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P R O J E C T P R O G R E S S R E P O R T

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r 3 ii^^oodsTogether wi th Eth iop ia 's Haramaya Univers i ty ,UN ESC O-IHE has s tar ted a un ique mastercourse in an anc ient yet near ly forgo t ten for mof water management , ca l led spate i r r igat ion.The f i rs t six s tudents s tar ted the i r tw o-y ea rcourse in Alemaya last September.

T r ad i t i on a l dy k e i n A l R om a i l a a r ea nea r j a z oa v e i l i ge , i n W a d i D aw an , Y em en

I n spa te i r r i ga t io n , eve ry th ing wo rks d i f f e re n t l y . Mos t i r r i ga t ion wo rk smake use o f con t inuous ly f l ow ing (p e ren n ia l ) r i ve rs t o mo is ten t he c ropson an a lmos t con t inuou s bas is . Spa te i r r i ga t ion h owe ve r uses t he w i ldand mud dy wa te rs f ro m r i ve rs t ha t appea r on ly spo rad ica ll y . The suddenf loods or spates that rush f rom the mounta ins inundate the lands wi th perhaps as muc h as a me tre o f wa ter. O n ly th en crops are so w n: cerea ls ando i lseed but a lso co t ton and even vegetab les. Typ ica l spate i r r iga t ion s i tesa re t he a r id f la t lands a t t he f oo t o f moun ta ins in Sou th As ia , t he M idd leEas t , No r th A f r i ca and t he Ho rn o f A f r i ca .

"Spa te i r r i ga t ions a re among the mos t f asc ina t ing and comp lex wa te rmana geme n t sys tems , " says spec ia li s t F rank van S teenbe rg en , f rom theMe taM e ta p r i va te resea rch o rgan iz a t ion . " I t ' s li ke a v i rus : once yo u ' vebeen in fec ted w i t h i t , you can ' t ge t r id o f i t . " Rudo lph C leve r inga ,sen io r t echn ica l adv iso rw i t h t he In te rna t iona l Fund fo r A g r i cu l t u ra lDev e lopm en t ( IF AD ) in Rom e , shares Van S teenbe rgen ' s f asc ina t ion :"On ce in fec ted w i t h t he spa te i r r i ga t ion v i rus , I began to d ig up wh o - is -wh o and wh a t - i s -w ha t in spa te . W h a t was an innova t ion f o r me tu rn edou t t o be a cen tu r ies -o ld , we l l -ba la nced sys tem o f land and wa te r r igh t s . ""Th e ma in f ocus o f t he Mas te r ' s educ a t ion , " says sen io r le c tu re r ,Ab ra ham M eha r i Ha i le , PhD, o f UNES CO - IHE , " i s t o make c lea r ho w diff e ren t spa te i r r i ga t ion i s f rom pe renn ia l i r r i ga t ion in it s des ign , m anage

men t , hyd ro logy , ope ra t ion and managemen t . Once the s tuden ts knowthese d i f f e rences , t hey can des ign w i t h a b roade r kno wle dge . "UN ES CO - IHE , Me ta M e ta and IFAD have jo ine d f o rces in t he Spa teI r r iga t ion Ne tw o r k , wh i ch a ims to re inv igo ra te t h i s nea r l y f o rgo t t en t yp eof water management , in order to share the best pract ices and spreadkno wle dge loca l l y t o p rac t i t i one rs . The ne tw o rk f ocuses on E th iop ia ,Sudan , Yemen and Pak is tan .Cu rre nt ly the area und er spate i r r iga t ion is est im ated a t 2 to 2 .5 mi l l ionhec ta res (ha l f t he s i ze o f t he Ne the r lan ds ) . I n f u tu r e , mo re f a rmland isexpec ted t o becom e spa te -depen den t as a consequence o f de fo res ta t ion( less wa te r i s re ta ined ) and dep le t ion o f g round w a te r rese rvo i rs .

S U R G I N G M U DFrank van Steenbergen saw spate i r r iga t ion f i rs t in Ba loch is tan, in thewes t o f Pak is tan , tw en ty yea rs ago . The eno rm ous wa te r wo rks as ton i shed h im. He saw la rge ea r then ba r r i cades , 10 t o 15 me t res h igh t ha tbu l ldo zers had bu i ld r igh t across a dry r iv erb ed. In Er i t rea , wh er e the ylacked such mach ine ry , pe op le even used oxen w i t h sc rape rboa rds t od ra w m ud up t he dam , and then f o r t i f i e d i t w i t h sc rub .Onc e the r i ve r rose and the f lood w a te rs came , t he la rge dam b lockedthe s t ream and fo rced t he wa te r s ideways on to t he f a rmland . The wa te r

