Cooperative Based Water Management Strategies for Securing Sustainable Livelihood- A Case of Gulmi District Nepal

CHIRANJIBI RIJAL1, GANESH DHAKAL2, HOM NATH GARTAULA3 AND DEEPAK LOCHAN ADHIKARI4

The paper is presented in 6th International Seminar on "Small Scale Irrigation: Challenges to Sustainable Livelihood" organized by Farmer Manage Irrigation System (FMIS) Trust  Nepal during February 16, 2014 in Kathmandu
Abstract

Nepal is rich in water resources; however, these resources are not properly utilized for economic benefit of the people. Due to unequal distribution of precipitation, the monsoon summer season makes the country flooded, while the dry winter season becomes extremely drier. The poor management of the formal as well as informal water governing institutions is not able to ensure an efficient and equitable distribution of water throughout the year. With the help of a case from Gulmi district, this paper illustrates how an effectively managed community-based water management system can ensure an equitable and year round supply of water for its users. The research aims to assess the impact of water harvesting in agriculture production and analyze the management strategies adopted by community members for equitable distribution of water throughout the year. The water scarcity problem in the research area (Gaudakot Village Development Committee) is one of the common problems that the country’s hill region is facing. For example, the drinking water is supplied through a 16 kilometers long pipeline with scattered distribution outlets and regulated timetable due to limited availability of water at the source especially in the dry season, leave away the water for irrigation. In order to cope with this situation, some ten years ago, a few community members started collecting rainwater and made it available for household use during dry season. Even though, this was a good solution, the rainwater storage tanks made at household level were smaller and collected water was not sufficient for irrigation purpose. The community members devised an idea of forming an Agriculture cooperative and then formed water user subcommittee. The cooperative harvests rain water as well as lifts water by pumping from downstream and stores in a large reservoir with capacity of 600 thousand liters to secure year round water supply. The harvested water is distributed among the interested community members through distribution tank via separate pipeline|. From the beginning, they ensured the representation of women and disadvantaged people in the committee inclusive participation of class, caste and gender. Besides distribution of the the harvested water, the cooperative also provides loan to its members and assists in marketing of their agriculture products. With the increased access of micro credit and availability of water resource, the community members are able to grow commercial vegetables and adopt micro enterprise to secure the livelihood. The direct and visible impacts observed are increased income through production and sales of commercial vegetables, reduced male out-migration; increased access to capital; and enhanced food security.  Through this paper we invite the policy makers and researchers to take this case as a successful intervention for sustainable livelihood development in mountain region of Nepal.

Keywords: Cooperative, water harvesting, Community management, Inclusive participation, Food security