Creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in Tajikistan: opportunities and challenges

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 create...

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Autores principales: Balasubramanya, Soumya, Buisson, Marie-Charlotte, Aslamy, Sohrob, MacDonald, Katherine, Saikia, Panchali, Mitra, A.
Formato: Conference Paper
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/82733
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author Balasubramanya, Soumya
Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Aslamy, Sohrob
MacDonald, Katherine
Saikia, Panchali
Mitra, A.
author_browse Aslamy, Sohrob
Balasubramanya, Soumya
Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
MacDonald, Katherine
Mitra, A.
Saikia, Panchali
author_facet Balasubramanya, Soumya
Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Aslamy, Sohrob
MacDonald, Katherine
Saikia, Panchali
Mitra, A.
author_sort Balasubramanya, Soumya
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description 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.
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spelling CGSpace827332025-03-11T09:50:20Z Creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in Tajikistan: opportunities and challenges Balasubramanya, Soumya Buisson, Marie-Charlotte Aslamy, Sohrob MacDonald, Katherine Saikia, Panchali Mitra, A. water user associations agricultural production productivity small scale farming private farms crop yield cropping systems irrigation canals irrigation schemes farmers water availability irrigation water 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. 2016 2017-07-12T04:09:05Z 2017-07-12T04:09:05Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/82733 en Limited Access 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.
spellingShingle water user associations
agricultural production
productivity
small scale farming
private farms
crop yield
cropping systems
irrigation canals
irrigation schemes
farmers
water availability
irrigation water
Balasubramanya, Soumya
Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Aslamy, Sohrob
MacDonald, Katherine
Saikia, Panchali
Mitra, A.
Creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in Tajikistan: opportunities and challenges
title Creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in Tajikistan: opportunities and challenges
title_full Creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in Tajikistan: opportunities and challenges
title_fullStr Creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in Tajikistan: opportunities and challenges
title_full_unstemmed Creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in Tajikistan: opportunities and challenges
title_short Creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in Tajikistan: opportunities and challenges
title_sort creating water user associations for improved agricultural productivity in tajikistan opportunities and challenges
topic water user associations
agricultural production
productivity
small scale farming
private farms
crop yield
cropping systems
irrigation canals
irrigation schemes
farmers
water availability
irrigation water
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/82733
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