Overall objective

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to sustainable and inclusive economic, social and territorial development of the country and reducing regional disparities through the development of physical capital in rural areas.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to contribute to increased competitiveness of the agriculture sector, to sustain farm incomes and mitigation of adverse effects of climate change in agriculture by promoting small-scale, low-cost, environment-friendly irrigation schemes.

This will be achieved through:

  • Selection of potential sites for investments in small-scale, low-cost, environment-friendly irrigation schemes;
  • Preparation of project documents including feasibility studies and technical design for future investments in small-scale irrigation systems;
  • Design and prepare tendering documentation for construction/rehabilitation of small-scale irrigation systems at the selected sites;
  • Provide policy guidance on streamlining, strengthening and clarifying the roles and build capacities of different stakeholders involved in irrigation water management in community based, small-scale irrigation systems;
  • Develop a simple, yet robust procedure and methodology for calculation of water tariff to achieve sustainability of community-based, small-scale irrigation systems.

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.

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The assignment is organised in inception phase and implementation phase further organised in two components:

  • Component 1: Feasibility Studies and Detailed Technical Designs implemented in two phases:
    • Conduct full feasibility studies and EIA for pre-selected investment sites;
    • Technical design of environmentally and economically sustainable SMALL SCALE IRRIGATION SCHEMES and preparation of tender dossier for works contracts under PRAG.

and

  • Component 2: Support for stakeholders involved in planning and implementation of the irrigation sector policy.
    • Under this Component, the Contractor shall support MAFWE in the ongoing water management reforms towards involvement of water users in management of irrigation schemes.
  • Result 1: Potential irrigation project sites are identified, project sites are surveyed and prefeasibility report is prepared (at least 15-20 potential sites are assessed).
  • Result 2: Feasibility studies are prepared (at least 6-8 feasibility studies).
  • Result 3: Detailed Technical designs of environmentally and economically efficient community based small scale irrigation scheme are prepared and tender dossiers compiled (6-8 sites).
  • Result 4: Farmer groups established on each of the irrigation investment project site for which tender dossiers are prepared (6-8 farmers groups). Farmers are trained and capable to manage the small scale irrigation scheme.
  • Result 5: Methodology for calculation of irrigation water tariff is developed to achieve sustainability of community-based, small-scale irrigation systems managed by water users.
  • Improved irrigation possibilities in the chosen locations
  • Higher opportunities for the farmers to optimize the land usage, introduce better crops and improve the quality of the existing crops
  • Improved management structures that will give the farmers greater power

The main target group is the farming community whose lands will be provided with access to irrigation facilities. It is expected that farmers with access to irrigation facilities can grow high value crops to increase their net income from farming, and the local community(ies) at large would benefit from increased economic activity within the irrigation schemes.

Project beneficiaries:

  • Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy (MAWE), as a direct beneficiary of the project activities and outputs;
  • JSC for Water Management;
  • Municipalities and farmers organisations as key stakeholders in the implementation of project activities which will indirectly benefit the project results.