climate change, many decision makers in sub-Saharan Africa continue to favour engineered solutions and short term economic growth at the expense of natural landscapes and longer term sustainability agendas. Existing green infrastructure is typically maintained in more affluent suburbs, inadvertently perpetuating historic inequalities. This is in part because there remains a lack of fine-grained, comparative evidence on the barriers and enablers to mainstreaming green infrastructure in peri-urban areas. Here, we developed an analytical framework based on a review of 155 studies, screened to include 29 studies in 24 countries. Results suggest eight overarching categories of interconnected barriers to green infrastructure in peri-urban areas. Using a combinatorial mixed method approach, we then surveyed households in nine settlements in drought-prone Windhoek (n=330) and seven settlements in flood-prone Dar es Salaam (n=502) and conducted key informant interviews (n=118). Peri-urban residents in Windhoek and Dar es Salaam indicated 18 forms of green infrastructure and 47 derived ecosystem services. The most frequently reported barriers were financial (40.8%), legal and institutional barriers (35.8%) followed by land use change and spatial trade-offs (33%) and finally ecosystem disservices (30.6%). The most significant barriers in Dar es Salaam were legal and institutional (22.7%) and in Windhoek were land use change and spatial trade-offs (24.4%). At the household level, the principal barrier was financial; at community and municipal levels the main barriers were related to design, performance, and maintenance; while at the national level, the main barriers were legal and institutional. Embracing institutional cultures of adaptive policymaking, equitable partnerships, co-designing futures, integrated landscape management and experimental innovation have potential to scale long term maintenance for urban green infrastructure and foster agency, creativity and more transformative relationships and outcomes.
16 Emile, R.; Clammer, J. R.; Jayaswal, P.; Sharma, P. 2022. Addressing water scarcity in developing country contexts: a socio-cultural approach. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9:144. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01140-5]
Water scarcity ; Developing countries ; Sociocultural environment ; Water resources ; Natural resources ; Water management ; Communities ; Drinking water ; Infrastructure / India / Delhi / Chennai / Bengaluru
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051186)
(0.46 MB) (468 KB)
Current conceptualizations of and approaches to scarcity tend to be economic-focused and institution driven with understated and underemphasized sociocultural dimensions. We address this lack in a socio-cultural orientation to natural resource scarcity and draw upon Vygotsky’s theorizations to do so. We rely on the existing literature and secondary sources of information to overview issues relating to water scarcity and the survival related challenges especially in developing country contexts with a specific focus on India. Although Vygotsky theorizes individual learning and development in terms of influences from more knowledgeable individuals to the less knowledgeable, he does not engage so much with how individual learning and development is tied to community interests and community development. We extend Vygotsky by incorporating a responsibilization dimension in theorizations of individual development. Neither does Vygotsky consider how a range of communication modes including traditional or non-traditional media and technology can play an enabling role in reinforcing processes of influence. We include these to further extend Vygotsky. We consider the role of elite individuals such as community leaders and others well-recognized for their socio-cultural status or specialized skills in disseminating knowledge in Vygotsky’s zones of proximal development. We emphasize the circulation of knowledge via sociocultural interactions as pertinent to raising consciousness of natural resource scarcity. We finally discuss initiatives to manage water scarcity at consumer, community and industry-consumer partnership levels. The paper broadens current understandings of scarcity and extends Vygotsky’s sociocultural theorizations in the focus on communities, the responsibilization of consumers as well as in the usage of communication modes, and suggests independent and supported consumer-driven and consumer-centered initiatives as complementary to the existing in seeking solutions to water-scarcity in developing country contexts.
17 Haque, A. T. M. S.; Kumar, L.; Bhullar, N. 2023. Gendered perceptions of climate change and agricultural adaptation practices: a systematic review. Climate and Development, 19p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2023.2176185]
Gender ; Women ; Climate change adaptation ; Farmers ; Intersectionality ; Feminization ; Political ecology ; Rural development ; Social networks ; Sociocultural environment ; Research ; Sustainability / Africa / Asia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051712)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/17565529.2023.2176185?needAccess=true&role=button
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051712.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051712.pdf
(3.05 MB) (3.05 MB)
The present systematic review was undertaken to obtain a detailed understanding of how climate change perceptions and adaptation differ globally by gender and different intersections among the farmers. Findings from 41 studies selected following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, mostly from Africa and Asia, suggest that climate change perceptions and adaptation are highly contextual and considerably varied by gender and different intersections. Existing gender role, farmers’ age, education, knowledge, marital status, intra-household power structure, religion, social status and ethnicity were intersecting with gender and climate change perception and adaptation. Apart from gender and intersectionality, access to resources, social network and local institutions are found to be important correlates of adaptation strategies by farmers. While agriculture being feminized, mere technological changes are not conclusive to climate change adaptation rather socio-cultural, structural and political changes in inevitable. Female farmers were tend to be more concerned and fatalistic about climate change which reminds us the urgency of culturally appropriate climate change communication to obtain informed decision regarding climate change. Future climate change research could be more gender transformative by exploring the existing inequalities lying in different intersections of gender rather than highlighting binary gender differences only.
