ABSTRACT
Over the past three decades, the world’s irrigation sector has been increasingly exposed to decentralization and privatization. Many countries have embarked on a process to transfer the management of smallholder irrigation systems from government agencies to local management entities (Vermillion, 1997). This process of irrigation management transfer (IMT) includes state withdrawal, promotion of water users’ participation, development of local management institutions, and transfer of ownership and management. South Africa has only recently initiated IMT in government smallholder irrigation schemes located in former homeland areas and most transfer operators are still unsure about how to design and implement the process.
