Water Management - Developing Irrigation Associations For On-Farm Water Management Project (Ofwmp)

The social disruption of rural communities and local governance mechanisms, together with institutional irregularities and over-dependence on foreign aid have led to weakening of traditional systems for Operation and Maintenance (O M), poor water management, and inability to address many water-related problems.  Furthermore, inequitable, unreliable and economically inefficient water distribution often leads to conflict between users, while further degrading irrigation assets.  Moveover, due to the lack of social and economic opportunities, many of the rural population and farmers have paid less attention to their farms and moved elsewhere for better opportunities.To address this situation, the Government of Afghanistan through Directorate of Irrigation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL) is implementing "On Farm Water Management (OFWM)".  The main objective of the OFWMP project (financed by the Afghanistan Rehabilitation Trust Fund - ARTF) is to provide farmers with improved, reliable and equitable distribution of irrigation water to increase agricultural productivity, enhanced farm incomes, ensure food security, provide better livelihood to the farmers and reduce poverty in the rural areas where most of the Afghans live.  The OFWMP will cover a total of approximately 50,000 ha in five provinces: Herat, Bamyan, Nangarhar, Balkh and Kabul.