How Farmers Deal with Water Scarcity in Community‐Managed Irrigation SYSTEMS: A Case Study in Northern Tunisia

Abstract

Operating irrigation systems when water supplies are insecure is a critical challenge for both farmers and managers. The aim of this paper is to analyse how farmers adapt to water scarcity and to investigate to what extent individual farmers' practices affected the management of a community‐managed irrigation system in an area with perennial citrus orchards in northern Tunisia. Results revealed a wide range of farmers' strategies and practices aimed at maximizing their access to surface water and groundwater according to their ability. But this resulted in increasing inequity, because the biggest farmers managed to access groundwater or practised drip irrigation, while the vulnerability of small farmers increased. In this context the introduction of drip irrigation has not led to water saving. These findings should encourage the adoption of fair collective rules that account for water scarcity and farmers' diversity. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Interplays between changing biophysical and social dynamics under climate change: Implications for limits to sustainable adaptation in food systems

“…In the UWR, small scale‐irrigation infrastructure, including the digging of ditches, holes and depressions to collect rainwater is promoted by development projects and the government to support national food security (Makondo & Thomas, 2018; Zougmoré et al, 2016). These irrigation facilities are unaffordable for some smallholder farmers, and unequal access to irrigation water subsequently exacerbates disparities between farmers and affects their capacity to cope with water scarcity (Ferchichi et al, 2017). In general, increased access to groundwater through irrigation facilities has also been associated with groundwater depletion (Comte et al, 2016; Ferchichi et al, 2017; Houéménou et al, 2020).…”

How is water security conceptualized and practiced for rural livelihoods in the global South? A systematic scoping review

“…The different solutions were well-distributed across scales. An individual or household scale (24.2% of publications) could include strategies, such as farmers' coping responses to inadequate irrigation (e.g., Liu et al, 2008;Ferchichi et al, 2017) or agreement to pay higher fees for improved water security (e.g., Alcon et al, 2018). The community level (21.2%) could include strategies, such as local rules around water sharing (McCord et al, 2018), communal management of groundwater resources (Foster et al, 2012), or improved reliability and maintenance of water infrastructure (Borgomeo et al, 2017).…”

Water shortages, irrigation frequency, and preference for technologies and agricultural services: The case of Jordan*

“…1 The use of drip irrigation can be profitable for farmers, primarily due to energy savings. When combined with enforceable restrictions on expanding and/or converting irrigated land (which is possible in the Jordanian Highlands as farms cultivate perennial fruit trees, for example, see Ferchichi, Marlet, & Zairi, 2017), drip systems might also slow down the abstraction of groundwaterprovided farmers practice agronomy-appropriate irrigation (Jobbins et al, 2015;Grafton et al, 2018). 2 Farmers in the Jordan Valley are being encouraged to use treated wastewater for irrigation to offset pressure on groundwater.…”

“…Farmers may increase irrigation to maximize yields based on their understanding of the relationship between irrigation and yields (Benouniche et al, 2014). They may increase irrigation frequency in order to avoid crop losses when they are faced with the threat of droughts (Ghazouani et al, 2012; Ferchichi, Marlet, & Zairi, 2017). They may also irrigate without accurate information about crop water requirements and how irrigation affects agricultural productivity (Fernandez et al, 2020).…”