RESULTS BRIEF Modernizing Irrigation in Central Asia Agriculture is an important sector for the economies of Central Asia. Nearly 60 percent of the population of the region resides in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. While the contribution of agriculture to national gross domestic product has been declining over the last decade because of other economic development, the agricultural sector remains important in Central Asia for food security, fighting  malnutrition, poverty reduction, and rural development. In addition, agriculture irrigation represents a major climate- adaptation measure. It increases the resilience of agricultural production systems and livelihoods to climate-induced meteorological and hydrological variability. Currently, irrigated agriculture consumes approximately 90 percent of all abstracted water in the Aral Sea Basin, where these countries are located. About 80 percent of the agricultural land in Central Asia is irrigated due to the semi-arid climate and limited surface runoff. With only about 12 percent of all potentially arable land being irrigated, water, rather than land, is the constraining resource in bringing about agricultural development in the region. Irrigation improves agriculture productivity and increases food security and job opportunities. The key problems facing the irrigation sector in the region relate to (1) overdevelopment of irrigated areas, with some schemes being economically unviable (particularly schemes with extensive water pumping); and (2) lack of adequate funding for management, operation, and maintenance, even for schemes that demonstrate economic viability. The continuous ©Neil Palmer/IWMI deterioration of irrigation and drainage (I&D) infrastructure in the region, combined with weak irrigation management institutions, results in decreased income for farmers who suffer lower-than-optimum irrigation services, including high water losses in the systems, low water-use efficiency, top-to-tail end disparities in irrigation water supply, and salinization or inundation. A combination of high levels of water withdrawals and already limited water resources puts considerable stress on the water supply in the region. Additionally, an important hydrological feature of the region is that the downstream countries (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan) are highly dependent on upstream countries for essential irrigation water originating in the upstream Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. Neil Palmer/IWMI If no improvements in productivity of water are achieved, Thus, the Central Asian countries find themselves at a the likely increases in water abstractions and additional crossroads when it comes to irrigated agriculture. They water storage in the upstream countries are likely to lead to have only begun to open up to modernization of on-farm increased seasonal water shortages in irrigation water supply irrigation and to undertake relevant reforms in the sector in downstream countries of the basin, thereby negatively with hopes of providing improved water services to farmers affecting agricultural production and rural livelihoods and in support of broader agricultural and water resource intensifying out-migration to urban areas. Thus, increasing transformation in the region. water use efficiency is critical for economic development in Central Asian countries. Moreover, improving irrigation Modernization of irrigation systems in the region infrastructure and management also represents a critical is emerging as a key solution for responding to the factor for building peace and political stability in this challenges in the sector under the changing socioeconomic region, which is also characterized by high dependency circumstances. It is estimated that modernization of on transboundary water resources and large cross-border irrigation infrastructure and methods across Central Asia irrigation schemes. could increase crop yields by 20 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050. Under changing climate conditions, The cost of inaction is expected to be high. Central irrigation helps realize climate-smart agriculture by Asian economies are already facing significant losses in improving robustness against climate risks and flexibility agricultural productivity due to water scarcity compounded against increased variability. Irrigation also creates jobs by inefficient use of irrigation water. Poor irrigation water and stimulates the rural economy. management, coupled with this increasing water scarcity, also contributes to the existing environmental problems Technological advances and innovations made over the past in the region, causing significant economic and social few decades have resulted in significant improvements in damage. the efficiency of irrigation systems and the quality of their performance. This includes a range of modern technologies In addition, this rapidly growing water scarcity in the that incorporate, among other things: pipe distribution region makes agricultural activities vulnerable to variations systems combined with pressurized irrigation (drip in seasonal river flows. Climate change is expected to and sprinkler irrigation), ET-based water management aggravate water availability in Central Asia through increased using remote sensing, geographic information systems evapotranspiration and rainfall fluctuations, as well as a (GIS), digital and wireless communication of data and resultant severity of droughts and floods. Climate-change- information, and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data related hydrological variability and the increasing water Acquisition) systems for canal control. Moreover, new scarcity impose considerable economic risks for the region. agricultural technologies in seed varieties, fertilizers, no-till WATER KNOWLEDGE NOTE | Modernizing Irrigation in Central Asia 2 cultivation, as well as in precision agriculture, provide Regional Workshop that took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, enormous opportunities for increasing agricultural yields in November of 2019. The event drew an audience and irrigation water productivity. In addition, renewable of 94 delegates composed of policy makers, irrigation energy (especially solar) offers reliable options and can be practitioners, scientists and researchers, representatives affordable to farmers. of water user associations, private sector actors, and international partners and donors. The purpose of the regional Irrigation Modernization Initiative, launched in February 2018 by the World Bank, The Stocktaking Report provided proposals for is to provide guidance on modernization of the I&D sector modernization in the region, which were then discussed in Central Asia based on the activities carried out under an at the workshop. The regional workshop was convened to Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) study. The initiative (1) learn from the findings of the stocktaking study and to has three components: (1) stocktaking of current irrigation learn from a range of national, regional, and international development in Central Asia, (2) sharing information to specialists from organizations, research institutions, and pave the way to irrigation modernization, and (3) providing universities; (2) discuss potential private sector involvement technical assistance, piloting, and support of institutional in the I&D sector; (3) discuss options for modernization in reform. individual countries; and (4) build networks to assist each country in their moves toward modernization. The Modernizing Irrigation in Central Asia (P166407) ASA, which was completed in FY2020, supported irrigation sector The regional workshop succeeded in raising interest in clients in the region through early exposure and education irrigation modernization along with the Bank’s support in on the topic of irrigation modernization as well as in the such processes. For additional information on the workshop, adoption of concepts, such as subsystems and on-farm you may refer to a 3-minute film, a blog post, and the modernization, through irrigation investment operations. proceedings report. Furthermore, following the meeting, a As part of the study, a stocktaking exercise was also delegation from the Bank visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan undertaken in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture to discuss options for a public-private partnership. Organization (FAO) which assessed irrigation systems performance at several sites (in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan The final report from the ASA took stock of the using FAO rapid appraisal procedures. The exercise resulted World Bank’s initiative for irrigation modernization in in a stocktaking and strategic discussion report, finalized in Central Asia, summarized the engagements that took May of 2019, summarizing key recommendations. place, and offered a transformation pathway through: (1) policy development and legislation, (2) institutional The primary focus of the Modernizing Irrigation in Central reform, (3)  modernization of irrigation (and drainage) Asia (P166407) ASA was to enable regional dialogue on the infrastructure, (4) strengthening of agricultural services topic of irrigation modernization, which culminated in a and practices, and (5) improved utilization of knowledge WATER KNOWLEDGE NOTE | Modernizing Irrigation in Central Asia 3 and information systems. This report thus provided (3)  “smart” technologies that can usefully be deployed high-level messages for the modernization of the in the modernization process, and (4) steps that can I&D sector in Central Asian countries by identifying: be taken to modernize the I&D sector. The succeeding (1) key enabling factors required to facilitate sustainable developments became part of a new ASA­ —Strengthening modernization of the I&D sector in Central Asia, Irrigation Management and Reforms in Central Asia (2)  component parts to a modernization program, (P173250), approved in FY2021. Neil Palmer/IWMI Connect with the Water Global Practice www.worldbank.org/water worldbankwater@worldbank.org    @worldbankwater  blogs.worldbank.org/water © 2020 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. Some rights reserved. 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