IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jdevst/v56y2020i12p2154-2168.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

State Engagement with Farmer-led Irrigation Development: Symbolic Irrigation Modernisation and Disturbed Development Trajectories in Tanzania

Author

Listed:
  • Chris de Bont
  • Gert Jan Veldwisch

Abstract

Farmer-led irrigation development, a process in which farmers initiate the establishment of irrigation, is increasingly recognised as the driving force behind irrigation expansion, agricultural intensification, and commercialisation in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and development agencies aim to build upon these practices to further stimulate agricultural production and expand the irrigated area. In what seems the recognition of farmers’ ability to take the lead, various African states have developed policies for ‘demand-driven irrigation development’. This article scrutinises the actual practices of such a policy through a case analysis of an intervention in Northern Tanzania. The analysis demonstrates how even demand-driven policies can disturb the development trajectory of farmer-led irrigation development by reinforcing modernisation ideals adhered to by both farmers and government employees. An emphasis on the aesthetics of modernity leads to symbolic modernisation, cementing the dominant role of the state and formal expertise and paralysing farmers’ irrigation development initiatives. This does not necessarily lead to agricultural intensification and commercialisation, which the formal policies seem to aim for and which is central to processes of farmer-led irrigation development.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris de Bont & Gert Jan Veldwisch, 2020. "State Engagement with Farmer-led Irrigation Development: Symbolic Irrigation Modernisation and Disturbed Development Trajectories in Tanzania," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(12), pages 2154-2168, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:56:y:2020:i:12:p:2154-2168
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2020.1746278
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00220388.2020.1746278
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00220388.2020.1746278?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Berhe, Gebremeskel Teklay & Baartman, Jantiene E.M. & Veldwisch, Gert Jan & Grum, Berhane & Ritsema, Coen J., 2022. "Irrigation development and management practices in Ethiopia: A systematic review on existing problems, sustainability issues and future directions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    2. Phakathi, Sandile & Sinyolo, Sikhulumile & Marire, Juniors & Fraser, Gavin, 2021. "Farmer-led institutional innovations in managing smallholder irrigation schemes in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces, South Africa," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:56:y:2020:i:12:p:2154-2168. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FJDS20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.