Premium
FINANCING IRRIGATION
Author(s) -
Brelle François,
Dressayre Etienne
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.1836
Subject(s) - modernization theory , business , investment (military) , service (business) , finance , irrigation , private sector , economics , political science , economic growth , marketing , ecology , politics , law , biology
ABSTRACT For the last 10 years, food security has been coming back to centre stage as a major challenge for future decades. Financing irrigation and drainage is really a broad issue, each main component of which requires specific analysis: investment, operation, maintenance, renewal, rehabilitation and modernization. Questions, and thus answers, differ for funding infrastructures and for paying for water service. Financing setting up, rehabilitation or modernization, operation and maintenance of systems for collective irrigation are considered. The present paper aims to highlight the main lessons learnt from the past, analyse present constraints and trends, and propose in which directions to steer so as to take up the challenge of a sustainable increase in production of more and better food while better preserving ecosystems and natural resources. It asks the question of what should be the contribution from states or public authorities, in other words from all taxpayers or citizens. What can be the role of the private sector, either for financing, building and/or operating, in which cases and under what conditions? What should and can be the contribution of the water end users—and end payers. And what other conditions should be fulfilled for the various financing mechanisms to succeed, like the possible solidarity between usages according to their respective ability to pay? Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.