Your search found 29 records
1 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Wichelns, Dennis. 2012. Economic incentives can enhance policy efforts to improve water quality in Asia. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 28(2):217-231. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2012.668644]
Water quality ; Water supply ; Sanitation ; Water pollution ; Wastewater treatment ; Wastewater irrigation ; Urban areas ; Periurban areas ; Rural areas ; living standards ; Policy ; Economic aspects ; Incentives ; Water user associations ; Institutions ; Political aspects / Asia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: PER Record No: H044860)
(0.13 MB)
This article describes the conceptual advantages of including economic incentives in the basket of policy alternatives available for motivating improvements in water quality. With a particular focus on Asia, we discuss the incentives available for encouraging reductions in point and nonpoint source pollutants in urban, rural, and peri-urban settings. Several countries in Asia are implementing some form of economic incentives, either directly, in the form of effluent taxes or subsidies, or in combination with regulatory measures that help to ensure water quality standards are achieved. We also describe the importance of institutional capacity and political will in support of economic incentives, and the increasing usefulness of incentive programmes as economies develop and expand. The discussion includes several examples of programmes in China and Thailand, along with observations from India, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines.
2 Bennear, L.; Tarozzi, A.; Pfaff, A.; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Ahmed, K. M.; van Geen, A. 2013. Impact of a randomized controlled trial in arsenic risk communication on household water-source choices in Bangladesh. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 65(2):225–240. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2012.07.006]
Drinking water ; Groundwater ; Wells ; Arsenic ; Health hazards ; Households ; Models / Bangladesh / Araihazar Upazila
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045010)
(1.73 MB)
We conducted a randomized controlled trial in rural Bangladesh to examine how household drinking-water choices were affected by two different messages about risk from naturally occurring groundwater arsenic. Households in both randomized treatment arms were informed about the arsenic level in their well and whether that level was above or below the Bangladesh standard for arsenic. Households in one group of villages were encouraged to seek water from wells below the national standard. Households in the second group of villages received additional information explaining that lower-arsenic well water is always safer and these households were encouraged to seek water from wells with lower levels of arsenic, irrespective of the national standard. A simple model of household drinking-water choice indicates that the effect of the emphasis message is theoretically ambiguous. Empirically, we find that the richer message had a negative, but insignificant, effect on well-switching rates, but the estimates are sufficiently precise that we can rule out large positive effects. The main policy implication of this finding is that a one-time oral message conveying richer information on arsenic risks, while inexpensive and easily scalable, is unlikely to be successful in reducing exposure relative to the status-quo policy.
3 McCartney, Matthew; Pavelic, Paul; Lacombe, Guillaume; Latt, K.; Zan, A. K.; Thein, K.; Douangsavanh, Somphasith; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Rajah, Ameer; Myint, A.; Cho, C.; Johnston, Robyn; Sotoukee, Touleelor. 2013. Water resources assessment of the dry zone of Myanmar: final report for component 1. [Project report of the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) Dry Zone Program] Vientiane, Laos: International Water Management Institute (IWMI); Yangon, Myanmar: National Engineering and Planning Services (EPS). 52p.
Water resources ; Surface water ; Water use ; Flow discharge ; Runoff ; Groundwater resources ; Groundwater recharge ; Water quality ; Water storage ; Reservoirs ; Aquifers ; Evapotranspiration ; Water supply ; Irrigation schemes ; Assessment ; Arid zones ; Food security ; Living standards ; Rain ; Data ; Geology ; Research projects / Myanmar / Dry Zone
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046133)
(3.66 MB)
4 Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali; Joffre, O.; Suhardiman, Diana; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Pavelic, Paul; Htut, U. Y. T.; McCartney, Matthew; Johnston, Robyn. 2013. Community survey on water access, availability and management issues in the dry zone of Myanmar: final report for component 2. [Project report of the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) Dry Zone Program]. Vientiane, Laos: International Water Management Institute (IWMI); Yangon, Myanmar: Myanmar Marketing Research and Development (MMRD). 74p.
