Can Farmers in Egypt Shoulder the Burden of Irrigation Management?

Abstract

The Government of Egypt is mandated toplan, construct, operate, manage, andmaintain the water system. However, withthe growing water demands over supplies inthe country, water management became a verydifficult task. This has led Egypt toreform policies, technologies,institutions, and development strategies tomanage water more effectively. One of thesestrategies is the irrigation managementtransfer (IMT) that has been a majorstrategy adopted to encourage farmers toplay a more important role in irrigationmanagement and related water services andalso share the cost of O&M of irrigationand drainage systems. IMT policy islaunched in Egypt as a pilot phase toexpand water users' participation atsecondary levels of the irrigation anddrainage systems. Four pilot areas (5,000–8,000 acre) representing all categories andgeographical locations of agriculturallands of Egypt were selected to implementthis policy.

This study was conducted in these pilotareas prior to the start of any IMTactivities to describe, analyze, andexplain farmers' attitudes towardirrigation maintenance and implementationof IMT process. Socio-economicquestionnaires were designed and used asthe main tool for data collection. Afterthe field pre-test of the surveyinstrument, a sample of 240 farmers, 60from each pilot area, was selected usingthe sampling frame of multi-tiered process,and the statistical data analysis was doneusing SpssWin software.

The major result of this study is that,without proper education and interface withfarmers, there is widespread resistance tothe idea farmers assuming management andmaintenance responsibilities beyond theon-farm level. It would have to proceedvery cautiously, and yield responsiveresults if it were to survive in the faceof the attitudes the farmers have shown,with their strong belief in the necessityof the role of the government. Meanwhile,farmers expressed great confidence in theIMT process and its objectives.