Water, International Development and Collective Action: An Impact Assessment of an Irrigation Management Project in Southern Kyrgyzstan.

Abstract

Water scarcity is a severe and growing global challenge. Over the last 50 years, water withdrawals have tripled due to economic development and rapid population growth, placing serious pressure on the planet’s water systems. Agriculture remains the most significant consumer of water, accounting for approximately 75% of all global water use. Millions of rural agriculture-dependent farmers in Africa, Asia and the Middle East already face devastating shortages of irrigation water, a situation that will have severe implications for food security and economic development across the globe. Therefore, efficient irrigation water management is critical to meet the growing demand for water resources.

My dissertation seeks to determine the impact of a development project committed to improving irrigation management in Kyrgyzstan. The research focused on the Water Users’ Association Support Program (WUASP), a project dedicated to building the capacity of local institutions of irrigators known as Water Users’ Association (WUAs) through social mobilization, institutional development and participatory rehabilitation. An interrupted panel design and fixed effects regression methods are used to isolate the program effect. Additionally, data from a large N probability survey is used to explore the program’s association with four behavioral mechanisms – knowledge, participation, attitudes and social capital – that link WUASP to irrigation management outcomes. Furthermore, my quantitative methods are supplemented by qualitative data from focus groups, interviews and participant observation collected over nine months of field research.

The results indicate that the program improved irrigation management outcomes; these results were mediated by a WUA’s size, economic and social heterogeneity, as well as ecological scarcity. Moreover, the analysis points to a positive program association with the mechanisms of knowledge, participation and attitudes. However, there is no evidence of a positive effect for women or water users located at the end of a canal, and the program failed to generate a positive community dynamic over irrigation. Thus, while WUASP may have promoted efficiency gains among the elite or privileged groups, the findings suggest that in cases of significant economic inequality, the program either had no effect or may have inadvertently increased the disparity between powerful and powerless water users.