Jan-Erik Gustafsson

Impact of economic globalisation on water resources: A source of technical, social and environmental challenges for the next decade

Abstract Globalisation is not a single phenomena, and it has become a catch-all concept to describe a range of trends and forces that impact our environment in many ways. Economic globalisation, under the aegis of the so called neo-liberal economics, is a manifested shift from a world of distinct national economies to a global economy in which production is internationalised and financial capital flows freely and instantaneously between countries. Under the perspective of a global economy, water resources are impacted both directly and indirectly. The aim of the present paper is to identify those areas in water resource management where the global economy seems to be too unregulated to be considered sustainable.

An analysis of groundwater vulnerability and water policy reform in India

Water is a basic human need, a finite life support system and a key to prosperity. Unplanned industrialisation, urbanisation and impact of liberalised import of wastes intended for recycling have negatively affected the water environments in India. This is further exaggerated by lack of discipline and a weak obligation towards conservation and pollution prevention. Measures have to be especially taken to resolve the groundwater problems. While groundwater resources are quite well assessed, overexploitation still occurs frequently. There has been a considerable lack in implementing existing policies as well as developing new laws and policies. To mitigate the problems, co‐operation needs to be mobilised at all levels of the federal set up with the stakeholders and the people at the lowest appropriate level concerning planning and decision making. Water must be considered as a national asset and a basic human right to be provided to citizens in proper quantity and safe quality with equity and fairness amongst the users.

Achieving The MDG’s In Ghana:Rhetorics Or Reality?

The original meaning of the concept sustainability or sustainable development might in an altruistic way have referred to building societies based on a sound environmental practice. This paper shows that the structural adjustments programs (SAP), Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Millennium Development goals (MDGs) compel the Ghanian government to favour economic and fiscal sustainability. This neo-liberal policy has led to increasing inequalities, widening regional disparities, migration from rural areas to quickly grown up peri-urban areas basically within a huge informal sector, and unplanned capital formation and development at large, making claims to achieve the MDGs by 2015 illusory. A way forward for Ghana should be to gradually fence off from the world market and learn from the development efforts of the Kwame Nkrumah first independent government.

Resources management in India and China — an overview☆

Abstract India and China reached national sovereignty at the end of the 1940s. Since that time the two countries have made significant industrial progress and they have, relative to other Third World countries, a large number of well-educated people. However, the agricultural developments in India and China have been very different, though the two countries have a similar resources base. While the Chinese peasants, through hard work upon the rural land, have seen a substantial increase in their standard of living, the mass of Indian peasants are still living under severe circumstances and poverty. Furthermore, the rational management of land and water resources are much more advanced in China than in India. An important part of the difference in the agricultural and resources development of the two countries is related to the various guidelines of national economic performance and institutional settings. China has adopted a self-reliant basic-needs-oriented approach of national economic performance, which has given due attention to agricultural development and resources management. India has followed a Western-inspired liberal economic growth model of national economic performance, which has emphasised industrial development directed toward fastgrowing isolated economic enclaves within a basically subsistence economy. The cooperative ownership approach has improved resources management in China, whereas the small peasant/tenant approach in India has been unable to improve the resources management situation. The paper suggests that only a cooperative ownership approach towards land and water resources management will give any future prospect for an improvement in the standard of living for the mass of the people and the resources situation in India. Consequently, research activities in resources management ought to be directed towards cooperative solutions and experiences in India.

Assessment of causes leading to an insufficient water supply in Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras with nearly one million inhabitants has been experiencing severe water shortage for the past decades resulting in intermittent water supply, ranging in some cases from 18 to 24 hours per week, and limited access to piped water in the topographically higher regions of the city. For the past 50 years the responsibility over Tegucigalpa’s water supply lay with the National Autonomous Aqueduct and Drainage Service (SANAA). Through interviews with persons from various organizations active in Tegucigalpa’s water sector, problems that contributed to the ongoing water shortage were analyzed. The results suggest that the performance of SANAA has largely been compromised through the interference with and dependence on other central governmental agencies and local authorities. Municipalisation is advocated as a new opportunity for the water supply of Tegucigalpa, if the Municipality, as the new agent, is able to provide an institutional environment for planning execution, project continuity, and qualification-based recruitment.

Achieving Clean Water to All Is a Question of Politics

This chapter aims to introduce the discussion on the emergence of privatization in the water sector and subsequent weakening of the state institution, both developments being unsuitable from human rights perspective. Through illustrative examples, it is contended that the current water crisis is not a result of a physical water shortage but wrong political decisions. It further argues that privatization of water utilities is also a political decision which has been vehemently opposed in recent times with the result that public sector is being increasingly reinstated in the process of operation and management of water utilities.

Some reflections on the Chinese water resources development experience

The development of water resources in China since 1949 has been guided by a basic needs approach to national economic performance and has taken place within a framework of state ownership of water resources and generally cooperative ownership of land. The adoption of this approach has implied giving priority to agriculture and the overall development of rural areas, where 80% of the Chinese population live. The setting up of a workable planning and management organization for rural areas has been the basic precondition for Chinese water resources development. In particular, China has been effective in engaging her abundant labour force in current agricultural production, soil and water conservation works and in an expanding small‐scale industry sector. Faced with the scarcity of arable land, the cooperative ownership approach has been consistent with a rather efficient control of land use and water resources development compared to most other Third World countries.