Jean-Philippe Venot’s research while affiliated with Université de Montpellier and other places

Sur la base des contributions au dossier thématique des Cahiers Agricultures intitulé « Le foncier irrigué : enjeux et perspectives pour un développement durable », cet article introductif propose d’aborder l’objet « foncier irrigué » et les enjeux qu’il soulève par le prisme d’une approche socio-matérielle. Cette approche se nourrit de la notion d’assemblage et conçoit le foncier irrigué comme une entité sui generis résultant de relations et pratiques de bricolage « au quotidien » de la part d’acteurs insérés dans des réseaux multi échelles. Le foncier irrigué est envisagé comme une entité à la fois empirique et discursive, émergente et évolutive dans le temps et dans l’espace, qui évolue au gré de multiples recombinaisons entre eau(x), terre(s), cultures, et infrastructures mais aussi d’imaginaires, de discours et d’une économie politique globalisée de l’irrigation. D’un point de vue analytique, l’approche socio-matérielle est une approche relationnelle ancrée dans l’idée qu’il n’y a rien de « naturel » dans ce qui est communément appelé « ressources (naturelles) » : terres et eaux « deviennent » ressources via un jeu complexe de mises en relations et de pratiques. Dans une telle perspective, c’est bien le foncier irrigué, en tant qu’assemblage socio-matériel particulier et évolutif, qui fait ressource sui generis et non au travers des eaux, terres, cultures, et infrastructures qui le composent. C’est sans doute en cela que notre proposition diffère de la littérature existante sur le foncier irrigué qui tend à prendre ces catégories comme points de départs de l’analyse.

During this conference interested in Agents Based Modeling and more specifically the variety of use of the GAMA platform, we presented an approach involving social sciences in which we tried to understand the place of ABM artifacts in participatory approaches, taking GAMA and Cormas platforms as case studies.

Models are widely used to research hydrological change and risk. However, the power embedded in the modelling process and outcomes is often concealed by claiming their neutrality. Our review shows that in the scientific literature relatively little attention is given to the influence of models on development processes and outcomes in water governance. At the same time, an emerging body of work offering critical insights into the political implications of hydrological models and a nuanced understanding of their application in context has begun to flourish. Drawing on this work, we call for power-sensitive modelling which includes the following considerations: take a holistic approach to modelling beyond programming and coding; foster accountability; work towards just and equitable water distributions; be transparent about the expectations and choices made; and democratise modelling by giving space to and being mindful of representations of multiple bodies of knowledge and multiple stakeholders and by incorporating marginalised people and nature into the modelling process. Our call should not be understood as a suggestion to do away with modelling altogether, but rather as an invitation to interrogate how quantitative models may help to foster transformative pathways towards more just and equitable water distributions.

The 2015 Paris declaration obligated international development organizations to assess the climate compatibility of their projects. For irrigation projects, like those negotiated between the Agence Française de Développement, and the Cambodian government in the early 2020s, calculations of estimated greenhouse gas emissions have become important requirements. But how to estimate emissions from future rice fields and the effects of irrigation infrastructures that do not exist? To address this issue, emissions calculators have been developed as a means to bridge climate science and development knowledge infrastructures, so that data and forms of calculation from climate science can easily enter the world of development. However, by engaging in an infrastructural inversion, we argue that this understanding is flawed. Drawing on a case study of an irrigation project in Cambodia, we show that heterogeneous data concatenations are continuously transformed in the movement across infrastructures until referentiality breaks down. Emission calculators operate as a data wormhole, emitting extremely uncertain numbers that contribute to a problematic and speculative politics of anticipation. In contrast with the dominant politics of anticipation, which depends on futile efforts to neutralize uncertainty, infrastructural inversion makes it possible to envision a decentered politics attentive to distributed agency.

Hydrological models are widely used to research hydrological change and risk. Yet, the power embedded in the modelling process and outcomes are often concealed by claiming its neutrality. Our systematic review shows that in scientific literature relatively little attention is given to the power of models to influence development processes and outcomes in water governance. The review also shows that there is much to learn from those who are willing to be openly reflexive on the influence of models. In agreement with this emerging body of work, we call for power-sensitive modelling, which means that people are critical about how models are made and with what implications, taking into account that: i) The choice for and use of models for water management happens in a political context and has political consequences; ii) Models are the result of choices made by modellers and – since they have political consequences – these need to be made as explicit as possible as opposed to being “blackboxed”; iii) To consider the ethical implications of the choices of modellers, commissioners, and users, and to improve accountability, models and their power need to be understood by connecting the inner workings of a model with a contextual understanding of its development and use, iv) Action is taken upon these implications by democratising modelling processes. Our call should not be understood as a suggestion to do away with modelling altogether, but rather as an invitation to interrogate how quantitative models may help to foster transformative pathways towards more just and equitable water distributions.

