A Thirst for Change: Can Irrigation Technology Reach Nepal's Poorest Farmers?
Event description
Abstract
My doctoral thesis examines the adoption of groundwater irrigation technologies by marginal and tenant farmers, who are the poorest and weakest in the agricultural landscape. Framing the research through the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) perspective, I demonstrate that irrigation technologies are not neutral tools but socio-technical assemblages embedded within power relations that reproduce the inequalities of class, caste and gender, and local political history. To establish this argument, I conducted fieldwork in the Saptari District of Lower Nepal, paying particular attention to the socio-economic, historical, and institutional dynamics that shape access and use of groundwater in two wards of a village. The research combines household surveys, in-depth interviews, and visual ethnography. It shows how land tenure, social identity, and institutional arrangements intersect to produce ‘stacked architectures of access’ that determine who benefits from groundwater irrigation.
This architecture in my study area makes landholding size the strongest predictor of access to formal irrigation infrastructure. Secondly, being generally excluded from water access, marginal and tenant farmers must rely on informal practices honed through social and family networks. Third, women, particularly in migrant households, shoulder greater irrigation responsibilities yet face compounded constraints due to the entrenched gender norms and limited resource control. Irrigation support programs aiming to advance irrigation access were often captured and manipulated by a few elites, who frequently benefitted the most.
Speaker Biography
After serving in IWMI for six years as a Senior Research Officer, I came to the Crawford School with a John Allwright Fellowship(ACIAR) to conduct PhD research in RE&D. With over six years of research experience at a water management institute, I bring expertise in water governance, gender equity, and social inclusion. My goal is to produce rigorous, policy-relevant scholarship that advances equitable and sustainable water resource management. My research on smallholder groundwater irrigation adoption in Nepal has been recognized with the 2023 Crawford Fund Student Award and 2022 Irrigation Australia Student Award (second prize). I also serve as Capacity Development Officer with RAID, leading initiatives such as the Virtual Irrigation Academy and Women in Agriculture webinars.
Speaker website link
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