Abstract
This study aims to offer a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of policies and institutional arrangements on irrigation management performance. The case study, the Gezira Scheme, has witnessed a significant decrease in water management performance during recent decades. This situation led to several institutional changes in order to put the system on the right path. The main organizations involved in water management at the scheme are the Ministry of Irrigation & Water Resources (MOIWR), the Sudan Gezira Board (SGB), and the Water Users Associations (WUAs). Different combinations from these organizations were founded to manage the irrigation system. The evaluation of these organizations is based on the data of water supply and cultivated areas from 1970 to 2015. The measured data were compared with two methods: the empirical water order method (Indent) that considers the design criteria of the scheme, and the Crop Water Requirement (CWR) method. Results show that the MOIWR period was the most efficient era, with an average water surplus of 12% compared with the Indent value, while the most critical period (SGB & WUAs) occurred when the water supply increased by 80%. The other periods of the Irrigation Water Corporation (IWC), (SGB & MOIWR), and (WUAs & MOIWR) had witnessed an increase in water supply by 29%, 63%, and 67% respectively. Through these institutional changes, the percentage of excessive water supply jumped from 12% to 80%. Finally, the study provides general recommendations associated with institutional arrangements and policy adoption to improve irrigation system performance.
Highlights
The need for more food production and water supply have become urgent with significant growth of the world population [1]
Results show that the Ministry of Irrigation & Water Resources (MOIWR) period was the most efficient era, with an average water surplus of 12% compared with the Indent value, while the most critical period (SGB & Water Users Associations (WUAs)) occurred when the water supply increased by 80%
The results presented here may facilitate improvements in the institutional arrangements arrangements related to different irrigation systems
Summary
The need for more food production and water supply have become urgent with significant growth of the world population [1]. Irrigated agriculture is of major importance to overcome these challenges, since it provides food, public investment, and rural development Regardless of their potential for food production, there is a remarkable decrease in the performance of many irrigation projects, in developing countries in drought-prone regions [2,3,4]. There have been several studies in the literature reporting performance assessments of irrigation systems, and many researchers have shown an increased interest in linking management practices to irrigation project performance [6,7,8,9,10,11] All these studies have shown the importance of having good regulators and institutions, and how they enhance water management performance
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