Management of irrigation schemes in Algeria: an assessment of water policy impact and perspectives on development

Abstract

To enhance the performance of irrigation schemes, the Algerian government has adopted significant reforms. Structural reform has involved the decentralization of water resource management and the establishment of an autonomous irrigation agency. Regulatory reform has focused on water pricing with the goal of cost recovery. In addition, the government earmarked public investment for a ten-year integrated water resource management initiative. Hence, the general objective of this paper is to assess the effects of water reforms on the performance of irrigation scheme management in Algeria. We used various performance indicators to evaluate two selected irrigation schemes: the East and West Mitidja. The results showed that the water policy implemented did not create a sustainable environment for the irrigation schemes. The lack of coordination between water agencies has led to poor monitoring of scarce watersupply services. Furthermore, the weak involvement of stakeholders as well as the indifference of local administrations exacerbated irrigation management issues. The water price did not reflect the total cost of supply, and the maintenance budgets in both irrigation schemes are below international and regional norms. This contributed to the deterioration of irrigation infrastructure, to greater water conveyance losses and to reduced delivery efficiency. Many factors were found to affect irrigation sustainability, such as fee collection constraints, water allocation constraints, land reform, disputes among members of the collective farms, inadequacy of the irrigation system components with regard to farm configuration, water theft, and acts of vandalism on the hydromechanic equipment. These constraints led to low equilibrium cycles for both schemes.

Water resources and food security in Algeria: Diagnosis and new strategy proposition

“…Only 500,000 to 600,000 ha (Bessaoud et al, 2019) are currently irrigated among the 8.6 million hectares of useful agricultural area which represents barely 6%. This percentage is very paltry to meet basic food needs such as cereals, pulses, dried fruits and fodder (Laoubi and Yamao, 2009; Statistiques Agricoles MADR, 2018). Table 1 shows evolution of irrigated areas and used systems from 2000 to 2008 (Table 1).…”

Estimating Conveyance Efficiency and Maize Productivity of Traditional Irrigation Systems in Usa River Catchment, Tanzania

“…Conveniently, to satisfy the future water demand for irrigation agriculture, infrastructure improvement and water management from source and at the farm field are of vital importance. e fragmented management system and weak involvement of stakeholders exacerbated irrigation water management hence amplifying inefficiency of water resources utilization [14].…”

Water policy reforms in Algeria’s agriculture: a review and prospects

“…These regional structures were established taking into account the division selected under the National Plan of Water, implementing the integrated water resource management framework that aims to involve all water sector stakeholders. Since 2000, water management in agriculture has continued to face multiple issues at several levels [12]. At the scheme level, issues include the weak organization of farmers, misrepresentation of irrigated areas by farmers, nonsettlement of farmer debt to irrigation agencies, late application for water use, poor service delivery, difficulties providing water to state farms (division and competition between farmers), difficulties in estimating the volume consumed, and inadequacy of irrigation system components with regard to farm configuration.…”

“…ONID's irrigation management has been very limited and far from satisfactory. Irrigation management issues are exacerbated by a lack of coordination at the institutional and local levels (e.g., ANBT and ONID), which has led to poor monitoring of scarce water supply services; a lack of maintenance; low efficiency; a lack of technical and financial means for intervention in the irrigation system, water allocation system and land reform constraints; inadequate water service provision; inadequate irrigation system components for farm configuration; water theft; acts of vandalism on the hydro-mechanic equipment; weak stakeholder involvement; the indifference of local administrations [12]; and low performance of irrigated farms due to inconsistent irrigated agriculture development policies [13].…”

“…According to research conducted on two irrigation schemes, Mitidja East and Mitidja West [12], financial performance assessment demonstrates that regulatory reforms in the water sector intended to promote irrigation agency autonomy and cost recovery have yielded poor results and, moreover, have not achieved the expected goals of sustainable irrigation schemes. Revenues from current water charges did not meet the full operation and maintenance costs, and the maintenance budgets in both schemes were found to be below international and regional norms.…”