Water management ; Water resources ; Water availability ; Arid zones ; Surveys ; Villages ; Climate change ; Weather hazards ; Rain ; Income ; Livestock ; Groundwater irrigation ; Groundwater resources ; Water quality ; Water allocation ; Water use ; Water user associations ; Irrigated farming ; Rainfed farming ; Crops ; Food security ; Institutions ; Research projects ; Investment ; Income / Myanmar / Dry Zone
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046134)
(0.77 MB)
5 Johnston, Robyn; Rajah, Ameer; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Douangsavanh, Somphasith; Lacombe, Guillaume; McCartney, Matthew; Pavelic, Paul; Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali; Sotoukee, Touleelor; Suhardiman, Diana; Joffre, O. 2013. Identifying priority investments in water in Myanmar’s dry zone: final report for component 3. [Project report of the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) Dry Zone Program] Vientiane, Laos: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 53p.
Water resources development ; Water management ; Water supply ; Research projects ; Investment ; Living standards ; Arid zones ; Agroecosystems ; Irrigation systems ; Irrigation schemes ; Groundwater irrigation ; Supplemental irrigation ; Rainwater ; Water harvesting ; Water storage ; Reservoirs ; Dams ; Wells ; Watershed management ; Food security ; Farmland ; Rainfed farming ; Irrigated farming ; Social aspects / Myanmar / Dry Zone
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046135)
6 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Pfaff, A.; Bennear, L.; Tarozzi, A.; Ahmed, K. M.; Schoenfeld, A.; Van Geen, A. 2014. Evolution of households’ responses to the groundwater arsenic crisis in Bangladesh: information on environmental health risks can have increasing behavioral impact over time. Environment and Development Economics, 19:631-647. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355770X13000612]
Arsenic ; Groundwater ; Environmental health ; Health hazards ; Households ; Wells ; Drinking water / Bangladesh / Araihazar Upazila
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046376)
(0.31 MB)
A national campaign of well testing through 2003 enabled households in rural Bangladesh to switch, at least for drinking water, from high-arsenic wells to neighboring lower arsenic wells. We study the well-switching dynamics over time by re-interviewing, in 2008, a randomly selected subset of households in the Araihazar region who had been interviewed in 2005. Contrary to concerns that the impact of arsenic information on switching behavior would erode over time, we find that not only was 2003–2005 switching highly persistent but also new switching by 2008 doubled the share of households at unsafe wells who had switched. The passage of time also had a cost: 22 per cent of households did not recall test results by 2008. The loss of arsenic knowledge led to staying at unsafe wells and switching from safe wells. Our results support ongoing well testing for arsenic to reinforce this beneficial information.
7 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Giordano, M.; Wichelns, D.; Sherpa, Tashi. 2014. Sharing hydropower revenues in Nepal, over time and across districts and regions. Water Resources and Rural Development, 4:104-111. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wrr.2014.10.007]
Water power ; Benefits ; Economic development ; Equity ; Water resources ; Local government ; Central government ; Decentralization ; Budgets / Nepal
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046724)
(0.32 MB)
In recent years, the Government of Nepal has increased the amount of revenue it collects from hydropower operations and then distributes among districts and regions of the country. Larger, wealthier districts, which receive larger amounts of general revenues from the central government, also receive larger allocations of hydropower revenues. The per capita shares of hydropower revenue are notably larger in the Central andWestern Regions, which are home to most of Nepal’s hydropower facilities. Thus, the revenue sharing program does not favor poorer districts and regions with little hydropower development. Further, the hydropower revenue allocations to all development regions are small portions of the general revenues they receive. Consequently, the program is unlikely to have a substantial impact on economic development in poorer districts and regions.
