Determinants of Farmers’ Participation in the Management of Smallholder Irrigation Schemes in Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa

Lerato Phali ,Maxwell Mudhara,Godswill Makombe,Stuart R.d Ferrer

doi:10.22610/jebs.v12i6(j).3121

Lerato Phali , Maxwell Mudhara + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v12i6(j).3121

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Abstract

Participatory Irrigation Management is an important concept in the management of water resources. It fosters collective responsibility and rule compliance, the lack of which creates a weak environment for sustainable water use. This study adopted Principal Components Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling to evaluate the determinants of farmer’s participation in the management of four smallholder irrigations schemes in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The selected schemes, Ndumo, Makhathini Flats, Mooi River and Tugela Ferry, are representative of the general management and farmer activities in smallholder irrigation schemes in the country. The study considered household data from 341 irrigators and found that those who participated in regulation and control management activities of SIS also participate in information sharing activities. The results show that agricultural training, land tenure security, credit access and co-operative membership positively influence farmers’ participation in decision making. Additionally, irrigation water adequacy positively influences farmer’s participation in making financial contributions in the schemes. The study recommends that better land agreements that, would improve the security of tenure should be put in place to foster farmer participation. Farmers should receive agricultural and irrigation training to increase the likelihood of participating in the management of irrigation schemes.

Highlights

An irrigation scheme is defined as “an agricultural project involving multiple holdings that depend on a shared distribution system for access to irrigation water and, in some cases, on shared water storage or diversion facility
Decision Making: The results show that the Household Governance Index (HGI) positively affects farmers’ participation in decision-making activities
The index includes awareness of formal and institutions, understanding of rules and satisfaction with stakeholder involvement in the schemes. This shows that farmers who generally know the institutions, formal and informal, would be more inclined to participate in formulating rules, schedules, and electing committee members

Summary

Introduction

An irrigation scheme is defined as “an agricultural project involving multiple holdings that depend on a shared distribution system for access to irrigation water and, in some cases, on shared water storage or diversion facility. SIS plays a key role in ensuring food security, in rural areas where most households rely on agriculture for food production (Muchara et al, 2014; Sinyolo et al, 2014). For this reason, the government has made efforts to include farmers in the management of SIS, through the adoption of the Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) programme and the Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) (Van Averbeke, 2012) which are concepts that are focussed on involving the farmers in the management of scheme (ibid, 2012). Weak institutions, lack of information, low levels of stakeholder participation, are problems that persist in SIS (Perrett, 2002; Muchara et al, 2014; Denby et al, 2016)

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