NGO-facilitated community irrigation system in Kasungu district, Malawi

Resource System
Watershed and associated topography
Resource Units
Freshwater for irrigation

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).