Evaluation of the effects of current irrigation water pricing systems on water productivity in Awash River Basin, Ethiopia

Irrigated agricultural production is the backbone of the Chinese agricultural sector, but the increasing demand for irrigation water, its inefficient utilization and overuse of chemical inputs, accompanied by the short supply of water resources have endangered the nation's agricultural and environmental sustainability. The Chinese government has proposed a water pricing policy with the expectation of improving the efficiency of utilizing irrigation water and fertilizer, to mitigate these problems. With the main objective of this paper being to assess the impact of this policy on water demand and environmental sustainability, a positive mathematical programming model was adopted to simulate different irrigation water pricing scenarios based on farm-level primary data from three irrigation districts along the Weihe River basin. The main parameter for assessing water demand was the change in total water consumption relative to the base year, while change in fertilizer consumption and water demand was determined to evaluate the impact of pricing policy on environment sustainability. According to the results, irrigation water demand and fertilizer consumption were mostly price inelastic to water pricing. This implies that water pricing policy can have only a minor role in regulating the water demand and environment in the region even when the base-year water price is doubled.

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Price Sensitivity of Farmer Preferences for Irrigation Water–Pricing Method: Evidence from a Choice Model Analysis in Krishna River Basin, India

Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management ◽

10.1061/(asce)wr.1943-5452.0000103 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 137 (2) ◽

pp. 205-214 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Prakashan Chellattan Veettil ◽

Stijn Speelman ◽

Aymen Frija ◽

Jeroen Buysse ◽

Koen Mondelaers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Irrigation Water ◽

Choice Model ◽

Model Analysis ◽

Water Pricing ◽

Price Sensitivity ◽

Method Evidence ◽

Irrigation Water Pricing

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Irrigation Water Pricing in Tunisia: Issues for Management Transparency

Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences [JAMS] ◽

10.24200/jams.vol11iss0pp21-28 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

pp. 21 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chokri Thabet ◽

Ali Chebil

Keyword(s):

Asymmetric Information ◽

Irrigation Water ◽

Cost Estimation ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Water Pricing ◽

Accurate Information ◽

Accounting System ◽

Water Shortages ◽

Capital Costs ◽

Irrigation Water Pricing

Tunisia is facing increasing competition for water among users due to population and economic growth. Projections show that the water resources will be fully used by 2010. As a result, the opportunity cost of water has risen significantly. In order to cope with potential water shortages, the Tunisian government has undertaken a set of policies and technical measures, such as institutional reforms, improving the efficiency of water delivery network and water pricing policies reforms. It has been observed that cost estimation of water produced and delivered is not transparent. Thus any increase in water price is opposed by farmers. Data is not consistent, making the establishment of a water pricing scheme difficult. Besides, the water authority lacks accurate information on water productivity at farm level leading to asymmetric information on the side of the authorities as well as on the side of the farmers. For a successful reform of the irrigation water pricing policy two conditions have to prevail: i) integration of the accounting system of capital costs with an analytical approach and ii) assessing farmers’ willingness to pay for irrigation water. Finally, the implementation of a water rights system could be an alternative to solve the asymmetric information problem and improve the economic efficiency.

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