Stakeholder engagement in a water user association for agricultural irrigation management in the villages in Indonesia

Abstract

The fostering and empowerment of water user associations (WUAs) has been regulated by the Minister of Agriculture since 2012. However, the implementation of this guideline varies. Some water user associations have achieved improvement, while some others have not. This study discusses how a WUA in the villages that use Bengawan Solo River water has successfully managed the irrigation. One of the factors leading to the success of this WUA is the stakeholder engagement in the agricultural irrigation management and farm business. This study was conducted from June 2016 to June 2017 by employing a qualitative approach. It aimed to identify and understand the stakeholder engagement in agricultural irrigation management by: 1) conducting an analysis on stakeholder power and interest indices, 2) mapping the positions, responsibilities, and obligations of stakeholders, and 3) identifying the stakeholder engagement in agricultural irrigation management. The research results are as follows: a) the analysis using Likert scale showed that the power index reached a value of 0.76, while the interest index reached a value of 0.78; b) the mapping of internal stakeholders, especially the responsibilities and obligations, has been regulated under the Articles of Incorporation of WUAs and obligations of external stakeholders, especially the government in making government regulations, irrigation infrastructure support, and flood prevention; c) cooperation of the stakeholders has an important role in the agricultural irrigation management and in solving the problems faced by WUAs.

Integrated assessment of irrigation and agriculture management challenges in Nepal: An interdisciplinary perspective

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Dynamics of Bureaucratic Neutrality Policy in Indonesia

“…The relationship patterns of political officials and bureaucratic officials showed that political intervention remains present in the bureaucracy and that there has been rampant politicisation of the bureaucracy (Lestari, 2014;Nurprojo, 2014;Rustinsyah & Prasetyo, 2019;Verina., Efendi., & Zetra., 2019). This has encouraged The National Institute of Public Administration (known as LAN) to argue that the relationship pattern between political officials and bureaucratic officials should not merely be a relationship between leaders and subordinates but must display a design of parallel partnership.…”

Stakeholder engagement in irrigation water management: the case of Karanganyar Regency, Indonesia

“…Irrigation needs to be noted to increase agricultural production [10]. However, there is no robust way to allocate, provide access to, and manage water resources in Indonesia which are increasingly scarce [11].…”

“…[13][13][13] [13]In their previous research, Julia et al [13] found that there is an authority overlap of stakeholder involvement in irrigation water management in Kampili area due to the different interests and powers of each stakeholder. Rustinsyah and Prasetyo [11] stated that cooperation between the government and water user association (WUA) is needed to succeed the irrigation water management system. In addition, related to stakeholders power and interest issues, Rustinsyah [14] then categorized the power of WUA into four indicators: (1) authority, (2) capability and capacity, (3) credibility, and (4) networking.…”