FOREWORD

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The significant achievements in Asian agriculture during the past decades have been attributed in large part to the Green Revolution that occurred in the region in the 1960s and 1970s. The Green Revolution resulted in marked increases in yields which were brought about not only by the widespread use of new high-yielding varieties, mainly of rice and wheat, but also by the adoption of those varieties in conjunction with a comprehensive package of additional inputs which included fertilizers, pesticides, and adequate irrigation. Irrigation thus played a major role in the endeavors of developing countries to meet the food requirements of their growing populations.

The improvement of irrigation efficiency to sustain food production efforts became an overriding concern as water resources became increasingly scarce and costly. Large irrigation systems constructed by the public sector were often poorly managed. It was in this context that a more participatory approach to irrigation management was introduced in the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, the varied experiences of a number of developing countries have shown that participatory irrigation management generally contributes to reduced costs to government, better management, greater accountability, and improved sustainability of operations. Such benefits, however, can be gained only by ensuring that the shift to a participatory type of management is properly planned and managed. This requires all stakeholders to participate in, support, and commit to implementing the change on time and within the planned resource budget.

To assess recent developments in the implementation of participatory irrigation management in APO member countries and to discuss ways of more effectively managing the change to that type of management, the APO organized a Seminar on Organizational Change for Participatory Irrigation Management in October 2000 in the Philippines. This volume is a compilation of the papers and proceedings of the seminar. I hope that it will serve as a useful reference on the subject in APO member countries.

The APO is grateful to the Government of the Philippines for hosting the seminar, in particular to the Productivity and Development Center of the Development Academy of the Philippines, for implementing the program and to the resource speakers for their valuable contributions. Special thanks are due to Dr. C.M. Wijayaratna for editing the present volume.