Charlotte van der Schaaf. Institutional Change and Irrigation Management in Burkina Faso

Transcription

1 Charlotte van der Schaaf Institutional Change and Irrigation Management in Burkina Faso

2 Table of contents List of Figures Acronyms Acknowledgements vi vii ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Outline of the chapters 5 Chapter 2 Development discourses, institutions and local politics 9 Theoretical considerations 9 Decentralisation, devolution and irrigation management 9 Institutions, institutional change and transformation 12 Institutions and organisations in development 15 Policy intervention and the role of the state 19 Hypothesis and research questions ' 24 Research questions 24 Research methodology 24 Selection of the research areas 25 Ethnic groups 27 Selection of research assistants 27 Time-span of research and specific research methods 28 Constraints of the research 33 Chapter 3 The setting: People and Policies 35 Geography and population 35 Chiefs and the state through colonial and post-colonial times 35 Government structure and decentralisation processes 37 Decentralisation in African history 38 History of decentralisation processes in Burkina Faso 40 Agricultural production and state strategies 43 Extension agencies 43 Rural organisations 45

3 ii Institutional Change and Irrigation Management in Burkina Faso The state as a policymaker 46 Water resources and water demands in Burkina Faso 51 Water demands per sector 52 History of water management policies in Burkina Faso 53 National policies and strategies 53 Irrigation and integrated water resources management 54 Legalframework concerning the connection between water and land 55 Integrated water management (IWKM)policies 58 Mam characteristics of the research areas 60 The province ofkouritenga 60 Irrigation management in the province of Kouritenga 65 Chapter 4 Implementing integrated water resources management: actors, politics and practices 69 Introduction 69 Integrated water management policies: a management committee for the Yitenga reservoir 72 Farmers' irrigation practices as the main constraint 75 Undertaking action from above: installing a basin management committee 76 The intervening actors and their attributes: Street-level bureaucrats 80 The High Commissioner 80 Theprefect 82 Agricultural extension officers 83 Private company: ONEA 86 Policy implementation: Mechanisms of intervention 87 Political norms: reproduction of power and authority 87 Privatisation and redistribution of responsibilities 90 The importance of 'home town associations for development and resulting rivalry 90 The street-level bureaucrats in action 95 State administration 96 Agricultural services:frontline workers at work 113 Conclusions 124 Chapter 5 Land and water use: Social differentiation, illegality and security 133 Introduction 133

4 Land tenure system within hydro-agricultural development measures: contradicting norms 135 Access to water, water distribution practices and conflict settlement 137 Water rights: social norms andfees 137 Infrastructure: water distribution and rehabilitation 139 Water distribution 141 Organisation and conflict management 143 Violations of the regulations and the implication of the state authority 144 Customary land tenure arrangements (bush and village fields) 146 Borrowing land for cultivation 146 Patronage relations 148 Land and water rights allocation in the irrigation scheme 150 The construction of the reservoir and the distribution of land among the former owners ' 150 Loss of resources and compensation 151 Social and political tactics to acquire access to land 153 The distribution of plots among the population 153 Plot distribution practices and inconsistencies 155 The influence of social differentiation on production arrangements 162 Strategies to obtain access to land 163 Organising practices as strategies to claim and acquire land rights within the scheme 168 Land dispute settlement: customary or state intervention 169 Changing land use rights by normative intervention and the recapturing of rights 170 Communal group plots and concurring claims to use rights 173 Well-connected individuals and their politics' 174 Dispute settlement concerning illegally sold land: 178 'Illegal'plots along the borders 180 Conclusion 183 Chapter 6 The management of a water user group: organising structures and struggles 187 Introduction 187 Formal management structures at the irrigation system level " 191 Formal regulations according to the law no

5 IV Institutional Change and Irrigation Management in Burkina Faso Perceptions of irrigated land, changing tenure relations and local collective action 194 The user group: 'free-riding' or organising practices 197 Managing the lack of internal regulations 197 Factions dealing with interests 198 Representativeness, legitimacy and accountability of the committee 199 General assemblies 200 Management committee elections: differing strategies 201 The (un)popularity of formal positions 204 The preventive law context and the implementation of regulations 206 Soiling conflicts among each other 206 Reasonsfor non-enforcement of sanctions 207 User group funds : managing the public spheres 212 Redistribution of resources 212 Use of state resourcesfor own profit 214 Changingpower relations: embezzlement accusations 215 Institutional change: managing according to 'the rules' and the impact of the state authority 217 Motivations for the election of certain individuals: status and resulting legitimacy 218 Involvement of the state authority and loss of authority 220 A new management committee: rearrangingpower relations and ensuring accountability 229 Cooperation and relationship with the state administration and agencies 233 The agricultural services: lack of trust and weak legitimacy 233 Support from the prefect: imaginedpower of the state as regulator 234 Conclusions 236 Chapter 7 Making an irrigation system 'profitable': institutional change, legitimacy and land 241 Introduction 241 Land distribution, scarcity and social alliances 244 Overall change of agricultural practices 246 Land allocation strategies 247 The role and influence of the agricultural services on cooperative management 249

6 The cooperative: alliances and interests 251 Elections: villagerivalriesand differing interests 252 Gaining support for the change of power 254 Negotiating property and asserting authority 260 The prefect: the influence of the administration on the production and decision-making processes 260 A heal broker in action: the delegate 264 "Being the state": attempt to institutional change and legitimacy discourses 272 Pulling the strings 272 Institutional adaptations: the enforcement of rules and regulations 274 A local land market appears 276 Depersonahsation of land: capitalisation on authority 279 Social alliances and the resulting lack of solidarity 280 The power of the land: expropriation of a new terrain and a revolt 283 Attracting national funds for personal accounts: using national events and vague history 284 Recognition and validation: mobilising the technical services 286 Reassuring authority: counterclaims 287 Conclusion 290 Chapter 8 Conclusions 295 Policy intervention and state mechanisms: manoeuvring and alliances 296 The farmer user groups: organisations as changing structures 299 Struggles over land and institutional change 301 Power struggles and collective attempts for change 304 Legitimacy and authority of the state 306 Final conclusions 308 References 311 Summary ' 327