Transition of Irrigation System Management in Indonesia: Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainability

Transition of Irrigation System Management in Indonesia: Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainability." Presented at "Constituting the Commons: Crafting Sustainable Commons in the New Millenium", the Eighth Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
This paper discusses transition of irrigation systems management in Indonesia in order to maintain sustainable benefits from its operation. Its specific focus is on reviewing the evolution of government policy regarding the role of the farmers in irrigation management, and the emphasis of the management activities, and strategies to help developed farmers' organisation. Lessons from past experience, opportunities, and challenges for sustainability is identified.

"The way irrigation has been and is being managed in Indonesia is very much under the influence of the perspectives developed at the international level. The perspective which sees irrigation as a purely technical process which then evolved to perspective which sees irrigation as socio-technical process has been the dominant perspective in the past. This paper argues that the socio-technical perspective is necessary but not sufficient to help developed programs and strategies which are supportive for the sustainability of irrigation. The experience in Indonesia tends to suggest that we need to move toward a perspective which sees irrigation as a business process to support irrigators in generating higher productive value from available water. The combination of the development of farmers' water-based business and the need for a reliable water supply would enhance the sustainability of irrigation.

"The transition from policy and program which developed based on technical perspective, then to socio- technical perspective, and moving toward irrigation as business process required reforms on the policy and strategies. The reforms efforts in the past were much more geared toward the farmers' side and less attention has been given to the reform of water related bureaucracies. This has resulted in ineffective implementation of irrigation policies and programs; specifically those related to the strengthening and development of farmers' organisation for water management and facilitating farmers' water-based business. The supply-driven logic of operation applied by the water related of the bureaucracies in implementing their programs not always in line with the application of participatory approach in developing farmers organisation.

"Indonesia has started to develop a new policy on irrigation management which is opening room for greater role of farmers' organisation and the development of farmers' water-based business. This paper will discuss the challenges and opportunities for the sustainability of irrigation under the new policy."