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Add to Preferred SourcesThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $249.8 million equivalent loan in local currency (tenge) to the Republican State Enterprise Kazvodkhoz (KVK), a state-owned enterprise dealing with water facilities, to help in the rehabilitation and improvement of irrigation networks serving 171,000 hectares (ha) of land in four provinces in Kazakhstan.
The loan, guaranteed by the Government of Kazakhstan, will improve the country’s agricultural productivity and promote the diversification of agricultural products from traditional low-yielding and low-value crops into high-value cash crops. The four provinces under the project are East Kazakhstan, Karaghandy, Kyzylorda, and Zhambyl.
“Agriculture is an important part of Kazakhstan’s economy, employing 18% of the labor force and contributing 4.4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). However, the sector’s contribution to the country’s economy has been decreasing,” said ADB Principal Water Resources Specialist for Central and West Asia Mr. Yaozhou Zhou. “Making sure that reliable irrigation water is available will help to realize the agriculture sector’s potential to further contribute to the country’s growth and development.”
The project will rehabilitate and improve about 245 irrigations schemes in the four provinces, which will include the desilting, re-sectioning, and repairing damaged sections of line canals.
Apart from capacity-building efforts that includes assistance to agriculture cooperatives, the project will also pilot a system to monitor water and agricultural productivity using remote sensing technology in selected irrigation systems. The project will help improve KVK’s capacity for tariff planning and financial sustainability and extend its advisory services to farmers regarding on-farm water management and crop choices.
The total cost of the project is $320.88 million equivalent, with KVK contributing $71.08 million in financing. The project is expected to be completed in mid-2025.
Original source: ADB
Published on 11 September 2019