Jordan

As a follow-up to the second National Seminar on PIM, a seminar was held in the Northern Region of Jordan attended by approximately twenty farmers and twenty officials of the Jordan Valley Authority (JVA). Main results were a recommendation issued by the assembly urging JVA to prepare the transfer of the management of laterals to farmers' organizations. In response, the Secretary-General of JVA requested INPIM to supply technical assistance in drafting a transfer proposal. In September 1999, INPIM, with financial assistance from the World Bank Institute, sponsored a visit to Jordan of INPIM Board member Dr. Jose Trava, to advise that country on legal and logistical dimensions of a transfer program. Based on his intimate knowledge of irrigation in Mexico, where Dr.Trava had overseen a dramatic transfer program in the early 1990s, a set of recommendations was developed tailored to the very different conditions of Jordan. For more information on PIM Activities in Jordan, please contact INPIM Board Member Mr. Suleiman Ghezawi, whose contact information can be found elsewhere in this issue.

Nepal

Canal Management Work force (CMWF) in WUA, Nepal

A technical group called ``canal management work force" has been established under the ongoing Irrigation Management Transfer Project supported by the Asian Development Bank, the US Agency for International Development, and the Government of Nepal. The project includes 11 areas covering a total of 67,000 ha. The Work Force provides technical assistance to WUAs in canal operation, maintenance, fee collection and supervising irrigation management activities of the WUAs. A set of guidelines titled, "Concept and Development of CMWF in WUA's" was prepared, and is available from the author:

Mr. R.S. Neupane
Chief, Human Resources Development and Training Branch
Department of Irrigation
Mahendra Yubalaya
Lalitpur, Nepal
email: cadi@janakpur.wlink.com.np

Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems Trust Gives Annual Recognition Award

Recognizing the need to conserve and preserve Nepal's rich tradition of farmer managed irrigation systems, the FMIS Trust was established in June 1998 as a non-profit, non-governmental professional organization.

The specific objectives of the Trust are: i) to annually recognize one FMIS for its best practice in a defined field that helps in sustainable organization, management and technology of an irrigated agricultural system; ii) to provide the officials of this FMIS the latest global exposure and orientation to the irrigated agricultural system development and management practices; iii) to globally disseminate the basic features of the Award winning FMIS; iv) to conduct and encourage FMIS related research that directly helps to promote a knowledge-base on FMIS; and v) to provide a forum for national and international dialogue on FMIS.

The Trust's Annual Report (and details of its training activities and award program) is listed under ``Suggested Readings" and is available from INPIM, or for download from the INPIM website. For more information on this program, contact:

Dr. Upendra Gautam
Farmers Managed Irrigation Systems Promotion Trust
GPO Box 19872, Kathmandu, Nepal
E-mail: cmsnepal@cms.wlink.com.np
Tel. No. # 977-1-482201, Fax No. # 977-1-482008

Pakistan

Pakistan NPIM is planning the 3rd National Seminar for March 2000. The network regularly publishes a newsletter. During 1999, the network helped to send several farmers to the Fifth International Seminar with assistance from the Dutch embassy in Lahore. 

Irrigation systems in Pakistan are very large and complex. A huge institutional reform is taking place now in Pakistan. Institutional reform has been introduced in all four provinces. In general, decision-makers are convinced of the importance on institutional reforms. The challenge is to involve all steps of the hierarchy in the reform:

Provincial Irrigation & Drainage Authority
Area Water Boards
Water Users Associations

INPIM should play a key role in setting the policy agenda for reform, developing specific guidelines for the legal framework and operation of WUA's.

by Mr. Muhammed Shaffique (comments during the 5th International Seminar)
IIMI/EASE Pakistan
Multan Road Niaz Baig Thokar
Lahore, 9/G1, Pakistan
Fax: 92-42 541-0054

Romania

I am pleased to inform you that the first Water Users' Association in Romania has been established. This association has 1,805 members and an irrigated command area of 9,587 ha. It is located in the southwest part of Romania, in the Sadova-Corabia irrigation scheme.

The establishment of this association, and three others in the process of being established, has been possible through the activity of a team of consultants from DHV Netherlands, Halcrow - England and ISPIF SA, Romania, within a project financed by the Word Bank and the Government of the Netherlands.

From Virgil Neacsu,
Institutional Expert
ISPIF, S.A.
Str. 35-37, Sector 4
79656 Bucharest
Romania
Fax: (40-1) 330 7000

Yemen

[Editor's note: News about this seminar was inadvertently omitted from previous Newlsetters, and is presented here some time after the fact.]

From November 22nd to 24th, 1998, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation held Yemen's first PIM Seminar. The Seminar took place within the framework of the preparation of the Participatory Irrigation Project which aims to transfer the management of Yemen's flood irrigation systems to farmers' associations. The Seminar was chaired by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and by the Assistant Deputy Minister for Irrigation. It was attended by 16 farmer representatives, 12 agency staff and 9 Ministry staff, including one from the Ministry of Finance. Geert Diemer, INPIM's Acting Executive Secretary, and World Bank Task Manager on PIM participated in the seminar, along with two of his colleagues from the World Bank. The seminar was conducted in Arabic.

The seminar yielded two main results. One was the production of reports by Yemeni consultants establishing the undisputed financial need to transfer management. The other was the unanimous recommendation that four pilot projects be started without waiting for the Irrigation Law to be adopted. The latter recommendation created space to move forward with the Participatory Irrigation Project being prepared by Usaid El-Hanbali and Chris Ward.

Yemeni consultants presented solid reports on the financial, organizational and legal dimensions of the operation and maintenance of the spate systems, which encompass a total command area of approximately 125,000 ha. 

A field trip to the Wadi Zabid system organized by the Tihama Development Authority gave participants a real life view of some problems mentioned in the reports. Underlying problems to this system are the insufficiency of funds for maintenance and the general insecurity in the region. Attention focused on the many cases of vandalism to gates and canals (ranging from screw beams pulled out of gates by trucks to farmers willfully degrading service roads by draining their irrigation water to the road). Participants noted the impunity with which farmers inflict such damage. Another major problem is that farmers near the government built concrete intake structure frequently take more than their share of water, at the expense of the rights of those downstream, who get water from farmer built canal systems.

At the proposal of the Minister, a stakeholder approach to formulating the Action Plan was replaced by a committee approach supervised by the Minister. A committee composed of four officials and four farmer representatives drafted a set of recommendations. Design and sites for the pilots mentioned in the recommendations will be proposed by an FAO consultant in an upcoming workshop next year. At that Workshop, an attempt will also be made to establish a Yemen INPIM Chapter.