Solutions to Enhance the Farmers’ Participation in Water Users Associations (WUAs) in Lorestan Province, Iran

International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development

مقاله 7، دوره 9، شماره 3، آذر 2019، صفحه 261-271   

نوع مقاله: Research Article

نویسندگان

Fatemeh Sepahvand¹؛ Saeed Gholamrezai^{* 2}؛ Mehdi Rahimian²

¹MSc Rural Development, Agricultural Economics and Rural Development Dep., Lorestan University, Iran

²Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Lorestan University, Iran

چکیده

Water Users Association (WUAs) is one of the methods of participatory water resource management whose success and efficiency requires the participation of farmers. Purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize the solutions for farmers’ participation enhancing in WUAs. This exploratory article was carried out by the mixed methods design. The qualitative part of the study was conducted by Grounded Theory (GT). The statistical population consisted of 14 key informant experts of water resources management. Data were gathered by semi-structured interview. The triangulation of peers in different position was used to enhance the accuracy of the data. Categories were derived from interviews by MAXQDA₁₂ software. In the quantitative phase, 133 members of WUAs were sampled in Lorestan Province (N=1990) using the Cochran formula. Solutions proposed by experts were provided to the members of WUAs in the form of a questionnaire. Results showed that there were distrust among members, members' distrust to WUAs mangers and tension in management of this organization. The most important solutions for farmer's participation in WUAs were to reduce local tensions, motivating mechanisms for cooperation of farmers in WUAs and helping farmers for a better consensus

کلیدواژه‌ها

WUAs؛ farmer's participation؛ Grounded Theory؛ Lorestan province؛ software MAXQDA12

مراجع

Afshar, Z., & Zarafshani, K. (2010). Analyzing Participation in Irrigation Management:  Case Study: Wastewater cooperatives "Sefed Barg" and "Sarab Bas" Kermanshah Province. Iranian Agricultural Extension and Education Sciences, 6 (2), 99-114. (In Persian)

Bagherian, R. (2009). Factors affecting variation in levels of participation in watershed  management programs in Iran. Thesis, University Putra Malaysia.

Creswell, G. (2012). Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches, SAGE Publications, Inc; Third edition, 472

Davies, E.G.R., & Simonovic, S.P. (2011). Global water resources modelling with an integrated model of the social–economic–environmental system. Water Resources, 34 (6), 684–700

Franzén, F., Hammer, M., & Balfor, B. (2015). Institutional development for stakeholder participation in local water management an analysis of two Swedish catchments. Land Use Policy, 43, 217-227

Gholamrezai, S., & Sepahvand, F. (2017). Farmers’ participation in Water User Association in western Iran. Journal of water and land development Section of Land Reclamation and Environmental Engineering in Agriculture, 35 (X–XII), 49–56.

Goetz, R. U., Martínez, Y., & Xabadia, À. (2017). Efficiency and acceptance of new water allocation rules - The case of an agricultural water user's association. Science of the Total Environment, 601–602, 614-625

Hosseinpur, Z., Menhaj, M. H., & Kavoosi - Kalashami, M. (2016).  Assessment Improving and Organizing Mechanism of Water Users Cooperatives Using AHP Method in Esfarayen County, Iran. International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development. 6, (3), 339-351.

Hu, X. CaiXiong, Y. JinLi, Y. XinWang, J. MinLi, F. YangWang, H. LanLi, L (2014). Integrated water resources management and water users' associations in the arid region of northwest China: A case study of farmers' perceptions. Journal of Environmental Management, 145,162-169.

Jingling, L., Yun, L., Liya, S., Zhiguo, C., & Baoqiang, Z. (2010). Public participation in water resources management of Haihe river basin, China: the analysis and evaluation of status quo. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 2, 1750-1758.

Joanna J., Fatch, M, E., & Mabiza, C. (2009). Local participation in Tran's boundary water resources management: The case of Limpopo basin, MSc Thesis. University of Zimbabwe.

Kazbekov, J., Abdullaev, I., Manthrithilake, H., Qureshi, A., & Jumaboevo, K. (2009). Evaluating planning and delivery performance of Water User Associations (WUAs) in Osh Province, Kyrgyzstan. Agricultural Water Management, 96(8), 1259-1267

Khosravi, A., Gholamrezai, S., Rahimian, M., & Akbari, M. (2015). Analysing the Barriers to Organizational Entrepreneurship Development in Agricultural Cooperatives Using the Basic Theory Approach. Cooperatives and Agriculture, 6 (22), 123-150.

Kochhar, K., Pattillo, C., Sun, Y., Suphaphiphat, N., Swiston, A., Tchaidze, R., Clements, B., Fabrizio, S., Flamini, V., Redifer, L., Finger, H., & IMF Staff. J .J. (2015). Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? Issues in Managing Water Challenges and Policy Instruments. International Monetary Fund. .Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/en/search#q, 4-42.

Milton, H., Saier, Jr. (2010). Water Crises.Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 205, 27–28.

Qiao, G., Zhao, L., & Klein, K. K. (2009). Water user association in Inner Mongolia: Factors that influence farmers to join. Agricultural Water Management, 96 (5), 822-830

Sharifi, A., Golamrezai, S., & Rezaei, R. (2010). Factors Affecting Villagers' Participation in Jiroft Watershed Projects. Journal of Watershed Management Sciences and Engineering. 4(12), 1-10

Sharma, K.R. Dongol, R. & Khanal, A. (2015). Role of Water Users Association in Successful Operation and Management of Adhikhola Irrigation System, Syangja, Nepal. Conference: Sixth International Seminar on Small Scale Irrigation System: Challenges to Sustainable Livelihood, At Kathmandu, Nepal, 6

Taleghani, M. (2015). Feasibility of farmers’ participation in optimal irrigation management system (Case of Guilan Province). International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 6(1), 51-59.  

Uysal, Ö K., & Atıs, E. (2010).Assessing the performance of participatory irrigation management over time: A case study from Turkey. Agricultural Water Management, 97, 1017–1025

Valizadeh .N, Bijani, M., & Abbasi, E. (2016). Pro-environmental analysis of farmers’ participatory behavior toward conservation of surface water resources in southern sector of Urmia Lake’s catchment area. Iranian Journal of Agricultural Extension and Education, 11(2), 183-201

Valizadeh, N., Bijani, M., & Abbasi, E.( 2018) .An Environmental Psychological Analysis of Farmers' Participatory-Oriented Behavior toward Water Conservation. Iran-water resources research, 13, 17-27

Xu, H., Sui, L., Li, Yuhong & Zhang, Dawei. (2014). the Role of Water Users Associations in Integrated Water Resource Management of Zhangye City in Heihe River Basin, China, in Editors: Victor R. Squires, Hugh M. Milner, Katherine A, Daniell. Book: River Basin Management in the Twenty-first Century Publisher: CRC Press. DOI: 10.1201/b17168-17.