Research on institutions for agricultural water management under the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food - Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security - page 125

6 Research on institutions

for agricultural water
management under the
CGIAR Challenge
Program on Water and Food

Nancy Johnson, a* Brent M. Swallow b and
Ruth Meinzen-Dick a

a International Food Policy Research Institute IFPRI, Washington, DC,
USA; b University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; * Corresponding author,
[e-mail].

Introduction
Experience in the past 30 years of water management has shown that tech-
nology alone is not sufficient to reduce poverty, enhance food security and
increase rural livelihoods. Appropriate institutions are necessary for tech-
nologies to be taken up and used, especially in agriculture and natural resource
management. In this chapter we review and summarize the findings of the
research that was carried out in the Challenge Program on Water and Food
(CPWF) on institutions for water management. We also examine how research
was used by policy and other decision-makers to influence development
outcomes.
We first define water management institutions and present a framework for
institutional analysis in a river basin context. Based on a review of peer-
reviewed publications, we then summarize what CPWF research projects
learned about how water management institutions work and how they can be
strengthened. Next we analyze seven projects that translated their research into
action on the ground, and identify factors that contributed to their success.
Finally, we draw conclusions and discuss the implications.

What are water management institutions?
Institutions may be defined as “the rules of the game in a society or, more
formally, the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction”
(North, 1990, p. 1). As such, water management institutions shape the
expectations and incentives of various actors, and hence their behavior
regarding water use and water-related infrastructure and land management.