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s t reamed a long ea r then we i rs , 2 to 3 metres h igh andsome k i lome t res long , un t i l it had f ina l ly lost its m o m e n tum and sp read even ly ove r t he l and . "You can on ly usethe wa te r once it has lost i ts speed," Van Steenbergen exp la ins. "Or, as the Pakis tan is say: 'You m ust k i l l the f lo od ' .O th e rw ise t he so i l w i l l s imp ly be washed aw ay . " Oncethe f ie lds a re f i rm ly inunda ted , a be r th is made in the m ainba r r i cade . The r i ve r t hen su rges t h ro ugh it and rushes onto the next barr ie r and the ad jacent fa rm lands . And so on .I f th is seems a l l perfect ly sensib le , the t roub le comes a f te ra f ew yea rs wh en the sed im en t f rom the s t ream (sandcan account for up to 10 p e r c e n t of vo lume) bu i lds up onthe f ie lds and ra ises them above the r iver 's f lood leve l .Farmers k no w tha t , as they are used to m o v i n g t o n e wf ie lds eve ry f i ve to ten years. They adapt to nature . "Spatei r r iga t ion isa Tao is t fo r m of wa te r managemen t , " saysVan S teenbe rgen . "It mere ly makes use of na tu re , ra the rt h a n t r y i n g t o c o n t r o l i t, w h i c h is t h e m o r e t r a d i t i o n a lCon fuc ian is t s t y le of w a t e r m a n a g e m e n t . "

W h a t R udo lph C leve r inga saw some ten years la te r in theGash reg ion around Kassa la , in Sudan , was a spa te i r r i ga t ion scheme gone in to decay . "G e t t in g a p iece of w e t t e dland was a lo t t e ry w i t h ove r 72 , 00 0 peop le buy in g ra f f l et ickets in an ove r loaded sy s tem. The i r r iga t ion c ou ldn ' t bemaste red l i ke goo d -o ld su r face -w a te r t ake -o f f The cana lsw e r e c l o g g e d , b r i d ge s w e r e d r o w n e d , a n d d i s t r i b u t i o nwo rks d id n ' t wo r k as des ign ed . " He no t i ced t ha t d r i nk in gpoo ls fo r l i ves tock we re f i l l ed w i t h sand ins tead of w a t e r ,huge poo ls of i n ves ted wa te r had f o rmed in t h e l o w e rly ing areas, and the in ner de l ta at the end of t he r i ve r "wasd ry w i t h a cap i ta l D".T h e G o v e r n m e n t of Sudan had requested IFAD to helpand rehab i l i ta te t he i r r i ga t ion wo r ks . C leve r inga reca l l s :"A f t e r ex tens ive consu l t a t ions and nego t ia t ions w i t h gov e rnm en t o f f i c ia l s , l o cal s takeho lde rs and fa rme rs , a f u l l y -f l edged l i ve l ihoods regene ra t ion suppo r t p rog ramme wasf ina l l y ag reed upon in 2 0 0 3 . "The rehab i l i t a t ion p r og ra mm e was as much abou t reso lv ing land and water r igh ts and having peop le assumeco l lec t i ve respons ib i l i t y f o r t he cana l ope ra t ion andma in tenanc e , as it was abou t c i v i l eng in ee r in g , l ike re cons t ruc t ing r i ve r in take we i rs and se t t ing up d is t r ibu t ionwo rks on seconda ry channe ls .Loo k ing back ove r t he e igh t yea rs since t he beg in n ingo f t he Gash P ro jec t , Van S teenbe rgen su mm ed up t hein te rmed ia te resu l ts in h is r e p o r t f o r I F A D : t w o - t h i r d s oft he t a rge ted 100 ,000 hec ta res had been reopened forspa te i r r i ga t ion ; se t t lemen ts of d ispu tes we re respec ted ;t h e p r o d u c t i o n of so rghum had r i sen by a modes t 8pe rcen t bu t f odde r by 60 pe rcen t . The ca t t le s tock of th es e m i - n o m a d i c p o p u l a t i o n ha d g r o w n b y 12 pe rcen t andm i l k p r o d u c t i o n by 62 pe rcen t . All ina l l , t he reg ion cou ldp r o v i d e 80 p e r c e n t of i ts f o o d r e q u i r e m e n t s - w h i c h isqu i t e an ach ievemen t compa red to t he ' se r ious t h rea t tot he l i ve l ihood ' t ha t C leve r inga had encoun te red e igh tyea rs be fo re .

R E S T O R I N G K N O W L E D G EA l t hou gh spa te i r r i ga t ion p robab ly da tes back t o b ib l i ca lt imes , much o f t he know ledg e seems to have evapo ra tedover the last genera t ion . Part of t he exp lana t ion for th is ist ha t spa te i r r i ga t ion was ou t f lanked bype renn ia l i r r i ga t i o n , in wh ich wes te rn eng inee rs exce l led . If i ndeed wa te rmanagemen t spec ia l i s t s we re awa re of the s t range cust o m s of d ive r g ing f loods on to t he f ie lds , t hey pe rce ived itas a r isky and an unpr ed ic tab le pract ic e . P lus, says M eh ar i ,

S u i e i m a n R a n g e

Kacctii Plains B u n d

G u i d e b u n d Indus

Tl ie dry s ide o f the i ndus - the ex tens ive l ow land spate areas of Pak is tan .

