Cost recovery from irrigation in almost all the countries presents a dismal picture. Low cost recovery coupled with declining government finances has led to the deterioration of both the quality of the built infrastructure and institutions managing and governing such infrastructure. This has created a vicious circle of low cost recovery, poor maintenance of infrastructure, inadequate and unreliable water supply, inefficient and corrupt institutions, and unwillingness of the farmers to pay. Breaking this vicious circle primarily requires identifying ways to improve availability of financial resources. Improving cost recovery from all users, including irrigators of the water, offers one of the most important avenues for raising financial resources. The present study examines some of the important issues that impinge on improving the cost recovery in canal irrigation, and assesses the feasibility of some of the efforts being made to improve cost recovery in irrigation to revitalize canal irrigation.

Sustainable participatory watershed management is an approach promoted by the Ethiopian government to restore natural resources and agricultural productivity across the country. This comparative study between six watershed programs shows that this approach increases farmers’ food security and incomes (around 50% on average), as well as their resilience to drought and other climate shocks. However, the study also confirms that the nature and scale of impact can vary significantly between watershed programs. The success of watershed management depends on multiple factors from the hydrological profile of the watershed to the local social and economic environment. Tailoring watershed interventions to the local context, associating conservation and livelihoods activities, and providing further financial and technical support to watershed committees are among the recommendations of this paper.

The book presents documentary evidence of the insufficiency of rehabilitation works to close the gap between the irrigation service and actual area irrigated of publicly funded national irrigation systems in the Philippines. It outlines a methodology for formulating a modernisation plan for national irrigation systems with focus on the mostly ungauged, medium to small canal irrigation systems. The proposed methodology adaptively modified some known modernisation concepts and techniques and integrated them in a more holistic framework in the context of changing weather patterns and river flow regimes. It includes in-depth review of rehabilitation works; system diagnosis; revalidation of design assumptions on percolation and water supply; characterisation of system management, irrigation service and demand; and drawing up of options and a vision for the modernised irrigation systems. Central to the proposed modernisation strategy is the logical coherence among the design of physical structures, system operation and water supply so that improvements of irrigation service are possible. The book discusses the development of the proposed methodology and demonstrates its utility in two case study irrigation systems.

Water resources are becoming increasingly scarce in the Asia and Pacific region. By 2050, agriculture will need to produce 100% more food in developing countries. Climate change and rapid population growth will place new pressures on already scarce water resources. Improved irrigation productivity---more crop per drop---and greater financial sustainability are critical. Estimates for the Asian region place a $12.31 billion annual investment required for irrigation between 2005 and 2030. Find out how the Asia and Pacific region is addressing the need to sustainably fund large-scale, publicly owned and managed surface irrigation and drainage systems.

This book is the first comprehensive effort to bring together Water, Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) in a way that goes beyond the traditional focus on irrigated agriculture. Apart from looking at the role of water and sanitation for human well-being, it proposes alternative and more locally appropriate ways to address complex water management and governance challenges from the local to global levels against a backdrop of growing uncertainties. The authors challenge mainstream supply-oriented and neo-Malthusian visions that argue for the need to increase the land area under irrigation in order to feed the world’s growing population. Instead, they argue for a reframing of the debate concerning production processes, waste, food consumption and dietary patterns whilst proposing alternative strategies to improve water and land productivity, putting the interests of marginalized and disenfranchized groups upfront. The book highlights how accessing water for FSN can be challenging for small-holders, vulnerable and marginalized women and men, and how water allocation systems and reform processes can negatively affect local people’s informal rights. The book argues for the need to improve policy coherence across water, land and food and is original in making a case for strengthening the relationship between the human rights to water and food, especially for marginalized women and men. It will be of great interest to practitioners, students and researchers working on water and food issues.