8 Pavelic, Paul; Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali; Johnston, Robyn; McCartney, Matthew; Sotoukee, Touleelor; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Suhardiman, Diana; Lacombe, Guillaume; Douangsavanh, Somphasith; Joffre, O.; Latt, K.; Zan, A. K.; Thein, K.; Myint, A.; Cho, C.; Htut, Y. T. 2015. Integrated assessment of groundwater use for improving livelihoods in the dry zone of Myanmar. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI) 47p. (IWMI Research Report 164) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2015.216]
Irrigation systems ; Groundwater irrigation ; Aquifers ; Groundwater recharge ; Groundwater assessment ; Groundwater management ; Water use ; Water resources ; Water availability ; Water quality ; Water market ; Domestic water ; Living standards ; Arid zones ; Tube wells ; Pumping ; Social aspects ; Economic aspects ; Cost benefit analysis ; Investment ; Geology ; Hydrology ; Arsenic compounds ; Agriculture ; Sustainability ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Case studies / Myanmar
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H047229)
(3 MB)
In the Dry Zone of Myanmar, improved access to water is widely acknowledged as being vital for livelihood enhancement and the general well-being of around 10 million people, most of whom depend on agriculture. Thus, expanding the sustainable use of groundwater is of great importance for socioeconomic development. According to this study, opportunities for accessing groundwater are generally good, and development of the resource has steadily increased over the years. However, there still appears to be good prospects for expanding groundwater use for irrigation, with a view to increasing agricultural production. Provision of affordable mechanical technologies for drilling wells and support with credit facilities to purchase small-capacity motorized pumps for irrigation could improve food security and livelihoods, where there is potential to expand groundwater use. Replenishable groundwater resources of the Dry Zone are likely to be less than previously thought. Thus, it is important to find the right balance between increasing development of the resource for enhanced irrigation, while also protecting its existing beneficial use for communities and the environment.
9 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Buisson, Marie-Charlotte; Saikia, Panchali; MacDonald, K.; Aslamy, Sohrob; Horbulyk, Theodore; Hannah, C.; Yakubov, Murat; Platonov, Alexander. 2016. Impact of water-user associations on water and land productivity, equity, and food security in Tajikistan. Baseline Technical Report. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 131p.
Water user associations ; Water productivity ; Water management ; Water governance ; Watercourses ; Water supply ; Waterlogging ; Land productivity ; Equity ; Food security ; Gender ; Role of women ; Women's participation ; Agricultural sector ; Cotton industry ; Impact assessment ; Irrigation management ; Irrigation water ; Infrastructure ; Canals ; Financing ; Crop yield ; Cultivated land ; Farm area ; Private farms ; Living standards / Tajikistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047847)
(1.81 MB)
10 Buisson, Marie-Charlotte; MacDonald, K.; Saikia, Panchali; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Aslamy, Sohrob; Horbulyk, Theodore. 2016. Impact of water users associations on water and land productivity, equity and food security in Tajikistan. Mid-term Technical Report. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 102p.
Water user associations ; Water productivity ; Water governance ; Water management ; Water availability ; Water supply ; Water rates ; Land productivity ; Equity ; Food security ; Household food security ; Role of women ; Women's participation ; Female labour ; Farmers ; Irrigation water ; Irrigation management ; Small scale farming ; Agriculture ; Cultivated land ; Private farm ; Field preparation ; Decision making ; Community organizations ; Crops ; Labour / Tajikistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047854)
(3.57 MB)
11 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Buisson, Marie-Charlotte; Aslamy, Sohrob; MacDonald, Katherine; Saikia, Panchali; Mitra, A. 2016. Creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in Tajikistan: opportunities and challenges. Paper presented at the 2nd World Irrigation Forum, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 6-12 November 2016. 9p.
Water user associations ; Agricultural production ; Productivity ; Small scale farming ; Private farms ; Crop yield ; Cropping systems ; Irrigation canals ; Irrigation schemes ; Farmers ; Water availability ; Irrigation water / Tajikistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047855)
(0.61 MB)
After Tajikistan emerged an independent country, major land reforms took place. Large collective farms were broken up into smaller (dekhan) private farms. This created a vacuum, because there was no provision to manage competing needs of water among private farms. Water user associations were created with the efforts of the government, and several international donors, to manage distribution of water between private farms and to share in maintenance of smaller canals. In this paper we provide a brief description of the creation of water user associations, as well as their roles and responsibilities. We then describe the opportunities for increasing livelihoods, and contributing to increased agricultural productivity. Can these WUAs improve access to and distribution of water? Would better irrigations services increase cropping areas? Would yields of cotton improve? Can these be an improvement in crop diversity? We identify the key existing gaps in knowledge, that would provide an understanding of the impacts of these associations on wellbeing. We also describe some of the challenges that may limit the efficacy of these associations. Are these institutions likely to be able to cover their operational costs? Can these institutions serve well as cropping decisions change? Are these institutions likely to represent the needs of female farmers? We identify the key factors that need to be examined more closely, that provide an understating of the resilience of these associations. The answers to these questions would provide important information for policies to support and strengthen water user associations in Tajikistan.
