150613 - Integrated assessment - how does it help unpack.pdf (1.07 MB)
Integrated assessment - how does it help unpack water access by marginalized farmers?
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-21, 08:44 authored by Hamilton, SH, Merritt, WS, Das, M, Rahman, MW, Bhuiya, SS, Carter, L, Cosijn, M, Roth, CH, Singha, S, Geoffrey SymeGeoffrey SymeWater is critical to the lives and livelihoods of rural communities in developing countries; however, access to water can be inequitable within communities. This paper uses a generalized integrated assessment approach to explore the determinants of water access by marginalized farmers in two villages in coastal Bangladesh, before and after the setup of local water institutions. The study was part of a broader project aimed at promoting socially inclusive agricultural intensification. An integrative framework was developed in this study to capture and link the diverse range of factors that influence the distribution of water, including the often-overlooked role of social dynamics and governance arrangements. While interventions around improving water resource infrastructure can be critical for freshwater availability, the case studies show that a breakdown of asymmetric power structures may also be needed for water access to all individuals, especially marginalized groups. Establishing a community-based water institution on its own does not necessarily address power issues in a community. It is imperative that the agency and capacities of the marginalized members are developed and that the institutional arrangements foster an enabling environment for marginalized members to influence decision making. Integrated assessment allowed the case studies to be explored from multiple perspectives so as to gain a greater understanding of the barriers and levers to obtaining equitable outcomes from water interventions.
History
Publication title
Water (Switzerland)Volume
12Issue
12Article number
3444Number
3444Pagination
1-22ISSN
2073-4441Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic StudiesPublisher
MDPIAGPlace of publication
SwitzerlandRights statement
Copyright: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Repository Status
- Open