The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations is working towards the boosting of technical support for the
rehabilitation of Afghanistan's dilapidated traditional systems.
The organization in a press statement available to NaijaAgroNet,
FAO revealed that dilapidated irrigation system is attributable to the decades
of war and migration away from rural areas, and has left many farmers without
sufficient water for their farmland.
The degraded irrigation system, FAO noted, had also led to
the country's Ministry of Energy and Water to place a priority on water
resources development within its National Development Strategy.
The UN agency also signed a $27.7 million, about N4.36 billion agreements with the Afghan Ministry of
Energy and Water to provide the needed technical assistance.
The agreement further covers expertise and training for
implementation of the Irrigation Restoration and Development Project (IRDP).
Information available to NaijaAgroNet
indicated that FAO is equally working to use the initiative to help Afghan by
training personnel and assisting in the use of modern design and management
methods.
“There will also be training for farmers in improved water
management practices, and operation and maintenance of irrigation systems,”
part of the statement read.
Pasquale Steduto, the Unit Head, Water Development and
Management at FAO, affirmed that the irrigation systems has suffered over the
past three decades as people moved away from the rural areas and this could not
be attributed to lack of investment.
The migration, he said, left the maintenance of the
traditional irrigation systems to younger generation.
“So, farmers in rural areas were not able to get enough
water to cultivate their fields. As a result, they produced fewer crops,"
said Pasquale Steduto.
The project is primarily supported by a grant
from the World Bank with an additional contribution from the government of
Afghanistan.'Yinka Awosanya
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