Rebound Effects in Irrigated Agriculture in Uzbekistan: A Stakeholder-Based Assessment

Ahmad Hamidov, Ulan Kasymov, Kakhramon Djumaboev and Carsten Paul
Additional contact information
Ahmad Hamidov: Research Area 3 “Agricultural Landscape Systems”, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
Ulan Kasymov: Chair of Ecosystem Services, International Institute Zittau, Technische Universität Dresden (TUD), Markt 23, 02763 Zittau, Germany
Kakhramon Djumaboev: Regional Representative Office for Central Asia, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Apartment 120, House 6, Osiyo Street, Tashkent 100000, Uzbekistan
Carsten Paul: Research Area 3 “Agricultural Landscape Systems”, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-15

Abstract: There is wide consensus among scholars and practitioners that improved irrigation technologies increase farm productivity and improve resource use efficiency. However, there is also growing empirical evidence that efficiency improvements in irrigation water use may create rebound effects, i.e., they may trigger changes in farmers’ behavior that partly or fully offset the technical water savings expected under ceteris paribus conditions. In extreme cases, total water consumption may even increase. We studied the impacts of introducing water-saving irrigation technologies in Uzbekistan and used structured stakeholder interviews for an expert-based assessment of potential rebound effects. Our findings contribute to the understanding of impacts of technological and institutional responses to environmental and economic pressures in sustaining water resources. The study demonstrates that although the objective of increasing irrigation efficiency may be achieved, the actual water savings under Uzbek conditions are likely to be reduced due to rebound effects. Unless there are effective policy interventions, we expect rebound effects through an increase in water supply for crops that compensates for current shortages of irrigation water availability, an increase in irrigated area, a switch to more water-intensive crops, and overall economic growth. The findings of this paper provide a reference point for estimating the water-saving potential and for evaluating and adapting policies.

Keywords: water-saving technology; sustainability; irrigation efficiency; Central Asia; water–energy–food nexus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8375/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8375/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8375-:d:858559

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().