The primary constraint to the
development of Niger is the low availability of water resources. Niger's public
irrigated perimeter faces several resource management constraints. Two
successive reforms were initiated to address the challenges of resource management.
First, the adoption of the Uniform Act required the conversion of agricultural
cooperatives into cooperative societies. Second, the responsibility of the
cooperative societies was limited to production management, and that of Water
User Associations was to ensure better water governance. This study offers a
qualitative analysis of the impact of two reforms on the development of public
irrigated areas in Niger. Forty-five (45) focus groups were conducted to
collect information from farmers (23) and their representatives (22). Data were
collected in two stages, first between May and June 2022 and later in October
2022 for a period of 15 days, supported by other field activities. The results
show that these reforms are accepted by all cooperators. However, they struggle
to comply with the rules and principles related to the current legislation and
democratic governance. Cooperative management has enabled control over
irrigation schedules, cropping calendars, crop production cycles, etc.
Nonetheless, significant shortcomings have been observed in the efficiency of
water mobilisation and distribution, the use of agricultural inputs, and
dedicated funds for royalty collection. These shortcomings persist as
irrigation water user associations struggle to establish themselves. The causes
of these dysfunctions are related to negative apprehensions among cooperative
members, insufficient capacity building, poor awareness due to lack of
sensitisation, and insufficiency of financial resources dedicated to the reforms.
In future, studies should be developed upon this qualitative synthesis by
conducting quantitative analyses, which will help to assess and validate the
observed trends and provide deeper insights into the effectiveness of the
reforms, the performance of the new management structures, and the factors
influencing their successful operationalisation.
Author(s)details:-
ADAM Mamadou
Département d’Economie, Sociologie Rurales et Transfert de Technologies
(DESR/TT), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN),
Corniche Yantala, BP: 429, Niamey, Niger.
Please see the book
here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/asti/v6/6632
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