Editorial:
An Ostrich Called PIM

Ostriches are famous for their habit of burying their heads in the sand. While there may be a perfectly logical explanation for this, the common mythology is that they are avoiding the harsh reality which they might find if they were to stand up and look around. Underneath the sand with their eyes closed, the world looks beautiful. 

When we fail to monitor and evaluate the implementation of PIM programs, we are free to imagine, ostritch-like, that we are creating a beautiful world where everything is going well; farmers are happy and the irrigation staff are supportive; water is well managed and maintenance is carried out as needed; costs are recovered; the poorest farmers receive their fair share of water irrespective of their low social status; women's voices are heard; the WUA leaders are strong yet sensitive to all constituents' concerns, and the finances of both the WUA and the irrigation agency are open and transparent.

Too often, this is the world we assume while implementing PIM programs. Typically, PIM is introduced as part of a rehabilitation project with donor financing. Routine monitoring of the overall project seldom provides adequate information for assessing progress with implementing the PIM components of the project. Site visits of a few hours may provide anecdotal evidence that the PIM program is on track, or even exceeding expectations. But this type of information can be dangerously misleading.

Where are the evaluations of PIM implementation? On what basis do we make judgments that a project here or there is going well in terms of its PIM features -- establishing WUAs as sustainable organizations that will truly function over the long term? The pressures on the project managers -- whether from the World Bank or the national Department of Irrigation -- are to hope for the best and don't ask too many questions. Monitoring and evaluation studies conducted mid-way into a project could prove an embarrassment. The incentives to the project managers are short-term. But the interests of the system managers -- the farmers -- are long-term. They are the ones who will have to live with the results of the project, for better or worse.

INPIM as an organization has been promoting PIM, for many good reasons. But the reality of how PIM gets implemented may be quite different from what was planned. Deviations from the plan may be fully justified, but they need to be known. Perhaps the next plans can be improved; perhaps the current implementation process needs to be changed. We need to ask the hard questions and find out.

When those dreaming ostriches do pull their heads out of the sand they sometimes find themselves in a very pleasant landscape, and sometimes not. The only certainty is that whatever they were dreaming is quite different from the reality they will find when they open their eyes to look around.

Note: If any readers are aware of PIM monitoring and/or evaluation studies conducted recently and while project implementation was still going on, please let me know and I will share your inputs with the readership next issue; I do know of the carefully documented cases of the Philippines and Gal Oya (Sri Lanka) during the early/mid 1980s, but, I am not aware of anything similar during the 1990s.

- David Groenfeldt

From the Editor:

For the next issue, we would like to invite your comments on the following question: What Role for INPIM National Chapters? The continued existence of INPIM as an international organization is no longer an issue. We have been here for more than two years. We have just been given (by EDI) a full-time Coordinator to help the organization grow and provide more services. At the country level, national chapters are already established or underway in Albania, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China and are being planned in other countries. The family of INPIM organizations has an unprecedented opportunity to make a difference in the irrigation sector. How can these national chapters be strengthened? What should be our priorities as an organization? Where should we focus our energies? What kinds of activities should we engage in directly, or indirectly? Please let us know and we will publish your suggestions in the next issue of this Newsletter.