Author(s)

M. A. Kamran & G. P. Shivakoti

Abstract

Socio-ecological systems (SESs), the spate irrigation system in our case, operate under the environment of stress from several external and contextual factors. The literature on collective action in Common Pool Resources (CPRs) considers non-storage and non-stationary characteristics of a resource as major obstacle to its sustainability. However, the case study systems have endured, despite acute scarcity and uncertainty of irrigation, for centuries in arid and semi-arid environments of the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, parts of South America and Central Asia, where rainfall is too low to support rainfed farming. These rainfall dependent irrigation systems are more complex and can exhibit unexpected changes as a result of climatic disturbances. Thus, actions directed at enhancing robustness to a particular set of disturbances can trigger changes in ecological dynamics that may, in turn, alter the set of disturbances faced by communities. The four case study systems for this research were selected from the Punjab (Pakistan) by purposive sampling, comprising two perennial and non-perennial farmer managed spate irrigation systems (FMIS) and two perennial and non-perennial agency managed irrigation systems (AMIS), providing 2X2 typology for analysis. The sustainability framework by Anderies et al. (A framework to analyse the robustness of social-ecological systems from an institutional perspective. Ecology and Society, 2004) has been used for analysis of this study. Keywords: vulnerability, sustainability, adaptive capacity, irrigation management, arid and semi-arid environments, spate irrigation, Punjab Pakistan.

Keywords

vulnerability, sustainability, adaptive capacity, irrigation management, arid and semi-arid environments, spate irrigation, Punjab Pakistan