12 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Evans, B.; Ahmed, R.; Habib, A.; Asad, N. S. M.; Vuong, L.; Rahman, M.; Hasan, M.; Dey, D.; Camargo-Valero, M. 2016. Pump it up: making single-pit emptying safer in rural Bangladesh. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 6(3):456-464. [doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2016.049]
Rural areas ; Faecal sludge ; Faecal coliforms ; Sewage effluent disposal ; Sludge treatment ; Latrines ; Sanitation ; Health hazards ; Helminths ; Liquid wastes ; Public services ; State intervention ; Pumping / Bangladesh
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047856)
(0.51 MB)
Safe emptying and disposal of fecal sludge from pit latrines in rural areas has become a priority for the Government of Bangladesh. In this paper, we calculate the volume and characterize the hazards of managing sludge to identify technologies for safely emptying rural single pits. In Bhaluka subdistrict, an estimated 15,000 m3 of sludge is produced annually. Physical, chemical, and microbial analysis of samples of sludge taken from pit latrines indicate that the sludge has a high moisture content of around 90%, a C:N ration of 10:1, and a helminth presence of 41 eggs/g. In a field test of alternative emptying technologies, simple pumps such as the gulper emerged as feasible for use in rural areas, due to the liquid nature of the sludge, narrow roads, and limited incomes of rural households. The results suggest that current practices of emptying liquid sludge manually without any protective equipment poses risks to those who handle sludge, and the process needs to be semi-mechanized with immediate effect. These results are being used by the Bangladesh government to design policy for sludge management. In the near future, an organized service that safely empties single pits and transports sludge for treatment needs to be urgently designed.
13 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Evans, B.; Hardy, Richard; Ahmed, R.; Habib, A.; Asad, N. S. M.; Rahman, M.; Hasan, H.; Dey, D.; Fletcher, J.; Camargo-Valero, M. A.; Rao, Krishna Chaitanya; Fernando, Sudarshana. 2017. Towards sustainable sanitation management: Establishing the costs and willingness to pay for emptying and transporting sludge in rural districts with high rates of access to latrines. PLoS One, 12(3):1-20. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171735]
Faecal sludge ; Waste management ; Waste treatment ; Sanitation ; Transport infrastructure ; Rural areas ; Latrines ; Pit latrines ; Environmental impact assessment ; Health hazards ; Financing ; State intervention ; Households ; Maintenance costs / Bangladesh / Bhaluka
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048078)
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171735&type=printable
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H048078.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H048078.pdf
(1.53 MB)
Motivation: Proper management of fecal sludge has significant positive health and environmental externalities. Most research on managing onsite sanitation so far either simulates the costs of, or the welfare effects from, managing sludge in situ in pit latrines. Thus, designing management strategies for onsite rural sanitation is challenging, because the actual costs of transporting sludge for treatment, and sources for financing these transport costs, are not well understood. Methods: In this paper we calculate the actual cost of sludge management from onsite latrines, and identify the contributions that latrine owners are willing to make to finance the costs. A spreadsheet-based model is used to identify a cost-effective transport option, and to calculate the cost per household. Then a double-bound contingent valuation method is used to elicit from pit-latrine owners their willingness-to-pay to have sludge transported away. This methodology is employed for the case of a rural subdistrict in Bangladesh called Bhaluka, a unit of administration at which sludge management services are being piloted by the Government of Bangladesh. Results: The typical sludge accumulation rate in Bhaluka is calculated at 0.11 liters/person/day and a typical latrine will need to be emptied approximately once every 3 to 4 years. The costs of emptying and transport are high; approximately USD 13 per emptying event (circa 14% of average monthly income); household contributions could cover around 47% of this cost. However, if costs were spread over time, the service would cost USD 4 per year per household, or USD 0.31 per month per household—comparable to current expenditures of rural households on telecommunications. Conclusion: This is one of few research papers that brings the costs of waste management together with financing of that cost, to provide evidence for an implementable solution. This framework can be used to identify cost effective sludge management options and private contributions towards that cost in other (context-specific) administrative areas where onsite sanitation is widespread.
