The Water and Development Alliance (WADA) is a collaboration between the USAID and The Coca-Cola Company and its Foundations, managed by the Global Environment & Technology Foundation, to promote improved water management and expand clean water access to help build sustainable communities in the developing world.
Throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, fresh water is being consumed faster than it is being replenished. Irrigation accounts for most of this use. Unlike traditional flood-style or rain-fed irrigation, drip irrigation delivers controlled amounts of water directly to each plant through a series of tubes and emitters. This can reduce agricultural water consumption by 30 to 60 percent and increase crop yields by 20 to 50 percent, yet only 27 percent of the irrigated cropland in MENA countries uses the technology.
The Middle East and North Africa has less than two percent of the world’s renewable water supply. In fact, it is the world’s driest region, threatening sustainable agriculture, hydration, and sanitation.
The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have created a unique partnership to address community water needs in developing countries around the world.
MAWRED's activity objective was to support regional policy makers in current and future water and agriculture resource planning. NASA worked closely with ICBA as a regional institution, providing tools and training to ICBA’s staff on the use of NASA’s technologies. In return, ICBA provided similar trainings and hands-on capacity building to a range of regional organizations within the participating countries and institutions, building on the working partnership between USAID, NASA and the World Bank, which was established in 2008.
The Regional Partnership for Culture and Development (RPCD) was a three-year, $7.2 million program funded by USAID/Egypt’s Office of Middle East Programs (OMEP).The goal of the program was to gather and disseminate information that will improve development efforts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The regional water problems in MENA countries are rather universal, vary in intensity and impact, but share common problems in water scarcity, poor investment in water services to the poor, and limited coverage in water supply and sanitation. The priority challenge in this region is to extend basic water services to the millions of households, especially in the rural areas.
NASA/WISP activity’s objective is to improve water resources and agricultural management and planning within and across beneficiary countries based on quantitative and spatial-based decision making tools. NASA/WISP activity was developed out of a partnership with the World Bank, in which the World Bank provides funding for purchasing equipment, contracting technical expertise, travel, and training through its Regional Coordination on Improved Water Resources Management and Capacity Building (RCIWRM) project.
The Middle East and North Africa Water Center Network (MENA WCN) will link technical institutions across the region to work together and with outside counterpart institutions on critical water challenges. The Network will strive to foster partnerships; build and exchange regional science and technology capacity to improve water resources planning and management; and develop and disseminate policy tools and technical and management interventions that expand water supply, manage demand, and dramatically increase its efficient and productive use.
This is a report on the mid-term evaluation of two inter-related water activities funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by USAID’s Middle East Bureau/Technical Services (ME/TS) out of Washington, DC. These activities are:
