World Bank headquarters in Washington

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on 24 September approved the "Ferghana Valley water resources management" Project. International Development Agency will allocate a US$65.54 million equivalent credit for the project implementation.

The objective of the First Phase of the Ferghana Valley Water Resources Management Project for Uzbekistan is to improve agricultural production in areas affected by water-logging, and to reduce damage to housing and infrastructure from rising ground water levels and salinity in the project districts.

There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is improvement of irrigation and drainage network. This component aims at addressing the problem of high groundwater levels by financing for improvements in surface irrigation and drainage network as well as for installation of subsurface horizontal and vertical drainage wells.

The second component of the project is institutional strengthening and agricultural development support. This component will finance institutional strengthening support to public institutions and private farmers (water users) organizations involved in water management and utilization. The support includes supply of operation and maintenance, laboratory, information technology and office equipment as well as training and study tours.

The third component of the project is project management, monitoring and evaluation of project impact. The component will support strengthening the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and project implementation unit capacity for project management, monitoring and evaluation through the provision of goods, consultant services, including project audit, and training, and financing of operating costs.