Collective Activities for the Management of Rural Common-Pool Resources: A Case Study of Irrigation System from Niigata Prefecture, Japan

Generally, an appropriate maintenance and management of the common-pool resources (CPRs) in rural areas can contribute to the enhancement of the “quality of life” of inhabitants through improvement of the local environment, etc. In recent years, with the aging of farm households and the rise in the number of non-farm households, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the farm households alone to maintain and manage the CPRs in the farm villages of Japan. Therefore, the cooperation by beneficiaries including non-farm households is considered to be desirable. However such cooperation may be difficult to achieve, as the participation of non-farm households in the management of such resources leads to the diversification of stakeholders. In this study, we shall firstly review the existing studies on the collective activities for the management of irrigation system. Secondly, by using the framework of social-ecological systems, key issues for the management of the irrigation system in Japan will be clarified. Thirdly, we will clarify the mechanism involved in the management of CPRs through the identification of determinants for activities to manage agricultural irrigation and drainage channels, based on data from the rural community-level in Niigata Prefecture. Finally, we shall draw policy implications and research tasks for the management of the rural CPRs.