Country Updates

Albania

After fifty years of almost complete isolation and the 1990-92 socio-economic crisis, Albania has eagerly embarked on a new path. Committed to building a free market economy, the 1992 elected government introduced reforms and a stabilization program supported by the IMF and the World Bank. The program in the agricultural sector initially focused on advertising the land previously owned by large cooperatives and state farms. This process created approximately 400,000 small farms, averaging 1.4 ha. per family. Delivering water to so many small plots of individual farmers became increasingly difficult for the state owned water enterprises, and resulted in a dramatic decline in the irrigated land area. In 1994, the World Bank Irrigation Rehabilitation Project introduced Water Users Association (WUAs) as a form of participatory management for the tertiary units of the irrigation and drainage systems. The Albanian government enthusiastically endorsed this concept.

Despite initial difficulties, the principles of the participatory approach to management of irrigation systems were embraced by most farmers. However, the human capacity for organizing the associations and collecting fees, and operating and maintaining the systems needed to developed. Expatriate experts were fielded to build up this capacity and introduce PIM principles. Organizational arrangements were established to disseminate these ideas throughout the country. The results have been extraordinary. In two years approximately 214 WUAs were organized with more than 50,000 farmer members.

While the majority of these WUAs were formed on a village basis for social and political reasons, the need to convert these WUAs to a hydraulic basis was recognized in order to increase efficiency. After several WUA leaders and members returned from a study visit to Italy and Turkey, they became interested in reorganizing the existing WUAs. This process of consolidating the village-based WUAs into hydraulic-unit-based WUAs began in late 1995. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has approved a management transfer for O&M in secondary canal units to selected WUAs for summer 1996. Furthermore, several pilot programs to improve water distribution and measurement aimed at strengthening the PIM development will begin during summer 1996.

Although the Albanian PIM system is based on different roots than the PIM programs in Mexico and Turkey, the governing principles and strategy of sustainability are similar. Albania sent a strong delegation to the Second International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management in April 1996 in Antalya, Turkey. The participating officials officials, including the Minister of Agriculture, His excellency Hasan Halili, expressed their interest in holding a national PIM seminar in Albania in 1996/97 to enhance chances for a long-term sustainability of WUAs.

-  Toru Konishi, World Bank, Washington, DC, 20433, USA

China

China has a long history of PIM which takes a variety of forms in different regions of the country. A four-person delegation from China attended the International PIM Seminar in Turkey in April 1996. During the seminar, and in follow-up meeting between EDI and the Ministry of Water Resources, a series of PIM seminars were discussed to "mainstream" PIM in the government's irrigation sector. Possible seminars would include:

(a) First National Seminar on PIM, to be held at Du-Jian-Yen dam site (a 2000-year-old locally managed large irrigation system) in Sechuan Province. Objectives would be to review Chinaís experience with PIM, discuss foreign cases, and make policy recommendations to the Government. Participants from Central and selected provincial governments would be invited.

(b) Second National Seminar on PIM, to be held at the Yellow River basin in mid-1997, for 50-60 participants to work in depth on 2-3 selected policy recommendations made at the first seminar.

(c) Third National Seminar on PIM, to be held in late-1997 for high-level policy makers to discuss institutional reforms in China's irrigation sector.

(d) The Fourth International Seminar on PIM, to be held in 1998 for international participants to study the Chinese experience with PIM.

We look forward to updating China's PIM plans in the next issue of this newsletter.

Egypt

A national seminar on PIM held in Cairo, attracted a total of 110 participants from a cross section of national agencies and international organizations: Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources, National Water Resource Center, Ministry of Economy and International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Electricity and Energy, National Parliament, construction companies, consultants and donors. In addition, two resource persons, Mr. M. Gill from Pakistan and Dr. H. Gany from Indonesia attended the seminar through the INPIM Fellows program. The 4 day seminar included a 1-day field trip to visit local water user associations (WUAs), was co-sponsored by Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources and the World Bankís Economic Development Institute. It was opened by Dr. M. Abou Zeid, Chairman, National Water research Center. The Bank was represented by Mr. Peter Sun and Mr. Aizad Khan.

