Abstract
In agricultural transformations, small scale farmer driven processes interact with globally driven processes. Donor-led or foreign investor-led irrigation development systematically interacts with local, farmer-led irrigation development. This article harnesses Kopytoff's concept of 'interstitial frontier' to study such interactions. It discusses the shape an agricultural frontier may have and its interactions with local forms of water and land tenure. It discusses the manner in which changing access to water may spur the development of agricultural pioneer fronts. It distinguishes surface water driven, groundwater driven and wastewater driven agricultural frontiers. It then explores the manner such frontiers are transforming water tenure in the West Bank. This is an important aspect of the globalization of Palestinian society. The method this article develops is applicable elsewhere. Within interstitial frontiers, investors, whether local farmers or outsiders, enroll a globally maintained scientific discourse of efficient water use to secure donor funding. Meanwhile, they try developing clientelist ties with the authorities to secure their new access to water. The impacts on neighbouring, peasant-run irrigated systems, food security, housing security and many other mechanisms that sustain a society, are important and too often neglected.
Highlights
How does the present transformation of Palestinian irrigation interact with the ongoing globalization of Palestinian society? Irrigation involves an interaction both with water tenure and with land tenure
This article argues that interactions between donors and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are presently driving the development of wastewater pioneer fronts within interstitial frontiers in the West Bank, while Palestinian farmers are driving the development of groundwater pioneer fronts within other interstitial frontiers
A policy document adopted by the Palestinian Water Authority but written by French consultants states "While the treatment of used water protects the quality of water resources, reuse provides an additional water resource, replacing water extracted in particular for agriculture, which consumes more water than any other activity." (Study of the state and the economical importance of the reuse of treated wastewater in the West Bank (Palestine) 2017: 6)
Summary
How does the present transformation of Palestinian irrigation interact with the ongoing globalization of Palestinian society? Irrigation involves an interaction both with water tenure and with land tenure. These pioneer fronts are transforming Palestinian interactions with the environment. They clash with pre-existing forms of water tenure, i.e. peasant run, irrigated agriculture. They impact both the environment and the manner political structures interact with it Such pioneer fronts are interstitial, local frontiers acting as a crucible where Palestinian investors enrol the scientific discourse on efficient water use to secure donor funding while developing clientelist ties with the PA to secure their new access to water. Our focus is to explore how Palestinian led agricultural pioneer fronts are presently transforming societal interactions concerning the environment, especially concerning water The reality of Israeli occupation should not deter researchers from studying such Palestinian political developments
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