I have been working in agricultural water management since 1983, initially at the irrigation system level in Sub-Saharan Africa but more recently I have become interested in livelihood, institutional and basin approaches to the governance of water. I am particularly interested in scaler challenges posed by IWRM, and therefore associated  theoretical responses to water at the landscape scale, including for example concepts underlying the eco-systems approach (which I find to be both exciting and limited in different ways).

Other research includes; critiquing IWRM and integrated river basin management; an analysis of the dynamics of irrigation societies and management in non-equilibrium environments; theoretical work on the efficiency and productivity of water; policy analysis of smallholder irrigation support particularly in Africa; and an examination of the trade-offs and interfaces between wetlands and irrigated agriculture.

My major work during 2001 to 2006 was as Team Leader for a DFID-KAR project in Tanzania called RIPARWIN - Raising Irrigation Productivity and Releasing Water for Intersectoral Needs. See this website for more details.

Also see;

http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Africa/files/RIPARWIN/05/Riparwin.htm

Perhaps one of the most exciting fields of work that I am carrying forward from RIPARWIN (amongst many) is the use of games and gaming in natural resources.  In 2000, I devised a conflict dialogue tool called 'The River Basin Game' which plays with marbles on a sloping table.  To date, I and others have used it successfully in Tanzania, Northern Nigeria and South Africa with both farmers and other local water users, and with higher level decision makers. This work has lead to other insights regarding the transformative roles of science and scientists in affecting societal changes and understanding surrounding water and irrigation. I am therefore interested in questions regarding whether socialised science can better influence policy and practice.

In recent years, other projects involved capacity building and institutional analysis of water user associations in Kyrgyzstan; studies of sectoral water transfer in Chennai, India; and livelihoods research and investigations related to the productivity of water in Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Past research considered design-management interactions on large-scale canal irrigation systems, with a focus on Southern Africa. This work attempted to characterise and model the factors that influence the performance of irrigation schemes with a view to providing guidance on system evaluation and best practices for rehabilitation.

Other work includes the Commission for Africa to (a strategy document to explore how irrigation in Africa may be supported under an enlarged infrastructure investment programme).  Download the PDF document - see link at the right hand side of the page.
 

I am currently supervising the following research students:

Dorice Agol; ‘Linking Culture and Science: Water Resources in Kenya’

Henry Alhassan; ‘Large Dams: A Development Imperative, a Tyranny of Technology, or a Subversion of Southern Coutries Development: Case Studies of the Akosombo Dam and the Bui Dam Project of Ghana’

Citalli Becerril-Tinoco; 'Institutional Analysis of Water Management in Mexico'

Julien Cour; ‘Understanding the Needs of Institutions for the Development of Water Resource Management 'Decision Aids' Software: Learning from the Ruaha Basin, Tanzania’

Matthew England; 'IWRM and Climate Change in India'

Nicholas Hepworth; ‘The Role of Regulatory Practice in Integrated Water Resource Management: Impacts, Implications and Insights for Progress via a Multiple Case Study of Sectoral Water Uses in Tanzania’

Joe Hill; ‘Water Rights and Water Governance in Chotanagpur, Jharkhand’

Suzanty Sitorus; ‘Local Dynamics and Integrated Water Resources Management’

Telephone: +44 (0)1603 593378

Room number: A1.82

As Head of School, my PA is Mandy Holland

Email: b.lankford@uea.ac.uk

Main DEV Research Area: Livelihoods and Environmental Change