Water Grabbing and the Role of Power: Shifting Water Governance in the Light of Agricultural Foreign Direct Investment
In recent years, the trend for foreign actors to secure land for agricultural production in low-income countries has increased substantially. The concurrent acquisition of water resources changes the institutional arrangement for water management in the investment areas. The consequences of 'la...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Water Alternatives Association
2012-06-01
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| Series: | Water Alternatives |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol5/v5issue2/169-a5-2-5/file |
| _version_ | 1828407786096033792 |
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| author | Andrea Bues Insa Theesfeld |
| author_facet | Andrea Bues Insa Theesfeld |
| author_sort | Andrea Bues |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In recent years, the trend for foreign actors to secure land for agricultural production in low-income countries has increased substantially. The concurrent acquisition of water resources changes the institutional arrangement for water management in the investment areas. The consequences of 'land grabbing' on the local water governance systems have not so far been adequately examined. This paper presents an institutional analysis of a small-scale irrigation scheme in Ethiopia, where foreign and national horticultural farms started to use water from an irrigation canal that was formerly managed as a user-group common-pool resource by local smallholders. The study follows a qualitative case-study approach with semi-structured interviews as the main source of data. For the analysis we employed the Common-pool Resource Theory and the Distributional Theory of Institutional Change. We found that the former management regime changed in that most of the farmers’ water rights shifted to the investment farms. We found three key characteristics responsible for the different bargaining power of the two actor groups: dependency on natural resources, education and knowledge, and dependency on government support. We conclude that not only the struggle for land but also the directly linked struggle for water is led by diverging interests, which are determined by diverging power resources. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T11:30:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2f633f2d404d4e3a9af46629ed706009 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1965-0175 1965-0175 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T11:30:36Z |
| publishDate | 2012-06-01 |
| publisher | Water Alternatives Association |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water Alternatives |
| spelling | doaj.art-2f633f2d404d4e3a9af46629ed7060092022-12-22T01:50:36ZengWater Alternatives AssociationWater Alternatives1965-01751965-01752012-06-0152266283Water Grabbing and the Role of Power: Shifting Water Governance in the Light of Agricultural Foreign Direct InvestmentAndrea Bues0Insa Theesfeld1Humboldt Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyLeibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO), Halle (Saale), GermanyIn recent years, the trend for foreign actors to secure land for agricultural production in low-income countries has increased substantially. The concurrent acquisition of water resources changes the institutional arrangement for water management in the investment areas. The consequences of 'land grabbing' on the local water governance systems have not so far been adequately examined. This paper presents an institutional analysis of a small-scale irrigation scheme in Ethiopia, where foreign and national horticultural farms started to use water from an irrigation canal that was formerly managed as a user-group common-pool resource by local smallholders. The study follows a qualitative case-study approach with semi-structured interviews as the main source of data. For the analysis we employed the Common-pool Resource Theory and the Distributional Theory of Institutional Change. We found that the former management regime changed in that most of the farmers’ water rights shifted to the investment farms. We found three key characteristics responsible for the different bargaining power of the two actor groups: dependency on natural resources, education and knowledge, and dependency on government support. We conclude that not only the struggle for land but also the directly linked struggle for water is led by diverging interests, which are determined by diverging power resources.http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol5/v5issue2/169-a5-2-5/fileWater grabbingpower resourceswater rightsagricultural foreign direct investmentEthiopia |
| spellingShingle | Andrea Bues Insa Theesfeld Water Grabbing and the Role of Power: Shifting Water Governance in the Light of Agricultural Foreign Direct Investment Water Alternatives Water grabbing power resources water rights agricultural foreign direct investment Ethiopia |
| title | Water Grabbing and the Role of Power: Shifting Water Governance in the Light of Agricultural Foreign Direct Investment |
| title_full | Water Grabbing and the Role of Power: Shifting Water Governance in the Light of Agricultural Foreign Direct Investment |
| title_fullStr | Water Grabbing and the Role of Power: Shifting Water Governance in the Light of Agricultural Foreign Direct Investment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Water Grabbing and the Role of Power: Shifting Water Governance in the Light of Agricultural Foreign Direct Investment |
| title_short | Water Grabbing and the Role of Power: Shifting Water Governance in the Light of Agricultural Foreign Direct Investment |
| title_sort | water grabbing and the role of power shifting water governance in the light of agricultural foreign direct investment |
| topic | Water grabbing power resources water rights agricultural foreign direct investment Ethiopia |
| url | http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol5/v5issue2/169-a5-2-5/file |
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