The Property Rights Challenges of Improving Access to Water for Agriculture: Lessons from the Sahel1

1. This is an adapted version of a background paper prepared for the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 2006. It is based on the findings of the first phase of a project of action research, capacity‐building and policy engagement, which was funded by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, led by the International Institute for Environment and Development, and coordinated by the author. The research involved several contributors, including Ced Hesse, Oumar Sylla, Brigitte Thébaud, Gill Vogt and Kees Vogt.

Abstract

In the Sahel, efforts have been made to improve access to water for agriculture through the creation of irrigation schemes and pastoral water points. In the past, decisions on the construction and operation of these water facilities were typically based on hydrological and technical factors alone, while issues concerning who has right over what before and after the water development project have often been neglected. However, if these issues are not properly addressed, water development projects can foster disputes, undermine the security of resource rights, and contribute to resource degradation. Drawing on the analysis of relevant legislation, on a literature review and on original fieldwork, this paper tackles the property rights issues raised by the creation and operation of irrigation schemes and pastoral water points, focusing on four Sahelian countries: Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Keywords:

• Sub‐Saharan Africa
• Sahel
• Water
• Agriculture
• Land rights
• Water rights
• Legal frameworks
• Property rights
• Pastoralism
• Farming
• Wells
• Irrigation

Notes

1. This is an adapted version of a background paper prepared for the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 2006. It is based on the findings of the first phase of a project of action research, capacity‐building and policy engagement, which was funded by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, led by the International Institute for Environment and Development, and coordinated by the author. The research involved several contributors, including Ced Hesse, Oumar Sylla, Brigitte Thébaud, Gill Vogt and Kees Vogt.

2. This section is based on Thébaud et al. (2006) — a work that in turn draws on the extensive work of the lead author in Eastern Niger, in Northern Burkina and in the Ferlo Region of Senegal (for example, Thébaud, 2002) — and on fieldwork undertaken for this study in the Zinder Region, Niger (Vogt and Vogt, 2005).

3. This section is based on Thébaud (2002) and Thébaud et al. (2006).

4. This section is based on Thébaud and Batterbury (2001) and on Thébaud et al. (2006).

5. This section is based on fieldwork undertaken for this study, the key findings of which are summarized in Vogt and Vogt (2005).