“The Water and Food Security Country Profiles provide focalized information on the state of water resources and food security globally in a country-specific format. The site harvests valuable information from FAO databases and information systems as well as those of its partners, to give users enriched results to enhance decision-making and promote advocacy in these areas.

FAO and its partners are concerned with the sustainable use and conservation of water in agriculture with a particular focus on water policy formulation and the promotion of irrigated agriculture and efficient water use. In addition, food security is a central FAO mandate aimed at helping those living in developing countries to improve their food security through rapid increases in food production and productivity, reducing year-to-year variability in food production on an economically and environmentally sustainable basis and improving people's access to food.

The interdependency of these two areas is evident. By combining them in this multi-stakeholder platform, the Water and Food Security Country Profiles strive to facilitate and catalyze innovative and effective use of the wealth of information currently available.”

To access this site visit: http://www.fao.org/countryProfiles/water/default.asp?lang=en

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2. Water Conflict Chronology compiled by Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute

“Water resources have rarely, if ever, been the sole source of violent conflict or war. But this fact has led some international security "experts" to ignore or belittle the complex and real relationships between water and security. It is easy for an academic approach to draw a narrow definition of "security" in a way that excludes water (or other resources) from the debate over international security, or to require that security threats be narrow, single-issue factors. But this approach both misunderstands the connections between water and security and misleads policymakers and the public seeking ways of reducing tensions and violence. In fact, there is a long and highly informative history of conflicts and tensions over water resources, the use of water systems as weapons during war, and the targeting of water systems during conflicts caused by other factors.

In an ongoing effort to understand the connections between water resources, water systems, and international security and conflict, the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security initiated a project in the late 1980s to track and categorize events related to water and conflict. In one of the more esoteric products from that effort, a list of water-related conflicts in the myths, legends, and history of the ancient Middle East was published in Environment magazine (Gleick 1994). This chronology has now been included in the online version here, with information from between 5,000 and 2,300 years before the present.”

To read more access the site by visiting: http://www.worldwater.org/conflictIntro.htm

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3. The BBC Water Portal – The Water Debate

The BBC Water Portal - The Water Debate was launched early June 2003. This is not only an impressive interactive site for the general public with video, audio, expert views, fact files and water stories. It also provides fun options such as online opinion polls and a water quiz.

To access the site visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/world/2003/world_forum/water/default.stm

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4. Planning of the “Revisiting Participatory Irrigation Management in India” Workshop

INPIM has begun planning a workshop titled “Revisiting Participatory Irrigation Management in India” which will explore the status of PIM in 5 south Indian states. This workshop will allow irrigation agency officials, farmers, water user association members, academics, and the staff members of non-governmental organizations to do some soul-searching regarding the course PIM has taken in India. This workshop will allow the participants to share the experiences of the various states with one another. It is hope that this exchange will allow lessons learned by each state during their implementation of PIM programs to be more widely disseminated.

This workshop is being planned for January 2004. More information on this event will be provided as the arrangements are finalized.

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5. Pump Efficiency Testing Class, 9-10 September 2003, California, USA

Cal Poly Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) will be conducting a 2-day class covering Terms, Flow Rate Measurements, Pressure/TDH Measurement, Power Measurements, and Pump Test Equations.

For more information visit the web site and look for "Pump Efficiency Testing Class":

http://www.itrc.org/classes/classindex.html

Questions about course content may be directed to:

Stuart Styles, Director

Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC)

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Dept.

California Polytechnic State University

San Luis Obispo, CA 93407

direct phone: 805.756.2429

sstyles@calpoly.edu

Questions and registrations may be directed to:

Susanne Gartner, Program and Budget Analyst

Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC)

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Dept.

California Polytechnic State University

San Luis Obispo, CA 93407

sgartner@calpoly.edu

direct phone: 805.756.2530

fax: 805.756.2433

general office: 805.756.2434

www.itrc.org

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6. Baseline Conference for the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, 2-6 November 2003, Nairobi, Kenya

The research agenda of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food will be launched at a special scientific conference - the Baseline Conference in Naoribi on November 2-6.

