The World Bank approved yesterday the first phase of a 15-year adaptable program loan to help finance the country’s Participatory Irrigation Development Project, a press release from the Department of Agriculture said.

PIDP is designed to improve irrigation service delivery, boost agricultural productivity, improve governance within the irrigation sector, and enhance food security, the DA said.

The first phase of the APL, worth $70.36 million, is designed to enhance the National Irrigation Administration’s financial viability and its institutional capacity to support improvements in irrigation service delivery.

NIA will also gradually transfer the operation and maintenance responsibilities in about 58 selected national irrigation systems to capable Irrigators’ Associations or farmer-water users, raise irrigation efficiency and promote reliable access to irrigation water among farmers in the selected NISs.

In the first phase, the government will put up a counterpart fund of US$43.23 for a total project cost of US$113.59 million.

The World Bank’s APL provides phased support for a country’s long-term development program of reforms and investments within a priority sector and involves a series of loans that builds on implementation successes and lessons learned from the previous loan in the series, the DA press release said.*

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