Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sweilem, met with Stefan Gumpert, Director of the World Bank Office in Egypt, and his accompanying delegation, where they reviewed the status of several areas of cooperation between the Ministry and the Bank.
This came on Monday, on the sidelines of the activities of the 7th Cairo Water Week (CWW) and the 9th African Water Week.
During the meeting, the status of the “Climate Resilience through Agricultural and Food Transformation” project, funded by the World Bank under the umbrella of the “NWFE” programme, was reviewed.
The project includes developing the irrigation system in an integrated manner, starting from the branch canals and reaching the application of modern irrigation systems at the field level, supporting the participation of the private sector in agricultural practices, establishing an early warning system, in addition to supporting and building capacities in the field of water accounting.
Sweilem pointed out that the project aims to enhance the role of water user associations at project sites in the governorates of Menoufia, Sharkia, and Gharbia with a focus on achieving a number of targets such as developing irrigation systems, and using drip irrigation in places agreed upon with farmers.
The project also aims to support farmers’ capabilities, reuse agricultural drainage water, taking into account environmental, social and economic factors and sustainability standards, and determine the ministry’s priorities when selecting the targeted areas of the project, which are the areas located in the centers of the “Decent Life Initiative”, the areas served by rehabilitated canals, and the areas facing challenges in delivering water efficiently.
The meeting also reviewed the position of a study, titled “Studying the Improvement of Water Resources Management in the Suez Canal,” as a meeting is scheduled to be held soon to present a number of different scenarios and integrated solutions for distributing water at the canal level, and effectively dealing with the challenges and obstacles present in nature and finding appropriate solutions for them.
