LOAN: UZB 30500-01 | Amu Zang Irrigation Rehabilitation Project (formerly Amu Zang Water Resources Management Project)

Uzbekistan, Rep. of

LOAN: UZB 30500-01

Amu Zang Irrigation Rehabilitation Project (formerly Amu Zang Water Resources Management Project)

•	Missions
•	Loan Approval Date
•	Estimated Completion Date
•	Cost and Financing Plan
•	Description
•	Development Objectives
•	Thematic Classification
•	Poverty Classification
•	Rationale
•	Objectives and Scope
•	Policy Dialogue
•	Environment Category
•	Env't Impact and Mitigation
•	Social Aspects and Remedies
•	Benefits and Beneficiaries
•	Public Consultation
•	Beneficiary Participation in Formulation
•	Beneficiary Participation in Implementation
•	Consulting Services
•	Procurement
•	Contacts
•	Remarks

Location
Uzbekistan

Sector
Agriculture & Natural Resources /Irrigation & Drainage

Initial Listing
29 May 2002

Most Recent Update
10 September 2007

Executing Agency(ies)

Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources

Missions

Loan Approval Date

19 December 2003

Estimated Completion Date

March 2009

Cost and Financing Plan (in US$ million)

Source	Foreign Cost	Local Cost	Total
Bank	61.30	11.90	73.20
Cofinancing	0.00	0.00	0.00
Borrower	2.40	34.60	37.00
Beneficiaries	0.00	0.00	0.00
Others	0.00	2.40	2.40
Project/Program Cost	63.70	48.90	112.60

OCR ADF Total

Loan Amount 73.20 0.00 73.20

Description

Amu Zang irrigation system is located in the Surkandarya Oblast, and comprises of a cascade of pumping stations and the network of irrigation canals conveying water from the Amu Darya River to a command area of 96,800 ha. The Project will provide: (i) cost-effective and prioritized rehabilitation of the Amu Zang Irrigation System; (ii) support to improve water management and enhance capacities of water management agencies; (iii) improved agricultural support services for newly-emerging private farms through development of rural institutions such as WUAs and ASCs; and (iv) farm demonstration and training program to introduce new technologies on water saving, soil improvement and crop diversification technologies. The Project will also facilitate the ongoing policy and institutional reforms by assisting the Government in developing a sustainable cost recovery policy, improving the procedures for development of WUAs at the national level; and promoting reduced procurement quota systems for cotton and grain and introducing water delivery fees in the Project area.

Thematic Classification

Poverty Classification: Poverty Intervention

Rationale

Some 400,000 people live in the five rayons covered by Amu Zang irrigation system; 88% of them reside in the rural areas, compared to the national average of 64%. The population within the Project area depends primarily on irrigated agriculture for their livelihoods, since the industry and service sectors are less developed than in other parts of Uzbekistan. The poverty incidence in Amu Zang area is estimated to be 31.4% compared to the national average of 27.5%. The Amu Zang irrigation system was built in 1973 and is at the end of its useful life. The reliability and capacity of the aging pumping cascade significantly declined; high sediment levels in the pumped water damage pumping equipment and deposit a large amount of sediment in canals and drains reducing their capacities and increasing the O&M costs. Due to deteriorated canals' conditions and high level of seepage, only about 50% of the water reach farmers' fields. Unless major overhaul is provided, some of the key components of the main system could collapse in less than five years. Direct dependence of large number of rural population on rapidly deteriorating Amu Zang irrigation system without much alternative employment opportunities in the area makes them extremely vulnerable to potential slippery into poverty. Negative environmental impacts of sudden decommissioning of large-scale irrigation would also be significant, as it is likely to exacerbate land degradation. Besides providing the rehabilitation that is urgently needed for the sustained livelihood of the large population, the proposed Project offers valuable opportunities for ADB to help the Goverment address the important reform issues such as strengthening irrigation and water management, formulating and implementing of an irrigation cost recovery policy and further expanding the agreed agriculture reform initiatives to a larger scale.

Objectives and Scope

The Project goal is to maintain and improve agricultural productivity and farm income on a sustained basis. The Project purposes are to: (i) increase the reliability, efficiency and sustainability of irrigation water supply of Amu Zang irrigation system; and (ii) facilitate and accelerate the ongoing agriculture sector reforms in the Project area. The Project has the following components: (i) rehabilitation of the Amu Zang irrigation system; (ii) support to improve irrigation management; (iii) support to private farm development; and (iv) project management, monitoring and evaluation. The Project will also facilitate the ongoing policy and institutional reforms by promoting an alternative procurement quota systems for cotton and grain and introducing water delivery fees in the Project area; and by assisting the Goverment to develop the national cost recovery policy and improve the operational guidelines for water users' association development.

Policy Dialogue

Environment Category: B

Environment Impact and Mitigation

Social Aspects and Remedies

Benefits and Beneficiaries

The Project will directly benefit some 400,000 of the rural population of the Surkhandarya Oblast.

Public Consultation

Arranged by

Date for Consultation :

Groups Consulted :

Beneficiary Participation in Formulation

Beneficiary Participation in Implementation

Consulting Services

A total of 156 person-months of international and 767 person-months of domestic consulting services to assist the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources in project management, preparation of designs and bidding documents, award of contracts, construction supervision and monitoring and evaluation. The consultants will be engaged as a firm in accordance with ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants using the quality-and-cost-based selection method, while the domestic consultants will be selected and engaged in accordance with arrangements satisfactory to ADB.

Procurement

All machinery, equipment and civil works for rehabilitating the system; plus vehicles, office equipment, and materials required for project implementation and monitoring will be procured in accordance with ADB's Guidelines for Procurement.

Contacts

Bank

Tumurdavaa Bayarsaihan
Senior Agricultural Economist
CWAE
Tel. No.:
E-mail:

Executing Agency
Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources

Contact Person : Mr. Abdurakim Djalalov, First Deputy Minister
Tel. No. :
Fax. No. : (998-71) 139 4771
E-mail :

Contact Person :
Tel. No. :
Fax. No. :
E-mail :

Remarks

Projects