IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/eptddp/16085.html

Irrigation And Water Resources In Latin America And The Caribbean: Challenges And Strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Ringler, Claudia
  • Rosegrant, Mark W.
  • Paisner, Michael S.

Abstract

Latin America and the Caribbean are relatively well endowed with water resources. However, population growth and rapid urbanization are putting considerable pressure on water available for irrigation. Local and regional water scarcity problems are exacerbated by severe water quality problems; and wastewater is frequently used for irrigation. Moreover, prospects for new investments into irrigation development appear limited. This paper examines the factors underlying irrigation development in Latin America and the Caribbean, reviews the water supply situation, and describes trends in water demand and irrigated agriculture. The overall water management in the region is assessed, and recent trends in investments in the water sector, with a focus on large-scale irrigation systems, are analyzed. The paper concludes that in this context of accelerating demand and declining irrigation investments, new water development is not the primary solution to water resource challenges in the region. Much greater attention is needed on water policy and management reform to improve the efficiency and equity of irrigation and water supply systems. In order to pay for future investments, irrigated agriculture needs to produce high-value crops for both local consumption and exports into competitive world markets. Policies to officially transfer management responsibilities from agencies to farmers - and to privatize urban water supply and sanitation - are increasingly important. The complex tradeoffs across sectors and across water uses can best be managed through integrated water management at the river basin level—but developing appropriate institutions for intersectoral water allocation remains an important challenge under the fragmented management structure in most of Latin America and the Caribbean. Thus, the challenges for water policymakers in the region are great, but a strategy that focuses on river basin management, irrigation management transfer and privatization, and market-based water allocation can effectively address these challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Ringler, Claudia & Rosegrant, Mark W. & Paisner, Michael S., 2000. "Irrigation And Water Resources In Latin America And The Caribbean: Challenges And Strategies," EPTD Discussion Papers 16085, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:eptddp:16085
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.16085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/16085/files/ep000064.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.16085?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gorriz, C.M. & Subrammanian, A. & Simas, J., 1995. "Irrigation Management Transfer In Mexico. Process and Progress," Papers 292, World Bank - Technical Papers.
    2. Kloezen, Wim H. & Garces-Restrepo, Carlos & Johnson, Sam H., III, 1997. "Impact assessment of irrigation management transfer in the Alto Rio Lerma Irrigation District, Mexico," IWMI Research Reports 61110, International Water Management Institute.
    3. Vermillion, Douglas Lynn & Garces-Restrepo, Carlos, 1998. "Impacts of Colombia's current irrigation management transfer program," IWMI Research Reports 44584, International Water Management Institute.
    4. Rosegrant, Mark W. & Binswanger, Hans P., 1994. "Markets in tradable water rights: Potential for efficiency gains in developing country water resource allocation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(11), pages 1613-1625, November.
    5. repec:ecr:col039:5785 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Rosegrant, Mark W. & Schleyer, Renato Gazmuri & Yadav, Satya N., 1995. "Water policy for efficient agricultural diversification: market-based approaches," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 203-223, June.
    7. Johnson, Sam H., III, 1997. "Irrigation management transfer in Mexico: A strategy to achieve irrigation district sustainability," IWMI Research Reports 52799, International Water Management Institute.
    8. Hearne, R.R. & Easter, K.W., 1995. "Water Allocation and Water Markets. An Analysis of Gains-from-Trade in Chile," Papers 315, World Bank - Technical Papers.
    9. Vermillion, D. L. & Garcés-Restrepo, C., 1998. "Impacts of Colombia's current irrigation management transfer program," IWMI Research Reports H023448, International Water Management Institute.
    10. Dourojeanni, Axel, 1994. "La gestión del agua y las cuencas en América Latina," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Rosegrant, Mark W. & Cai, Ximing & Cline, Sarah A. & Nakagawa, Naoko, 2002. "The Role Of Rainfed Agriculture In The Future Of Global Food Production," EPTD Discussion Papers 16053, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rosegrant, Mark W. & Ringler, Claudia, 1999. "Impact On Food Security And Rural Development Of Reallocating Water From Agriculture," EPTD Discussion Papers 97500, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Giordano, Meredith A. & Samad, Madar & Namara, Regassa E., 2006. "Assessing the outcomes of IWMI’s research and interventions on irrigation management transfer," IWMI Research Reports 44524, International Water Management Institute.
    3. Ringler, Claudia & Rosegrant, Mark W., 1999. "Impact on food security and rural development of reallocating water from agriculture:," EPTD discussion papers 47, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Senanayake, Nari & Mukherji, Aditi & Giordano, Mark, 2015. "Re-visiting what we know about Irrigation Management Transfer: A review of the evidence," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 175-186.
    5. Rosegrant, M. W. & Ringler, C. & McKinney, D. C. & Cai, X. & Keller, A. & Donoso, G., 2000. "Integrated economic-hydrologic water modeling at the basin scale: the Maipo river basin," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 33-46, December.
    6. Shi, Tian, 2006. "Simplifying complexity: Rationalising water entitlements in the Southern Connected River Murray System, Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 229-239, December.
    7. Rosegrant, Mark W., 1997. "Water resources in the twenty-first century: challenges and implications for action," 2020 vision discussion papers 20, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Francesco Prota, 2002. "Water Resources And Water Policies," Working Papers 8_2002, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    9. Marshall, Elizabeth P. & Weinberg, Marca, 2012. "Baselines in Environmental Markets: Tradeoffs Between Cost and Additionality," Economic Brief 138922, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. Webb, Patrick & Iskandarani, Maria, "undated". "Water Insecurity and the Poor: Issues and Research Needs," Discussion Papers 279785, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    11. Deng, Xiaohong & Xu, Zhongmin & Song, Xiaoyu & Zhou, Jian, 2017. "Transaction costs associated with agricultural water trading in the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 29-39.
    12. Zhang, Junlian, 2007. "Barriers to water markets in the Heihe River basin in northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 32-40, January.
    13. Shah, Tushaar & van Koppen, Barbara & Merrey, Douglas J. & de Lange, Marna & Samad, Madar, 2002. "Institutional alternatives in African smallholder irrigation: Lessons from international experience with irrigation management transfer," IWMI Research Reports 44563, International Water Management Institute.
    14. Wichelns, Dennis, 1999. "An economic model of waterlogging and salinization in arid regions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 475-491, September.
    15. Consuelo Varela‐Ortega & José M. Sumpsi & Alberto Garrido & María Blanco & Eva Iglesias, 1998. "Water pricing policies, public decision making and farmers' response: implications for water policy," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 19(1-2), pages 193-202, September.
    16. Unknown, 2006. "Despite Katrina, Overall Food Prices Stable," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, pages 1-1, September.
    17. Juárez-Torres, Miriam & Sánchez-Aragón, Leonardo & Vedenov, Dmitry, . "Weather Derivatives and Water Management in Developing Countries: An Application for an Irrigation District in Central Mexico," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 42(2).
    18. Kinlay Dorjee & Sumiter Broca & Prabhu Pingali, 2003. "Diversification in South Asian Agriculture: Trends and constraints," Working Papers 03-15, Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - ESA).
    19. Pingali, Prabhu L. & Rosegrant, Mark W., 1995. "Agricultural commercialization and diversification: processes and policies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 171-185, June.
    20. Dinar, Ariel & Rosegrant, Mark W. & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth, 1997. "Water allocation mechanisms : principles and examples," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1779, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    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:ags:eptddp:16085. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifprius.html .

    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.