Activities

NEWS!!: The international course on Spate Irrigation will be held for the third time this year from 6-17 September 2010 at UNESCO-IHE in Delft. This year for the first time NUFFIC fellowship funding is available for selected participants.

Please register early (preferably before 5 feb 2010) at IHE through this form > Application Form  and send to ahaile@metameta.nl

AND

apply for fellowship with NUFFIC following the link below

 http://www.nuffic.nl (NFP: http://www.nuffic.nl/international-students/scholarships/scholarships-administered-by-nuffic/the-netherlands-fellowship-programmes

The Spate Irrigation Network intends to promote appropriate spate irrigation development programmes and facilitate knowledge exchange on spate irrigation through documentation and capacity building.

Between December 2001 and June 2004 with support of DFID spate irrigation guidelines were developed. In 2006-2009 training packages were developed for Yemen, Pakistan and Ethiopia with support of NUFFIC. These are available in the training module section or can be requested through info@metameta.nl .

The Spate Network works together with ILEIA (Institute for Low External Input Agriculture) in documenting local practices in Yemen, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Eritrea. After a first round of documentation, a second cycle is starting. For ideas and information contact Abraham Haile Mehari. More is also information available on the documentation site of LEISA.

A technical meeting on spate irrigation was organized with the FAO from 7-10 April 2008, the first meeting of its kind in 20 years. This meeting had country case studies from Algeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iran, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania, Pakistan and Yemen. In addition there were technical papers on engineering, soil moisture management, sediment control and water rights.The papers will be published in proceedings by FAO.  A brainstorm on the future of the Spate Network was held as well: main points of discussion of 8 April>>

The preparation of the updated guidelines as an FAO publication is underway and scheduled for the second part of 2009.  

IFAD has asked the Spate Network to undertake a global assessment of spate irrigation development opportunities in the context of poverty alleviation and climate change adaptation. This paper is attached (IFAD Paper 2 Mb)>>

A national Spate Irrigation Network is in place in Yemen, hosted by the Water and Environmental Centre of the University of Sana'a. National network are in preparation in Pakistan (with support of the World Bank-Netherlands Water Programme), Ethiopia and Eritrea.

In the Pakistan programme Phase 1 briefing notes are prepared, the membership base istrengthened and a planning workshop is planned for the first half of 2010.