THE FUTURE OF LARGE RICEBASED IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA PROCESS AND OUTCOMES OF A REGIONA

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THE FUTURE OF LARGE RICE-BASED IRRIGATION
SYSTEMS IN SOUTHEAST ASIAPROCESS AND OUTCOMES
OF A REGIONAL WORKSHOP IN HO CHI MINH
CITYOCTOBER 2005
Thierry Facon
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Topics

• The future of large rice-based irrigation systems
  in Southeast Asia
• A new FAO methodology to improve irrigation
  management MASSCOTE

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THE FUTURE OF LARGE RICE-BASED IRRIGATION
SYSTEMS IN SOUTHEAST ASIAPROCESS AND OUTCOMES
OF A REGIONAL WORKSHOP IN HO CHI MINH CITY,
OCTOBER 2005
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Conveners and sponsors
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Why this workshop

• Regional Consultation - Modernization of
  irrigation schemes past experiences and future
  options , Bangkok 1996
• Since 1999, modernization a major focus of FAO in
  Asia and especially SEA
• Many interventions based on past and present
  models and new models have been tried
• Change trends have accelerated and consolidated
  and new challenges have emerged
• New perspectives multiples roles, poverty
  alleviation, water for food and the environment
• Changing context in the water sector
• Renewed interest from governments and donors in
  agricultural water management
• Often lack of vision in irrigation professionals
• 1st Southeast Asia Water Forum regional
  cooperation on the future of large irrigation
  systems
• Time to refresh our perspectives
• and define new road maps

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Objective of the workshop

• To identify strategies, opportunities and
  interventions for the sustainable management of
  large rice-based irrigation systems in Southeast
  Asia over the coming decades
• To promote collaboration in the region among
  countries, stakeholders from different sectors,
  and national, regional and international
  organizations.

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three critical questions that will determine the
character that large rice-based irrigation
systems evolve over the next 20-25 years

• How will agriculture, rice production and water
  resources management evolve in SE Asia?
• What changes are required in irrigation service
  provision by the large rice-based irrigation
  systems and what new roles will they play?
• How will on-going and expected reforms and
  investment programmes measure up against the
  projected needs of the region?

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50 Participants

• national irrigation agencies and institutions,
  river basin and water resources management
  agencies and national water apex bodies,
  agriculture ministries and environmental agencies
• academic and nongovernmental organizations from
  countries in the region
• regional bodies and institutions such as MRC, AIT
• IOs FAO, IWMI, IRRI
• World Bank, ADB
• Centers of excellence and respected individual
  experts
• Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management for
  Agriculture
• environmental INGOs IUCN, Wetlands International

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Evaluation of 50 recommendations from 6 events

• FAO 1996 Bangkok Expert Consultation on
  Modernization of Irrigation Schemes,
• Fifth International ITIS Network Meeting, India
  1998
• World Water Vision 2000
• INPIM/FAO IMT Email Conference(2001)
• First and Second Southeast Asia Water Forums
  (2002 and 2005)

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The most both implemented and effective
recommendations

• Initial performance assessment and improved
  diagnosis (particular reference to the Rapid
  Appraisal Procedure and to benchmarking)
• Provision of leadership in funding, action, and
  expertise in the development of improved design
  manuals
• Better communication between farmers and
  irrigation management organizations

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The most effective recommendations

• Initial performance assessment and improved
  diagnosis
• Technology must be embedded into management
• The (early stage) implication of WUAs is critical
  to success
• To facilitate more rapid acceptance of
  modernization, better sales arguments regarding
  benefits must be developed
• Expansion of resources (funding, expertise,
  ideas) for training, exchanges, workshops and
  study tours

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CONCLUSIONS FROM WORKSHOP FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

• modernization to increase flexibility, in river
  basin management context, delivering service
  needed by farmers, taking into account multiple
  functions, is more required than ever.
• greater awareness, knowledge, effective tools
  exist, but very little successful modernization
  has taken place in Southeast Asia and we still
  have many classical projects.
• Unless management adapts, the discrepancy between
  stated and actual management will widen chaos
  will increase, etc.

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• new layers of complexity have been added to our
  understanding of irrigation and need to be
  managed.
• Technology needs to be embedded in management
• Design manuals need to be revised
• Management needs to be professionalized (managers
  and WUAs).
• Focus on operational management.

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• present institutional reform models need to be
  evaluated and overhauled to respond to new
  demands and characteristics of farmers.
• Early involvement of users (WUAs) is critical
• Capacity building of managers, intermediate
  service providers consulting firms, and various
  components of civil society will need to be
  substantially boosted.
• Tools such as benchmarking and rapid appraisal
  procedure for investment and management

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• main focus improvement of performance of
  existing assets.
• new systems may be still developed predominantly
  agrarian economies, types of systems with
  comparative advantages
• their planning and appraisal process should be
  reformed to adhere to improved water governance,
  comparing other options to achieve the same
  objectives.
• Evolution scenarii, objectives and strategies
  will vary greatly according to the types and
  socio-economic environment of the systems.
• Non-rice drivers will play a very important role
  in their evolution.

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Financing and multiple roles

• Modernization should aim to secure reliable,
  equitable and predictable water supply and be
  responsive to individual needs of farmers where
  possible. Trust farmers to respond to such a
  water supply, e.g., through conjunctive water
  use.
• Water-delivery systems need to be flexible
  (technically, institutionally) to deliver water
  to multiple uses (agriculture, environment, city,
  industry, energy generation), from entire river
  basins down to (within) large irrigation systems.

