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“When Our Crops Burn, We Burn”: Household Cultivation, Inattention And Exclusion In Tajikistan's Water Management Reform, Katherine Jeanette Macdonald

Theses - ALL

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 …