The seminar had three objectives: (a) to review and discuss the concepts of PIM and the current status of PIM in Egypt; (b) to share experiences and lessons learned from PIM programs in other countries (Mexico, Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia); and (c) to develop an indicative action plan to support PIM in Egypt.

Seminar participants formulated an Indicative Action Plan proposing that the Government of Egypt pursue the following policy goals:

(a) Continue expand the participatory role of farmers at the Tertiary (mesqa) level for all irrigated areas in Egypt;

(b) Expand the participatory approach to the secondary level on a pilot basis for both irrigation and drainage systems;

(c) Establish a coordinating unit for PIM within the Planning Department of the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources.

Copies of the seminar proceedings are available upon request to the INPIM Coordinator.

India

The Planning Commission of India has, for the first time, constituted a Working Group on PIM to suggest policy measures for the 9th Five Year Plan which will begin in 1997. The Working Group is headed by Mr. Ramaswamy R. Iyer, a former Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources and currently a fellow at the Center for Policy Research; a well known think-tank on policy issues. The Working Group includes experts in irrigation management, general management, senior officials of Ministry of Water Resources, Planning Commission, NGOs, Economists, Scientists and faculty from the state-level Water and Land Management Institutes. The Working Group has held a number of meetings since its constitution in October 1995 and has deliberated widely on the subject. A Drafting Committee set up under the Working Group has framed a draft report which is currently under examination by a Steering Committee constituted for the purpose. The final Working Report is expected to be ready by July 1996.

- From Mr. L.K. Joshi,
Additional Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, India
(and INPIM Board Member)

The Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India is planning to sponsor about 60 project level workshops on PIM during October-March, 1996-97 with wide participation of NGOs and farmers in addition to field level functionaries of the irrigation agency. The Ministry of Water Resources is preparing basic material for use in these conferences. Some of the important projects where the conferences are likely to be held are: Nagarjunsagar in Andhra Pradesh, Sone in Bihar, Mahi-Kadana in Gujarat, Tungabahadra in Karnataka, Malampuza in Kerela, Mula in Maharashtra, Hirakud in Orissa, Chambal in Rajasthan and Lower Bhawani in Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka Seminar

A State Level conference on PIM was organized by the Government of Karnataka at Munirabad on March 8-9, 1996. The conference was sponsored by the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India and co-sponsored by the five Command Area Development Authorities of the State. Farmers, government officers, experts in the field of PIM, peopleís representatives as well as irrigation management staff participated in the conference. The main objectives of the conference were:

(1) To discuss the recent policy shifts and strategies proposed at the National and State level for implementing PIM.

(2) To identify the strategies to be adopted for successful implementation of PIM in consultation with Water Users.

(3) To deliberate on models of suitable and sustainable institutional development for implementing PIM.

(4) To prepare a tentative action plan for implementing PIM in Command Area Development Projects.

The conference was divided into five technical sessions. During the first two sessions, papers were presented on PIM by experienced invitees. Group discussions took place in the next three sessions and farmers presented their views in the last session.

Three groups of farmers discussed strategies to be adopted for successful implementation of PIM in consultation with Water Users. One group of officials of Irrigation Department & CADA discussed models of suitable and sustainable institutional development for implementing PIM. A group of administrators discussed and prepared a draft action plan for implementing PIM in CAD Projects in the State. The conference succeeded in bringing in all the stake holders together and creating a conductive atmosphere for implementing PIM in the State. The concerns and the recommendations of the conference has been useful inputs in formulating the State Government's policies on PIM.

- Submitted by Mr. S.R. Ujjankop, CADA Administrator, Upper Krishna Project, Karnataka (India)

Pakistan

A one day seminar on Sustainable Development of Irrigation Schemes was organized in Islamabad, Pakistan on March 20, 1996 by Provincially Administered Tribal Areas

(PATA) Integrated Agricultural Development Project. Papers were presented on (i) the participatory implementation of new irrigation schemes and (ii) the transfer of existing irrigation schemes from government management to farmer management.

These papers were a result of a half year of discussions by two working groups comprising members of the Provincial Irrigation Departments and the Directorates of On Farm Water Management, both from Punjab and NWFP. One of the outcomes of the seminar is the incorporation of the ëParticipatory Management" model in the design of an upcoming World Bank financed irrigation project.

