Abstract:
Assessing the determinants affecting farmers’ participation in Participatory Irrigation
Management (PIM) at the farm household level is vital in identifying the root causes of the
prevailing problems at the tail-end of irrigation schemes in Sri Lanka, with a view to finding
national level remedies to solve the head-tail disparities in sharing water. The main objective
of this study is to propose appropriate determinants and measures to assess farming practices
in PIM in Sri Lanka while reviewing the spatial and non-spatial factors that affect, whether
significantly or otherwise, farmers’ participation in collective activities. A systematic
literature review was conducted using PRISMA guidelines. A total of 28 full-text research
articles on farmers’ participation in collective action were identified to propose determinants
and measures to assess farmers’ participation in PIM. This study identified significant social,
economic, managerial, institutional, locational, and physical factors based on previous
studies. Addressing the knowledge gap, this study suggests 36 determinants that are helpful
to assess the level of farmers’ participation in PIM in Sri Lanka. These include 10 social
factors, 6 economic factors, 4 management factors, and 7 institutional factors under the non spatial category, while 5 of the locational and 4 of the physical factors fall under the spatial
category. Moreover, this study ensures consistency between the different measures applied to
assess farmers’ participation and recommends the usage of distributional and proportional
measures to determine farmers’ participation in PIM in Sri Lanka as well as in other countries
where IMT or PIM is being implemented.
