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THE INPIM E-NEWSLETTER October 10, 2007; Number 69 http://www.inpim.org ihussain@inpim.org
Welcome to the INPIM E-Newsletter # 69
NEWS
Ø INPIM’s Third International Capacity Building Program on Participatory Irrigation Management, 21 – 30 October 2007, Izmir, Turkey Ø Drip Irrigation to Prevent Water Shortages in Pakistan Ø Women Take the Field: Participatory Water Resources Development for Agriculture in BangladeshØ ADB Strengthening Traditional Water User Groups in AcehØ Participatory Irrigation Approach in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam – The Case of Introducing Concrete Canal Lining Through Participatory ConstructionØ Participatory Process and Empowerment Lesson Learned From ETESP Irrigation Sector in NIAS
DONORS’ LENDING AND SUPPORT FOR IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE PROJECTSWorld Bank Ø World Bank Supports Improving Irrigation Sector in Sindh (Pakistan) with US$150.2 millionØ Bangladesh gets US$122 million to improve water resources managementØ World Bank Supports Improving Water Management in BangladeshØ World Bank Provides More Support to Improve Tank Systems in Karnataka, IndiaØ World Bank Supports Improved Water Supply in Brazil’s Semi-Arid Northeast
Upcoming Regional and International Meets and EventsØ 3rd International Yellow River Forum on Sustainable Water Resources Management and Delta Ecosystem Maintenance 16-19 October 2007 Dongying City, Shandong Province, China Ø HELP - Local Solutions to Global Water Problems : Lessons from the South 4-9 November 2007 Pretoria, South Africa Ø 2nd African Regional Conference 6-9 November 2007 Johannesburg, South Africa Ø International Conference on the Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive 8 - 10 November 2007 Rome, Italy Ø The “1st International Conference on Adaptive & Integrated Water Management: Coping with complexity and uncertainty" (CAIWA 2007) 12-15 November 2007 Basel, Switzerland Ø South Asian Conference on Water in Agriculture: Management options for increasing crop productivity per drop of water 15-17 November 2007 Raipur, India Ø MELIA 1st Workshop: “Water Culture and Water Conflict in the Mediterranean Area” 22-26 November 2007 Tunisia Ø 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit 3-4 December 2007 Oita Prefecture, Japan Ø International Conference on Water, Environment, Energy and Society (WEES) 18-21 December 2007 Roorkee, India Ø Water Management 2008, Exhibition and Conference 14-16 January 2008 Mumbai, India Ø Second African Show of Irrigation and Drainage 5-10 February 2008 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Ø International Conference on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM): Lessons from Implementation in Developing Countries and the 2nd Africa Regional Meeting of the National Committees of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme 10-12 March 2008 South Africa Ø 33rd WEDC International Conference “Access to Sanitation and Safe Water: Global Partnerships and Local Actions” 7-11 April 2008 Accra, Ghana Ø Water Down Under 2008 15-18 April 2008 Adelaide, Australia Ø Second MEDA Water Regional Event on Local Water Management 28-30 April 2008 Morocco Ø 7th International Congress on Hydraulic Engineering: ‘Enough Water for Sustainable Development!’ 15-18 May 2008 Juventud Island, Cuba Ø Groundwater and Climate in Africa - An International Conference 25-28 June 2008 Kampala, Uganda Ø 10th International Drainage Workshop of ICID Working Group on Drainage 06-11 July 2008 Helsinki, Finland Ø 13th World Water Congress 01-04 September 2008 Montpellier, France Ø Africa Water Resources Management 2008 (AfricaWRM 2008) 8-10 September 2008 Gaborone, Botswana Ø ICID’s 20th International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage 13-19 October 2008 Lahore, Pakistan
NEW PUBLICATIONSØ Hydrology and Water Resources of India Ø Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management in Central Asia Ø Water Policy for Sustainable Development
Fellowship and funding opportunitiesØ Amsterdam Merit Scholarships Ø Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program Ø Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program capacity building and trainings
Ø INPIM’s Third International Capacity Building Program on Participatory Irrigation Management 21-30 October 2007 Izmir, Turkey Ø Groundwater Exploration and Monitoring 07-25 April 2008 DELFT, The Netherlands Ø Knowledge Management for Decision Makers in the Water Sector 14-25 April 2008 DELFT, The Netherlands Ø Applied Groundwater Modelling 09-27 June 2008 DELFT, The Netherlands DETAILS NEWS INPIM’s Third International Capacity Building Program on Participatory Irrigation Management, 21 – 30 October 2007, Izmir, Turkey INPIM’s Third International Capacity Building Program (ICBP) on Participatory Irrigation Management is now set for 21 – 30 October 2007 in Gumulder, Izmir, Turkey. INPIM is organizing this ICBP in collaboration with INPIM Turkey Chapter, State Hydraulic Works (DSI), Turkey and the World Bank Institute (WBI). The 10-day training program will be held at the DSI’s Gumulder Training Centre, located in South of Izmir, 40 km from Izmir Airport. The program is aimed at faculty of training institutes or consultants, WUA Managers, Policy makers, System managers, and NGOs or Government/Irrigation Agency staff and those who are engaged in WUA capacity-building and implementing PIM programs in their countries. The language of the course will be English. The purpose of the course is to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of WUAs, and at the policy level to support and strengthen the implementation of national PIM programs. Besides offering the opportunity to review state-of-the-art thinking on irrigation reforms, this international CBP offers the opportunity for networking with irrigation professionals from around the world. The program includes 2 and a half day of field visits to 4 WUAs and interactions with WUA managers, farmers, stakeholders and staff of the WUAs in Turkey. The program will be attended by over 50 participants from 16 countries across the world.
Drip Irrigation to Prevent Water Shortages in Pakistan Agricultural scientists’ successful experiment with drip irrigation could save Pakistan volumes of water that would otherwise be wasted, should they continue using traditional flood irrigation methods. But with impending water shortages, will the country’s government have enough time to replicate the pilot project on a nationwide scale? And can a local community undertaking provide the model for other villages?
A Pilot Project Inspiration Scientists at Pakistan’s Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB) have reason to exclaim “Eureka!” as the pilot drip irrigation project that they manage reached a successful conclusion. In Faisalabad district, the scientists were able to grow cotton crops over an area spanning seven acres, with tremendous yields and using as little water as possible. Wajid Ishaq, a junior scientist at NIAB, said, “We installed a model drip irrigation system that was used to irrigate cotton and the experiment was highly successful. The cotton yield with drip irrigation ranged from 1,520 to 1,680 kilograms per acre, compared to 960 kilograms per acre using the traditional flood irrigation method.” Inspired by this pilot project and faced with acute water shortages, the Pakistan government recently launched a US$ 0.3 billion Subsidized Drip Irrigation Program that will help reduce water wastage over the next five years. Ishaq said the government was so enthused by the results that it asked NIAB to develop a project proposal to spread drip irrigation in all of Pakistan’s four provinces, covering a total area of 1,000 acres. “We have prepared the proposal and submitted it with the Planning Commission of Pakistan. Hopefully they will approve it and come out with a comprehensive plan,” Ishaq added.
Switching To Drip Irrigation Agriculture continues to be the single largest sector in Pakistan, providing livelihood to 66 percent of the country’s 162.5 million people. The sector also accounts for 20.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product and employs 43.4 percent of Pakistan’s total workforce. Agricultural experts say that drip irrigation is most suitable in countries like Pakistan, where crop yield is low and irrigation water wastage is high. Under the Subsidized Drip Irrigation Program, the wasteful, traditional flood irrigation methods that date back to ancient times will no longer be used. Ehsan Qazi, an agricultural scientist based in Lahore district, said that in drip irrigation water and fertilizers are applied through special pipes at a uniform flow rate. “Water directly reaches the roots where it is most needed. There is little wastage of water due to evaporation or seepage as what happens in the case of traditional flood irrigation,” Qazi said. “Water savings can be as high as 70 percent,” he added. Encouraged by the increased yield of cotton crops, NIAB is now using the same drip irrigation technique to grow onions, corn, and summer fodder. There are also plans to extend the system for orchards.
Overcoming Hurdles with Partners Sajjad Siddiqui, spokesperson for the Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority, said that the government is aware of the impending water shortages and is drawing up a comprehensive development plan. “Rehabilitation of canal systems, improvement and lining of water courses, handing over of canals to local farmers, and drip irrigation will all be part of this plan,” Siddiqui said. According to federal minister for food and agriculture Sikandar Bosan, Pakistan sought help from the Japanese government to double the efficiency in irrigation water use, with the help of drip irrigation technology, from the present 45 percent to 90 percent. Bosan said the government will ensure that at least 300,000 acres of land will be brought under drip irrigation this year, with federal and provincial governments providing 80 percent subsidy on drip irrigation equipment. Individual communities, however, have begun taking their own small initiatives with the help of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and international donors, such as the World Bank-supported Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), which has already begun providing finance to small farmer communities in select water-deficient areas to install drip irrigation systems. Ghulam Haider, PPAF’s communications executive said, “PPAF disburses funds to locals in collaboration with NGOs that have been working in particular areas for a certain period of time.”
Local Community Sets Example One good example of a community drip irrigation undertaking is the case of the Khan Muhammad Rajar village in Sanghar district, Sindh province. PPAF provided 80 percent of the funds required to install the system and the rest was contributed by the community with support from the Sindh Agricultural and Forestry Workers Coordinating Organization (SAFWCO), a local NGO. Abbas Panhwar, a SAFWCO mechanical engineer, said that the cost of installing the drip irrigation system is high at Rs70,000 (US$1,148) per acre, but the high crop yields justifies this cost. “In the deserts of Sindh, we have rains after every 3 to 4 years. We would often run out of water, but now, after adopting this method, we can save enough water to survive during the period without rains. We grow tomatoes, potatoes, maize, grapes, citrus, bananas, and fodder.” Despite successfully handling several drip irrigation projects, Abbas however says there are limits to what small NGOs can do. “We can just set a few examples—the burden is definitely on the government to take the benefits of the technology to people across the country.’’ (Source: http://www.adb.org/Water/Actions/pak/drip-irrigation.asp) Women Take the Field: Participatory Water Resources Development for Agriculture in BangladeshThe home is no longer the only domain for women in rural Bangladesh. An ADB project on small scale water resources development is empowering women to take on the agricultural field, contribute manual labor in water infrastructures construction, and put forward their views in important community decisions. Read more about how Bangladesh women are becoming change agents.
Bangladesh Women’s New Domain Far from being desperate housewives, women in Bangladesh have always been important users and managers of agricultural water, especially during and after harvesting season. But women have never been more involved in community decision-making that greatly affects them until 2002 when ADB’s Second Small-Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project sought to engage their active involvement. The project, with its intensified consultation and participation approach, involves developing small-scale water resources infrastructures to improve the sustainability of water resources, especially for agriculture. It directly involves women through the establishment of Water Management Cooperative Associations (WMCAs) that engage in the selection, design, implementation, and operations and maintenance (O&M) of such water management systems. In this way, the project is helping to upgrade Bangladesh women's lives. Since December 2006, women have become active participants of these WMCAs, and they comprise almost a third of WMCAs’ management committees. They have also entered into construction work of water resources infrastructures as members of local labor cooperatives. The micro-credit livelihood enterprises, which are an added bonus of the project, are headed by women. ADB Project Engineer Kenichi Yokoyama said, “By introducing a consultation and participation mechanism, the people, especially the women, are more motivated to address their problems on their own.”
Bangladesh’s Rural Water Needs The magnitude of the water resources development project in Bangladesh is an indication of just how badly needed water resource management is for rural life in this country. With the exception of the 3 districts of the semi-autonomous region of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, this project covers 61 out of the country’s 64 districts. It is in these rural areas where 90% of the country’s poor live, and majority of them depend on agriculture—the sector that uses the largest volume of water. But the biggest water challenge for the country is neither scarcity nor water allocation. In Bangladesh, most of the time there is too much water, and people do not compete for it. The challenge is to manage the water, by keeping it out of the agricultural areas during perennial floods, by getting the excess water out of the agricultural area, and by providing irrigation during the dry season. This is where ADB’s project comes in. Targeting 280,000 farming households, or 1.7 million people, the project is increasing awareness and conducting training courses in conserving water and improving the productivity of land, wetlands, and water bodies for agriculture.
Intensifying Women’s Participation Bangladesh women are the success factors of the project. Their involvement in all project stages is vital to the project’s continuing success. Stage 1—Identifying Water Management Projects Rural women are interviewed as part of Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRA) exercises designed to confirm communities’ commitments to assume responsibility for O&M once the infrastructure is completed. A total of 510 PRAs have been conducted to date by female project staff trained on gender issues, and around 70-75 women participate in each PRA. Stage 2—Establishing the WMCAs Forming WMCAs is important as these organizations are to be communities’ life-long vehicles for working with each other and with the government, particularly through consultation, inclusive decisionmaking, and management of their social and economic lives. To date, WMCAs have been organized in every community with the help of NGOs. One-third of these WMCAs’ members are women, many of whom occupy seats in WMCAs’ management committees. Stage 3—Designing and Implementing Projects Drawing on lessons from previous projects, WMCAs then work with the local government and the district Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in designing the needed water infrastructure and implementing the project. Women, particularly the poor, contribute manual labor in the construction through Labor Contracting Societies (LCS), which are local labor cooperatives in charge of digging and other “earthworks.” About 3, 364 women construction workers are now part of LCS crews and earn wages that are equal to men’s. Four years have passed since the project began. Some WMCAs have already managed to build their capital assets to over $1,000 with savings for O&M, and are raising their capital assets even further through micro-credit activities, such as vegetable growing, cattle and poultry raising, and culture fisheries in coastal regions. With some of the water infrastructures in place, access to water has become easier, allowing the most destitute of women to venture into backyard livelihood like vegetable gardening and poultry raising to augment the family income. Women for the Future As beneficiaries of the project, women’s social and economic profile has significantly improved considering there has been a rise in crop production, especially for rice, and higher value crops such as garlic and onions are being produced. Improved irrigation facilities and flood control now allow farming households to plant two to three crops a year rather than just one; and the recovery of credit among the WMCAs is recorded at 98%. The value of agricultural land has also appreciated substantially and more jobs have been generated from construction work, while wage rates have also increased. Through their constant engagement, women are not just beneficiaries of the project anymore. Bangladesh women are fast becoming change agents, as they start to make their community a part of their homes, and that progress in the community also means a better life at home. While much still needs to be done—the project is just about 65% complete—the project team is confident that it will be completed on time by June 2009 because of the “enthusiastic, interested, and motivated beneficiaries groups, particularly women members, as well as motivated project and LGED core staff.” In December 2006, the project team was hailed as one of the three best performing ADB-supported project teams in Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh has already requested a third phase of this small-scale water resources project to spread the benefits to more poor rural people. (Source: http://www.adb.org/water/actions/ban/women-take-the-field.asp#TOP) ADB Strengthening Traditional Water User Groups in AcehADB IS working closely with local communities to strengthen traditional water groups and rehabilitate irrigations systems in Aceh and Nias. “The direct involvement of communities through the water users associations ensure local ownership, which translates to better and more sustainable irrigation systems,” said Pieter Smidt, Head of ADB’s Extended Mission for Sumatra, during a recent visit to an irrigation scheme being rehabilitated with ADB support. “This method also ensures that the reconstruction takes into account farmers’ needs.” ADB is providing $31.5 million, through BRR, the Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency of the Indonesian government, to rehabilitate and reconstruct irrigation systems in Aceh and Nias following the 2004 Tsunami. The assistance is part of a $291 million ADB grant that is helping to rebuild the areas devastated by the December 2004 earthquake and tsunami. More than 70,000 farming families, and 72,000 hectares of farms, will benefit from the irrigation initiative. ADB previously provided $68 million to rehabilitate irrigation systems in Aceh and four other provinces through the Northern Sumatra Irrigated Agriculture Sector Project, which ran from 2002 to 2005. “We are very proud that we have been entrusted to rehabilitate a section of our irrigation scheme” according to Hazairin, the Head of Putra Baruna water users associations in Krueng Tuan, Aceh Utara. Many farming communities in Aceh have traditionally had strong water user groups called Keujruen Blang. The ADB grant is helping 450 water user associations to enhance their role in operating and maintaining irrigation systems, as well as water resource management at the river basin level. “Preparation of community-based irrigation reconstruction requires time to ensure that the communities can have a meaningful input to the design and construction phase and to build ownership,” said Eddy Purwanto, BRR’s Chief Operating Officer. “A total of 75 contracts financed by ADB were signed in late 2006 and work is now progressing on most schemes. The early experience looks very positive and we will award a lot more community-based contracts this year.” Mr. Smidt, who has overseen ADB’s reconstruction efforts in Aceh and Nias, noted the effective collaboration of local government agencies, design and implementation consultants, as well as Bina Swadaya, a non-government organization focusing on community facilitation. He added that it is vital to recognize the importance of women in irrigation agriculture. “Women play a crucial role in various farming activities in Aceh as well as other parts of Indonesia,” said Mr. Smidt. “Special efforts are needed to ensure that they can participate in programs supporting agriculture while taking into account the local cultural context.” ADB's multi-sector tsunami for Indonesia assistance package covers agriculture, fisheries, irrigation, micro and small enterprise development, housing, water and sanitation, health, education, transport, power, spatial planning and environmental management, and fiduciary oversight. The $291 million ADB grant, which includes a $1 million contribution from the Government of Luxembourg, is financing the Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project (ETESP) to support disaster management, reconstruction and rehabilitation in affected areas of Aceh and North Sumatra. In addition, ADB has contributed a $10 million grant to the MultiDonor Fund for Aceh and Nias. (Source: http://www.adb.org/Media/Articles/2007/11493-indonesian-water-irrigations-projects/default.asp)
Participatory Irrigation Approach in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam – The Case of Introducing Concrete Canal Lining Through Participatory ConstructionEmpowerment of the irrigators through Water Users Associations (WUAs) is the central theme of the irrigation component of the ADB-financed Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project (ETESP). In Aceh, these WUAs are popularly known as Perkumpulan Petani Pemakai Air Kejreun Blang (P3A). Under the ETESP irrigation component, irrigators are involved right from beginning improvement of their irrigation systems. “Community Plenary Meetings” have been introduced to agree on the design and to decide which works are to be undertaken through community contracts, called Surat Perjanjian Pemberian Pekerjaan (SP3), and those through contracts awarded to civil works contractors using local competitive bidding (LCB) but with community involvement. The LCB contracts with community involvement are commonly known as Kerjasama Operasional (KSO) and the community involvement can involve supply of materials, provision of labour or both to the contractor. SP3 contracts are mostly applied for the smaller civil works at the level of tertiary and secondary canals. Typically, the value of SP3 contracts is in the range of IDR 50.000.000 to 299.000.000-, and about one to 33 WUAs usually participate in the construction works. During the early implementation stage, the Engineering Design Team of the Consultant engaged under the ETESP irrigation component proposed to use structural wire mesh reinforced concrete instead of the traditional stone masonry for canal lining construction. The main consideration was the resistance against earthquakes combined with simplicity of construction and reduced costs. However, the proposal initially resulted in some scepticism, particularly from some of the project managers of the agency in charge of the irrigation reconstruction program (the Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi – BRR). They were concerned that the WUAs would not have the capacity and knowledge to build the works of a satisfactory quality. Previously, farmers had never used wire mesh reinforced concrete in the construction of canal lining. Furthermore, the agency staff also had limited experience in using wire mesh construction for canal lining. Discussions in the field by the Consultant’s Sociology Team revealed that in general WUAs were not immediately ready to carry out canal lining using wire mesh. The WUAs stated they had considerable experience and skills in using stone masonry but not in wire mesh reinforced concrete lining. This was not surprising as ETESP is the first project in Indonesia to involve WUAs in the construction of this type of canal lining. Being “the first”, constructing wire mesh reinforced concrete lining successfully through WUAs was a challenge for everybody involved in the ETESP irrigation component. This challenge motivated and encouraged all team members, including the BRR project management staff and the Consultant’s teams. The BRR inspectors and the Consultant’s Construction Monitoring Team in conjunction with the Sociology Team made frequent visits and provided on-site technical assistance to the WUAs during the construction phase to ensure the correct construction methods and quality. WUAs have now completed wire mesh reinforced canal lining for 12 kilometers of secondary canals (usually the construction of secondary canals is done by contractors) and also for 17 kilometers of tertiary canals in 10 irrigation schemes in 8 districts in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province. The quality of the construction is relatively good – usually better than that of works carried out by contractors. But perhaps most importantly, the WUAs involved have now a sense of ownership and a feeling of responsibility. As the Head of the WUA Putra Barona, in the Krueng Tuan scheme said. “This is our asset and these canals will provide us with adequate water. Therefore it was important for us to do the best possible job”. Clearly, a new experience has been gained, and an innovative technique introduced and implemented through participatory construction. WUAs involved in the participatory construction stated that constructing canal lining using wire mesh reinforced concrete was faster and easier than using stone masonry and that it should be stronger too. This successful implementation encouraged all project team members to apply wire mesh reinforced concrete lining for other planned irrigation reconstruction and improvement works. Based on this first experience, BRR’s project management staff and the Consultant’s teams have become confident of the ability of WUAs to build works with a satisfactory quality. The experience has taught us that introducing a new technique to the rural communities is possible but that it requires strong motivation, patience, and hard work from all parties involved. It has also helped to strengthen the cooperation between team members. Because of this experience another 340 contracts will be executed through the WUAs under the ETESP irrigation component. The participatory construction phase is now being followed up by the participatory Operation and Maintenance (O&M) phase. The Consultant’s Sociology Team is preparing the training for O&M and during the training, the team will try to ensure further involvement of the WUAs in the operation and maintenance activities for the irrigation schemes where the WUAs have assisted in the schemes’ reconstruction. Finally, learning by doing real work is more meaningful and powerful rather than a thousand words in classical training. “We heard and then we forgot. We saw and now we remember. We did and so we can”. (Source: http://www.adb.org/Projects/ETESP/participatory-irrigation-Aceh.pdf)
Participatory Process and Empowerment Lesson Learned From ETESP Irrigation Sector in NIASParticipation is a process of empowering the community to solve their own problems through equal partnership, transparency, power-sharing, shared responsibility and co-operation. The long-term objective of participatory approaches is to improve the capacity (empowerment) of everybody who directly or indirectly participates in a program or project, through their involvement in decision-making and follow-up activities Participatory approaches are applied for the planning, design and implementation of investments in the irrigation sector financed under the Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project (ETESP). These approaches are not only applied in the Province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province, but also on Nias, an island off the coast of Northern Sumatra Province. There have been notable successes with applying participatory approaches to implement development projects both in the government and non-government sectors. But these successes tend to be patchy and localized. There remain many institutional constraints to their more widespread application, including the lack of a general understanding of what "participation" means. For some, it is enough if farmers participate by receiving the benefits of projects delivering inputs. For others, projects are not participatory unless all stakeholders are equal partners and equally involved in all aspects of decision-making related to project planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The ETESP Facilitation Team working with communities on Nias face many challenges in introducing participatory process in support of rehabilitation of irrigation schemes. This is caused by the communities' past experiences. Normally, communities are the recipients of projects prepared by government agencies on the basis of a "patron-client" relationship; they are not the "owner" nor the "implementer" of their assets in their own living areas. The Facilitation Team has to hold many meetings, both formally and informally, with the communities to shift their perception of being recipient to that of owner and implementer. At the beginning, during the preparation phase, communication and social interaction between Facilitation Team and the communities are usually difficult due to the communities' perception of the old patron-client relationship. They are so used to do what they are told to do by outsiders or by their leaders. This makes it difficult for them to adjust to a new approach in which they can tell their leaders what is needed, what their problems are and how these can be solved. Giving everybody a role and opportunity in the process through "Community Plenary Meetings" ensures that everybody becomes involved and feels responsible for the execution of the project. Transparency in the provision of information and clarity on the project implementation mechanism and procedures creates mutual trust among the community members and between the communities and Facilitation Team. Using this process, communities realize that the project's interventions can make a difference to their lives. The participatory approach has shown to be an effective to improve knowledge, organizational skills and capacity among all the stakeholders and to empower communities to better negotiate with the agencies providing assistance. Now, most of communities participating in ETESP's irrigation component are rehabilitating and improving their own irrigation canals through community-based contracts (SP3 - Surat Perjanjian Pemberian Pekerjaan). The next step is to involve the communities in the monitoring and evaluation process. The tools for participatory monitoring and evaluation are still to be prepared and developed together with communities. They can not only provide good information about project impacts, both positive and negative, but will also help increase commitment to follow through with maintenance and thereby contribute to the sustainability of the impacts. (Source: http://www.adb.org/Projects/ETESP/participatory-approaches.asp)
DONORS’ LENDING AND SUPPORT FOR IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE PROJECTS
World Bank
World Bank Supports Improving Irrigation Sector in Sindh (Pakistan) with US$150.2 millionThe World Bank approved a US$150.2 million credit to Pakistan to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the irrigation sector in Sindh Province. The Sindh Water Sector Improvement Project is designed to improve irrigation water distribution in three Area Water Boards (AWBs) Ghotki, Nara and Left Bank focusing on measures of reliability, equity, and user satisfaction. It is expected to help increase agricultural production, employment, and incomes in more than 30 percent of the irrigated area in the province. Pakistan relies on the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world to provide basic food security. The Indus Basin Irrigation System has converted deserts into arable lands suitable for agriculture. However, this infrastructure is deteriorating and needs rehabilitation along with reforms to improve the allocation of water as well as the efficiency of its use. Sindh is one of the primary beneficiaries of this system with three major barrages that divert some 48 million acre feet of water annually to the 14 main canal commands in the province. Sindh is one of the poorest regions of the country, and 56 percent of household income comes from agriculture, directly or indirectly. Irrigation is absolutely critical to Pakistan’s agriculture sector, which is the single most important source of employment and exports” said Yusupha Crookes, World Bank, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. “This project will help increase agriculture production in Sindh through increased yield and cropping intensity. This will stimulate rural growth that raises agricultural and non agricultural wages which are fundamental for reducing poverty. The project aims to deepen the institutional reforms that are already underway in Sindh, and will improve the irrigation system in a systematic way covering key hydraulic infrastructure. It will also enhance long-term sustainability of the irrigation system through participatory irrigation management and developing institutions for improving operation and maintenance of the system. These reforms will also improve equity of water distribution by increasing water availability for poorer farmers at the tail end of the distribution system. “The Project will support Farmer Organizations to improve irrigation canals and their enhanced role in management thus improving overall sustainability of the irrigation and drainage system in the province by providing a model,” said Masood Ahmad, World Bank Lead Water Resources Specialist and project team leader. “These vulnerable groups will also be encouraged to play greater role in decision making in water management and in the planning and implementation of projects.” The project will also focus on improved capacity and performance of the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority in effective information dissemination about irrigation scheduling, operation of the canals, flood forecasts and warnings. Socio-economic impacts and progress will be monitored and reported yearly. Feedback from some of these outcomes would provide a measure of progress and give early warning should any mid-stream changes become necessary.
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