Sixth International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management to Be Held in Beijing, China in October 2001

Planning efforts are on for the Sixth International Seminar, which will be held in Beijing, China in October 2001. The People's Republic of China and the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources have generously agreed to host the international seminar. INPIM and the World Bank Institute have been instrumental in promoting the concept of Participatory Irrigation Management through annual seminars.

Past seminar venues have included countries which have adopted PIM on a large scale. The earlier seminars held are Mexico (1994), Anatalya, Turkey (1995), Tokyo, Japan (1997), Bali, Indonesia (1998), Hyderabad, India (1999). The seminar is aimed at policy makers in water resources, agency staff responsible for implementing reforms, farmer leaders, development professionals, consultants, and NGOs. The seminar is an excellent source for information and knowledge exchange, in addition to a chance for networking among irrigation professionals. As the total number of participants for the Sixth International Seminar will be restricted to 100, you are requested to contact INPIM at the earliest to confirm of your participation.

Course on Capacity Building For Participatory Irrigation Management Held in Bari, Italy

A 10-day training course on "Capacity Building for Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM)" was held on the campus of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (Italy) from September 11-20, 2000. The course was co-sponsored by INPIM, The World Bank, the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute-Bari (MAIB), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The course was designed to meet the needs of irrigation agencies responsible for implementing PIM policy reforms as part of Bank loans. A total of 34 participants attended from 11 countries--Albania, Algeria, Egypt, India, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Philippines, Tunisia, and Turkey.

The course was co-directed by Raymond Peter, Director of INPIM, and former Secretary of Irrigation in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, Professor Atef Hamdy, Research Director at MAIB, and David Groenfeldt of the World Bank's Rural Development Department. Presentations were also given by resource persons from Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands, and the French Institute for Development Research (IFRD, formerly OSTROM). The Bari course will be repeated in 2001; please contact INPIM if you or your colleagues could benefit from such a course.

Training of Trainers for Participatory Irrigation Management Held in India

A course on ``Training of Trainers for Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM)" was held in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh from January 19-25, 2001. A total of 49 participants attended from 4 countries (Cambodia, Egypt, Indonesia, and India). The training program was conducted in English, with special translation in Telugu provided for farmer organization presidents.

This course begins to fill the need for regional training programs in PIM. The course was organized by IndianPIM, in collaboration with the INPIM secretariat in Washington, DC. The course was financed solely by the participants fees, which were seta at US $ 650 each.

The World Bank Institute contributed to the program, and will make study material from the course available to a wider audience. This course was not aimed at policy makers, but rather senior technical staff who are implementing reforms at a regional level. INPIM hopes to conduct similar training programs through its country chapters. If you have a particular interest in such a course in your country/region, please contact the INPIM secretariat.

World Bank Conducts Workshop on Institutional Reforms in Irrigation and Drainage

A one-day workshop on ``Institutional Reforms in Irrigation and Drainage" was conducted by the World Bank on December 11, 2000. The workshop was significant due to the ongoing debate on the various alternatives for irrigation reform. The workshop was attended by over 60 participants, including World Bank staff and representatives from NGOs, international organizations, and the private sector.

Participants deliberated on various issues such as benchmarking, economic incentives for irrigation reforms, and institutional options for reform. Several different ``case studies" of irrigation reform were discussed, including Chile, Australia, Mexico, Turkey, the Philippines, Andhra Pradesh, Niger and China. INPIM assisted in planning and managing the workshop. For more information on the workshop, contact:

Fernando Gonzalez
Senior Irrigation Advisor
The World Bank
Phone: 202 458-1382
Fax: 202 522-3306
fgonzalez@worldbank.org

A separate workshop on institutional options for the drainage sector was held in the World Bank on December 21, 2001. The workshop was attended by 20 participants. Participants noted that drainage, although often considered less important than irrigation, plays an important role in sustainable irrigated agriculture and rural development.

Issues identified in the workshop included the significance of drainage and its impact on food security, the need to develop conceptual views about drainage, and its impact on poverty alleviation. The need for participatory approaches in the drainage sector was discussed. Finally, participants stressed the need to include drainage as a component in integrated water resources management programs. For more information on the workshop, please contact:

Safwat Abdel-Dayem
Lead Drainage Specialist, RDV
The World Bank,
Phone: (202)473-8486
Fax: (202) 614-0932
sabdeldayem@worldbank.org