Household Cultivation, Inattention and Exclusion in Tajikistan's Water Management Reform
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Syracuse University SURFACE Theses - ALL May 2018 “WHEN OUR CROPS BURN, WE BURN”: HOUSEHOLD CULTIVATION, INATTENTION AND EXCLUSION IN TAJIKISTAN'S WATER MANAGEMENT REFORM Katherine Jeanette MacDonald Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/thesis Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation MacDonald, Katherine Jeanette, "“WHEN OUR CROPS BURN, WE BURN”: HOUSEHOLD CULTIVATION, INATTENTION AND EXCLUSION IN TAJIKISTAN'S WATER MANAGEMENT REFORM" (2018). Theses - ALL. 216. https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/216 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract The Republic of Tajikistan possesses the largest amount of internally produced surface water in Central Asia; however, poor irrigation management has led to water shortages in agrarian communities. In support of government efforts to reform water management, international development actors have established Water Users’ Associations (WUAs) throughout the country. WUAs are non-governmental groups of irrigation water users responsible for local infrastructure maintenance, conflict resolution, and scheduling water distribution. These groups are expected to increase participation in irrigation management, the equity and efficiency of water supply to agricultural plots and by extension, crop yields and food security. Drawing on interviews with development actors, government representatives, and WUA leaders, and rural households, I show that plans to improve rural wellbeing through WUA creation are undermined by legal frameworks that limit formal participation in associations to one water user – farm managers. Reinforced by the actions and inactions of the government and development actors, this policy is drawn from and advances a fragmented understanding of the irrigation landscape, wherein the cultivation of irrigation dependent household plots is devalued or made invisible. Neglecting to actively include theses plots in WUA structures can contribute to reduced household water access, prompting crop failure and increased food insecurity among rural families. This thesis contributes to ongoing discussions about the risks and opportunities associated with approaches to rural development and community-based natural resource management globally. “WHEN OUR CROPS BURN, WE BURN”: HOUSEHOLD CULTIVATION, INATTENTION AND EXCLUSION IN TAJIKISTAN'S WATER MANAGEMENT REFORM By Katherine MacDonald B.A. University of Washington, 2014 Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography Syracuse University May 2018 Copyright 2018 Katherine MacDonald All Rights Reserved Acknowledgements My path to writing this thesis has been long and winding, informed by encounters and conversations both in and outside of Tajikistan over the last nine years. As such, it is impossible to truly acknowledge all those who have assisted me along the way in the space of this section. Rather, I would like to thank just a few of those who have helped me in this latest part of my journey, beginning with my advisor Dr. Tom Perreault. I cannot thank you enough for support and advice over the last two years. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Anne Bellows and Dr. Natalie Koch, both of whom have supported my interest in Central Asia and agriculture. A sincere thanks to Dr. Farhana Sultana who provided important guidance during the formative stages of my thesis. Above all, my deepest thanks goes to all those who have taken the time to share their thoughts, food, and goodwill with me in Tajikistan. In particular, Shifo Sharifzoda and Husnoro Saidova, I have learned so much from the both of you and your families. Each of you has had an indelible impact on not only the nature of my work, but the person I have become, and I can only hope for many more years of academic exchange and friendship. I am also grateful for funding provided by the Syracuse University Geography Department as well as the Title VIII Research Scholar Program, without which my travel to Tajikistan and research in the country would not have been possible. iv Table of Contents Glossary and List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................... vii List of Illustrative Materials ................................................................................................................................... viii Chapter One - Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Methodology ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1.1 Development actors ................................................................................................................................... 11 1.1.3 Members of agrarian communities............................................................................................................. 15 1.1.4 WUA representatives ................................................................................................................................. 21 1.2 Thesis structure ............................................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter Two – The logic of community-based water management: The case for WUAs in Tajikistan ............ 27 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 27 2.1 Rethinking the role of the community in natural resource management ................................................... 31 2.1.1 Participation ............................................................................................................................................... 32 2.1.2 Decentralization ......................................................................................................................................... 35 2.1.3 Identification .............................................................................................................................................. 39 2.2 WUAs in response to the collapse of Soviet service provision ..................................................................... 43 2.2.1 Irrigation until independence (1924-1990) ................................................................................................ 45 2.2.2 Agriculture in the aftermath (1991-2017) .................................................................................................. 48 2.2.3 WUAs as an intervention in ‘chaos’ (1999-2017) ..................................................................................... 56 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 61 Chapter Three – Defining the water user: Inaction and inattention to household incorporation into WUAs .. 64 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 64 3.1 Community-based management to serve all resource users? ...................................................................... 67 3.1.1 (In)equitable resource control .................................................................................................................... 68 3.1.3 WUA Design .............................................................................................................................................. 73 3.2 Exclusion in Tajikistan WUAs through paper, presentation and practice ................................................ 77 3.2.1 Paper .......................................................................................................................................................... 78 3.2.2 Presentation and practice ........................................................................................................................... 81 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 92 v Chapter Four – Undermining the initiative: Potential consequences of household exclusion from WUAs....... 95 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 95 4.1 Coming together and creating division .......................................................................................................... 98 4.1.1 Access ........................................................................................................................................................ 99 4.1.2 Order ........................................................................................................................................................ 103 4.2 “Water for [the] life [of farmers]” ............................................................................................................... 107 4.2.1 “They do not give water