Socioeconomic assessment of improved water management practices in Egypt’s irrigated agriculture

Abstract

The objectives of this report are to evaluate and test, with community participation; the benchmark water management options which sustainably improve water productivity, net return per water unit, and optimize water use. The strategies evaluated have to be economically viable, socially acceptable, and environmentally sound in the three different agricultural eco-systems. These eco-systems are located on three selected canals, the Alatf canal (improved versus not improved misqa community in the Menofia Governorate), the El-Bustan canal (a water users association (WUA) versus a no water users association community in the Nubaria Area), and El-Shoka canal (a fresh water using versus a drain water using community in Damietta Governorate). This report assesses and evaluates the Egyptian Irrigated Benchmarks site. Given the limitations of the data obtained from the trials conducted, the results presented are preliminary and subject to further verification through wide-scale experimentation and in demonstration trials on farmers’ fields.