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Sand in the Engine: The Travails of an Irrigated Rice Scheme in Bwanje Valley, Malawi

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  • Gert Jan Veldwisch
  • Alex Bolding
  • Philippus Wester

Abstract

The establishment of the Bwanje Valley Irrigation Scheme (BVIS) in Malawi is a striking example of informed amnesia in development assistance. Despite the lessons learned earlier concerning a process approach to participatory irrigation development in Africa, in the case of BVIS outside interveners designed an irrigation system and parachuted it into Bwanje Valley as a black-boxed technology. Using a sociotechnical approach, this article analyses the travails of this irrigation scheme, showing that the conventional irrigation factory mindset is ill-suited for creating durable water networks. Achieving tangible improvements in rural livelihoods is better served by the interactive prototyping of water networks in situ, ensuring that new irrigation schemes are embedded in existing landscapes and complementary to existing livelihood strategies rather than supplanting them.

Suggested Citation

  • Gert Jan Veldwisch & Alex Bolding & Philippus Wester, 2009. "Sand in the Engine: The Travails of an Irrigated Rice Scheme in Bwanje Valley, Malawi," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 197-226.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:45:y:2009:i:2:p:197-226
    DOI: 10.1080/00220380802265587
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wester. P. & During, A. & Oorthuizen, J., 1995. "Locally managed irrigation in the Senegal River Valley in the aftermath of state disengagement," IWMI Research Reports H016786, International Water Management Institute.
    2. World Bank, 2006. "Reengaging in Agricultural Water Management: Challenges and Options," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6957, December.
    3. Djibril Aw & Geert Diemer, 2005. "Making a Large Irrigation Scheme Work : A Case Study from Mali," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7320, December.
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    1. Maurice Osewe & Aijun Liu & Tim Njagi, 2020. "Farmer-Led Irrigation and Its Impacts on Smallholder Farmers’ Crop Income: Evidence from Southern Tanzania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-13, February.
    2. Wouter Beekman & Gert Jan Veldwisch, 2016. "Supporting Farmer-Led Irrigation in Mozambique: Reflections on Field-Testing a New Design Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Aarnoudse, E. & Closas, Alvar & Lefore, Nicole, 2018. "Water user associations: a review of approaches and alternative management options for Sub-Saharan Africa," IWMI Working Papers H048782, International Water Management Institute.
    4. Dessalegn, Mengistu & Merrey, D. J., 2014. "Is ‘Social Cooperation’ for traditional irrigation, while ‘Technology’ is for motor pump irrigation?," IWMI Reports 201004, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Yuti Ariani Fatimah & Saurabh Arora, 2016. "Nonhumans in the Practice of Development: Material Agency and Friction in a Small-Scale Energy Program in Indonesia," SPRU Working Paper Series 2016-04, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    6. Kikuchi, Masao & Mano, Yukichi & 真野, 裕吉 & Njagi, Tim & Merrey, Douglas & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2019. "Economic Viability of Large-scale Irrigation Construction in 21st Century sub-Saharan Africa: Centering around the Estimation of Construction Costs of Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kenya," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-87, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    7. Yonas T. Bahta & Henry Jordaan & Gunda Sabastain, 2020. "Agricultural Management Practices and Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency in Zimbabwe Maize Farming," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, March.
    8. Harrison, Elizabeth, 2018. "Engineering change? The idea of ‘the scheme’ in African irrigation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 246-255.

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