Institutional Strategies for Adaptation to Water Stress in Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems of Nepal
Affiliation
Univ ArizonaIssue Date
2019-10-30Keywords
Farmer-managed irrigation systemsFMIS
institutions
resilience
common-pool resource governance
self-organization
mountain agriculture
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UBIQUITY PRESSCitation
Thapa, B., & Scott, C. A. (2019). Institutional Strategies for Adaptation to Water Stress in Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems of Nepal. International Journal of the Commons, 13(2), pp. 892–908. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.901Rights
Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Institutions governing common-pool resources have survived decades of global change with mixed performance. However, we have limited knowledge on how local institutions cope with and adapt to combined environmental and socio-economic changes. Using the case of 12 farmer-managed irrigation systems (FMIS) in Central and Western Nepal, this paper explores the institutional coping and adaptation mechanisms to water stress. We find that local irrigation institutions manage water stress using diverse and integrated approaches broadly categorized as structural and operational measures. Structural measures include water-source expansion and infrastructure rehabilitation works whereas water re-allocation and drought continency rules are examples of operational measures. We find that integration of structural and operational measures is more prevalent in highly water-stressed irrigation systems than in less stressed ones. The choice of adaptation strategies has direct implications for agricultural productivity. FMIS that implemented structural measures harvested more crops per year than those systems that adopted only operational strategies or no adaptation strategies. However, the marginal benefit of adopting adaptation measures is particularly pronounced in water-stressed systems. Climate variability and change act as a threat multiplier because they compound the existing threats the FMIS face from social and economic changes. The key to effective integration of structural and operational measures that help FMIS to maintain their productivity during water stress are collective action and governance to overcome biophysical limitations.Note
Open access journalISSN
1875-0281DOI
10.5334/ijc.901Version
Final published versionSponsors
UK Government's Department for International Development; International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada; International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD); government of Afghanistan; government of Australia; government of Austria; government of Bangladesh; government of Bhutan; government of China; government of India; government of Myanmar; government of Nepal; government of Norway; government of Pakistan; government of Switzerland; government of United Kingdom; International Water Security Network - Lloyd's Register Foundation (LRF, London, UK), a charitable foundation in the United Kingdom; Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) at the University of Arizonaae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.5334/ijc.901