Financial Performance of Irrigation Associations: Selected Cases from Turkey

Abstract

The objective of the study was to trace the performance of selected irrigation associations after the transfer of operation and maintenance (O&M) activities from the state to the farmers. Four irrigation associations were selected according to the regional and cropping pattern diversity. The area of the selected associations made up slightly more than 5 percent of the total transferred area. The data for the different types of revenues and expenses of the associations were obtained from the annual reports of the associations to the State Hydraulic Works. Results suggest that irrigation associations are able to fulfill irrigation tasks to a large extent using enhanced equipment. Fee collection rates are at improved levels, despite delays in payments, mainly due to the mismatch of the financial and production calendars. Dominant cropping patterns for cotton lead to higher and increasing O&M expenditures compared to cereals. Although the transfers increased the adjustment ability of farmers to exogenous factors, the findings suggest that it is still too early to decide on the sustainability of the transfer program.

Keywords

• irrigation, management transfer, fee collection, ex-post evaluation.