18 Jones, K. W.; Lopez-Ramirez, S. M.; Manson, R. H.; Avila-Foucat, V. S. 2023. The emergence and persistence of payments for watershed services programs in Mexico. Water Resources and Economics, 42:100217. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wre.2023.100217]
Watershed services ; Green infrastructure ; Investment ; Nature-based solutions ; Payments for ecosystem services ; Financing ; Sociocultural environment ; Water security ; Land use ; Participation ; Land tenure ; Water quality ; Deforestation ; Farmland / Mexico
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051787)
(1.21 MB)
Payments for watershed services (PWS) programs have become a prominent approach to protect or restore ecosystems and watershed services but little is known about where these innovative financing tools and governance systems emerge and persist. In 2008, the Mexican government launched a program where they matched funding from local partners to establish user-financed PWS, leading to the creation of 145 programs between 2008 and 2019. We study the factors related to the emergence and persistence of these local, user-financed PWS programs across Mexico. We assemble a unique database on these programs, as well as biophysical, economic, socio-cultural, and institutional variables, at the municipality level. We use logistic regression to analyze the variables correlated with the emergence and persistence of PWS. We find that PWS programs are more likely to emerge in municipalities with lower opportunity costs of forest conservation; that are wealthier; that have higher institutional capacity; and that have more collective land tenure and protected areas. PWS programs are more likely to persist in municipalities where watershed conditions are a concern; that have more wealth and institutional capacity; and that have a non-governmental organization or water utility involved as the local counterpart. These results suggest that emergence and persistence of local, user-financed PWS programs to address water security can occur when the opportunity costs of conservation are met; the provision of ecosystem services is enhanced; there are sustainable sources of financing; and there is institutional capacity that involves non-state actors.
19 Raut, Manita; Varady, R. G.; Rajouria, Alok. 2023. Gender and social inclusion in community water resource management: lessons from two districts in the Himalayan foothills and the Terai in Nepal. Water International, 48(4):547-566. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2023.2213962]
Gender ; Social inclusion ; Water resources ; Water management ; Community management ; Rural areas ; Water supply ; Water user groups ; Institutional development ; Policies ; Sociocultural environment / Nepal / Himalayan Foothills / Terai Plains / Dailekh / Sarlahi
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052033)
Despite decades of concerted efforts to address the problem, Nepal’s rural water supply sector continues to be laced with gender and social exclusion. This study provides insights from community water-user groups in two geographically and socially diverse contexts to better understand, from a gender and social inclusion perspective, and through institutional bricolage, how some water-user groups adapt to local contexts, shaping varied group dynamics that are not always equitable. Findings reveal that policies promoting social inclusion are difficult to implement amid the complex web of social and economic factors associated with community-managed water supply systems.
20 Geleta, Y.; Haileslassie, Amare; Simane, B.; Assefa, E.; Bantider, A. 2023. Mapping community perception, synergy, and trade-off of multiple water values in the Central Rift Valley Water System of Ethiopia. Water, 15(16):2986. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w15162986]
Water governance ; Water demand ; Rivers ; Communities ; Assessment ; Environmental flows ; Sociocultural environment / Ethiopia / Central Rift Valley
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052332)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/16/2986/pdf?version=1692609478
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052332.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052332.pdf
(6.41 MB) (6.41 MB)
Individuals and communities use and value water in multiple and complex ways. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the pluralistic nature of water values is poorly documented, and the existing and potential value trade-offs are unidentified. This study was undertaken in the Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia to understand and map water values, priorities, risks, and trade-offs in a multi-stakeholder engagement process to provide the basis for more transparent and accountable decision-making. Integrated assessment methods, combining bio-physical and social methods, were applied. The results show 24 community-perceived and articulated water values that are diverse but interconnected, including values of water, landscapes, the river system, and downstream water bodies. Connections between people and landscape structures are articulated. In terms of priority water values, the overall results reflect the primary but basic need for water for food security and domestic uses. The results further illustrate the pluralistic nature of water values and the dichotomy of preferences among people of different backgrounds. The scenario-based Environmental Flow (EF) assessment exercise integrated into community value preferences and the event calendar that was used show that the river systems in CRV (Ketar, Kulumsa, and Gusha-Temela) have different ecological and socio-cultural flow requirements and that there are marked water value trade-offs. The conclusions of the study suggest that overlapping governance structures are affecting people’s perceptions of water and the way they articulate water values. Policy directions and decision-making need to recognize and acknowledge the multiple water values and competing uses of water in the CRV as a starting point to reconcile trade-offs that will then improve water security. Findings suggest that EF estimation and decision support tools can be customized to local ecological requirements through engaging local stakeholders in the assessment process.
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