Comparison of practices

• Use of water resources
• Use of land resources

Country: Kazakhstan

Province: Jambyl Region

District: Talas District

Other settlement: Village of Sadu Shakirov

Country: Kyrgyzstan

Province: Jalal-Abad Region

The site is located in the desert foothill plain in South-ern Kazakhstan (internal drain area) at the very end of Sharuashlyk Irrigation Canal.

Water User Associations (WUAs) are located to the northwest of Jalal-Abad (region’s capital) on the border of Namangan and Andizhan Regions of Uzbekistan (Kugart River Valley, 1,200 m ASL, northern tail of the Fergana Valley).

Start date: 01.05.2008

End date: 30.04.2009

Start date: 01.01.2009

End date: 31.12.2017

Acute water shortage; land degradation in the village of Sadu Shakirov; abandoned irrigated arable lands used only for year-round cattle grazing.

For a long time, the irrigation canal was not operation-al and, thus, became dilapidated. The situation in the area was aggravated by climate change impacts (de-creased quantity of early spring, summer and winter precipitation, increased average annual temperature, spring and autumn frost bites and summer droughts).

Low water use efficiency on WUA and farm levels

Method of autumn and winter water-charging irrigation

Technical tools:

Effective water use technologies, modern technologies of irrigation water management.

Cognitive tools:

Consultations by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and local experts, capacity-building training seminars.

Actions:
1) Reconstruction of the canal, stop-gates and field irrigation networks (rehabilitation of irrigation furrows),
2) Setting up artificial pastures with forage crops

Results:

Financial and economic:
Using water-charging irrigation for rangelands allowed increasing their productivity from 3.5 to 5 dt/ha and receiving 60 tons of herbage for cattle and sheep and goats from non-cultivated land.

Technical:
1) 12 km of the canal and 5 stop-gates to regulate water releases restored,
2) 5 km of irrigation furrows built,
3) Cultivated pastures with forage crops created (soil preparation, alfaalfa planting, coordination of irrigation norms),
4) Fields are prepared during the summer-fall period, and watered during late fall or early spring.

Actions:

Capacity building:

• farmers in pilot areas underwent trainings on advanced methods of effective water use;
• the Project was implemented within WUAs and agriculture servicing organizations;
• in 2011, 1,694 farmers (including 488 women) underwent community-level trainings on effective management of water resources; training and awareness-raising materials (manuals, modules, newsletters, etc.) were designed, published and disseminated among partners; also, Guidelines on Effective Community-Level Use of Water Resources and Advanced Irrigation Methods were developed and disseminated.

Partnership building:

• trainings-of-trainers for partner organizations on 10 aspects of effective irrigation water use were held;
• irrigation specialists visited all partners for consultations (30 visits);
• partners received spillways to measure water consumption;
• farmers exchanged their experiences in the course of exchange visits.

Results:

The practice promoted building of WUA capacities, increasing the efficiency of irrigation water use on farm level as well as building farmer capacities on water resources management.

Lessons learnt:
Application of water-charging irrigation allowed in-creasing water availability and, as the result, productivity of agricultural crops.

Application of water-charging irrigation demonstrated the efficiency of water use and allowed local popula-tion to go through winter without losing livestock.

Recommendations:
The method can be used in areas/communities where along with crop growing the population is also involved in livestock breeding.

Lessons learnt:

Water shortage and inefficient water use (field/farm level) pose obstacles to farmers receiving high yields and incomes from agricultural production. Excessive irrigation in upper-stream areas and water shortage in lower-stream areas, although a paradox, occur simultaneously as farmers lack knowledge on actual crop water requirements and water-efficient irrigation.

Recommendations:

The practice should be scaled-up across the country.  It is also necessary to conduct regular trainings to raise awareness among farmers and build their capacities on applying advanced irrigation methods providing them with an opportunity to manage scarce water resources more effectively.

Traditional tools transferred from generation to generation that proved their efficiency in modern conditions

• Domestic tools (outcomes of research by domestic R&D organizations)
• Foreign tools (transfer of foreign experience)

1. Cost of implementation: High

2. Approximate cost of investment per 1 ha:

3. O&M costs: High

4. Expert support: Not needed

1. Cost of implementation: High

2. Approximate cost of investment per 1 ha:

3. O&M costs: High

4. Expert support: Not needed

Project title: Fall and early spring Irrigation of arable land and pastures as an adaptation mechanism of ra-tional water use in Southern Kazakhstan

Duration: May 1, 2008 – April 30, 2009

Project goal and objectives: reduce land degradation due to climate change by way of rational use of irriga-tion water. The project was implemented to prevent loss of cattle due to forage shortage during alternating droughty years.

Project beneficiaries: local population.

Project implementer: Kogal LLC

Project title: Effective Water Use (SEP) (Kyrg. “Suunu effektivduu paidalanuu”)

Project duration: 2009-2017 (9 years).

Project goal and objectives: enhance water resources management frameworks and capacities in terms of rendering services to farmers with the aim of increasing their incomes, food security and capabilities to adapt to social, economic and climate risks; improve farmers knowledge and their abilities to apply advanced field-level irrigation and water collection methods providing them with an opportunity to manage scarce water resources more effectively.

Project beneficiaries: water users (farmers) and WUAs.

Project implementer: Department of Water Management and Reclamation of the MoAFIR of Kyrgyzstan

1) UNDP Compilation “Climate change adaptation: ex-amples from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan”, Tashkent 2012;
2) pandia.org

1. Assessment report on water user associations performance in southern regions of the Kyrgyz Republic, 2010;
2. Presentation “Review of adaptation projects in the Kyrgyz Republic: preliminary outcomes”; 
3. SEP: Effective Water Use, Kyrgyzstan, 2011 Annual Report, HELVETAS ;
4. "Suunu Effektivduu Paidalanuu” (SEP) Leaflet, Intra-Farm Water Resources Management Project.

SIC ICWC

SIC ICWC