Tom Franks - Chair, ICID Working Group on Capacity-Building, Training and Education

This paper builds on established concepts of capacity-building to look in turn at the key dimensions of the policy environment, institutional strengthening and individual development. The importance of a consistent and supportive policy environment for building capacity for participatory irrigation management (PIM) is emphasised. A range of approaches to institutional strengthening are put forward, and their focus on the strengthening and development of Water Users Associations for PIM is discussed. Individual development is normally undertaken through training, but there is a clear need for innovatory and non-formal approaches to training, particularly to support PIM. The paper then goes on to discuss water governance and social learning, as two key emerging issues of particular relevance to capacity-building for PIM. Water governance provides a framework for viewing PIM within the wider perspective of the water sector as a whole, while the current emphasis on social learning is particular relevant to concepts of participation and PIM, and provides an entry point for capacity-building through individual development. Recent experiences collated through ICID workshops and elsewhere are reviewed for insights into capacity-building for PIM. These include experiences from India, China, Peru, and transition economies such as Ukraine and Albania, with reflective case studies from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Tanzania. The paper draws on these experiences to develop some general conclusions in the light of the theory and concepts of capacity-building, in particular highlighting the need to take an integrated view of all the resources needed for capacity-building for effective PIM and the importance of better understanding of participatory processes and of learning at the local level.