The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $125 million financing package to provide long-term sustainable solutions to increase year-round access to irrigation water in rural communities in Rautahat and Sarlahi districts in Madhesh Province, Nepal.
The financing package comprises a $110 million concessional loan and a $15 million grant from the Asian Development Fund, which provides grants to ADB’s poorest and most vulnerable developing member countries.
“Farmers’ willingness to pay for the true cost of groundwater irrigation services is essential for ensuring sustainable resources and asset management,” said ADB Water Resources Specialist Marie L’Hostis. “This ADB support will introduce a new approach using high-level technology and prepaid smartcards that will allow farmers to benefit from reliable and flexible access to irrigation water at their fields, enabling them to produce crops that meet market demands and increase their incomes.”
The Mechanized Irrigation Innovation Project will construct a network of deep tube wells equipped with pump houses, prepaid smart card system, and a dedicated electricity distribution network. The project will construct approximately 900 kilometers of underground pressure pipe distribution networks to bring irrigation water from pump houses to farms.
The project will help farmers in the project districts improve their capacity to shift to climate-resilient agricultural practices. This includes the introduction of high-value and high-yielding crops to diversify crop production, adopt more efficient irrigation practices such as micro-irrigation, and strengthening farmers’ value chain and marketing linkages. ADB will establish facilities that will offer smallholder and marginalized farmers subsidized farm machinery.
ADB will provide an additional $750,000 grant financed from its Technical Assistance Special Fund to establish and build staff capacity of the public–private partnership unit in the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation, while providing advice on groundwater management contracts.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.