14 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Evans, E.; Ahmed, R.; Habib, A.; Asad, N. S. M.; Rahman, M.; Hasan, M.; Dey, D.; Camargo-Valero, M.; Rao, Krishna Chaitanya; Fernando, Sudarshana. 2017. Take it away: the need for designing fecal sludge disposal services for single-pit latrines. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 7(1):121-128. [doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2017.073]
Faecal sludge ; Waste disposal ; Waste management ; Pit latrines ; Sanitation ; Rural areas ; Household wastes ; Transport infrastructure ; Public health ; Health hazards ; Environmental health / Bangladesh
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048079)
The government of Bangladesh is increasingly paying attention to the safe collection and disposal of fecal sludge from pit latrines in rural areas. In this paper, we report on current sludge disposal practices from single-pit latrines, by conducting a survey of 1,091 households with pit latrines in a rural subdistrict of Bangladesh. Almost all households were using their pits, and 90% reported that hiring pit emptiers to empty the pit for reuse was the dominant pit management practice. However, 90% of households also reported that the sludge from these pits would be disposed of in the vicinity of their homes, by digging wide and shallow troughs in the soil to absorb the sludge. These results indicate an urgent need to design an organized service that safely transports fecal sludge away for treatment. The National Committee for Fecal Sludge Management, constituted by the government of Bangladesh, is using these results to design policy for sludge management.
15 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Horbulyk, Theodore M. 2018. Groundwater arsenic in Bangladesh: what's new for policy research? Water Policy, 20(3):461-474. [doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2017.041]
Groundwater ; Arsenic compounds ; Pollutants ; Contamination ; Research policy ; Public health ; Health hazards ; Socioeconomic environment ; Water supply ; Drinking water ; Rural areas ; Pathogens ; Wells ; Household consumption ; Filtration ; Purification ; Supply chain / Bangladesh
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048450)
This paper provides an overview of policy responses to arsenic in groundwater in rural Bangladesh to assess their role and potential effectiveness in reducing exposure. With 97% of the country consuming groundwater for drinking, there is a continuing crisis of tens of millions of people exposed to elevated levels of arsenic. An examination of the number of people protected through two major remediation efforts suggests that recent progress may not be sufficient to keep up with the increasing population or to resolve the crisis during this century. Recent developments in remedial options are examined to identify their potential role in an evolving policy and research agenda. There appears to be growing agreement about future research and policy responses that can scale remedial options and make them widely accessible. These include: (1) the need for a reliable and affordable programme of arsenic testing and retesting; (2) attention to risks from other soluble contaminants and pathogens; (3) explicit priority setting across locations, time and to address fairness; and (4) development of value chains to ensure remedial options are supported over time.
