- Resource System
- Watershed and associated topography
- Resource Units
- Freshwater for irrigation
- Location
- Kasungu district, Malawi
The exact location of the Malawi irrigation system is undisclosed due to anonymity concerns. However, it is generally located in the administrative district of Kasungu in central Malawi and encompasses an unknown geographical area. The case study involves a snapshot in time from approximately 2001/2002 to 2007 and catalogues an action situation involving seven villages organized in an unknown number of households. The villagers initially farmed their fields independently until a non-governmental organization (NGO) set up a community irrigation system. Irrigation water is the main resource unit.
The original case study author focused on the elite capture and inequity in the NGO-facilitated irrigation system, as well as its institutional performance. The case study has subsequently been used in comparative analyses regarding Ostrom's Design Principles (see bibliography).
Brady U, Arizona State University.
. 2008. The institutional reality of common pool resources. Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Master's thesis
. 2010. A Review of Design Principles for Community-based Natural Resource Management. Ecology and Society. 15(4):38.
. 2016. Explaining success and failure in the commons: the configural nature of Ostrom’s institutional design principles. International Journal of the Commons. 10(2):417–439.