t hey rega rded it as a subsidence system of marg ina l eco n o m i c i m p o r t a n c e .As a consequence of th is neg lect , most pract ica l g rassr o o t s k n o w l e d g e of h o w to k i l l t he f lood , how to a r rangeaccess to land and water, and how to p r e v e n t t h e w h o l esys tem f rom s i l t i ng up was la rge ly f o rgo t t en .L ike rare seed l ings in a nurse ry, s ix s tuden ts have now e nro l led in t he new doub le Mas te r ' s cou rse of ' ag r i cu l t u ra lw a t e r m a n a g e m e n t in (sem i ) a r id reg ions ' . They s tuden tscome f ro m E th iop ia ( t h re e ) , Sudan , Yem en and Pak istan(one ea ch ) , on a g ran t f ro m IFAD . These s tuden ts a re tobecom e the ambassado rs of spa te i r r i ga t io n , says M eha r i ."They w i l l l ea rn abou t t he des ign of i r r i ga t ion s t ruc tu res ;t h e m a n a g e m e n t of t hese , in c lud ing soc ia l and ins t i t u t iona l aspects. It w i l l b e a c o m p r e h e n s i v e p r o g r a m m e . "A f te r t he i r i n i t i a l t h ree mon ths at Haramaya Un ive rs i t y , inEth iop ia , t he s tuden ts w i l l be t augh t a t t he De l f t I n s t i t u tefo r W a te r Educa t ion fo r n ine mon ths . The i r resea rch p ro jec t (ha l f a year) takes p lace in t h e i r h o m e l a n d . It wi l l f o cuson a pract ica l spate i r r iga t ion issue. Thu s, the spate i r r ig at i o n n e t w o r k h o p e s to s t reng then the reg iona l nodes andto deve lop and d issemina te knowledge in to t he reg ionsw e r e it i s needed mos t .

T h e a m b i t i o n s of t he spa te i r r i ga t ion ne two rk go we l lbeyond subs idence fa r mi ng . I ndeed , spa te i r r i ga t ion cange rm ina te a g reen econ omy , says C leve r ing a . "S imp lysaid, env i ronmen ta l f l ows can recha rge aqu i f e rs , enab leca rbon seque s t ra t ion , in c rease b iod ive rs i t y and keep thehab i t a t f o r f u r t he r bene f i c ia l exp lo ra t ion . Tha t ' s wha t ishappe n ing in t he Gash . ""W i t h spa te ir r i ga t ion yo u can deve lop range lands , youcan deve lop ag ro f o res t ry and recha rge g round wa te r , "Me ha r i adds . "Spa te i r r i ga t ion can be t he key to d e v e l o p ing a loca l econom y. W a t e r wo rks a lone are no t su f f i c ien t ;i t shou ld be part of t he b igge r l i ve l ihood p ic tu re . Thenyou ge t in ves tmen ts , and ag r i cu l t u ra l p ro duc t s ge t a va lue .

The Spa te I r r iga t ionN e t w o r k a im s to i m p r o v et h e l i v e l i h o o d s of t h o s el i v i n g in t he spa te i r r i ga tedareas. It e x c h a n g e s e x p e r i ences and good p rac t i ces ,in i t i a tes and suppo r t s n ewp r o g r a m m e s a n d p o l i c i e s ,and ma ins t reams educa t i o n a n d t r a i n i n g . T h en e t w o r k c o n s i s t s of p r o fess iona ls , p rac t i t i one rsa n d f a r m e r s . At p r e s e n tt h e n e t w o r k h a s m o r et h a n 4 0 0 m e m b e r s . It isbe in g run w i t h a sma l l pa r tt i m e i n t e r n a t i o n a l s e c r e t a r i a t ( a t M e t a M e t a a n dU N E S C O - I H E ) w h e r e a sin f ou r coun t r ies na t iona lchap te rs a re be ing se t up :in Yemen , Pak is tan , Sudanand E th iop ia , t ho ug h ac t i v i t i e s a re no t con f ined tot hese coun t r ies . The Spa teI r r i g a t i o n N e t w o r k i s c u r r e n t l y s u p p o r t e d by I F A D ,W o r l d B a n k / E K N , U N W -D P C , U N E S C O - I H E /D U P C a n d F A O . Jo i n i ngt h e N e t w o r k i s f r e e .

More informationR u d o l p l i C l e v e r i n g ar c i e v e r i n g a @ i f a d . o r gF ra n k v a n S te e n b e rg e nf v a n s t e e n b e r g e n m e t a m e t a . n lA b ra h a m Me h a r i H a i i ea . m e h a r i h 3 i i e @ u n e s c o - i h e , o r g

Country Network team leadersY e m e n : Shara fadd in Sa iehs h a r a f a d d e n s @ y a h o o . c o m ors h a r a f i 9 6 0 s @ g m a i i . c o mP a k i s ta n : K a r i m N a w a zk n a w a z 9 9 @ y a h o o . c o mE th i o p i a : T e n a A l a m i re wa l a m i r e w 2 0 0 4 @ y a h o o . c o mS u d a n : Ms, E i ma n Mo h a m e d F a d u ih r s _ i m a n @ h o t m a i i . c o m

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