Analysis of Irrigation Water Governance and Institutions in the Central Rift Valley Sub-Basin, Ethiopia
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Date
2024-09
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Water governance requires multi-sectoral stakeholders‟ participation and appropriate policies, laws, and regulations. The Central Rift Valley (CRV), the study area possesses water resources such as major lakes (Ziway/Dembel, Langano, and Abiyata) and major rivers (Katar, Meki, and Bulbula). These water sources are sources for livestock and ecosystem services, industry, and agricultural irrigation. Although these water resources are vital for the local community and wider areas, these resources are endangered due to an imbalance in human-water interaction. This study aimed to examine the water governance framework, governance practices, role of water institutions, stakeholders‟ interaction and power dynamics, and irrigation water service fees in the CRV sub-basin of Ethiopia. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches. For qualitative data, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and content analysis were used. A thematic approach was employed to analyze qualitative data using NVivo software packages. For quantitative data, a household survey was administered to collect data from 302 HHs. A mixed logit Model was used to analyze choice experiment survey data (willingness to pay). STATA software packages were used for quantitative data organization and analysis. The results indicate that water-related policies, regulations, and strategies were enacted and implemented in the country. However, the water policy and related regulations were not supported by enforcement mechanisms such as detailed standards, guidelines, and procedures. Water allocation and apportionment were not practiced. This study results shown that both formal and informal institutions were involved in irrigation water governance, and contributed to community awareness creation, irrigation water distribution, and conflict resolution at a local level in the study area. Regarding stakeholders, different types of stakeholders including government, community-based associations, NGOs, development partners, private companies, and individual farmers were involved in water governance aspects. However, the power of these stakeholders was imbalanced; federal and regional government organizations dominated in decision-making processes, and stakeholders at federal and regional levels and development partners had more power in terms of human resources capacity, resource generation, knowledge creation, and information accessibility compared to local level stakeholders. Regarding farmers‟ willingness to pay (WTP), the result of the Mixed Logit xii indicates that the mean WTP for improved irrigation water attributes (intensity, frequency, and water quality) showed positive and significant. This implies irrigator farmers have positive attitudes toward the implementation of irrigation water charge policy to make trade-offs by nonmonetary attributes. On the other hand, the cost of irrigation water pump using petrol was observed as a major challenge to irrigation water fee policy. In conclusion, the state of irrigation water governance is poor in the CRV sub-basin of Ethiopia. Both formal and informal institutions were not harmonized and interlinked to shape the behavior and practices of irrigation water users in the study area. Hence, emphasis should be given to revisiting water governance policy and its enforcements, institutional roles and responsibilities, stakeholders‟ interaction platforms, and non-monetary attributes of water and cost-effective water lifting technologies to improve water governance and sustainable water use in the CRV sub-basin of Ethiopia.
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Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia, Institutions, power dynamics, Water Governance, Willingness-to-pay, stakeholder