Third Annual Training Course on Capacity Building in Bari

3rd Annual Training Course on Capacity Building for PIM Held in Bari, Italy

The third annual training course on PIM took place from September 20-29, 1999 in Bari Italy. The course was jointly organized by the World Bank and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy (MAIB). The course was attended by 43 participants from Albania, Egypt, India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nepal, Tunisia, Turkey, USA. The large number of participants is an important sign that donors and government authorities are increasingly recognizing the importance of PIM in developing water resources.

In his introduction, David Groenfeldt, of the World Bank's Rural Development Department presented the concept of a ``marketing strategy" for PIM. The new paradigm of participatory management needs to be marketed to the irrigation community, both at the farm and agency levels, as well as to the general public. The marketing concept implies that a participatory management approach is promoted, but also implies that the approach may need to be modified to make it more appealing to more people. During the course, teams from each country worked on the formulation of their own marketing strategies for promoting and adapting PIM at the national level.

Expert trainers delivered talks on a variety of topics which are of great interest to those who are implementing a PIM program. Theses included a presentation on ``Gender and PIM" by Margreet Zwarteveen; the Mexico Case by Wim Kloezen; and ``second-generation challenges" and operational procedures for WUA's, by Sam Johnson III.

Highlights included a field visit to visit a local farmers' association, the ``Consorzio Bonifica di Capitanata." Participants also visited the Capitanata irrigation system, an efficient and well-run system where water is delivered on demand via a sophisticated electronic key system.

Five volumes of course material were prepared for the course; some of these are already available in other formats, but the collections of country overviews and the experience of the Italy were specially prepared for the course. These will be posted on the INPIM website and are also available to members upon request. The five volumes of course material are:

• Handbook on Participatory Irrigation Management.
• Case Studies in Participatory Irrigation Management
• PIM in the Mediterranean Countries
• The Experience of Consortia in Italy
• County Overviews of PIM

INPIM would like to extend special thanks to Prof. Atef Hamdy, Dr. Cosimo Lacirignola, and all the staff of the Institute in Bari for their hard work and commitment to making this course a success. We hope that you or one of your colleagues will consider joining us next year for this very informative course. For more information on the course, please contact INPIM.