WATER SCARCITY, PROPERTY REGIMES AND IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT IN SONJO, TANZANIA

This article explores the dynamics of property rights in irrigation wa ter in Sonjo, Tanzania. It analyses an unsuccessful attempt by the rul ing political group to change the institutional arrangements of water control, to serve better their private goals. This example shows that not all internal institutional innovations in the field of utilising n atural resources lead to increased efficiency of the system from the p oint of view of the whole community. We draw on New Institutional Econ omics (NIE) and Common Property Resource Management (CPRM) theory to a nalyse the way in which it was possible that those few within Sonjo so ciety who are formally/nominally 'the owners' of water sought to priva tise de facto collective use rights of all community members. We consi der why this was done in some, but not all, Sonjo communities, and we describe why this process has eventually failed.