The article presents water control as a central condition for agricultural growth in developing countries, where it can stabilize yields, raise productivity, and support more intensive farming. It reviews the benefits of irrigation, drainage, and flood control, while also emphasizing the frequent failures of past projects caused by weak planning, inappropriate techniques, poor maintenance, and insufficient user participation. The author highlights the environmental and health risks of badly managed irrigation, including salinization, waterlogging, and disease, and argues for revised water policies that integrate technical, financial, institutional, and social dimensions. Farmer participation is presented as essential to effective water management.
Françoise Conac (Sun,) studied this question.