Social Capital and Irrigation Water Management in Kafr al-Sheikh and Fayoum since the 1970s

Abstract

This chapter identifies and describes the conditions of the village and institutional fields since the 1970s in the case study areas in Kafr al-Sheikh (KSH) and Fayoum, which were influenced by the socioeconomic, institutional, and technological changes discussed in the literature. It examines the impact of these changes on the village field interactions, and thus the formation of collective action and the exercise of social control, and the extent to which these changes affected the irrigation water management (IWM) field. This chapter is divided into two sections. The first examines the changes that have affected the village field actors and their ability to exercise the social capital functions, social control and collective action, as well as changes to the main social relationships in the village field. The second analyzes the formation and functioning of water users' organizations in KSH and Fayoum on the mesqa and branch canal levels. It considers the impact of changes on the autonomy of the IWM field and the extent to which the village field influences irrigation water management in both governorates.