National Seminar to be Held

A national seminar on Participatory Irrigation Water Management will be held from August 11-13, 1996 at Lahore, Pakistan. Progressive farmers and participants from various government, non-governmental and donor agencies will be invited to share their knowledge, experiences, expertise and views on PIM in Pakistan. This will be a very timely discussion, since the management role of water users is central to major institutional reforms underway in Pakistan's irrigation sector. For more information, please contact Mr. Mushtaq Gill, INPIM Board Member (address is given in the list of Board members).

Food & Agriciculture Organization (FAO)

Several projects were completed recently in the Latin America region that were heavily involved in the promotion of participatory approaches in irrigation management. One of them was the Regional Project called: ``Assistance in the Transfer of Irrigation Systems in Central America" (GCP/RLA/117/SPA) where a number of regional events and national studies were carried out to promote the adoption of PIN approaches. The final report (in Spanish) is available. Also a national project in EL Salvador (GCP/ELS/003/JPN) has been completed where ten Water Users associations have received intensive training to manage the irrigation systems that were responsible for. FAO also assisted the recipient country in the revision of the water legislation so as to make more viable the management of irrigation systems by farmers. One of the remarkable success of this project was the establishment of a federation of WUA at the basin level that is becoming an important partner in the conservation of the natural resources of the basin. For both mentioned projects follow up activities/projects are under consideration.

The promotion of PIM approaches are also pursued in other regions as well as TCPs (Technical Cooperation Projects) are in preparation in Malawi and Tanzania. PIM approaches are also promoted in SPFS (Special Program for Food Security) that is being implemented in several food deficit countries.

Kazakhstan

National Effort Launched to Build Water User's Associations

Kazakhstan, a semi-arid Central Asian republic that became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991, has been struggling to recover from a national crisis in agriculture. Farming, which had previously been organized under 2,100 state farms, has seen enormous declines in yield since the transition to a quasi-market economy. Agriculture accounts for one fourth of the nation's GDP, but sector performance has declined by almost 10% per year since 1992. Faced with the crisis, the Government of Kazakhstan has sought to inject new life into the nation's agricultural sector with a series of sweeping reforms which have included privatization of all of the state farms.

Privatization has resulted in several new forms of farm organization including joint stock companies and private family farms. The emergence of a market sector in agriculture is to be reinforced by the privatization of irrigation systems. As a key part of irrigation participation has been the call for a national initiative to form water user associations and otherwise enhance farmer participation in irrigation management.

The USAID-funded Harvard Institute for International Development office in Almaty sponsored a National Seminar on Water Pricing and Water User Associations in April 1996. Farmers, Ministry of Agriculture officials, and government officers from all of the nation's Oblasts were represented. Keynote presentations on the experiences of other countries were made by Mark Lusk of the University of Montana and Jane Gleeson of Development Alternatives, Inc. Lusk, who is also a social scientist for the Harza Engineering, World Bank Irrigation and Drainage Improvement Project, also summarized field work from Kazakhstan.

• Wide support was generated at the four day meetings for a national initiative on water user association formation. The group endorsed an official protocol which recommended, among other things:
• Legally recognizing the water user association as the basis for local irrigation management
• Normalizing water fee structures
• Immediately carrying out water user association pilot projects
• Decentralizing and democratizing the nation's irrigation management structures

The seminar had an immediate effect. The Kazakhstan Agricultural Amelioration and Water Management Department has introduced a project in which Oblast and raion administrations have provided legal foundation and support for WUA's. With technical assistance from Harza Engineering and the Harvard Institute for International Development, training materials, pilot plans, and model WUA charters have been developed for national use. In addition, the World Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture has identified six projects for 1996 which will entail infrastructure rehabilitation and the formation of private water user associations on former state farms.

World Bank/Harza research has documented strong support among farmers for privatization and the formation of water user associations and government has given strong early approval to stakeholder involvement. Farmer participation in irrigation and agricultural management is a new way of doing business in this formerly communist society and much work remains to be done. Yet it seems the foundation is being laid for a major transformation of agriculture from central state control to decentralized, democratic farming systems in an emerging market economy.

- Mark W. Lusk, The University of Montana