ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the evolution of farmer participation in National Irrigation Administration's (NIA) irrigation development strategy in the Philippines. The communal irrigation associations being organized were weak and ineffectuai, and the irrigated areas of communal systems tended to decrease with time. The fact that basic government irrigation legislation required repayment of operation and maintenance and construction costs by water users in national systems indicated government desire for farmer participation. A basis for developing a feeling of farmer ownership of the irrigation system was laid out by the amended charter in a provision authorizing NIA to have farmers repay some of the construction costs of the communal system. The International Rice Research Institute representative to the CIC helped improve training methods and materials for irrigation systems management and crop production needed for expanding the program. The CIC was able to draw from members’ expertise in engineering, agriculture, sociology, economics, anthropology, institutional management, and training.
