ISLAMABAD: The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) country representative Mina Dowlatchahi said on Wednesday the transformation of water management and agriculture was needed to halt deterioration of natural resources and the contribution they made to the livelihoods of farmers and Pakistan’s economy at large.
She said at a workshop on water sector management in Karachi that it was no longer an option to work on water in isolation from agricultural production and food systems.
World Bank task team leader of the Sindh Water Sector Improvement Project (WSIP) Toru Konishi said: “Water sector management is in a crisis with regard to water security. Therefore, it is essential to determine opportunities for water saving and how water can be distributed.”
The Khipro Canal of Nara Canal Area Water Board was selected for the workshop due to its recent rehabilitation under the WSIP, a World Bank-funded project.
Sindh Irrigation Secretary Jamal Mustafa Syed said the irrigation department could not solve all problems unless it worked in close collaboration with the department of agriculture.
He appreciated FAO, the World Bank and the irrigation staff of the Khipro Canal system for coordinating for this training and field visits.
The purpose of the workshop was to train irrigation sector managers and engineers in “rapid appraisal procedure” and provide insights into the performance of large irrigation systems.
The workshop afforded an opportunity to irrigation and agriculture staff to work in collaboration to address issues of water service delivery and canal system performance and support WSIP.
The workshop was informed that the World Bank was preparing to fund another project in synergy with the Green Climate Fund led by FAO for transforming the Indus Basin with Climate Resilience Agriculture and Climate Smart Water Management.
The WSIP was based on the Sindh Water Vision Paper prepared by FAO. During preparation of the strategy paper, FAO conducted rapid appraisal procedure studies on Nara Canal Area Water Board, Ghotki Feeder Canal Area Water Board and Left Bank Canal Area Water Board, which contributed to the formulation of WSIP.
The rapid appraisal process is a scientifically designed procedure, which allows qualified personnel to systematically and quickly determine key indicators to assess performance of irrigation projects and systems.
The training focused on the first step of a larger step-wise methodology developed by FAO to audit irrigation system performance and plan irrigation modernisation: mapping system and services for canal operation techniques.
Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2017
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