Institutional Capacities to Farmer Participation in Water Governance: A Case Study of Water Scarcity in Shahriar County, Iran

Articles in Press

Document Type : Qualitative Research

Authors
Asghar Tahmasebi
Hamid Jalalian
Somayeh Azizi
Department of Human Geography, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
Iran is in a severe water shortage crisis and the agricultural sector is the primary contributing sector. However, farmers do not have an active and decisive role in water resources management. The present study investigates the effect of existing institutional capacities on farmers' participation in meeting the water shortage challenge of Shahriar County. To this end, the required data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 experts at local, county, and provincial levels, then coded and analyzed using ATLAS.ti software. Findings show that the hierarchical governance approach—focusing on public administration and centralized planning—has led to the uncontrolled growth of formal institutions, such as laws, administrative structures, and bureaucratic frameworks of government organizations. This situation lacks the necessary flexibility, adaptability, and capacity to support informal institutions. Consequently, local governance, informal laws, and community-based organizations have become weak and inefficient. In this context, strengthening farmers' participation requires reforming formal institutions to support local organizations and customary laws, as well as institutionalizing participatory planning. Drawing on institutional theory (North, 1990; Ostrom, 2005), we argue that without formal recognition of informal governance mechanisms—such as local water norms and traditional organizations—participatory reforms remain ineffective in centralized water governance systems.
Keywords
Water Governance
Farmers' Participation
Formal Laws
Informal Laws
Shahriar County
Subjects
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Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 23 June 2026