Regional study implemented by IWMI with financial support from the Asian Development Bank (RETA 5812)

Proceedings of the workshop which focused particularly on gender analysis of rights to land and water, the implications of privatization and water markets for women's access to resources, how women (as well as men) can participate fully in collective action projects and the relation between problems like water scarcity and pollution, multiple uses of water in irrigation systems and gender.

This report reviews several decades of global experience in transferring management of government-run irrigation systems to farmer associations or other nongovernmental agencies in an attempt to apply the lessons of success to the African smallholder irrigation context.

Although many irrigation systems in the dry zone of Sri Lanka have water shortage problems, water consumption is very high during land preparation. This paper analyzes the impact of institutional interventions on efficient water management, especially during the land preparation period. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the factors behind prolonged periods of land preparation so that system managers and farmers communities can develop appropriate interventions to reduce water consumption

Over recent decades, there has been a shift in the focus of government irrigation schemes towards groundwater development throughout the Gangetic Plains, especially in the Nepal Tarai-Madhesh. This report explores the impact of landlord-tenant relations on access to groundwater irrigation. Tenant farmers have a reduced incentive to invest in pumping equipment and the boring of tube wells due to the high cost involved, insecure tenure and high rent payments, while landlords themselves have been shown to offer little support.