CALL FOR PAPERS
Special Issue on
Policies, politics and realities of small irrigation dams in the rural South
Guest Editors: Jean-Philippe Venot, Hammou Laamrani, Jyothi Krishnan
Interest and investments in small scale irrigation in general, and in small dams in particular, have been cyclical and motivated by fluctuating priorities, discourses and changes in the broader polity. The early 1990s for example witnessed a boom in development investment and academic interest in small-scale irrigation, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Two phenomena may explain this interest. First, controversies around large-scale multi-purpose dams, which led to the establishment of the World Commission on Dams (see the special issue of Water Alternatives, Vol 3[2]), became increasingly common. Second, calls for decentralization of decision-making and participation of local users in the management of natural resources entered mainstream development and environment discourses. Small-scale dams and associated irrigation were seen as an alternative to large infrastructure. They were less costly and more rapidly implemented, and could be distributed widely, potentially benefiting large numbers of people. They epitomized the belief that "small is beautiful": high in demand among local communities and cast as a priority by national governments, they attracted funding from international development agencies.
This does not mean that there is a consensus on the need for, and sustainability of, small scale dams and irrigation. Far from converging towards common ground, knowledge claims are varied and contradictory, while actors in policy level debates seem little concerned to explain current controversies. On the one hand, small dams are said to limit rural out-migration and related challenges (uncontrolled urbanization, spread of HIV/AIDS, etc.), enhance local incomes, contribute to food security, and mitigate the impacts of climate change. On the other hand, they are seen as under-performing and contributing to environmental deterioration - in terms of erosion, pollution, and decreasing water quality, adverse health impacts and increasing inequalities notably around large urban centers. Small scale dams for irrigation would then share many commonalities with large scale projects. Nevertheless, they continue to gain purchase among local communities, national government, and development agencies, notably in sub-Saharan Africa.
This special issue of Water Alternatives aims at understanding why. In 1994, the Land Use Policy journal published a special issue that helped frame the understanding of small scale irrigation in developing nations. More than 15 years later, it is time to examine new insights on small scale irrigation in the rural South. The focus of this special issue is on small scale dams for multiple uses -including irrigation- that assume or involve some kind of communal management by a group of individuals or a local organization (namely small reservoirs and micro-dams in sub-Saharan and North Africa, tanks in South Asia, açudes in Northeast Brazil, etc); rather than on individual/privately-led initiatives.
We invite papers bringing insights from different regions of the world, and notably sub-Saharan and North Africa, South Asia, and Latin America on the following topics:
- Dynamics and challenges of knowledge production on small multipurpose dams;
- Global discourses and politics of small reservoirs development and management (roles and interactions between international agencies, national government and local communities);
- Linkages between small irrigation dams and broader policy trends (decentralization, IWRM);
- Small dams and land dynamics (incl. land planning and multiple tenure systems);
- Local politics and institutional arrangements for the management of small dam-based irrigation projects (including the determinants and challenges of collective action for water management and the impacts of private initiative on communally managed irrigation);
- Poverty and equity (incl. gender) dimensions of small reservoirs;
- Multiple dimensions and uses of small dam based irrigation projects;
- Economics of small reservoirs and socio-political limitations of economic-based assessment;
Timeline
- Abstract (300 words) by November 15, 2010;
- Decision to authors by November 30, 2010;
- Full papers by February 28, 2011;
- Peer reviewed comments by April 30, 2011;
- Final version of paper by July 25, 2011 for publication on Oct 1st 2011
Contact the guest-editors
Jean-Philippe Venot: j.venot@cgiar.org
Hammou Laamrani: hlaamrani@idrc.org.eg
Jyothi Krishnan: jyothikr07@gmail.com
or send your abstract to: managing_editor@water-alternatives.org