CONTEXT Worldwide farmer managed irrigation systems have provided crops for food, feed and the market for centuries. From high mountain environments to river valleys and deltas, in all continents people have organized to construct, use, maintain, transform and sustain irrigated agro-ecosystems. In this context it is important to better understand how these systems are sustained. OBJECTIVE The objective of this contribution is to explore and theorize through which strategies and mechanisms irrigators are able to sustain these systems in a constantly changing socio-environmental context. METHODS The study is based on ethnographic qualitative research in four areas where farmer managed irrigation systems are sustained by irrigators (Valencia region, Spain; Ecuadorian highlands; Cambodian Mekong delta; and Tsangano district, Mozambique). Research consisted of interviews and observations in these areas and was supported by a literature review of what has been published about these systems. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Results show that farmer managed irrigation systems are dynamic systems that constantly transform but that are sustained in these changes through what we term ‘communality’. We introduce this term to point out three interrelated elements that stand at the basis of farmer managed irrigation systems sustenance, namely: commons, community and polity. Analysis of the four case studies points out that these three elements are mobilized differently by farmers depending on their socio-environmental context. We show that the mobilization of these different elements amidst internal and external challenges and conflicts, forms the basis for the longevity and sustainability of collectively managed irrigation systems. SIGNIFICANCE In the literature on farmer managed irrigation systems collective action has been portrayed as the main pillar that sustains these systems. This contribution challenges this notion by showing that irrigation systems are sustained by a combination of individual actions, collective practices, normative frameworks and organizational forms; a sense of community; and the development of political agency (polity). Recognizing that these elements come together as site specific hybrids opens new avenues of inquiry to better understand the sustainability of farmer managed irrigation systems.

This brief contains the data needed to calculate and assess the robustness of a water level - flood link (WAFL) in the Cambodian Mekong Delta, which was used to analyse changes in the long-term behaviour of Monsoon inundations in the region. The data comprises the WAFL raster (.tif) files for two zones in the delta. Zone A is located on the right bank of the Bassac River, a distributary of the Mekong. Zone B is bracketed between the Mekong River and the Bassac River. The WAFL was calculated by linking water levels measured by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) at the hydrological station in Koh Khel, with inundation maps derived from Sentinel-1 and -2 images taken between 2017 and 2021. The final WAFL raster files provides a basis for estimating inundation extents using in-situ water levels. Furthermore, this brief includes data used for the assessment of WAFL, including in-situ water level data and the extents of natural vegetation in the case study area in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020. The former was collected using a differential pressure logger. The latter was calculated from historical Landsat image composites. Finally, raster files representing the incidence and duration of inundations in the case study area before and after the year 2008 are provided. These were calculated based on the WAFL and the MRC water levels. For each area, before- and after-images are available, as well as a raster representing the change between the two. To simplify visualisation and geographical location, shapefiles (.shp) of the study area and the location of the in-situ logger are also provided.

The data included in this brief consists of the data needed to calculate and assess the robustness of a water level - flood link (WAFL) in the Cambodian Mekong delta, which was used to analyse changes in the long-term behaviour of Monsoon inundations in the region. The dataset provided comprises the WAFL raster (.tif) files for two zones in the delta. Zone A is located on the right bank of the Bassac, a distributary of the Mekong. Zone B is bracketed between the Mekong and the Bassac. The WAFL was calculated by linking water levels measured by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) at the hydrological station in Koh Khel, with inundation maps derived via k-means clustering from Sentinel-1 and -2 images taken between 2017 and 2021. A table representing the inundation extents in each zone (in %) derived from this analysis is also included. In the final WAFL raster files, each pixel contains the lowest water level for which it was detected as being flooded. It thus provides a basis for an estimation of inundation extents based on in-situ water levels. Furthermore, this brief includes data used for the assessment of WAFL. This encompasses in-situ water level data collected in a floodplain channel in the Cambodian Mekong Delta, as well as the extents of natural vegetation in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020 in the case study area. The former was collected starting in June 2020 using a differential pressure logger (Onset Hobo MX2001). The latter was calculated from historical Landsat image composites representing the dry seasons (March-May) of the respective years. The Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated and a threshold of 0.55 set to delineate forests and shrubland. Finally, raster files representing the incidence and duration of inundations in the case study area before and after the year 2008 - a known regional break point in terms of hydrology - are provided. These were calculated based on the WAFL and the MRC water levels. For each area, before- and after-images are available, as well as a raster representing the change between the two (after-before). To simplify visualisation and geographical location, shapefiles (.shp) of the study area and the location of the in-situ logger are also provided.