Socio-economic valuation of water reallocation
Framework development and application in South Africa
Bibliographic Data
This paper introduces a socio-economic valuation framework for water reallocation that integrates considerations of equity, efficiency, and sustainability into decision-making. Designed to inform the development and implementation of policy in contexts of water scarcity and historical inequality, the framework systematically incorporates both direct economic benefits and externalities, such as poverty alleviation, food security, and inequality reduction, across different user groups. Applying the framework to South Africa's Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area (IUWMA), we demonstrate how it aligns with the country's third National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS-3) and compulsory licensing processes under the National Water Act. Despite data limitations, empirical findings from the case study reveal that reallocating water from large-scale commercial agriculture to historically disadvantaged smallholder farmers could yield welfare gains. The proposed framework offers a practical tool to support inclusive and evidence-based water governance by moving beyond conventional equity-efficiency trade-offs and incorporating non-market benefits
Agriculture · Corporate governance · Disadvantaged · Poverty · Sustainability · Water resources · Water scarcity · Welfare · Public-Private Partnership Projects · Water resources management and optimization
Bounding the effects of food insecurity on children’s health outcomes
Impact of drinking water, sanitation and handwashing with soap on childhood diarrhoeal disease
Water Reallocation
Ecosystem services of temporary streams differ between wet and dry phases in regions with contrasting climates and economies
Inequality as an Externality
Weak comparability of values as a foundation for ecological economics
Plural valuation of nature for equity and sustainability
Cost-benefit analysis in the context of ecosystem services for human well-being
Water Equity
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |