A new methodology for assessing the impact of water pricing scenarios : Case study of small-scale irrigation schemes in South Africa

Speelman Stijn, Frija Aymen, Farolfi Stefano, Buysse Jeroen, D'Haese Marijke, D'Haese Luc. 2008. A new methodology for assessing the impact of water pricing scenarios : Case study of small-scale irrigation schemes in South Africa. In : People, Food and Environments: Global Trends and European Strategies : EAAE 2008, XIIth Congress of the European Association of Agricultural Economists, Ghent, Belgium, 26 - 29 August 2008. s.l. : s.n., 16 p. EAAE 2008. 12, Ghent, Belgique, 26 Août 2008/29 Août 2008.

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Résumé : The growing water scarcity worldwide has increased the call for economic instruments to stimulate rational water use in agriculture. In developing countries where currently agricultural water use is often still heavily subsidised, there exists a tendency of introducing water pricing policies to achieve this goal. The exact impact of water pricing policies on irrigation water use or on the farmers' production system is however mostly unknown. This study introduces a new two-stage methodology that allows estimating at farm level the effects of introducing or raising a water price on the agricultural production process and water demand. In the first stage the technical efficiency frontier is constructed and the technical and allocative efficiency levels of each farm are calculated. This representation of the technology is in the second stage used in a profit maximization model. Applying the method to small-scale irrigators in South Africa, it is shown that water demand of farmers is quite responsive even to small changes in the water price. Furthermore, introduction of a water price is shown to significantly decrease farm profit. This appears to be mainly a problem for the poorer farmers.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : eau d'irrigation

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Afrique du Sud

Classification Agris : P10 - Ressources en eau et leur gestion
F06 - Irrigation
E14 - Économie et politique du développement

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