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Financing and multiple roles

• Financing (capital and OM) needs to
  progressively move from subsidies to market-based
  incentives, and public-private cost-sharing
  mechanisms, as economies evolve (Early -gt
  Transition -gt Post-agriculture).
• "Early economies" should anticipate for,
  "transition economies" should plan for, and
  "post-agriculture economies" should harmonize
  (social, cultural, institutional, and policy)
  water management for different ecosystem services
  within irrigation area and catchment.

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Management and Institutions

• Invest in professionalization of irrigation
  management through the establishment of
  continuous in-service training focused on
  operational management
• Training of todays graduates who are tomorrows
  managers
• Training at all professional levels within
  irrigation systems across all relevant
  disciplines.
• Overseas secondment of irrigation managers within
  the region and in higher-income countries.
• Practical trainings for farmer organisations/WUAs/
  Federations.

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Management and Institutions

• operationalise and mandate a suite of assessment
  and performance measures to continually upgrade
  and compare the effectiveness of service
  provision and the management of negative
  externalities, such as environmental impacts
• RAP
• Benchmarking
• Introduction of service related performance for
  irrigation service provider staff.
• Public accountability balance sheets
• Improve and sustain monitoring, data collection
  and processing and management for improved
  service provision.

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Management and Institutions

• Existing PIM approaches should be diagnosed, and
  successful approaches and their contexts
  identified and replicated.
• A key focus of initiatives to implement
  participatory management and management transfer
  should be on
• Minimizing the transaction costs relative to
  actual benefits of participation
• Incentivizing participation and compliance of the
  irrigation service providers
• Self-financing arrangements
• Functional WUAs and federations, with clear
  rights, responsibilities and programs of action
  in management and local investment.
• To be effective, the service delivery of WUAs and
  Federations must be improved and support is
  required to realize this.

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Design and Operation

• Revise national design standards and operation
  manuals to take advantage of new knowledge in the
  irrigation sector and state-of-the-art
  technologies.
• Replicable pilot projects to demonstrate modern
  technologies learn from practical experience for
  a relative small cost.
• Consider use of new donor lending instruments
  e.g., adjustable program loan (APL) (longer time
  periods are needed to design and implement
  modernization programs typical 5 year loans are
  too short).

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Design and Operation

• develop excellent "Water Control Engineering"
  programs in universities and engineering schools.
  
• establishment of national/regional Centers of
  Excellence for irrigation modernization.
• Regional training programs on Modernization and
  RAP for different levels of the organization
  senior managers, operations staff, designers
  engineers.
• RAPs before any new investment for a diagnosis of
  the system, developing proper water management
  strategies, and benchmarking.

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New large-scale irrigation projects

• Comprehensive options and feasibility assessment.
  by a wide-ranging analysis which is ecologically,
  physically, politically, socially and culturally
  logical to guide analysis and debate when
  examining the feasibility of a project, before
  progressing into the formal impact assessment
  process.
• From the initial stage of development, it is
  important to visualise the trajectory of how
  changes might occur.
• Projects should be planned, built and operated
  within a governance regime that embodies social
  justice ethics, is transparent, and
  participatory. Participation in irrigation
  governance should be open to representatives of
  affected communities and interest groups.
• The water rights and responsibilities of all
  stakeholders should be openly negotiated and
  established, with equity and sustainability being
  primary considerations.
• Management arrangements for a new project should
  include, from the beginning, credible
  representatives of different stakeholder groups.

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New large-scale irrigation projects

• Local capacity development. If a new project is
  proposed, it is essential to increase efforts to
  boost the capacity of local stakeholders playing
  many different roles local decision makers,
  public authorities, local consulting firms and
  engineers, user groups, local civil society
  organizations and universities Supporting the
  development of this capacity needs to be factored
  into any new project.
• Finance. An adequate financial strategy must be
  put in place. The finance for complete
  construction must be ensured. Beyond
  construction, there must be a plausible strategy
  to ensure the availability of funds to meet full
  OM costs, drawn from all project beneficiaries.
• Monitoring impact on ecosystem and livelihoods
  year-round effect of a project on the hydrology
  and wider environment impact, whether positive
  or negative, on the livelihood of all affected
  peoples.

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new recommendations

• From
• generation of both positive and negative
  externalities by accident
• development of autonomous farmers responses by
  neglect
• To
• explicit management of multiple roles
• recognition of farmers service and other
  objectives, of their contributions to overall
  efficiency and productivity (e.g. By pumping)
• search for the most practical, economical options
  on where, how and at which levels (main system,
  intermediate distribution, farmers, conjunctive
  use, etc.) to locate improvements for service
  delivery.

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MASSCOT
From RAP to MASSCOTE
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Appraisal
Modernization
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From RAP to MASSCOT to Modernization of
Irrigation Systems?
MASSCOT

• Trainings and RAPs in 30 Asian systems confirmed
• The extent of the problem of poor service and
  performance
• Operation issues and vast potential there for
  targeted improvements in operation, supporting
  hardware, and resource allocation
• The need of additional tools to assist managers
  in elaborating more detailed plans
• Other considerations
• Multiple roles, multiple uses, conjunctive use
• Need for differentiation heterogeneity of
  context-service-physical capacity is the norm
  not the exception. Heterogeneity is even further
  increasing with service oriented management (more
  diversified)!
• Cost-effectiveness

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1. From RAP to MASSCOTE
MASSCOT
Unit Homogeneous for Capacity/Sensitivity/vulne
rability Perturbation Network/Water Service
Demand for service/operation Cost of operation
Practical considerations ? cost effective
compromise between hydraulic/operation
constraints and diversified services But unitary
procedures will help dealing with this, together
with simpler and more flexible operation
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PLAN FOR MODERNIZATION MONITORING EVALUATION
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION