WUA's in Kyrgystan

By Vilma Horinkova (Independent Consultant in Agriculture and Water Issues)

Much has been discussed about a choice of method and speed for successful irrigation management transfer and how it should be tailored to a country. The Kyrgyz Republic is an example of gradual transition with systematic capacity building for both the government and the users, pilot programs and ongoing monitoring.

In the past two years the Kyrgyz Republic has engaged in a program of land and agrarian reform. Agriculture is gradually changing from a sector composed of large-scale state farms to a mixture of agricultural cooperatives, joint stock companies, associations of peasant farms, and independent farms. This transformation has resulted in additional financial burden on the Ministry of Water Economy (MWE). O&M of canals which, in the past were maintained by the large cooperative farms, now falls under the Ministry.

In spite of the government passing legislation in 1994 that promulgates the formation of WUAs and assigns much of the responsibility for O&M to them, there is a lack of clear policies to apply and implement the law and lack of support services to the newly formed WUAs which would make the whole system operational. The MWE continues to concentrate on construction and operation of the main canals, letting the efficiency of operation and management of the inter-farm and farm canals become an open issue. The approved rate structure for O&M by local government agencies represents approximately 20% of the total costs, and there is no provision to cover the deficit from the central budget. As a result, irrigation maintenance has been de many areas. Additionally, fees paid by farmers for water delivery represent a negligible amount (barter is often practiced), thus the prospect for the systems falling further into disrepair is high.

The Asian Development Bank initiated a technical assistance project to provide limited consulting input to the Ministry of Water Economy. The project is structured to maximize the input by local counterparts and to provide guidance in institutional issues to local officials and WUAs in the pilot regions with "on the job training".

The project should result in MWE divesting itself of the direct responsibility for O&M within the irrigation systems and shifting activities to defining strategy and policies, developing regulations, organizing farmers, providing support services, and monitoring the effectiveness of WUAs. In the pilot regions the project should accomplish transfer of the management of irrigation systems to WUAs.

From the institutional point of view, the success of the project depends a great deal on the political will to set out a different course for the MWE. The work program is structured in a way that the MWE counterparts are fully integrated into the process and can become owners of the program strategy.

Realizing that changing operational policies presents many risks and assumptions, the PIM program offers a tremendous opportunity for a dialogue on policy framework and evaluation of programs after their implementation. The learning style of PIM is an excellent tool for spreading the principles of more sustainable and productive agriculture.