Who should attend? Researchers, research managers, members of the international development, NGO and donor communities, organizations and researchers interested in participating in the research of the Challenge Program on Water and Food, and other professionals with an interest in the emerging issues of water productivity and the water-food-environment agenda.

Participants: The conference will bring together several hundred scientists with development stakeholders to present and debate key issues in achieving water, food and environmental security in river basins in developing countries. Discussions will focus on agricultural water use and productivity issues and the impacts on poverty alleviation and on food, health and environmental security in the program's benchmark basins.

Expected outcomes: The conference will result in a number of action-oriented recommendations from stakeholders on how to implement the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food to achieve the highest impact.

Participants will be engaged to provide input and guidance on the program; on how it can deliver solutions that are politically and socially acceptable, financially and technically feasible and can be implemented in a practical way.

Day 1 - Raising awareness on water, food, environment issues and mobilizing political will.

Policy dialogue and panel debate.

Water and food security for all: the role of international trade in food and virtual water. Jacques Diouf, Director General, FAO (invited); Mohamed Roozitalab, Chair GFAR; Joahim von Braun, Director General IFPRI; Jack Wilkinson, President IFAP.

Sustainable agriculture and wetlands: the new frontier in conservation. Ian Johnson, Vice President, World Bank, Chair CGIAR; Achim Steiner, Director General, IUCN (invited). Other speakers to be confirmed.

Day 2-4 - Science conference.

Review of baseline conditions in Challenge Program river basins:

Trends and research priorities in Benchmark basins, innovative aspects of the program.

State of current knowledge, knowledge gaps and the way forward on:

(a) enhancing basin- level water productivity, (b) managing water for food and environmental security, (c) the role of agricultural trade, regional cooperation and investments in enhancing food, water and environmental securities, and (d) integration and scale issues related to water productivity.

For full program see: www.waterforfood.org. For more information send e-mail to cpconference@iwmi.org

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7. Project Director/Business Manager, Kosovo Irrigation and Rehabilitation Project (Proposal Effort), Inkoa Sistemas Agricultural Solutions

Inkoa Sistemas, an engineering and consultancy company that mainly works in the field of the Agriculture and Rural Development, has been short-listed by the EU-EuropeAid for the implementation of the "Kosovo Irrigation and Rehabilitation Project Phase II.” The firm is currently finalizing its proposal and needs a qualified individual to propose as a Project Director/Business Manager. This is a long term (24 working months) in which the candidate will work with the other members of the project staff to provide technical assistance to Irrigation Providers (IPs) in order that they may become commercially sustainable.

The candidate must possess a technical expertise and a significant amount of work experience (10 years) in private business management in the agricultural and agro-business sectors as well as irrigation management. The candidate must also have extensive work experience on international projects and must be a citizen of a member country of the European Union or a citizen of Kosovo.

To express interest in this position please contact the following person by September 3, 2003:

Iosu García

Project Manager

Inkoa Sistemas

Agricultural Solutions

Barakaldo Elkartegia

El Carmen, 38

48901 Barakaldo

Spain

Phone: +34 944180267

Fax: +34 944780025

E-mail: iosu@inkoa.com; webmaster@inkoa.com

Website: http://www.inkoa.com

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The contents of the INPIM E-Newsletter do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the International Network on Participatory Irrigation Management or the opinions of INPIM leadership.

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For more information on INPIM please visit http://www.inpim.org.

The International Network on Participatory Irrigation Management

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Washington, DC 20003 USA

Tel: +1 202 546 7005

Fax: +1 202 318 0215

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Created by INPIM
Last modified 19-03-2004 01:01 PM

This Document was created on Fri, March 19, 2004 by INPIM.
Last modified on Fri, March 19, 2004.