Farmer-Financed Irrigation: The Economics of Reform (Wye Studies in Agricultural and Rural Development)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521380731 ISBN 13: 9780521380737

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1991

In this book, Leslie Small and Ian Carruthers examine in detail the potentials and limitations of user fees for financing irrigation operation and maintenance. Both authors have extensive field experience in irrigation in developing countries and have combined this experience with simple concepts of economics to examine possible institutional and financial reforms that would not simply ask farmers to pay for an inadequate irrigation service, but would create the potential for significant improvements in the quality of the service provided. The proposed elements of any such reform are discussed in depth--a system of user fees covering the recurrent costs of irrigation; a financially autonomous irrigation agency that can retain and use the fees to operate and maintain the irrigation facilities; and a macro policy environment that is not unduly skewed against the agricultural sector.

Book Description:

In this book, Leslie Small and Ian Carruthers examine in detail the potentials and limitations of user fees, combining their extensive field experience of irrigation in developing countries with simple concepts of economics to propose possible institutional and financial reforms which would not simply ask farmers to pay for an inadequate irrigation service, but would create the potential for significant improvements in the quality of the service provided.

About the Author:

Ian Carruthers has taught in the Theatre and Drama Department of La Trobe University since 1985.