Darghouth, Salah2014-03-112014-03-112007-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17241The objective of this paper is to identify the possible role and opportunities for the private sector to participate with governments and farmers in developing and managing irrigation and drainage (I&D) infrastructure. Over the last 50 years, irrigated agriculture has been vital to meeting fast-rising food demand and has been key to poverty reduction. In the coming years the strong demographic demand for food is expected to continue, and intensified irrigated agriculture will have to provide close to 60 percent of the extra food. However, in recent years, the pace of irrigation expansion has been slowing, there has been less improvement in productivity, and water availability for irrigation is increasingly constrained. Governments have long led the expansion of large-scale irrigation, but performance has been suboptimal, and reforms that have been introduced have proved slow to improve efficiency and water service. Faced with this challenge, the I&D sector has been wrestling with three deep-seated problems: low water use efficiency, a high reliance on government financing, and poor standards of management and maintenance. Much of the search for improved investment and institutional models in I&D has been driven by the need to resolve these three problems. One solution that has been tested over the last two decades has been Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) involving water user associations (WUAs) in the financing and management of schemes. This solution had its logical culmination in irrigation management transfer, the handover of responsibility for scheme operation and maintenance (O&M) to farmers and their organizations. This solution promised to relieve governments of both the fiscal burden and the responsibility for asset management and maintenance and to improve efficiency by empowering farmers. PIM has made impressive strides. However, efficiency has risen only marginally, and there are many schemes where O&M is beyond farmers' capacity.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOAFFLUENTSAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTAGRICULTURAL PRACTICESAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTURAL WATERALLOCATION AGREEMENTSALLOCATION OF WATERALLOCATION SYSTEMAQUIFERSASSET MANAGEMENTASSET OWNERSHIPAVAILABLE WATERAVAILABLE WATER RESOURCESBASINSBROAD RANGECANALSCAPACITY BUILDINGCATCHMENTCHANNELSCOMPETITION FOR WATERCONCESSION CONTRACTCONSTRUCTIONCONSTRUCTION OF INFRASTRUCTURECONVEYINGCOST OF WATERCOST RECOVERYCOVERINGCROP PRODUCTIONCROSS-SUBSIDIESCUBIC METERCUBIC METERSDAMSDEMAND MANAGEMENTDISTRIBUTION SYSTEMDISTRIBUTION SYSTEMSDIVERSIONDRAINAGEDRINKING WATERDRIP IRRIGATIONDROUGHTEAST EUROPEENGINEERINGEXPORTFARMERSFARMINGFIXED FEEFOOD PRODUCTIONFOOD SECURITYFOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCYFRESH WATERGOVERNMENT FINANCINGGRAVITYGROUNDWATERGROUNDWATER FOR IRRIGATIONGROUNDWATER IRRIGATIONHIGH LEVELSIMPORTSINTERNATIONAL WATERINVESTMENT COSTSINVESTMENT PROGRAMINVESTMENT PROJECTIRRIGATION DEVELOPMENTIRRIGATION MANAGEMENTIRRIGATION SCHEMEIRRIGATION SYSTEMSIRRIGATION WATERIRRIGATORSLARGE WATER RESOURCELOCAL STAKEHOLDERSMANAGEMENT OF WATERMETER READINGMIDDLE EASTNORTH AFRICAON-FARM WATER MANAGEMENTPERMITSPIPELINEPOPULATION GROWTHPRESSUREPREVENTIVE MAINTENANCEPRIVATE FINANCINGPRIVATE OPERATORPRIVATE OPERATORSPRIVATE PARTICIPATIONPRIVATE SECTOR SERVICE PROVIDERSPRIVATE SERVICE PROVIDERPROGRAMSPROJECT MANAGEMENTPROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTPUBLIC MANAGEMENTPUBLIC WATERPUBLIC WATER UTILITYPUMPINGPUMPING PLANTSQUALITY OF SERVICEQUALITY OF WATERRAINFALLREGIONAL DEVELOPMENTREGULATORY FRAMEWORKRESERVOIRSRIVERSSANITATIONSANITATION SECTORSEASENIOR MANAGEMENTSERVICE CONTRACTSSERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE FEESERVICE PROVIDERSERVICE PROVIDERSSERVICE PROVISIONSERVICE QUALITYSUB-SAHARAN AFRICASURFACE WATERTOWNSTRANSPARENCYURBAN WATERWATER ALLOCATIONWATER ASSOCIATIONWATER AUTHORITYWATER AVAILABILITYWATER CHARGESWATER CONVEYANCEWATER DEMANDWATER DEMAND MANAGEMENTWATER DISTRIBUTIONWATER FEESWATER INDUSTRYWATER MANAGEMENTWATER MONITORINGWATER PRICINGWATER RESOURCEWATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENTWATER RESOURCESWATER RIGHTSWATER SALESWATER SCARCITYWATER SCHEMEWATER SECTORWATER SERVICEWATER SERVICE DELIVERYWATER SERVICESWATER SHORTAGESWATER STORAGEWATER SUPPLYWATER TABLEWATER USEWATER USERWATER USER ASSOCIATIONWATER USESWATER WITHDRAWALSWATERING CROPSWELLSWESTERN EUROPE10.1596/17241