FAO empowers Iranian farmers to improve agriculture
water productivity and reduce water withdrawal in Qazvin plain

FAO provides
Iranian farmers with learning opportunities on handling low water productivity
challenges, monitoring local water resources, and adopting an optimal cropping
pattern, to increase farm-household income and reduce water withdrawal.

Tehran – In partnership with the local agricultural extension authorities
in Qazvin Province, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) provides its assistance to equip Iranian farmers in the Qazvin Irrigation
Network with the requisite technical knowledge and skills to improve
agriculture water productivity.

Covering 80 000 ha
of farmlands and hosting nearly 30 000 irrigators, the Qazvin Irrigation
Network suffers from several challenges, including but not limited to the
agriculture water efficiency and productivity.

As part of the
water productivity component of a regional project “Implementing the 2030
Agenda for Water Efficiency/Productivity and Water Sustainability in NENA”
funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and
implemented by FAO, this activity in Qazvin Province is aimed to make
agriculture more productive and sustainable. The activity also enables
stakeholders and beneficiaries to make evidence-based decisions in the planning
and management of the agricultural sectors and natural resources to support the
transition to sustainable agricultural production systems.

In this endeavour,
FAO uses Farmer Field Schools (FFS) to enhance agricultural extension workers’
and facilitators’ capability to support transferring technical knowledge and
skills to Iranian farmers.

To this end, FAO in
close partnership with the Qazvin Provincial Office of the Agricultural
Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) provides learning
opportunities to the facilitators and farmers, training them on particular
topics of concerns, including Training of Facilitators (TOF) on FFS method,
Technical Knowledge Training of Facilitators (TK-TOF) on Water Productivity and
Water Monitoring, and FFS Process Training for the Farmers.

Benefitting from a
participatory approach, FFS also empowers farmers to identify and handle
challenges of low water productivity, to understand and monitor their local
water resources, and to decide as a group on the optimal cropping pattern.

These activities
are directed at improved water productivity, increased farm-household income,
and reduced water withdrawal in the Qazvin plain.

Being the lead UN
agency in promoting climate-smart agricultural practices across the world, FAO
lends its expertise to Member Countries to develop, implement and mainstream
policies and programmes to secure sustainable climate-resilient rural
development. 

http://www.fao.org/iran/en/

http://www.fao.org/iran/news/detail-events/en/c/1369439/