16 Balasubramanya, Soumya; Price, Joseph P. G.; Horbulyk, Theodore M. 2018. Impacts assessments without true baselines: assessing the relative effects of training on the performance of water user associations in southern Tajikistan. Water Economics and Policy, 4(3):1-28. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1142/S2382624X18500078]
Impact assessment ; Water user associations ; Training ; Performance evaluation ; Water delivery ; Water distribution ; Irrigation water ; Infrastructure / Central Asia / Southern Tajikistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048579)
Conducting rigorous evaluations of whether the process of creating new institutions affects their performance of mandated duties presents several challenges. Not only is assignment to process often not random, but when the process of creating new institutions starts, outcomes and other performance-influencing covariates are not measurable because the yet-to-be created institutions are not functioning at baseline. This paper compares the performance of 74 ‘treated’ water user associations (WUAs) in Tajikistan that were created using a longer training process with 67 ‘control’ WUAs that were created using shorter training, to assess the impact of training on WUA performance of mandated duties. First, propensity scores were constructed to estimate the probabilities of being ‘treated’ by treatment status. These results guided the application of the difference-in-difference technique with right-hand side covariates in a context where field measures of outcomes and other performance-influencing covariates were made after the new institutions were created and functioning. The first measures were taken within 12–18 months of the new institutions being functional and the second measures were taken 24 months after the first. This choice of methods introduces a bias due to measurement error causing an underestimate of the treatment effects, while controlling for biases due to time-invariant and time-varying unobservables. An alternative method that only compared the differences in outcomes at a single point in time after the new institutions were created would have provided an inaccurate estimate of the effects of the intervention. This is a context in which methods such as synthetic controls are impossible to employ due to the nature of the intervention, other macroeconomic structural changes, and severe data restrictions. The methodology employed here generates evidence that, while biased toward generating an underestimate of effect, can still be useful and informative for policy and management purposes, and for evaluating the impact of process on the functioning of new institutions in transition settings.
17 Buisson, M.-C.; Balasubramanya, Soumya. 2019. The effect of irrigation service delivery and training in agronomy on crop choice in Tajikistan. Land Use Policy, 81: 175-184. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.10.037]
Agricultural extension ; Water user associations ; Agricultural production ; Agricultural sector ; Crop production ; Irrigation management ; Malnutrition ; Water management ; Water supply ; Training ; Extension programmes ; Cultivated land ; Cotton ; Wheat ; Land use ; Farmers / Tajikistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048980)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026483771831007X/pdfft?md5=84444388301312d54670ed66df93dd7e&pid=1-s2.0-S026483771831007X-main.pdf&isDTMRedir=true&download=true
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H048980.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H048980.pdf
(1.56 MB)
The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of irrigation delivery services and agricultural extension services on crop choice in southern Tajikistan. This analysis is motivated by the government’s recent efforts to address the country’s severe malnutrition problem by supporting changes in irrigation service delivery and agronomy to increase diversity in agricultural production and consumption, in an environment where the cultivation of cotton had, until recently, been mandatory. Water management in Tajikistan has largely been transferred to the community through the creation of water users’ associations (WUAs), which were established between 2011 and 2013. While all WUAs received training to improve irrigation delivery services, some also received training in cultivating alternative crops and improving cultivation practices through agricultural extension services. Through specific empirical analysis conducted on a primary panel dataset of 1855 farms in southern Tajikistan, we identify the extent to which improvements in irrigation services, and agronomy training through extension services affect decisions pertaining to cultivated areas of cotton and wheat (the traditional crops) and the cultivated area and number of (newer) high-value crops. We also examine the effect of water delivery and agricultural extension services on crop diversity and cropping intensity (how often land is used in a calendar year). We find that improvements in irrigation delivery services affect cultivated areas of cotton and wheat. Cultivation of high value crops is significantly influenced by agricultural extension services. While cropping intensity depends on water delivery services, crop diversity depends on extension services. From a policy perspective, these results highlight the importance of agricultural programs for stimulating agricultural value added in landscapes historically characterized by limited crop choice and a collapse of the agricultural sector.
18 Balasubramanya, Soumya. 2019. Effects of training duration and the role of gender on farm participation in water user associations in southern Tajikistan: implications for irrigation management. Agricultural Water Management, 216:1-11. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2019.01.019]
Irrigation management ; Farmer participation ; Gender ; Women's participation ; Male involvement ; Capacity building ; Training ; Water user associations ; Community involvement ; Community management ; Participatory management ; Agricultural practices / Southern Tajikista
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049082)
(794 KB)
This paper examines whether longer training increases farm participation in community-managed water user associations, in a context where assignment to training duration was not randomized and none of these institutions existed before training began. We also examine whether participation is affected when farm managers migrate and leave farm operations to other workers, in a context where only managers have been directly trained, almost all managers are male, and females are increasingly operating farms. We collected microdata from 1855 farms in Southern Tajikistan, where farm managers in 40 subdistricts received longer training, while those in the other 40 received shorter training. These ‘treatment’ and ‘control’ subdistricts were selected by constructing propensity scores and matching without replacement to address observable selection effects that may affect assignment to training duration. Farms were then selected from a census using a stratified random sampling process. A difference-in-difference technique with right-hand-side covariates is employed, where both sets of data were collected after training was completed. This choice of econometric methods controls against farm-level selection effects, but introduces a potential bias due to measurement error. Longer training has a causal effect on increasing participation in WUAs. Results also demonstrate that when male workers not directly trained operate farms, participation is not affected; however, participation is negatively affected when female workers operate farms. These results provide evidence for designing irrigation management programs to target female workers directly, in order to strengthen institutions whose success depends on active farm participation.
