Improved on-farm participatory water management to reduce mining of groundwater in Yemen

Improved on-farm participatory water management to reduce mining of groundwater in Yemen

Descripción

Water shortage is the most critical issue facing the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region and is likely to be exacerbated in the future because of high population growth and continuing decline in the renewable resources resulting from climate change, pollution and overdraft of groundwater. Despite this alarming situation, water management still faces major drawbacks as the largest share is used for agricultural production under traditional farming practices and low on-farm water use effici ency, resulting in very low output per unit of water use and consequently low economic returns from investments. However, because of the scarcity and unreliability of precipitation in the region, the improvement of irrigated farming systems still presents a high potential in the region and will undoubtedly continue to attract investment in the future, in comparison with rainfed systems. The present study is based on the outputs of several projects and sectoral studies, particularly a World Bank financed project aimed at introducing modern irrigation technological packages, in a participatory manner, under all major existing farming systems, as a measure to enhance water savings and improve farm income.