Improving Agriculture Water Productivity in the Region“Investment in Irrigation in MENA”,Lessons from World Bank portfolio and water sector studies, Presented by Qun Li, Senior Operational Officer- World Bank, Land and Water Days in Near East & North Africa, 15-18 December 2013, Amman, Jordan

1. Improving Agriculture Water
Productivity in the Region
“Investment in Irrigation in MENA”
Presented by
Qun Li
Senior Operational Officer- World Bank
Lessons from World Bank portfolio and water sector
studies

2. Challenges for Agriculture Water Management in MENA
• The most water-scarce region:
- countries (10% of global land mass) receive only
2% of average annual rainfall;
- below 1000 - 500 M3/person/Year;
- contain 0.3% of the global annual renewable
water sources
• Climate change impacts:
- by 2015, predicted to be below the level of 500
M3/person/Year for most countries;
- by 2050, decline by 50% - below severe water
scarcity level
• Rapid growth of water demand:
- Population growth, economic growth, and
Food insecurity
• I &D plays a critical role in the allocation of
the country’s limited water resources
Agriculture is the largest water user (88% in
MENA): its importance for employment,
income and food security:
- Underground aquifers are a major water
resource in many countries; some irrigation
systems depend largely on groundwater (90%
in Libya)
Other challenges:
• Inadequate public awareness on water
conservation;
• Urgent needs to improve water productivity,
change the traditional approach for I&D
investment and management;
• Competition between sectors and lack of
cooperation between water and agriculture
sectors;
• Weak institutions and water Governance
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3. Increased frequency
and intensity of
extreme climate events
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4. MENA I&D Projects or with Agricultural Water component
(closed & on-going projects from 2001-2011)
IRAN
EGYPT
•National Drainage I, II, & Additional Financing
MOROCCO
•Farm-level Irrigation Modernization
•Oum Er Rbia •Integrated Irrigation Improvement and Management
Basin Irrigated •Enhanced Water Resources Management
Agriculture
•Irrigation Improvement
Modernization
•Irrigation Based
Community
Development
TUNISIA
• Second Natural
Resources
Management
•Northern Tunis
Wastewater
•Second Water
Sector Investment
•Fourth Northwest
Mountainous and
Forested Areas
Development
•Alborz
Integrated Land
and Water
Management
IRAQ
•Emergency
Community
Infrastructure
Rehabilitation
Additional
Financing
LEBANON
•Community
Development
YEMEN
•Water Sector Support Project
•Groundwater and Soil Conservation
•Sana’a Basin Water management
•Irrigation Improvement Project
•Land and Water Conservation Project
•Rainfed Agriculture and Livestock Project
•Southern Governorates Agricultural Privatization
DJIBOUTI
•Rural
Community
Development
and Water
Mobilization

5. WB Regional Portfolio Review: Brief Results
MENA I&D Projects from Year 2001-2011
The regional portfolio review covered IBRD and IDA projects: Egypt
(5), Iran (1), Iraq (1), Lebanon (1), Morocco (2), Tunisia (4), Yemen (7),
and Djibouti (1): the examples from MENA Portfolio:
•Agricultural modernization in Morocco’s “Oum Er Rbia”
Basin:
– Switch to continuous flow and drip irrigation
– On-farm technical assistance to increase productivity and
market access for higher-value crops
•Groundwater conservation in Yemen’s Sana’a Basin (SBWMP
and GSCP):
– Reduce conveyance losses by replacing irrigation ditches
with pipes
– Introduce new irrigation technologies
– Train WUAs
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6. Regional Portfolio Review: Brief Results
MENA I&D Projects from Year 2001-2011
Another Examples from MENA:
•Improving large-scale irrigation in Egypt (IIIMP):
– Rehabilitate main canals and drainage systems
– Introduce flow measurement and continuous flow
– Develop Integrated Water Management Districts
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7. Regional Portfolio Review: Brief Results
MENA I&D Projects from Year 2001-2011
WB financed about 22 operations in irrigation and drainage
(I&D) with strong engagement in I&D and agriculture
development:
According to project documents:
• Investment amounted to US$1.00 bill ion;
• covering I&D area about 720,000 ha – developed or
rehabilitated;
• establishing/strengthening 189 WUAS, 4,900 WUGs, 68
collector associations and 20,000 marwa committees; and
• increasing agricultural productivity between 8-71 %.

