Abstract
The government of Uganda is currently rehabilitating its irrigation schemes. The largest of these is Doho Rice Irrigation Scheme (DRIS), where farmers will after rehabilitation bear the costs of its maintenance through payment of user fees. This study analyzes farmer’s willingness to pay (WTP) user fees and its determinants, using data gathered from 200 rice farmers at DRIS in 2012. The contingent valuation (CV) bidding game approach and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) methods were used to elicit WTP and analyze the determinants of WTP, respectively. The study findings show that while farmers are willing to pay Ush 20,000 (USD 8)/acre/season on average, Ush 15,000 (USD 6) acre/season is actually needed to cover maintenance costs as per the 2013/2014 work plan for DRIS. The study recommends charging Ush 15,000/acre/season, however, which not only generates sufficient revenue to cover the maintenance costs, but also lies below the average WTP, which several farmers should be willing to pay without coercion. However, because not all farmers are willing to pay Ush 15,000, it is necessary to incentivize voluntary payment and strong enforcement of penalties against non-payment among those with low WTP. The OLS regression results suggest need for additional intervention that enhances private benefits to farmers, such as improved access to credit, markets and training in soil/water management and rice growing. Key words: Irrigation water, user fees, willingness to pay, rice, Uganda.
Highlights
Uganda has of late witnessed erratic rainfall seasons (MWE, 2007) and increasing occurrence of drought conditions which has frustrated rain-fed agriculture and rendered irrigation investment critical for increased agricultural production in Uganda (MAAIF, 2012).the government of Uganda (GOU) has prioritized rehabilitation of the existing irrigation schemes whose infrastructure broke down over a long period of misuse and poor maintenance (MWE, 2012a; MWE, 2009)
With the impending transfer of management responsibility to farmers after rehabilitation of Doho Rice Irrigation Scheme (DRIS) and the accompanying need for farmers to contribute towards the maintenance costs, it is imperative to determine how much farmers are willing to contribute; and to use this information to guide the setting of appropriate user fees
The sampled farmers are grouped into two categories based on whether or not the money they are willingness to pay (WTP) as user fees is adequate to cover the maintenance and operation costs of DRIS
Summary
Uganda has of late witnessed erratic rainfall seasons (MWE, 2007) and increasing occurrence of drought conditions which has frustrated rain-fed agriculture and rendered irrigation investment critical for increased agricultural production in Uganda (MAAIF, 2012). The government of Uganda (GOU) has prioritized rehabilitation of the existing irrigation schemes whose infrastructure broke down over a long period of misuse and poor maintenance (MWE, 2012a; MWE, 2009).
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