19 Clement, Floriane; Buisson, Marie-Charlotte; Leder, Stephanie; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Saikia, Panchali; Bastakoti, Ram; Karki, Emma; van Koppen, Barbara. 2019. From women's empowerment to food security: revisiting global discourses through a cross-country analysis. Global Food Security, 23:160-172. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2019.05.003]
Food security ; Gender ; Women farmers ; Empowerment ; Food supply ; Food access ; Food shortages ; Malnutrition ; Indicators ; Household consumption ; Socioeconomic environment ; Social structure ; Decision making ; Strategies / Bangladesh / Nepal / Tajikistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049254)
(0.48 MB)
Global discourses have advocated women's empowerment as a means to enhance food security. Our objective was to critically review the causal linkages between women's empowerment and food availability and access. We relied on mixed methods and a cross-country analysis, using household survey data from Bangladesh, Nepal and Tajikistan and qualitative data from Nepal. The quantitative analysis highlights the diversity of patterns linking empowerment and food security indicators and the roles socio-economic determinants play in shaping these patterns across countries. The qualitative analysis further stresses the need for a truly intersectional approach in food security programmes that supports challenging the structural barriers that keep marginalised men and women food insecure. Lastly, our findings call for informing standardised measures of empowerment with an assessment of local meanings and values.
20 Kafle, Kashi; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Horbulyk, Ted. 2019. Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka: a profile of affected districts reliant on groundwater. Science of the Total Environment, 694:133767. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133767]
Kidney diseases ; Chronic course ; Aetiology ; Groundwater ; Water use ; Drinking water ; Cooking ; Households ; Gender ; Public health ; Diabetes ; Hypertension / Sri Lanka / Mullaitivu / Vavuniya / Trincomalee / Anuradhapura / Polonnaruwa / Kurunegala / Matale / Ampara / Badulla / Monaragala
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049322)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719337088/pdfft?md5=b382fae99c90fac17e9317a17f42a220&pid=1-s2.0-S0048969719337088-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049322.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049322.pdf
(1.40 MB) (1.40 MB)
This analysis provides new estimates of chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence – including CKD of unknown etiology (CKDu) – across ten districts most affected by CKD in Sri Lanka, including an examination of rural households' historical reliance on groundwater consumption. A carefully designed household survey provides information on whether these households self-reported having a member in the decade prior to 2018, who had been clinically diagnosed with CKD. Households were classified according to whether or not they had used groundwater (from household wells, agro-wells or springs) as their primary source for drinking or cooking for at least five years between 1999 and 2018. More than 98% of households reported having consumed groundwater as their primary source of drinking or cooking water for at least five of those years and >15% of households reported having at least one CKD-affected member in the ten-year period up to 2018, but these numbers varied across and within districts. The reported characteristics of symptomatic individuals reveal that the incidence of CKD was significantly higher among females (62%) than males (38%). In addition to CKD, about 63% of symptomatic individuals had hypertension and about one-third of them also had diabetes. About 33% of the symptomatic individuals had neither diabetes nor hypertension, where this group most closely fits commonly used definitions of CKDu. With a survey response of over 8000 households comprising as many as 30,000 individuals, these data illustrate the scale of CKD in the most-affected districts of Sri Lanka on an aggregate basis as well as revealing differences across districts and at the sub-district level.
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