Opportunities For Private Sector Participation In Agricultural Water Development And Management

This study examines ways to increase food security, reduce poverty and achieve economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa with ‘water’ through increased participation of the private sector and publicprivatepartnerships. This report is a summary of the findings from a review of the literature and critical analysis thereof. The ‘private sector’ includes all farmers, farm households, and agriculture-based micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). That is: all entities involved in crop, livestock and fish production and marketing, in post-harvest activities and food processing, and in supply chains for the goods, services and information used in the process. The study examines different types of agricultural water development and management. These include smallholder subsistence farming, cultivation of profit-oriented high-value crops, and peri-urban agriculture, as well as successful examples of private sector involvement in various functions or processes, including planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance. The spotlight on ‘water’ does not imply that other factors, such as off farm employment, market development and education, are unimportant.

Part of OECD Water Resources and Sanitation Set - Buy all four reports and save over 30% on buying separately! Water is a key prerequisite for human and economic development, and for maintaining ecosystems. However, billions of people lack access to water and sanitation services, mainly due to poor governance and inadequate investment and maintenance. The situation is becoming more urgent due to increasing pressure, competition and even conflict over the use of water resources. The OECD has been working over the last two years to address these challenges. The results are summarised in this report, which emphasises the economic and financial aspects of water resources management and water service provision, the need for an integrated approach (including governance considerations) to address these complex policy challenges, and the importance of establishing a firm evidence base to support policy development and implementation. This report examines: strategic financial planning for water supply and sanitation that balances the key sources of revenues for the water sector – the “3Ts” of taxes, tariffs and transfers; the design and implementation of water pricing strategies that balance financial sustainability with other policy objectives; recent developments in private sector participation in the water sector; and trends and the future outlook of water use in agriculture. It considers both developing and OECD countries and offers concrete recommendations and checklists for action. The report is an invaluable resource for policy makers, academics, NGOs and all others interested in the challenges facing the water sector today.

Only 4 percent of arable land in sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated, using just 2 percent of the available water resources. Furthermore, 18 percent of the area equipped for irrigation is not utilized at all and the intensity of use varies between 50 percent and 80 percent. This highlights the huge potential available for intensifying and expanding irrigated area, provided that the investments required can be successfully mobilized. However, it must be noted that if investments in irrigation are to yield satisfactory returns, investments must also be made in a series of related activities. Current global figures for the amount of private investment in irrigation confirm that good returns can indeed be achieved. Prospects for sub-Saharan Africa would be far more favorable if public development assistance, particularly foreign direct investments, did not show declining trends.

Provides a coherent catalogue of policy directions, including appropriate allocation of roles, risks and responsibilities, framework conditions and contractual arrangements necessary to make the best of private sector participation in water infrastructure.

The overall goal of the Collaborative Program on ‘Investments in Agricultural Water Management in Sub-Saharan Africa’ is to contribute to broad-based sustainable poverty reduction and smallholder agricultural growth. The component on ‘Poverty considerations in investments in agricultural water management’ focuses in more detail on poverty and gender dimensions. It consists of two parts. The first part is thematic and elaborates poverty and gender issues emerging from the literature that complement the other components of the Collaborative Program. Part two is empirical. Acknowledging the lack of empirical data on poverty impacts of investments in agricultural water management, the Collaborative Program initiated case studies throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Eight case studies on ‘Agricultural Water Development for Poverty Reduction in Eastern and Southern Africa’, for which the field research was conducted in 2003/2004, were supported by IFAD (Peacock,2005). Further, the African Development Bank supported three case studies in West Africa in 2004, two by Kamara et al. (2004), and one by Babatunde Omilola (2005). Part two synthesizes the empirical findings of these case studies.

This book focuses on participation of the public and private sectors in urban water management and on the role of water pricing. It discusses in-depth topics such as public choices of urban water service management; dynamics of privatization and regulation of water services; adoption of water demand instruments; impacts of price and non-price policies on residential water demand; quality of water services; lessons from not-for-profit public-private partnerships; and critical examinations of models and projections of demands in water utility resource planning in England and Wales. Appropriateness of water prices and tariffs in achieving socially desirable outcomes is also analyzed and a global survey of urban water tariffs is approached with a focus on sustainability, efficiency and fairness. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Management.

While there is no single accepted definition of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), the international community, including key organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has widely accepted the Global Water Partnership's definition of IWRM as a process that promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems. Practitioners agree that this requires a highly consultative process, engaging the watershed communities as well as stakeholders.

In spite of substantial investment by the Government of India, the country's irrigation and drainage sector finds itself plagued with numerous concerns. The current productivity and efficiency levels, as well as economic returns, are all lower than expected. In light of the growing stress on natural resources and the threat of climatic change, meeting the needs of its growing population poses a huge challenge. To enhance the sector's performance, the central and state governments of India are now looking to decentralize the sector's management and seek collaboration with the private sector. This report is the result of a scoping investigative study initiated by the Asian Development Bank to explore the potential for public–private partnerships in the irrigation and drainage sector in India. It identifies the areas where private sector participation can be envisaged in consonance with the current national policy framework; examines the legal and institutional status, and presence of national and international best practices; and suggests public-private partnerships models appropriate to Indian conditions.