completed a comprehensive irrigation assessment in Rashidiya during July and August 2008 that included training civil servants from each ministry. With newer tools and software, inter-ministerial teams are now demonstrating how a GIS-based inventory and conditional assessment of irrigation resources can be used to target a rehabilitation program.
Dr. Saad Mohammed, a senior scientific researcher for the State Board of Agricultural Research, said USAID/
Tatweer’s training is what his Ministry needs at this critical juncture. “Dealing with new techniques, how to get data, analyze data will lend solid results after six years in which almost all Iraqi agricultural organizations were destroyed,” he said.
Dr. Saad said, “I know we have educated farmers in Iraq. Tatweer allows the re-activation of people and programs, bringing the latest programs, software and training. We’re constantly trying to find the gaps in our learning. The Ministry will start at least five new surveys combining Tatweer and our own approaches.”
The Rashidiya survey was the first in the series of three surveys sponsored by USAID/
Tatweer in cooperation with the USAID-funded Inma project and the Taji Irrigation District. The project will train, equip and institutionalize a program within the MoWR and MoA for the survey of all irrigation systems and farmland throughout the Iraq. It will also permanently document the results of these surveys within geographic information systems.
“The Ministry of Water is there to provide water resources when and where needed,” said USAID/Tatweer Senior MoWR Advisor, Robert Kirkman, who has led the GIS-mapping and irrigation canal surveying efforts. “Ninety percent of water in Iraq is used for agriculture, so ninety percent of the reason for the existence of the Ministry of Water is agriculture. Right now the Ministry is not sure of the cost-effectiveness of fixing deteriorated canals and pumping stations. They need the numbers to give key decision makers the knowledge to make strategic decisions.”
