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Small-scale irrigation schemes in northern Ghana are managed by Water User Groups (WUAs). Maintenance of these schemes is a collective effort by WUA members. We argue that the individual labour contributions to maintenance depend on perceptions of the prevailing governance strategies of WUAs. Moreover, as labour contributions can be seen as investments that provide future returns, the individual labour contributions depend also on time preferences. We empirically estimate these relationships using household survey data collected in 18 smallscale irrigation schemes and data obtained from a field experiment from which time preferences have been elicited. We find that governance perceptions of conflict management and equity and fairness positively associate with labour contributions, while the (negative) association of time preferences is not statistically significant. We further find that time preferences in their turn are negatively associated with household wealth, as found in previous studies. Farmers with plots in the head-ends, and farmers growing tomatoes or onions tend to have relatively high time preferences. We conclude by encouraging WUAs and other stakeholders to observe and motivate activities that can improve water availability. This may minimise water related conflicts whiles ensuring equity and fairness.

Governance, Time Preference, and Collective Maintenance: The Case of Small-scale Irrigation in Northern Ghana