Strategic Analysis of India’s River Linking Project – Case study of the Polavaram Vijaywada link IWMI – CPWF August 30, 2007 SOCIAL EQUITY IMPACTS OF INCREASED WATER FOR IRRIGATION Amrita Sharma, Deepa Joshi and Samyuktha Varma

Main question What are the poverty and equity impacts of increased water for irrigation on different socio-economic groups [inter- and intra-household levels] in the command area/s?

Outline Impacts of irrigation on poverty and the concerns for social equity Methodology and description of study areas Testing popular hypotheses on the irrigation-equity link  The head-tail divide  Irrigation and crop diversification  Irrigation and employment generation Social geography and changing livelihoods Gender Concluding remarks

Irrigation and Social Equity Impacts of Irrigation on poverty discussed in terms of: Direct: Increased crop yields, productivity, farm income Indirect impacts: Rural employment, economic multipliers Equity is an increasingly important concern for irrigation, but has not been addressed sufficiently by studies. Equity is : Recognizing the heterogeneity of populations in planning. Poverty, Equity, Gender not built into irrigation planning and design

Methodology 4 villages, NSC/ proposed Polavaram Purposive Sampling – 40 HHs/village; caste / farm size Irrigation allocations – location, equity and reliability Cropping patterns, yield, productivity, returns from agriculture Livestock, domestic water, non-agricultural water uses – impacts of irrigation Labor opportunities, wage rates Nature/extent of dependence on agriculture and income from agriculture Education, migration, land transactions - reforms/redistributions

Methodology Qualitative discussions Irrigation management and access to the irrigation water Inclusion/transparency and water allocation/management Crop Productivity, livelihood security and options for diversification Changes in the Social Geography due to Irrigation Perceived outcomes in terms of the nature of transformations that have occurred as a result of irrigation

Nagarjunasagar command Kondrepole, Damarcherla mandal, Nalgonda district Southeast tip of Telengana, Deccan Plateau; relatively low rainfall; 50% canal irrigation; head end 2 paddy crops/yr; land consolidation and purchase - relative loss to SCs population Velatoor, G Kondur mandal, Krishna district; less than 28% canal irrigation; delta region of Krishna; +ground water; reliable rainfall, diversified agriculture – mango; larger number of small farms

Polavaram proposed command Yernagudem, Devarapalli mandal, West Godavari district, 80% gross irrigated, reliable rainfall, 100% ground water development; paddy, sugarcane, tobacco; land consolidation – labor rates lower Chinnadoddigallu, Nakapalli mandal, Vishakapatnam district, 21% irrigation – Thandava reservoir, rainshadow, 4 bore wells [3000 acres], 80% seasonal migration, 144 acres of land loss to canal, rapid land transactions, labor rates relative to urban demands

Testing popular hypotheses on the irrigation-equity link The head and the tail Hypothesis: equity dimensions of irrigation projects are closely related to the unequal distribution of water across difference reaches of the canal. –Unauthorized water withdrawal in upper reaches by farmers who were not originally planned in the ayacut because of elevation. –authorities have justified these actions on human grounds – the farmers having prepared the ground for irrigation themselves. –tailenders have little faith in the WUAs.

Testing popular hypotheses on the irrigation-equity link –Location of plots – who is in the head and who in the tail? Location of Plots for different land classes in Kondrepol KondrepolHeadMiddleTail Average landholding765 Smallholders (0-3 acres) Medium holders (3-10 acres) Largeholders (above 10 acres)73189 Source: Analysis based on Primary survey

Testing popular hypotheses on the irrigation-equity link Irrigation and crop diversification Hypothesis: One of the main impacts of irrigation is on increase in cropping intensity and crop diversification. The canal irrigated village of Kondrepol is the one with least amount of crop diversification. Among the four sample villages the most dynamic farming system was that of Yernagudem; a groundwater irrigated village. No significant difference in cropping patterns across landholding and castes.

Testing popular hypotheses on the irrigation- equity link Irrigation and employment Hypothesis: Increased rural employment as a result of higher cropping intensity, cultivation of labor-intensive crops plus opportunities for non-farm employment is the way that irrigation benefits reach the poor. In the canal irrigated villages, while employment is more or less guaranteed, and often assured to mitigate out-migration, wage labour rates have not increased – subject to improved returns to the landed from irrigation.

Social geography and changing livelihoods Altering social geography The landed move out – Lambadas of Kondrepole Networks and political capital – Kammas of Kondrepole Losing land to the canal – SCs of Kondrepole and Velatoor These movements and changes over time, since the introduction of irrigation, reveal how irrigation shapes the social geography of an area giving important clues as to how existing inequities can benefit or be detrimental to communities positioned differently.

Social geography and changing livelihoods How have different communities fared after the coming in of irrigation and how well they have been able to make use of the economic opportunities presented to them? Gollas and Kapus of Velatoor Other constraints to livelihood diversification – caste based restrictions on fishing, Madigas of Kondrepole Interestingly, in a ranking exercise: Big farmers ranked – (1) water (2) finance Medium farmers - responded in the same way Small farmers – (1) land (2) water Landless – (1) land (2) capital

Gender Little change in terms of women’s access to and control of key agricultural assets A higher percentage of women were engaged in work outside their houses in the Nagarjunasagar command. –Results of time use survey: in the Sagar command the average number of hours spent by men and women on agricultural work is higher. Further, the number of work hours of women on the farms is higher than that of men. –In the proposed Polavaram villages, however, the number of work hours on the farm is much less in comparison, and women’s work hours are slightly lesser than that of men. In the Polavaram proposed command, women’s time is spent more on the household chores.

Concluding remarks Surface irrigation is no longer the ‘panacea’ at-least in the research villages Surface irrigation changed the economy of the ‘research areas’ several years ago – but there was no significant spill over to the poor – not enough to lift the poorest out of poverty; additionally there have been some negative impacts – for e.g. a small (lower than national). Surface irrigation is said to have produced higher inequality in the distribution of benefits across farms and more so in areas with skewed land holding (Sampath 1990, cited by Bhattarai et al, 2002). Redirection: “right” institutional focus and “pro-poor” policies. Inclusive irrigation planning and development that takes into account intra- and inter-potentials and -limitations of target-area households.

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