ANNEX 8. REGIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE - ASSOCIATION RÉGIONALE POUR L'IRRIGATION ET LE DRAINAGE

M. SONOU

Senior Water Resources Development Officer

RAPA, Accra, Ghana

Summary

The International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) is the most important NGO worldwide, which deals with the development of irrigation and drainage. ICID Network members are ICID local Committees. After consultation between FAO, ICID/Africa Focus Group, the French ICID Committee and IPTRID, the Regional Association for Irrigation and Drainage (RAID) was founded in 1996 to help creating or reactivating national ICID Committees in West Africa. Activities were later extended to promote irrigation development in countries, exchange scientific and technical information between RAID members and provide on-the-job training. RAID First Ordinary General Assembly decided to start an electronic network on small-scale irrigation with the Assistance of IPTRID, FAO and KIT. Lessons learned from RAID experience are presented for future consideration when establishing a similar network.

Résumé

La Commission Internationale pour l'Irrigation et le Drainage (CIID) est l'ONG la plus importante au monde s'occupant du développement de l'irrigation et du drainage. C'est le réseau le plus complet composé d'académiciens, de scientifiques et de techniciens spécialisés en irrigation et en drainage. Les membres du Réseau CIID sont les Comités locaux CIID. Après consultation entre la FAO, le Groupe CIID orienté sur l'Afrique, le Comité CIID français et IPTRID, l'Association Régionale pour l'Irrigation et le Drainage (ARID) fut fondée en 1996 pour aider à créer ou réactiver les Comités CIID nationaux en Afrique de l'Ouest. Les activités ont ensuite concerné la promotion du développement de l'irrigation dans les pays, l'échange d'informations scientifiques et techniques, et la formation pratique des membres d'ARID. La première Assemblée générale a décidé de mettre en place un réseau électronique pour l'irrigation à petite échelle avec l'assistance de IPTRID, FAO et KIT. Les leçons tirées de l'expérience d'ARID sont présentées afin de pouvoir être prises en considération lors de l'établissement d'un réseau similaire.

1 THE ORIGIN OF RAID

The International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) is the most important NGO worldwide, which deals with the development of irrigation and drainage. It is the world most comprehensive network of academics, scientists, and technicians in the field of irrigation and drainage. ICID Network members are its local Committees.

The need for enhanced exchange of scientific and technical information on irrigation within Africa on the one hand, and between the continent and the world at large on the other, was stressed during the 1986 FAO Consultation on Irrigation in Africa.

The call was renewed in 1994 by another FAO Consultation, this time on irrigation extension in West Africa. The same year, ICID requested FAO and the French ICID Committee (AFEID) to help create or revive local African ICID Committees. Until recently, the West African irrigation community had had very little participation in the activities of ICID. Only Nigeria had an active national Committee. It is against this background that ARID was created.

2 THE CREATION PROCESS OF RAID

During a meeting held in Rome in 1995, FAO, ICID/Africa Focus Group, AFEID and the International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID) agreed that the first step towards the creation or the reactivation of national ICID Committees was the creation of a Regional Association for Irrigation and Drainage (RAID). This was to materialize through a three-phase process:

In 1995, the FAO Regional Office for Africa undertook an initial assessment of (i) existing national and international associations or networks in the field of irrigation and drainage in the subregion and (ii) the need for any such association or network between irrigation and drainage professionals at country and subregional levels.

A strong need was expressed by academics, scientists, engineers and other irrigation and drainage professionals from universities, private consulting firms, government institutions, inter-governmental organizations and NGOs.

By early 1996, a feasibility study funded by AFEID and carried out by the Ecole Inter-Etats des Ingénieurs de l'Equipement Rural (EIER) from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, concluded that the proposal was feasible.
From 4 to 5 July 1996, the RAID Constitutive Meeting was held in Ouagadougou. The meeting was attended by representatives from seven countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, and Senegal. Other organizations represented included the French Ministry of Cooperation (which sponsored the meeting), AFEID, CORAF (Irrigated Systems Group), EIER, FAO, IPTRID, and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

3 RAID ORGANIZATION

During the two-day meeting, a draft constitution was approved for RAID, a first year programme of work and budget was adopted and a provisional board was appointed with Mr M. Sonou as President Coordinator. EIER was to provide the Secretariat.

The objectives of RAID were defined as follows:

To promote irrigation development in countries where it offers an interesting alternative to rainfed agriculture.
To promote the creation of national committees on irrigation and drainage.
To encourage their participation in ICID activities.

These objectives were to be attained through the following activities:

Create a network to link RAID members and promote exchange of scientific and technical information among them.
Organize thematic seminars and workshops.
Publish a bulletin and specialized thematic documents.
Organize on-the-job training of members.
Create a database in form of a directory which could be used by irrigation and drainage professionals, for the benefit of both employees and employers.
Offer, within its mandate and means, any additional services that might be needed by RAID members.

In addition to subsidies that RAID might receive from diverse sources, membership fees would be used to finance the Association.

In December 1998, RAID organized a Regional Workshop on Irrigation Technology Transfer jointly with FAO and IPTRID, as a prelude to its First Ordinary General Assembly, which elected a new Executive Board.

RAID has been participating in international meetings such as the Expert Consultation on Water Sector Vision. At this meeting, it was decided to start an electronic Network on Small-Scale Irrigation with the assistance of IPTRID, FAO and the Dutch Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). During the first year or two, KIT as a moderator, would host the discussion lists in Amsterdam, in a threaded archive. The latter might be transferred by the end of 2000 or mid-2001 to another server, at either FAO or EIER.

4 LESSONS LEARNED FROM RAID EXPERIENCE

RAID has been created in response to a clearly expressed need.
RAID has resulted from a three-stage preparation process avoiding top-down decision making.
RAID is a forum for irrigation and drainage academics, scientists, technologists and practitioners whose main interest is technical, not political.
RAID seeks to reduce the incidence of duplicated efforts through joint activities and maximum synergy with other professional associations and networks.
There is a need to seek external resources to support network activities; this only implies good accountability but may carry the risk of donor's interference.
Well-formulated network projects with clearly defined objectives are likely to attract the required funding.
Overcoming language barriers between members from different countries is a costly prerequisite for effective communication and exchange of information.
The quality of communication infrastructure between countries has a direct impact on the effectiveness of technical cooperation networks.