Addressing water needs of the poor in watershed management
2018-02-12T15:08:51Z (GMT)
by
Participatory watershed development has proved to
be an attractive approach to rural development over recent
decades (see for example, Farrington et al., 1999; and
Hinchcliffe et al., 1999). Projects and programmes have
been implemented across Latin America, Africa and South
Asia, but it is perhaps in India where the approach has been
most popular and enduring. Here, central government
investment has been running at over US$ 500 million a
year.
This paper considers the impacts of participatory watershed
development on rural water supplies for domestic use.
Do watershed development projects lead to improved
water resource availability and supply? Do they help to
address the increasing competition for scarce water resources
between domestic users, industry and irrigation?
Or can they worsen the water supply situation in villages?
It is focused on dryland India.