Institutional Change of Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems: Experience from Nepal

Abstract

Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS) have successfully governed the use of water resources for irrigation for many decades in Nepal. However, in the ensuing years, Nepal’s agriculture sector has been subjected to multiple stressors. These stressors have impacted society as a whole and irrigated agriculture as well. This study examines the major changes in irrigation institutions, the factors driving observed institutional changes, and the aspects of rules, norms, and organizational procedures through which changes have been institutionalized. Nine FMIS included in the Nepal Irrigation Institutions and Systems (NIIS) database were selected from Lamjung, Kaski, Chitwan, and Nawalpur districts. Institutional information on the selected systems was collected using the same set of questionnaires that were used to create the NIIS database. These data were supplemented with information on drivers of the institutional change from interviews as well as literature review. Institutional change was evaluated in relation to change in seven types of working rules. The most substantive changes were observed in payoff and information rules followed by position, choice, boundary, and scope rules. Changes to payoff rules included fines for breaking rules, the basis of labor mobilization, sanctioning by appropriators or monitors, and the form of compensation paid to monitors. Similarly, status and deployment of monitors were major changes in position rules, and changes to information rules included those regarding keeping records of resources condition, maintenance work, and cultivated land. Changes in these rules appear to be associated with increased dependence on remittances and non-farm income. The continued value of the resource itself, however, is evident in the limited changes associated with boundary rules, where in a context of climatic trends and uncertainty, water access for subsistence rice production continues to be a valued asset.

Keywords

• fmis
• institution
• rules
• nepal
• collective action