Irrigation service delivery and management transfer in Central Asia, Türkiye, and Azerbaijan

Yakubov, M.; Smakhtin, V.; Domullodzhanov, D.; Marjani Zadeh, S.; (eds.);

Irrigation service delivery and management transfer in Central Asia, Türkiye, and Azerbaijan

Autores

Yakubov, M.; Smakhtin, V.; Domullodzhanov, D.; Marjani Zadeh, S.; (eds.);

Editor

FAO ;

Descripción

This FAO volume examines three decades of irrigation management reform in the FAO Subregional Office for Central Asia region, tracing the transition from the state-led “hydraulic mission” to farmer-based irrigation management transfer (IMT). While IMT was widely promoted as a means to improve efficiency, sustainability, and equity through water users' associations (WUAs), outcomes have been highly uneven, with successes, partial rollbacks, and even reversals.The book provides seven country case studies – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – that illustrate these divergent trajectories. Türkiye achieved large-scale transfers but has moved toward greater state oversight; Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan established broad WUA systems yet face persistent fragilities; Azerbaijan pilots new models; Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan show how weak legal and financial frameworks can undermine IMT; and Turkmenistan retains highly centralized water management.The findings stress that lasting irrigation sustainability requires more than institutional reform: it also depends on modernized infrastructure, water-saving technologies, inclusive governance, and integration with broader strategies for rural development and climate resilience.