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When projects collapse: Irrigation failure in the Gambia from a household perspective
Author(s) -
Webb Patrick
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.4010030310
Subject(s) - beneficiary , productivity , food security , irrigation , perspective (graphical) , production (economics) , business , economics , economic growth , agricultural economics , agriculture , finance , geography , ecology , macroeconomics , archaeology , artificial intelligence , computer science , biology
This paper examines the impact of the failure of an irrigation project on former beneficiary households. The project in question was designed to expand pump‐irrigated rice production amongst smallholders in The Gambia. It achieved this aim for a few years; increased farm productivity improved food security for participating households, while at the same time increasing their ability to invest in farm, household and community assets. However, the project subsequently succumbed to numerous technical and institutional problems. The paper considers the reasons for the project's failure, discusses the effects and consequences of project unsustainability from the household perspective, and draws a number of conclusions about minimum requirements in the design of projects of this type.