Junior Researcher

Dr. Lisa Oberkircher
 
 
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Water-Saving in the Landscapes and Lifeworlds of Khorezmian Farmers, Uzbekistan

The Aral Sea crisis as one of the most prominent examples of unsustainable use of water resources has received special interest by scientists as well as the global media. The diversion of large amounts of water primarily for irrigated cotton production in Central Asia has led to the desiccation of major parts of the Aral Sea, which continues to threaten environment and livelihoods of the basin population.

While the ‘dying’ Aral Sea visually shows lack of water for the environment, water scarcity in Uzbekistan has many dimensions. It can be seen as contemporary or future, as natural or human made, as imbalance between supply and demand, as technical, managerial or socio-political, and is experienced very differently by different actor groups. To tackle water scarcity in Uzbekistan, much research has been conducted on technical specifications of practices which have the potential to improve water use efficiency in the region. It is however not known, why hardly any of these practices have been adopted by local farmers.

This PhD study investigates the incentive and disincentive mechanisms which influence the choices of farmers in the Uzbek province Khorezm with regard to water use and water saving. It is a hypothesis of the study that these incentive and disincentive mechanisms have their origin in the natural environment, the technical infrastructure as well as in the economic, cultural and socio-political domain and that all these spheres furthermore interact. The central research question of the study is “how do technical, economic and social incentive and disincentive mechanisms influence the practice of water saving in the Khorezm irrigation system, Uzbekistan?”

The PhD is done in a cumulative manner. In the first paper the study deals with water scarcity as it is locally experienced by farmers and investigates the rationales behind coping strategies which emerge in response to it. The second part of the PhD aims at analysing the ‘water lifeworlds’ of farmers taking into account the characteristics of the different incentive and disincentive mechanisms as well as farmers’ perceptions on them. The topic of the study’s third paper is the relationship between land and its biophysical characteristics and the perceptions and practices of water users. To do justice to the (interdisciplinary) research question, the study makes use of natural science as well as social science methods.
Department ZEF C: Department of Ecology and Natural Resources Management
Research areas - Institutions and Strategic Groups
- Natural Resource Management
- Water Security
Research countries - Uzbekistan
Research topic Water-saving in the landscapes and lifeworlds of Khorezmian farmers, Uzbekistan
Degrees M.Sc. Environmental Science/Natural Resource Management (Diplom Geoökologie), University of Karlsruhe, Germany
Professional experience Natural resource management, perception research, irrigation systems, water conservation, PRA, GIS
Financially supported by German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) and BMBF / Uzbekistan Project
Cooperation partners Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster
Publications

OBERKIRCHER, L. Forthcoming. On pumps and paradigms. Water scarcity and technology adoption in Uzbekistan. Society and Natural Resources,

Oberkircher, L.. 2011. 'Stay - we will serve you plov!'. Puzzles and pitfalls of water research in rural Uzbekistan. ZEF Working Paper Series, 74: 1-18.

Oberkircher, L. and A.K. Hornidge. 2011. ‚Water is Life‘ - Farmer rationales and water-saving in Khorezm, Uzbekistan: A Lifeworld Analysis. Rural Sociology, 76 (3): 394-421.
Further Information: DOI: 10.1111/j.1549-0831.2011.00054.x

Manschadi, A. M., L. Oberkircher, B. Tischbein, C. Conrad, A.-K. Hornidge, A. Bhaduri, G. Schorcht, J. Lamers, P. L. G. Vlek. 2010. 'White Gold' and Aral Sea Disaster – Towards more efficient use of water resources in the Khorezm region, Uzbekistan. Lohmann Information, 45(1): 34-47.
Further Information: www.lohmann-information.com/content/l_i_45_2010_04.pdf

OBERKIRCHER, L. 2010. Water Scarcity and the Lifeworld. The Challenge of Perceiving Creeping Disasters. Forum der Geoökologie, 21(2): 26-29.
Further Information: www.geooekologie.de/download_forum/forum_2010_2_spfo201b.pdf

Oberkircher, L., B. Tischbein, A.-K. Hornidge, G. Schorcht, A. Bhaduri, U. K. Awan, A. M. Manschadi. 2010. Rethinking Water Management in Khorezm, Uzbekistan – Concepts and Recommendations. ZEF Working Paper Series. Vol. 54. Center for Development Research. Bonn.
Further Information: www.zef.de/fileadmin/webfiles/downloads/zef_wp/WP54_Oberkircher_et_al.pdf

ABDULLAYEV, I., L. OBERKIRCHER, A.-K. HORNIDGE, M. UL HASSAN, A. M. MANSCHADI. 2008. Strengthening Water Management Institutions in Uzbekistan. Science brief from the ZEF-UNESCO project on Sustainable Management of Land and Water Resources in Khorezm, Uzbekistan. ZUR No. 7.
Further Information: www.zef.de/fileadmin/webfiles/downloads/projects/khorezm/downloads/Publications/ZUR/ZUR_No7.pdf

BUTTSCHARDT, T.K., A. KRESS, J. MASUCH, L. OBERKIRCHER, D. V. CEUMERN, S. MIETHANER. 2006. Etudes scientifiques dans la Réserve de Biosphère de la Pendjari (Bénin, Afrique de l’Ouest). Résumé du Rapport final, on behalf of GTZ, Eschborn.
Further Information: www.buttschardt.de/schriften/Resume_Pendjari_IfGG_2003_2005.pdf

OBERKIRCHER, L., M. MUSALL, T. K. BUTTSCHARDT. 2006. Numerische Abflusssimulation als Werkzeug der geographischen Praxis am Beispiel der Modellierung eines Flachsees im Biosphärenreservat Pendjari (Benin, Westafrika). Geoöko, 27(3/4): 148-164.

 
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