Competing and complimentary framings in the national irrigation policy in Kyrgyzstan. A critical discourse analysis of the Helvetas TIRIP project

Kyrgyzstan is a semi-arid country, which mainly depends on the agricultural sector. Hence, irrigation services mark an essential foundation of their most important source of income. Water User Associations (WUAs) have regulated the on-farm irrigation sector since the fall of the former Soviet Union (FSU) in the late nineties. As the condition of the irrigation canals have deteriorated significantly over the last decades, a reform of the on-going system has been sought. A policy reform of the Water Code was initiated by Helvetas Intercooperation together with local stakeholders such as farmers, government officials, members of the state water department and lawyers, which has enabled local self-governance bodies (LSG) to take over property of the WUAs, if both parties agreed. For this research, a three-month field trip to four (4) regions of Kyrgyzstan was undertaken, where 28 semi-structured interviews were analysed with qualitative methods. Research findings are analysed pursuant to Amartya Sens’ theories of “Development as Freedom” and “Capability Approach”. The scope of this thesis assesses the first short-term results found in the regions of Jalal-Abad, Osh and Karakol, by understanding how the model is being implemented in each site, framing the attitudes of the stakeholders towards the reform, and how this can be implemented in the scope of development. The results have shown that each region had a different form of implementation, where either WUAs remained sovereign, LSG bodies supported WUAs via funding and technical equipment or took over the canals under their property. Attitudes framed indicated that the combination of both a strong LSG body and weak, but not indebted WUA favoured the model of the municipality to support or take over the irrigation system. The vast majority of attitudes towards the new legal framework were framed positively, as a direct improvement towards the irrigation system was visible, in the form of canal cementation and thorough cleaning and maintenance works. The newly won support of the LSG body indicated an increase in professional and organisational capacity, stronger cooperation amongst a variety of stakeholders on both local and national level, access to a larger variety of resources, such as heavy machinery and funding, more rigid irrigation fee collection rates, applied methods for conflict resolution, and long-term amelioration plans for the future. Lastly, these findings are similar to other on-farm irrigation systems worldwide, and can be used as a comparative study for on-farm irrigation on a larger scale of development. As LSG bodies gain freedom of development in the irrigation sector, future capacity-building projects are vital for both local communities as well as irrigation to become more sustainable and improve.