Sustainable and equitable developments in irrigated environments
Yudelman, M.
Environment and the poor development strategies for a common agenda: 61-85
1989
Document Number: 378987
This chapter looks at some of the charges concerning the economic benefits, sustainability and ecological side-effects of irrigation, and considers how to reconcile the need to continue expanding irrigated production in the developing world with some of the environmental and human problems that have been associated with irrigation. It discusses the diversity and spread of irrigation and examines the record of economic performance of some irrigation projects supported in recent decades by the multilateral agencies (especially the World Bank), outlines some of the environmental issues associated with them, and looks at the question of which economic groups have tended to benefit the most from irrigation projects. Some of the long-term environmental costs and challenges are examined, including the adequacy of future supplies of water. The chapter concludes by offering a series of recommendations to help international donors and developing country governments meet the needs for increased output from irrigated areas in an era when capital and water may be more scarce than at present; and to reduce environmental damage and increase the benefits accruing to poor farmers in the irrigated areas.