Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Case Study Series Mind the Gap? Local practices and institutional reforms for water allocation in Afghanistan’s Panj-Amu River Basin Vincent Thomas with Wamiqullah Mumtaz and Mujib Ahmad Azizi August 2011 European Commission Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Case Study Series MIND THE GAP? Local practices and institutional reforms for water allocation in Afghanistan’s Panj-Amu River Basin Vincent Thomas with Wamiqullah Mumtaz and Mujib Ahmad Azizi Funding for this research was provided by the June 2012 European Commission 2012 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Editing and Layout: Oliver Lough AREU Publication Code: 1209E © 2012 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. Some rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted only for non-commercial purposes and with written credit to AREU and the author. Where this publication is reproduced, stored or transmitted electronically, a link to AREU’s website (www.areu.org.af) should be provided. Any use of this publication falling outside of these permissions requires prior written permission of the publisher, the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. Permission can be sought by emailing [email protected] or by calling +93 (0) 799 608 548. ii Thomas, with Mumtaz and Azizi Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit 2012 About the Authors Vincent Thomas is a research officer on water management at AREU. Previously he has worked for the Aga Khan Foundation as a research officer and project coordinator on the Participatory Management of Irrigation Systems (PMIS) project in Takhar and Baghlan between 2005 and 2010. He also contributed to the 2011 Afghanistan Human Development Report. A graduate of Wageningen University (M.Sc. in Irrigation and Water Management), he is interested in community-based water management and the challenges of linking policymaking with community interests. Mujeeb Ahmad Azizi is a senior research assistant at AREU. Previously, he has worked for the Aga Khan Foundation in Baghlan as a social organiser for the Participatory Management of Irrigation Systems (PMIS) project from 2006 to 2009. He has also worked as a deputy programme director for Mercy Corps in Kapisa between 2009 and 2011. He holds a degree in English Literature from Baghlan University. Wamiqullah Mumtaz is a research officer at AREU. For more than three years he has contributed to various research studies covering themes such as local governance, urban governance, livelihood trajectories and water management. Previously he has worked with Health Net-TPO as a Project Manager from 2005 to 2008. He has also worked for Save the Children in Nangarhar Province from 2002 to 2004. He holds a degree in law and political science from Government Degree College Peshawar and a diploma in International Relations. About the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) is an independent research institute based in Kabul. AREU’s mission is to inform and influence policy and practice through conducting high- quality, policy-relevant research and actively disseminating the results, and to promote a culture of research and learning. To achieve its mission AREU engages with policymakers, civil society, researchers and students to promote their use of AREU’s research and its library, to strengthen their research capacity, and to create opportunities for analysis, reflection and debate. AREU was established in 2002 by the assistance community working in Afghanistan and has a board of directors with representation from donors, the United Nations and other multilateral agencies, and non-governmental organisations. AREU receives core funds from the governments of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Specific projects in 2011 have been funded by the European Commission (EC), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and UN Women. Mind the Gap? iii 2012 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank all the informants—from field level to the presidential office— who provided all the information and data that have contributed to the body of knowledge shaping this research paper. The authors are also very grateful to the members of parliament, advisor to the presidential office and senior staff from the Ministry of Energy and Water and Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock for giving their valuable time to support this research. Special thanks go to staff at the Aga Khan Foundation (including Engineer Abdullah Osmani, Engineer Salam Abdi and Ali M. Ramzi), Mercy Corps (including Paenda Khair Khwah) as well as at PARBP-TA (including Hamed Zaman, Mr. Ashimi and Ahmad Zai) for providing the best possible support in facilitating our fieldwork in Kunduz, Baghlan and Takhar. The authors would also like to acknowledge the technical inputs from Joel Fiddes (GIS specialist) whose “eagle-eye” remote-sensing/NDVI analysis has been of great help in complementing and balancing our field-based view. Special thanks go to Jeroen Warner (PhD) from the Wageningen Agriculture University for his constructive and highly valuable peer-review. His work on multi-stakeholder platforms in other parts of the world has been a great source of inspiration and reflection for the work presented in this paper. A last word of appreciation goes to the members of the former AREU Interim Management Team (Chona Echavez, Mir Ahmad Joyenda, Mohammad Ali and Royce Wiles) which has provided the best working environment for the research team. Vincent Thomas Wamiqullah Mumtaz Mujib Ahmad Azizi June 2012 iv Thomas, with Mumtaz and Azizi Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit 2012 Table of Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................1 1. Introduction and Conceptual Framework .............................................................3 1.1 The need for a better understanding of institutional development in the water sector..3 1.2 Conceptual framework .............................................................................5 2. Methodology ............................................................................................. 17 2.1 Qualitative and quantitative methods .......................................................... 17 3. Afghanistan’s Water Sector Reform .................................................................. 19 3.1 From pre-war “hydraulic era” to post-war “good governance” reforms ������������������ 19 3.2 Signs of resistance to embracing the “good governance” challenge ....................... 22 4. Profile of the Taloqan and Lower-Kunduz Sub-river Basins ....................................... 24 4.1 Hydrological versus provincial boundaries and the upstream/downstream divide .......... 24 4.2 Historical development of the social structures in the basin and the implications for water management ................................................................................ 26 4.3 Current socio-economic profile and recent state of development ......................... 29 4.4 Hydrological characteristics ...................................................................... 31 4.5 Irrigated agriculture profile ....................................................................... 33 4.6 Water allocation and distribution at river basin level ........................................ 35 4.7 Summary and conclusion on sub-basin profiles ................................................ 40 4.8 The premise of multi-stakeholder platforms in the Taloqan and Lower-Kunduz sub- basins ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 40 5. Lower-Kunduz Sub-basin Case Study ����������������������������������������������������������������� 42 5.1 Decision-making space, power balance and multi-stakeholder platform composition in the LKSB ............................................................................................. 42 5.2 Discussion �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 51 5.3 Outcomes and results in the LKSB ............................................................... 59 5.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 67 6. Taloqan Sub-basin Case Study ......................................................................... 70 6.1 Decision-making space, power balance and multi-stakeholder platform composition in the TSB ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 70 6.2 Reflection ............................................................................................ 92 6.3 Outcomes and results in the TSB ����������������������������������������������������������������� 96 6.4 Conclusion ..........................................................................................104 7. Discussion and Conclusion: Policy Models Meet Ground Realities ..............................106 7.1 Are policy models adapted to ground reality challenges? ..................................106 7.2 Piloting the water sector reform: Questioning the effectiveness of PARBP on institutional development at ground level ...................................................................114 7.3 Final reflection on institutional