The World Bank funded Sindh On Farm Water Management (SOFWM) project has focused the issues of agriculture and irrigation sectors in Sindh province of Pakistan by initiating a multi-pronged strategy. The objectives of the project are:
Improving the efficiency, reliability and equity of irrigation water distribution
Supporting agriculture productivity enhancement
Enhancing long term financial sustainability of irrigation system by fostering self sustaining WCAs at watercourse level and Farmers Organizations at distributary levels.
The important components of the project are:
Social Mobilization and Capacity Building
This component involves developing sustainable Farmers Organization (FOs) who can effectively operate and maintain irrigation and drainage network at minor and Distributary canal level through social mobilization and capacity building. Under this project 100 more new FOs will be established in the areas where either AWBs are already established or new AWBs will be established. Capacity Building of new and existing FOs will also be carried out.
High pay off improvement of irrigation facilities
Tertiary level improvement – improvement of about 4,000 watercourses
Construction of 200 water storage tanks in rain fed areas
Improvement of 100 FO managed distributaries and minors Improvement/rehabilitation of 25 branch canals in AWB commands
Productivity Enhancement Program
Precision land leveling of 100,000 acres of agricultural lands
Establishment of 100 demonstration center for improved management, improved agricultural practices, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), IPSNP, marketing information dissemination
Monitoring & evaluation
Project management support
Project Management Support
Administrative, technical and financial support is provided by the office of the Director General Agriculture Engineering and Water Management (DGAE&WM), Sindh Irrigation & Drainage Authority (SIDA) and Project Implementation Assistance Consultants (PIAC).
Monitoring and Evaluation
Designing and Implementation of a monitoring and evaluation system and establishment of a special MIS database to provide continuous feed back to the implementing agencies on the project performance and to assess its physical, agricultural, social, financial, environmental and economic impact so that corrective measures could be taken in time.
In SIDA, Mr. Nazeer Ahmed Memon, General Manager (Transition) has been declared as Project Coordinator (Foreign Aided Projects/SOFWM-P). Any further information required for Foreign Aided Projects or SOFWM Project, please contact on sds@sida.org.pk and nzessani@hotmail.com
