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Villains or heroes? Farmers' adjustments to water scarcity
Author(s) -
Molle François,
Venot JeanPhilippe,
Lannerstad Mats,
Hoogesteger Jaime
Publication year - 2010
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.500
Subject(s) - water scarcity , scarcity , irrigation , business , natural resource economics , water resource management , scope (computer science) , economic shortage , water conservation , competition (biology) , clearing , water supply , economics , agricultural economics , agriculture , environmental science , geography , environmental engineering , market economy , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , finance , government (linguistics) , computer science , programming language , biology
Although farmers are often seen as wasting water and getting a disproportionate share of water, irrigation is losing out in the competition for water with other sectors. In cases of drought, water restrictions are overwhelmingly imposed on irrigation while other activities and domestic supply are only affected in cases of very severe shortage. All over the world, farmers have been responding to the challenge posed by both short‐ and long‐term declining water allocations in many creative ways, but these responses have often been overlooked by policy makers. This paper examines how farmers have adapted to water scarcity in six different river basins of Asia and the Middle East. It inventories the different types of adjustments observed and shows not only their effectiveness in offsetting the drop in supply but also their costs to farmers and to the environment and their contribution to basin closure. The conclusion calls for a better recognition of the efforts made by the irrigation sector to respond to water challenges and of its implications in terms of reduced scope for efficiency gains in the irrigation sector. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.