8. Regional Portfolio Review: Brief Results
MENA I&D Projects from Year 2001-2011
Early I&D projects emphasized increasing agriculture
productivity through rehabilitation and development of I&D
systems, and expansion of irrigated areas,
which led to:
• increasing surface irrigation water use, especially in water
scarcity areas;
• the exploitation of the fossil groundwater aquifers
(increased wells and exploited deeper aquifers), and
increased pumping cost; and
• unsustainable water use, and caused social tensions and
conflicts

9. Regional Portfolio Review: Brief Results
MENA I&D Projects from Year 2001-2011
There is a major shift in recent I&D projects to support
the sustainable water resources development through
promoting IWRM, water conservation, linking agricultural
water management to broader, integrated communitybased water resources management approaches.
But it still without a comprehensive approach for increasing
agriculture water productivity (kg/m3) and encouraging water
saving by integrating engineering structural measures with
agronomic and institutional management and policy reform in
addition to lack of on-farm water demand measurement and
management component;

10. Lessons from the Regional Portfolio Review
• Unless the improvements in water use efficiency are linked to
comprehensive water saving management, there is no assurance
that consumptive use of irrigation water will actually be reduced
and water productivity will be fully improved;
• It is critical to shift the investment focus from water supply
construction to volumetric water demand and consumption.
• Increase investment in real water saving awareness raising, water
saving technologies that reduce consumption, particularly nonbeneficial ET and non-recoverable losses, changes in institutional
set-up and technical and operational procedures;
• There are few effective IWRM instruments in project
implementation. There is a need to shift policy dialogue from
project investment and the support of large parastatal
organizations to the institutional and economic instruments that
align incentives for agriculture water saving through service
providers and users at farm level;
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11. Lessons from the Regional Portfolio Review
• Decentralization and increased community involvement
have shown to be important in all stages of the projects.
The establishment of WUAs built a foundation for
agriculture water management at the farm level, but all
WUAs need serious improvement with more authority,
financial and technical capacity, and effective cooperation
with irrigation agencies to keep functioning, and be really
responsible for O&M of on-farm I&D infrastructure and
volumetric water consumption management;
• Climate resilience was not considered in the concept and
design of earlier I&D projects, the new I&D project should
integrate the CC adaptation and mitigation measures into
all investment activities to support a sustainable green
growth in the region.

