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Water management in irrigated agriculture has been identified as a sustainability challenge due to a combination of continuously increasing demand and the ability of farmers to access water in excess of renewable supply. Intensive irrigation and related agricultural practices can also impair soil and water resources on which they rely by way of pollution and degradation of soil health. Thereby input-intensive farming can generate externalities beyond the intended immediate benefits. These risks are all well understood. However, methods to systematically integrate such measure into irrigation development goals have typically been lacking. Raising the environmental performance of intensive arable production can be accomplished through a broader adoption of good agricultural practice on irrigated land and by enhancing farmers' skills in soil and water management as well as through related national-level governance strategies. Relevant agronomic practices include those that reducing pollution, improving soil fertility, and enhancing biodiversity can minimize the impacts of agricultural production on natural ecosystems and the services they provide. These also include appropriate matching of crop, soil type, and irrigation methods. Conserving the natural resource base and reducing quality impacts while improving producer net returns is a core objective of WSiA. As a practice of responsible use of natural resources, water stewardship in agriculture (WSiA) responds to sustainability challenges presented by irrigated agriculture by protecting farming operations from resource-related risks as well as minimizing potentially negative impacts on water users and the natural environment.

Agricultural Irrigation and Drainage --- Agriculture --- Fertilizer --- Salinization --- Soil Erosion --- Wetlands

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Niger is a large landlocked country whose northern two-thirds lies within the Sahara Desert with a population of about 21.5 million people. Most of the population is concentrated in areas around the Niger River in the southwestern corner of the country and along its long southern border with Nigeria. Niger's economic activity is concentrated on traditional activities, primarily agriculture, livestock, forestry, and fishery but also informal trade and production. The country has experienced declining average rainfall, desertification, recurring droughts, and deforestation. Undernourishment is widespread. Agricultural risks, primarily droughts in Niger, have severe economic consequences with wide repercussions. Farmer-led irrigation (FLI) in the Niger context could be defined as irrigation privately owned and managed by farmers. The purpose of this study is to analyze the extent and the environment of FLI development in Niger, the challenges and constraints, and the business opportunities to be piloted.

Agricultural Irrigation and Drainage --- Agriculture --- Irrigation --- Irrigation and Drainage --- Water Resources --- Water Supply

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Agriculture plays a vital role in the economy of Georgia despite the relatively small size of the sector. Agriculture is the country's largest employer and makes a significant contribution to exports even though agriculture contributes a modest share to total GDP. Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, actual irrigated area in Georgia declined significantly. Georgia is currently facing important challenges related to the development of its agricultural sector, which requires the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage systems and the establishment of institutional organizations that makes it sustainable. This policy note on the irrigation sector supports the World Bank-led analytical study on Agricultural, Land, and Water Policies to Scale-Up Sustainable Agri-Food Systems in Georgia. It was carried out during the months of April to July 2021, in close collaboration with the main stakeholders of the irrigation sector in Georgia and the services of the World Bank. The analysis in this policy note identifies the core constraints, which are hindering irrigation sector performance in Georgia and leading to the slow implementation of the irrigation strategy with a brief overview of some of the factors that are contributing to these constraints.

Agricultural Irrigation and Drainage --- Agriculture --- Climate Change --- Integrated Water Resources Management --- Irrigation

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The World Bank supported West Bengal Accelerated Development of Minor Irrigation Project assumes a centre stage position in the current context of bringing water to every farm (Har Khet ko Pani) under the recently launched Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMSKY). With an objective to "enhance agricultural production of small and marginal farmers of the project area in West Bengal through development of minor irrigation infrastructure and agriculture support system", the Project was launched in 2012, partnering the Department of Water Resources Investigation and Development, Government of West Bengal. To achieve its outcomes, the Project focuses on strengthening community-based organizations, especially water users' association with a strong focus on gender aspects, irrigation systems development and improvement, agriculture, horticulture and fisheries development.

Agricultural Irrigation and Drainage --- Agriculture --- Hydrology --- Irrigation --- River Basin Management --- Water Resource Management --- Water Resources --- Watershed Management

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Public expenditures matter a lot for agricultural growth, food and nutrition security, sustainable food systems, and other interlinked developmental outcomes. The level of agricultural public spending is important as small budgets can rarely deliver results, let alone drive any transformation of the sector. Yet, global experience clearly shows that although greater spending on agriculture is important, it does not always guarantee better outcomes unless: (i) funds are allocated to the 'right' programs and functions, which help address market failures and deliver public goods (i.e., allocative efficiency); (ii) the right programs are being implemented well (i.e. implementation efficiency); and (iii) public expenditures are supported by market-friendly agricultural policies (i.e., no agricultural price distortions). Spending more on agriculture without making progress on all the above-mentioned conditions is not recommended, because higher public spending without progress on agricultural development could result in fiscal, inflation, exchange rate, and other macroeconomic risks, which would backfire on the agriculture sector itself in the medium to long run. The quality of public spending is, therefore, an important issue, which has become even more urgent during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. The crisis required Uzbekistan to make substantial unforeseen public expenditures, which resulted in the larger public borrowing and lower fiscal space in the future. This report presents a review of Uzbekistan's AgPER to contribute to the policy dialogue on the repurposing of public expenditures and getting more value for money. This is the second AgPER for Uzbekistan prepared by the World Bank in the last three years. The first AgPER was completed in 2019. It fed into the Agricultural Strategy, which was being prepared at that time and later approved in October 2019. It set the 2016-2018 baseline of agricultural public expenditures for the Agricultural Strategy, underpinning Annex 4, which presented the direction of the major repurposing of agricultural public expenditures by 2030. The expenditure repurposing encompassed the phasing out of direct subsidies coupled with production conditions and a move toward more efficient farm support instruments, such as climate-smart direct farm support and investments in general support services to increase the developmental impact of public expenditures. The first AgPER presented global lessons about the impacts of various types of agricultural public expenditures (for example, their functional composition) on developmental outcomes in the agriculture sector, which were considered in preparation of Annex 4 of the Agricultural Strategy.

Agricultural Extension --- Agricultural Irrigation and Drainage --- Agricultural Sector Economics --- Agriculture --- Livestock and Animal Husbandry --- Public Sector Development