ABSTRACT
PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH ON TECHNICAL INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE IRRIGATION PERFORMANCE: INFORMING PERCEPTIONS
B.A. LANKFORD School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK J. W. GOWING Centre for Land Use and Water Resources Research, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Abstract Interviews were carried out with irrigators on commercial sugarcane irrigation schemes in Swaziland to seek their opinions on what would promote 'good irrigation' Ranking methods were used to define good irrigation and allow irrigators to rank five technical interventions; altering furrow layouts, ensuring a correct flow to an area, improving canal type and equipment, changing the type of turnout and fixing leaks and spills. The results showed that a) irrigation planning addressing complex technical questions could be conducted in a participatory way, b) irrigators clearly perceived a hierarchy of needs, c) the hierarchy of needs was affected by exposure to different technical options, and that therefore, d) on irrigation schemes, research and policy based on participatory methods should be aware of the gaps in information available to users, researchers and planners, and proceed accordingly. Keywords: Canal irrigation, irrigation technology, participatory research, performance.
1 Introduction
