Ethiopia gets green light for irrigation on Nile
By Andualem Sisay - Capital
17 July, 2007
As a result of the Nile Initiative dialogues among the ten riparian countries of the Nile River, Ethiopia secured funding and a green light to start an irrigation project on 20,000 hectares using the Nile River.
This was realized as Ethiopia signed a 100 mln USD loan agreement with the World Bank on Friday July 13, 2007, for the Irrigation and Drainage project in the Megech and Ribb schemes located in the Lake Tana sub-basin.
After signing the agreement, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia and the Sudan, Ishac Diwan, said “It is an historic moment that demonstrates the benefits of political dialogue.” Sufian Ahmed, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, on his part also said: “the agreement is the first of its kind, which contributes a lot to the poverty alleviation effort of Ethiopia.”
Supporting the release of the money, the Sudanese Minister of Irrigation, Engineer Mohamed Bahar, has also indicated in his letter to the World Bank that his government does not oppose Ethiopia’s irrigation and Egypt’s already underway West Delta projects on the Nile River.
The Irrigation and Drainage project has evolved from national work and a series of regional meetings. The Eastern Nile Council of Ministers (ENCOM) decided in March 2001 that funding should be sought to advance studies of promising irrigation and drainage sites to feasibility and design level. In October 2004, ENCOM decided to fast-track the preparation of the Irrigation and Drainage project.
The money obtained from the Bank will also be used for a feasibility study of irrigation of an additional 80,000 hectare of plot. The project is expected to involve 12,600 households of subsistence-oriented small holder farmers, who are currently dependent on unreliable rainfall.
The project has also a component that aims to promote sustainable intensification and commercialization of agriculture on the irrigation systems and another component that enhances the efficiency and financial sustainability of irrigation infrastructure.
As indicated in the statement of the World Bank, the Board of Executive Directors of the bank have approved the credit under the International Development Association (IDA), to help increase agricultural productivity, accelerate growth and reduce rural poverty in Ethiopia.
The credit is provided on standard IDA terms, with a commitment fee of 0.5 per cent, a service charge of 0.75 per cent, and a maturity of 40 years, including a ten year of grace period.
Ethiopia’s irrigation potential has been estimated at up to 3.7 mln hectares, of which up to 2.2 mln hectares are located in the Nile basin part of the country. Total area under irrigation is estimated at 197,000 hectares, of which 30,000 hectares are inside the Nile basin.
Actual irrigation development represents 5 pc of potential, and less than 0.6 pc of the arable area. Irrigation accounts for 3 pc of food production. The Water Resources Development Strategy of Ethiopia (2002-2016) envisages the development of over 260,000 hectares of irrigation in small, medium and large scale schemes with a total cost of 1.7 mln USD.
The government’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) strategy calls for a rapid scaling up of existing irrigation development plans. According to the MDG needs assessment, the plan for irrigation development is 717,400 hectares. The total estimated cost for study, design and construction of the expanded area was estimated at 11,470 mln USD.
The Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program, which includes Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, seeks to initiate a regional, integrated, multi-purpose program through a first set of investments. The Eastern Nile riparians have identified sub-projects in the areas of integrated water resources management, flood management, power generation and interconnection, watershed management and irrigation and drainage.
The Nile River Basin Initiative was officially launched in February 1999 by the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin States. Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Eritrea as observer, are the Nile Basin States.