| Author | Kamran, Muhammad Asif |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.NR-12-02 |
| Subject(s) | Irrigation--Pakistan--Punjab
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| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. NR-12-02 |
| Abstract | Social Ecological Systems, irrigation systems in this study, are facing ever increasing scale of influence from external and contextual factors. In this context, this research looks into the institutional arrangements and resulting water rights and operational level rules-in-use to cope these changes in spate irrigation systems. The cases for this study are taken from Pakistani Punjab where the colonial water law was implemented in state controlled areas and customary rights were allowed to work under traditional patterns in tribal areas. I examined four questions regarding external policy change and resulting issues in irrigation management: 1) How the spate irrigation management institutions evolved in response to policy changes during colonial times? 2) How colonial law and officially accepted customary rights created confusion institutional grammar of rules and resulted in power abuse by state officials? 3) How different institutional arrangements have been able to respond differently to known and novel shocks? 4) How local risks perceptions can be useful for development planning and management of resources with variation in physical characteristics and administrative set-up? The study draws insights from new institutional economics, and applying both qualitative and quantitative methods, I conclude that the institutional arrangements imposed from external agencies demonstrate path dependence and fail to address new disturbance regimes. The comparison of systems with variation in governance (agency managed and farmers managed) and nature of water resource (perennial, non-perennial) draws important lessons about commonly found characteristics in robust systems. The state-imposed intervention in indigenous spate irrigation systems during the colonial era resulted in external rules formulation and implementation in the colonized areas. Any change in laws without understanding local context and specific systems requirements, lead to sub-optimal resource management outcomes. The introduction of new rules, without considering bio-physical factors and subsequent outcomes of the rules to water users in terms of carrying out essential tasks of monitoring, sanctioning and enforcement, resulted in weaker management in agency-managed irrigation systems (AMIS). The analysis of the study shows how shocks influence the SESs entities (i.e. Resource, Resource users, Public Infrastructure, Public Infrastructure providers and their linkages) and how local institutions help to effectively respond to these shocks. The findings show that farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) are better able to cope with disturbances by following the locally crafted rules and promoting collective action. On the contrary, AMIS, work under strong bureaucratic control, and are facing serious problems to cope with disturbances. The results regarding water management operations, using the institutional grammar tools, show that the users in FMIS have better knowledge about the different components of syntax of the institutional statements, as the rules-in-use were evolved through centuries-old institutions in these communities. Also the higher participation rates in rules formulation and change has kept most users in FMIS aware of the working rules. On the other hand in AMIS, the discretionary powers given to state officials are considerable and community members are largely unaware about the decision criteria. Therefore the externally implemented laws in AMIS created confusion about legal status of irrigation practices and resulted in power abuse. The statistical results show that the Cropping Intensity (CI) and wheat yields are significantly different at Head and Tail end of the case study AMIS systems. The reason behind this difference is the fixation of irrigation rights with head to tail water distribution with head end farmers to use as much water as they need without any restriction. The small sized spate flows, therefore, can only irrigate head end lands due to small quantity of water. The CI and wheat yields are not significantly different at Head and Tail end of the selected FMIS because customary rights provide more equitable water distribution through ‘one plot in a sequence’ and ‘draw system’ which gives equal chances of getting water both at head end and tail end of the systems. The multiple comparisons of means showed that the CI and wheat yields are significantly higher for Head and Tail end farmers in FMIS compared with their corresponding Head and Tail end farmers in AMIS. The institutional analysis provides useful insights about robustness of different resource governance regimes. However, it doesn’t provide information about system specific needs and nature of interventions desired in specific socioeconomic and resource settings. Local risks perceptions were included in this study to conduct participatory analysis of risks perceptions for respondents using perennial and non-perennial spate waters and located in different administrative divisions. The livelihood risks perceptions are influenced by institutional and physical factors. Natural capital related risks were higher in non-perennial systems both in AMIS and FMIS, while the physical and social capital related risks were higher in AMIS as compared to FMIS. The subjective risks perception calculations provide useful information for development and policy planning. The findings of this research show that local institutions play important role in responding to known and novel shocks. The evolution of rules without external interference provides appropriate institutions to address disturbances. The study concludes that FMIS largely show attributes of long-enduring resource systems and they are relatively robust than AMIS. |
| Year | 2012 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. NR-12-02 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Blomquist, William Andrew;Perret, Sylvain Roger;Schmidt-Vogt, Dietrich; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan;Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2012 |