INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE PIM: CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Participatory irrigation management (PIM), in its various forms, has been implemented all over the world for several decades. PIM-related interventions have generally been made, and continue to be made, in form of a set of project activities mostly implemented over a limited period of time with supports external to the irrigation system. Reported results have been encouraging, particularly during and immediately after the project activities, in terms of improvements in: a) irrigated agricultural performance; b) resource mobilization; c) quality of irrigation service; d) maintenance of irrigation infrastructure; and e) farmers’ institutional development. Nevertheless, evidences suggest that sustenance of such gains over a long run is often questionable when there are no favorable institutional conditions after the conclusion of short-lived project activities and withdrawal of external supports. Such institutional conditions include continuation of: i) supporting policies and strategies, ii) capacity building, training, and extension; and iii) monitoring and evaluation. The paper identifies various institutional constraints with the view to identify opportunities to timely instigate possible measures that concern three significant and complementing actors: national/provincial governments, irrigation agencies and/or water users associations, and the irrigators. Conclusions and recommendations are based on in-depth case study of Nepal while reflecting on relevant cases elsewhere.