According to the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, the total agriculture land in the country is 225.000 ha. Approximately 80% of the cultivated area is owned by private farmers, the remaining 20% is owned by state. Most agricultural holdings have mixed production and land area smaller than 1 ha (only 10% have a land area of above 3 ha). Excessive land fragmentation of both landownerships and land use exists. The average size of a family agricultural holding of 1.85 ha is divided into a large number of parcels, usually 5-7 per holding.
The use of water for irrigation needed for agriculture is 46%, which is lower than Southern Europe, where irrigation accounts for a larger proportion of total water usage (from 52% in Portugal to 83% in Greece), showing that more water can be used for this purposes. The potential for irrigation is 164.000 ha but only 126.600 ha are actually equipped for irrigation (around 30% of total arable land). Only around 5% of the total arable land was actually irrigated in the past decade.
The low use of the irrigation systems is by large due to highly deteriorated irrigation infrastructure which in some extreme cases is totally diminished. Also, the irrigated agriculture faces several other challenges: urbanization of irrigated areas, abundant agriculture land, high land fragmentation, weak agricultural extension system and knowledge transfer, increased use of ground water for on-farm irrigation, weak water governance and institutional capacity deficit in terms of water management. In addition, the effects of climate change are also present, and while some areas are affected more than others, surely it can be concluded that the conditions for agriculture are becoming harder.
The proposed solution
The basis on which the concept of the project “Small-scale, low-cost, environment friendly irrigation schemes: sites selection and preparation of full work tender dossier” was developed starts with a recent assessment performed under a framework contract prior to this project. The assessment proves that the existing small-scale irrigation systems (less than 300 ha) that are community-based, with decent irrigation infrastructure and good operating procedures are performing well in terms of distribution of water to water users, and collection of water charges from users.
Also, it has emphasised that small-scale irrigation systems that are designed, constructed, operated and maintained with community participation and contribution are cheaper to construct, can spur economic growth in rural communities and contribute to transforming the livelihoods of rural population, mitigation of rural poverty and rural-urban migration.
Institutional setup
As far as the institutional setup for irrigation is concerned, at present, several institutions / organizations are involved in the water irrigation sector:
- The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MoEPP) has the overall responsibility for management of the water resources and in particular supervises the use of water for municipal and industrial needs and water protection (including water supply and waste water);
- The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Economy (MAFWE) through its Water Management Directorate (WMD) regulates the use of water for agriculture, mainly for irrigation and represents the state ownership of the irrigation and drainage schemes.
- The Joint Stock Company “Water Management of the Republic of Macedonia” (JSC for Water Management) been empowered for management of the irrigation and drainage systems through its 12 branch offices. Primary responsibilities of JSC are to construct new systems, and operate and maintain multipurpose dams and reservoirs (except for hydropower), irrigation and drainage canals and systems, to distribute irrigation water to farmers, collect the water fees.