Managing
water scarcity
Near East and North Africa
Overview
• Major water challenges in the Near East and
North Africa (NENA) region
– The state of water is reaching crisis level.
(What are the major indicators?)
• Key responses to address the water challenges
– Major water policy reforms needed
– Water-saving technologies in irrigated agriculture
– Water-saving technologies in rainfed agriculture
• IFAD’s engagement in addressing water scarcity
in NENA
• Key points for discussion
Major Water Challenges
in the NENA Region
State of Water in the NENA Region
• NENA is the driest region in the world, with increasing
drought frequency and severity.
• With 5% of the world’s population, the region is
endowed with only 1% of the world’s accessible
freshwater.
• Available surface water is limited and threatened
by increasing soil erosion.
• Groundwater is being pumped in excess of natural
recharge rates.
State of Water in the NENA Region
Projected water availability is lower than
in other water-scarce regions:
Cubic metre/per capita/per year
12000
10000
8000
NENA
6000
Asia
Africa
4000
2000
0
1980
1995
2010
State of Water in the NENA Region
Cubic metre/per capita/per year
• Freshwater availability is falling to crisis levels:
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1960
1999
2025
State of Water in the NENA Region
Water Quality Severity
• Stress related to water quality and quantity is severe:
H
I
G
H
Algeria – Egypt
Iraq – Lebanon
Morocco – Syria
Tunisia
L
O
W
Jordan
West Bank and Gaza
Yemen
Bahrain – Kuwait
Oman – Qatar
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
LOW
Water Quantity Severity
HIGH
State of Water in the NENA Region
Water Sector Uses
Agriculture 78%
Open Water Evaporation 2%
Environmental Flows 10%
Industrial 4%
Municipal 5%
State of Water in the NENA Region
• Many people still lack access to safe water:
Population with Water Coverage ('000)
Coverage in 2000
Coverage in 2000-2015
Without coverage in 2015
Total population without coverage: 22.6 million
Egypt
Algeria
Morocco
Yemen
Syria
Tunisia
Jordan
100000
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
State of Water in the NENA Region
• In irrigation, cost recovery is low:
Irrigation Operation and Maintenance (O&M)
Cost Recovery Ratio
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
Australia
Mexico
Philippines
India
Morocco
0
Egypt
0.2
Ratios >1 indicate user repayment not only for O&M but also
for capital and replacement costs.
Key Responses to Address
the Water Challenges
Major Water Policy Reforms Needed
1. Adopt an integrated approach to water resource
management in service delivery:
– Consider water as a holistic resource with
competing demands.
– Promote service delivery on the basis of water
users’ demand and their repayment capacity.
– Support private and public water service providers
that create economic incentives for sustainable
water use.
Major Water Policy Reforms Needed
2. Raise water tariffs, without excluding targeted
subsidies to the poorest. This is critical to:
– promote savings of water use by increasing tariffs
– set water charges to cover all water infrastructure
maintenance costs
– ensure financial sustainability of water service
providers (irrigation and drinking)
– save water for ecological reserve and
environmental purposes
Major Water Policy Reforms Needed
3. Promote policy reforms to encourage farmers
to shift to irrigated crops, which provide higher
value per unit of water:
– Priority should be given to crops requiring less
water.
– With globalization, the ‘virtual water’ concept
becomes an important factor in agricultural trade.
– In NENA, given scarcity of water, promotion
of export crop production should not be based
on foreign currency needs but driven by the
implications for the sustainability of water
resources.
Major Water Policy Reforms Needed
4. Adopt a sustainable groundwater use strategy:
– An underground water control by-law should be
issued and enforced to regulate the use of
groundwater resources based on the following
principles:
* Underground water is owned and controlled
by the State, and ownership of land does not
include ownership of groundwater.
* Extraction and use of underground water is
authorized by a license to the landowner.
* The 2002 Jordanian Underground Water Control
By-Law is a good example.
Major Water Policy Reforms Needed
5. Decentralize water management responsibility:
– The management of water distribution networks
(except primary canals) should be decentralized
and turned over to farmers.
– Decentralization should include poor farmers
as members of water users’ associations.
– Changes in behavioural and social patterns need
to be fostered to conserve water (public
awareness).
Major Water Policy Reforms Needed
6. Promote cooperation for sustainable
management of transboundary water resources:
– Shared ground and surface water resources need
to be jointly assessed and monitored (in terms
of quantity and quality).
– Concerted action plans should be adopted for
sustainable use of shared water resources.
– The ongoing experience of Algeria, the Libyan
Arab Jamahiriya and Tunisia (IFAD-supported
programme implemented by the Sahara and
Sahelian Observatory [SSO]) is a possible model.
Water-Saving Technologies
in Irrigated Agriculture
– Use treated waste water for irrigation (Jordan).
– Increase adoption of new precision irrigation and
drainage systems.
– Promote low-cost water-harvesting technologies
(Jordan, Tunisia).
– Adopt conservation tillage and planting on raised
beds to use irrigation water more efficiently.
– Exploit available technologies for saline water use
(recent International Center for Biosaline Agriculture
[ICBA] results).
Water-Saving Technologies
in Rainfed Agriculture
– Improved small-scale and supplemental irrigation
systems can increase productivity of rainfed
agriculture.
– More efficient crop sequencing and timely planting
can achieve significant savings in water use.
– New crop varieties, requiring less water, are being
developed by research institutions, and some are
already available.
IFAD’s Engagement in Addressing
Water Scarcity in NENA
• Promoting sustainable water use and access
to water by the rural poor is an IFAD regional
strategic objective:
– IFAD loans targeting small-scale irrigation, rainfed
farming and rural potable water supply schemes
are:
• promoting the latest available technologies
for improving water-use efficiency
• involving the rural poor in water governance
through grass-roots water users’ associations
IFAD’s Engagement in Addressing
Water Scarcity in NENA
– IFAD regional grants aim at generating and testing
new approaches in the sustainable water management.
Examples are:
• action research on participatory irrigation
management programme (International Centre
for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies
[CIHEAM])
• use of brackish and saline water (Arab Center for
the Studies of Arid Zones and Drylands [ACSAD]
and ICBA)
• On farm water harvesting (ICARDA)
• facilitating of collaboration on transboundary water
(SSO)
• capacity-building for management of water demand
(International Development Research Centre [IDRC])
Key Points for Discussion
• What are the most critical policy measures needed
to enhance water-use efficiency at the farm level?
• To what extent can water prices be increased to fully
cover O&M costs?
• How can pro-poor and participatory water governance
in irrigation and potable water supply be promoted
in rural areas?
• How can cooperation be enhanced in managing
transboundary water resources?