| Excutive
summary: |
Water
in the KRB is limited and becoming scarcer as population and
demand are increasing. The productivity of rainfed agriculture
is low, conventional irrigation management is poor, cropping
systems are sub-optimal, and policies and institutions are
weak. However, Iran's agricultural strategy identifies water
productivity improvement as a top priority. The KRB reflects
in many aspects the problems of water management in other
basins in the region. Accordingly, it is intended to link
the work in KRB with the Euphrates and Amu Darya river basins,
which have been postponed to the next phase of the CP.
The purpose
of this project is to help the poor communities in the basin
to sustainably improve their income and livelihoods. The objectives
of the project are to improve farm and basin water productivity
and the sustainable management of the natural resource base,
develop appropriate policies and institutions and enhance
the capacity of NARES.
The research
will be community-based with full participation of farmers,
community leaders, local institutions and policy makers. Three
benchmark sites will be selected under rainfed and irrigated
conditions. Experiments and demonstrations will be conducted
under researcher- and farmer-managed conditions to develop,
test, apply, and improve the adoption of water management
options. An integrated approach to developing efficient systems
will be used. Socioeconomics will form an integral part of
the project to ensure a problem-solving approach and a high
adoption rate. Special attention will be given to the role
of women. Policies and institutional structures will be examined
and recommendations communicated. The consequences of the
outputs at the basin level will be studied and projections
made available. Two of the activities, water productivity
levels and existing policies and institutions will also be
conducted in the Euphrates and Amu Darya basins.
The project
is expected to improve water productivity in target areas
of the project but linkages at the basin levels will be made.
Improving water productivity will be reflected in farmers'
income and living standards. The challenge will be how to
upscale and out-scale the results to other areas in the basin
and the country. This will be attempted though influencing
policies and suggesting effective institutions at the community
and scheme levels. Conducting relevant activities in the Euphrates
and Amu Darya basins will provide additional insight. A dissemination
strategy based on these principles and using advances in communication
will also be implemented.
The work
will be conducted in a partnership of two CG centers (ICARDA
and IWMI), four NARES most concerned in the basin (AERI, SPII,
and DARI, and the local university Shahid Shamran), one ARI
(UC Davis, USA), and, most importantly, the farmers in the
basin. The project total budget is US$ 2.253 million over
four years of which about one third is contributed by partners.
The partners' commitments of sizable matching funds and the
strong presence of ICARDA and IWMI in Iran and the wider region
will ensure a cost effective and low risk project.
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