Small scale irrigation in Noakhali Char area of Bangladesh
This snapshot provides a picture of just a small number of the estimated 500 watermelon growers in Subarna char
Abstract
This snapshot provides a picture of just a small number of the estimated 500 or so watermelon growers in Subarna char. Yet even this one-dimensional picture raises some questions about the manual irrigation system and about water sharing: why are so many new installations taking place in the fields? What are the social and political relationships that surround this use of water? How, and in what ways are the various individuals integrated into institutions that manage their irrigation? How does the watermelon production make a difference to these farmers’ livelihoods? Why is the hand pump being used most instead of deep tube wells (DTW), which are visible in other chars and would allow farmers to reduce their manual labour?
This report aims to provide answers to these questions as part of an interrogation of the institutions and politics of small-scale irrigation.
This is part of the ‘Innovations to Promote Growth among Small-scale Irrigators in Africa: An Ethnographic and Knowledge-Exchange Approach’ project
Citation
Zahir Ahmed (2015) Small scale irrigation in Noakhali Char area of Bangladesh. University of Sussex School of Global Studies