12. The key message of the WB report
It is necessary to take an integrated approach that emphasizes demand-side
water consumption measurement and management, especially at the farm
level. This will involve:
•
•
•
•
the awareness of comprehensive water saving and water demand
measurement and management concepts;
implementing new technologies for better monitoring and management of
water consumption and productivity at farm level;
developing and improving I&D infrastructure with the integrated water
supply and demand management system (need to install a full water
measurement system), that not only for more reliable, equitable, and
flexible water service delivery, but also for better integrated water
demand/ consumption measurement and management;
customized institutions and procedures for the integration/cooperation
with end users; and ensuring that water-saving objectives are aligned
across multiple sector and scales, from the national to the basin, system,
and farm levels.
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13. The key message of the WB report
Many countries in the region are already aware of potential
solutions to water scarcity, but yet many issues persist in the
region, because:
• solutions have to update all the time (evaluate with the
updated technologies and policies), too often been pursued
on a piecemeal basis;
• it is difficult to implement demand-side management in the
absence of advanced water use monitoring and measurement
technologies and I&D infrastructure able to ensure good
water service delivery;
• the new challenge of climate change has not always been
considered; and
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14. Adaptive engineering Water Saving measures
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15. Five key messages from our study
1. Do much more to measure and manage agriculture water
productivity (particularly water consumption and ET). Provide a
broad perspective – and recognize that effective agriculture water
demand management is currently not working well in the region yet.
2. Remove disincentives to efficient water use at the farm level –
encourage action toward technologies and financial incentives for
improving irrigation efficiency; reducing non-beneficial water
consumption; better cropping options; targeted extension; etc.
3. Set water supply and demand/consumption management goal at
the national, basin-scale, system and farm HH level to increase
agricultural water productivity in both physical and economic terms
4. Develop tailored package of measures that respond to local
conditions, capacity, and current practices
5. Mainstream consideration of climate change and resilience in I&D
and agriculture development investment.
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16. Opportunities for Enhancing Policies and Investments
•
•
•
CONVENTIONAL
Measure water
withdrawals/supply
Improve irrigation delivery
efficiency: reduce “losses”
between diversion & plant
Financial irrigation charges: cost
recovery for government
expenditure based on areas
($/ha) for most surface water
irrigation without water
measurement system
•
•
•
•
Increasing participation: the
•
establishment of water user’s
organizations to transfer
irrigation O&M management, but
not at full operation yet
•
Competition; water saving to
•
reduce farmers’ water use,
reallocate without compensation
•
Top-down well licensing to
control groundwater abstraction
•
ENHANCING
Measure & manage water supply and
consumption, evapotranspiration (ET)
Improve water productivity (WPET):
yield, biomass, or value per unit of
water consumed
Water quota allocation and reliable
water service delivery as primary
instruments for consumption
management. Volumetric water
change, Strengthen farmer financing
for O&M.
IMPLICATIONS
•Open, transparent water accounting
to inform decisions and water users
• Target investments and subsidies to
raise real water productivity
• Progressively modernize operations
and infrastructure with improved
water measurement system.
Irrigation charges to fund O&M,
tailored to different situations.
Develop WUA financial capacity and
cost-sharing.
Develop the integrated water supply • Participatory diagnostics, better
and demand management system:
communications, development of
customize institutions and procedures WUA technical and financial capacity
for the integration/cooperation with
for implementation and operation,
end users, and strengthen collective
and joint water management
action by farmers in improving
irrigation
Share benefits from shifting water
• Facilitate equitable, win-win water
between uses
transactions, including equitable
mechanisms for temporary transfers,
e.g.. drought compensation
Support local aquifer management:
• Inform, facilitate, advise local water
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consensus-building, regulation/rules
governance; responsive enforcement

17. Develop Tailored Package of Measures
1.
2.
3.
4.
Water Demand Options: The high-tech remote-sensing/ET measurement
and water delivery monitoring systems provides the opportunity for a more
strategic integration of the benefits of well-developed water supply
investments with a new farm- and irrigation system-level water
saving/demand management focus (irrigation mapping, crop mapping, ET
mapping, water accounting, etc.). With careful implementation, these new
technologies can be deployed to achieve both water savings and higher
yields and economic productivity, with increased incentives; improved
irrigation Efficiency and services; land Management; and cropping options.
Institutional Options: Strengthen Government Agencies; Improve
Accountability and Transparency; Improve Dispute Resolution Mechanisms;
Build Capacity; and Decentralize Management.
Allocation Options: Win-win Water Transactions (Swaps, Subsidies, Drought
Compensation, Water Banking, Dry Year Contingent Contracts, Tanker
Markets, and Well Buyouts).
Water Supply Options: Water Reuse and Recycling; Renewable Energy
Desalination; Reservoir Storage; and Transboundary Agreements.
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18. Summary of Recommendations
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19. Farmer’s Association and WUA
Water Measurement and volumetric Water Charges
implemented at the farm household level

20. Thank You

21. The Study was supported under
the World Bank-FAO Cooperative
Program