Showing papers by "Wai Fung Lam published in 2005"

Asian irrigation in transition: responding to challenges.

Abstract: Foreword Said Irandoust and Frank Rijsberman Preface Walter Coward Asian Irrigation Problems and Prospects - Ganesh P Shivakoti, Wai-Fung Lam and Ujjwal Pradhan PART ONE: GENERAL PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSITION Perspectives on Asian Irrigation - Randolph Barker and Francois Molle Social Capital and Irrigation Management - Norman T Uphoff Bringing Rigor and Evidence to the Relationship Institutions Against Change - Nirmal Sengupta PART TWO: RESPONSE TO COMPETITION FOR RESOURCES Groundwater Markets and Irrigation Potential in South Asia - Humnath Bhandari and Ganesh P Shivakoti A Micro Study from Nepal Emerging Water Crisis and Political Economy of Irrigation Reforms in India - Vishwa Ballabh Recognizing Multiple Water Uses in Intersectoral Water Transfers - Ruth Meinzen-Dick and Rajendra Pradhan The Closure of the Chao Phraya River Basin in Thailand - Francois Molle Its Causes, Consequences and Policy Implications The Emergence of Polycentric Water Governance in Northern Thailand - Uraivan Tan-Kim-Young, Pakping Chalad Bruns and Bryan Randolph Bruns PART THREE: INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS AND NEW PARTNERSHIP Asian Irrigation in Transition - Thierry Facon Service Orientation, Institutional Aspects and Design, Operation, Infrastructure Issues Participatory Approaches to Irrigation Development and Management in the Philippines - Luis P Eleazar et al The Next Generation Leadership and Turnover - Peter P Mollinga, Gao Hong and Anjali M Bhatia The Contradictions of Irrigation Management Reform in the People's Republic of China Reforming Taiwan's Irrigation Associations - Wai-Fung Lam Getting the Nesting of Institutions Right People's Participation in Irrigation Management in Thailand - Tassanee Ouvichit Coalition-Building for Participatory Irrigation Management Under Changing Water Resource Trends - M V K Sivamohan and Christopher A Scott Reflections on Reforms in Andhra Pradesh, India Irrigation Sector Reform in Asia - Douglas L Vermillion From 'Participation with Patronage' to 'Empowerment with Accountability' PART FOUR: MARKETS AND ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY OF IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE Making Irrigation Management Pro-Poor - Eric Biltonen, Doan Doan Tuan and Jinxia Wang Indications of Potentials from China and Vietnam Moving Beyond Water Provision - Helmi Strategic Issues Related to the Transition of Irrigation Management in Indonesia Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems in Asia - Robert Yoder and Prachanda Pradhan Subsistence Agriculture in Transition PART FIVE: SYNTHESIS AND STRATEGIC RESPONSES The Future of Irrigated Agriculture in Asia - Douglas L Vermillion, Elinor Ostrom and Robert Yoder What the Twenty First Century Will Require of Policies, Institutions and Governance Index

Coordinating the Government Bureaucracy in Hong Kong: An Institutional Analysis

Abstract: The change in sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997 has brought about an interesting puzzle: despite a high degree of institutional continuity, the Hong Kong bureaucracy that was considered highly efficient during the colonial era has appeared to turn into an inept administrative structure generating blunder after blunder. The bureaucracy seems to face greater difficulties in horizontal coordination under the new governance, and has lost the ability to produce coherent policy actions. Drawing upon a literature of institutional analysis, this article examines the institutional design for coordination in the Hong Kong government. The article argues that the bureaucracy in Hong Kong is designed upon a logic of colonial rule. Like any institutional arrangements, the colonial administrative system has inherent coordination limitations. During the colonial era, some smoothing mechanisms were developed as the lubricant for the bureaucracy's operation, but the new governance has inevitably impinged upon some of these—making the bureaucracy more prone to coordination problems.

The emergence of polycentric water governance in Northern Thailand.

Abstract: The Emergence of Polycentric Water Governance in Northern Thailand Uraivan Tan-Kim-Yong, Pakping Chalad Bruns, and Bryan Randolph Bruns REVISED DRAFT – APRIL 22, 2003 Paper presented at the workshop on “Asian Irrigation in Transition–Responding to the Challenges Ahead.” April 22-23, 2002, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand Abstract: Polycentric water governance in northern Thailand is emerging in a complex set of interacting institutional transitions. Conflicts, including upstream-downstream contests over water quantity, water quality, and watershed land-uses, are co-evolving with self-reform processes within local irrigation institutions, diverse communities, government agencies, and civil society organizations. Changes in water governance bridge multiple scales: linking local organizations, convening subbasin forums, and engaging national debates about rights to land and water. Tangled Transitions in Water Governance Access to water has become an increasing source of controversy in northern Thailand, disputed through public, private, and legislative debates; petitions; protests; and road blockades. Water disputes intertwine with conflicts over rights to use land and forests, particularly in upper watershed areas. Underlying the disputes lie not just competing interests but competing visions regarding governance, economic growth, social justice, and environmental sustainability. Attempts to resolve conflicts have often failed to reach agreement, or formulated agreements that turned out to be unworkable. At the same time, the institutional landscape has been rapidly evolving. Organizations, including national bureaucracies, local government bodies, and community groups, have been reforming themselves in response to conflicts over access to water and land resources, decentralization of authority and government budget, and the increasing role of the media, elections, and parliamentary politics. Thailand’s 1997 Constitution mandated that communities be involved in managing local natural resources. While many constitutions had been promulgated by earlier regimes, the 1997 Constitution was the product of extensive public discussion and embodied a range of reforms to institutionalize democracy and good governance. Transitions were underway in Thailand from the earlier centralized “bureaucratic polity” (Riggs 1971) toward democratization, decentralization, industrialization, and urbanization (see Wyatt 1984 for a general introduction to Thai history, and Phongpaichit and Baker 1998 for an overview of more recent developments). The destination for these transitions has been contested. Issues suppressed under previous political regimes emerged with new vigor. Efforts to shift from earlier top-down economic and social development pushed and pulled in different directions. Views clashed about how to pursue goals such as improving the lives of poor people and conserving the environment. Changes in government policy and practice opened new opportunities for communities to participate in managing local land and water resources. However, the geographic scale of water

Asian irrigation in transition: service orientation, institutional aspects, and design, operation, infrastructure issues.

Abstract: Participatory irrigation management and irrigation management transfer reforms often have the stated objectives of providing sustainable and adequate financing for operation and maintenance of irrigation and drainage services and of facilitating investment in the required rehabilitation or upgrading of irrigation systems. Overall reform of water resources management often encompasses these reforms. It often includes demand management to encourage efficient water allocation and imposes new externalities on irrigation systems in terms of environmental performance.

Making irrigation management pro-poor: indications of potentials from China and Vietnam

Abstract: In Shivakoti, G. P.; Vermillion, D. L.; Lam, W. F.; Ostrom, E.; Pradhan, U.; Yoder, R. ( Eds.). Asian irrigation in transition: responding to challenges. New Delhi, India: Sage