Inequality of access in irrigation systems of the mid-hills of Nepal

摘要

能够使用和控制灌溉用水是提高农业生产率最重要的因素之一，从而对发展中国家的家庭粮食安全和贫困水平有影响作用。然而，对灌溉行业的投资往往忽视了灌溉干预的公平性。基于尼泊尔中部山地三大灌溉系统199户家庭的数据，本研究对不同社会经济异质性水平上水的使用权和控制权进行了分析。结果显示,改善农村贫困人口的生活水平应充分考虑灌溉干预的分配因素，将分配灌溉用水使用权水平的权力交到整个系统中的农民手里。%Access to, and control over, water for irrigation is one of the most important factors for increasing agricultural productivity, thereby affecting household food security and levels of poverty in developing countries. However, investments in the irrigation sector have often failed to consider equity aspects of irrigation interventions. Using data from 199 households from three irrigation systems in the mid-hills of Nepal, we analyse access and control of water in different levels of socio-economic heterogeneities. The results demonstrate that efforts to improve livelihoods of the rural poor should give due consideration to the distributional aspects of irrigation interventions, with authority for allocating the level of access to irrigation water given to the farmers throughout the system.