Книга: Incentives and Instruments for Sustainable Irrigation

This is the first book that looks at Sustainable Irrigation in a holisticway by considering the need for interdependence of the objectives ofsustainable agriculture, sustainable water management, sustainable water infrastructure, sustainable irrigation communities and a sustainable environment and the need to reallocate water among competing users, and the need for water and food security in an environment of scarcity. It doesthis by accepting the linkages between these objectives and the need to change behavior and perceptions when it comes to water and how water is used. It also considers the need for new institutional and governancestructures as well as robust allocation frameworks to deal with climate change, both from a theoretical and conceptual perspective and by a numberof case studies from around the world.The book deals with the complex issue of promoting the development of sustainable irrigation. It does not see sustainable irrigation as a fixed defined endpoint but rather as a locally defined and constantly changing objective. It provides a comprehensive discussion of the importance of institutions and governance to guide this process and then provides examplesfrom around the world of how incentives and instruments have been introduced to support this development, how successful they have been and what the factors have been promoting or impeding the successful outcomes. The book also highlights the need to see sustainable irrigation in the context ofother objectives such as food and water security, reallocating existingscarce resources between competing uses such as urban and industrial users as well as the environment, and how emerging issues such as bio-fuel production and increasing energy prices influence the process.The book is also unique in the group of authors contributing to the book.They represent numerous disciplines and include some of the long-term most influential authors in this field such as Zilberman, Easter and Rob Young, some who have been very influential in more recent times such as Mike Young, deLoe and Bjornlund and some younger authors who are just starting to have an impact on the literature within their fields such as Wheeler, Schierling, Schoengold, Hadjigeogalis and Kuehne. It is in that respect a very unique book which should appeal to a very large multidisciplinary audience. Possibly the first book concentrating on the issue of Sustainable Irrigationand addressing how to achieve this by both looking at governance,institutions, economic instruments, regulatory instruments, and the adoption of more efficient technology. It provides both the conceptual background forthe need for changes in these areas but also give examples of how suchchanges have taken place around the world and what early experiences have been.