In Bolivia, shifts towards the privatisation of water supply and sewage services caused strong dissatisfaction, resulting in the eruption of social conflict. Because of the severe dissatisfaction, action was taken to cancel the previous agreements and instead launch a forum where government representatives, social organizations, the private sector and municipalities participate to formulate of a new policy. This case illustrates the crucial importance of rooting policies with the public.
Nepal has vast water resources and approximately 67% of its cultivated land can be irrigated. Out of the 1.7 million ha of Nepal’s irrigable land, 78% has been provided with some irrigation infrastructure. Irrigation is vital to Nepal, especially as the country is facing climate change impacts such as rise in temperature and more erratic rainfall patterns, which is creating prolonged periods of droughts and jeopardising the agricultural production nationwide. As the supply of water for agriculture becomes more variable, water resource competition and water conflicts across the country are equally becoming increasingly visible. The Bajrabarahi Village Municipality is one of those rural communities where water conflicts have been clearly on the rise over the last decade.
The populations of Ramitenga harvested on August 25, 2015 the corn grown on the demonstration site of the drip irrigation project. The quantity harvested has suffered damage caused by migratory birds that decimated almost 30% of the crops. According to the WACDEP Regional Manager, "the demonstration site was at that time the only place where birds could have something to eat, which accentuated their aggressiveness despite all the actions undertaken by project beneficiaries to hunt them."
