Supporting Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), Sustainable Land Management (SLM), and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in Turkey and Central Asia

Awar Water Executive Director, Dr. Faraj El Awar, was contracted by the FAO Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia (FAO-SEC) for an 11-month consultancy assignment as Senior Land and Water Specialist over the period of January – December 2022. Within this assignment, Dr. El Awar led all the FAO-SEC land and water initiatives through which the regional office provides assistance to the countries of the region in developing policies, programmes, best practices and tools in the fields of water governance, rainfed agriculture, irrigation and drainage, soil conservation, sustainable land management practices, land degradation neutrality, drought mitigation, water rights, access to natural resources, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Project Scope of Work:

Dr. El Awar worked on the planning, development, and implementation of the land and water program of the FAO-SEC Office. Specifically, Dr. El Awar led the development of the FAO-SEC regional initiative in support of the improvement of water policy and governance structures in Central Asia. Dr. El Awar also provided necessary technical backstopping and supported the implementation of initiatives focused on IWRM national planning in the region. He also led initiatives focused on sustainable land management (SLM), land degradation neutrality (LDN), and modernization of irrigation schemes in Turkey and some countries of Central Asia including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. 

Project Results:

Dr. El Awar led the development and supported the implementation of the following initiatives:

  • Water governance in Tajikistan: Led the development of the project entitled “Strengthening capacity on water governance via development of legal instruments and enhancement of water use efficiency through advanced crop water requirements estimation,” for the FAO Tajikistan Country Office.
  • Uzbekistan Water Code and Development Strategy: Reviewed the draft water code and proposed amendments to certain major issues, such as private sector ownership of water supply infrastructure. In addition, review and provided feedback to the draft Uzbekistan Development Strategy. 
  • “Supporting Water Policy in Central Asian agri-food Sector with Emphasis on Water Scarcity and Climate Change Impact”: Prepared draft and final versions of the Concept Note and the Project Document.
  • “Integrated Water Resource Management in Gediz River Basin in Turkey”: Supported the GEF project development and participated in a series of weekly preparatory meetings with the team working on the development of the GEF project document. 
  • “Contributing to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Target Setting by Demonstrating the LDN Approach in the Upper Sakarya Basin for Scaling up at National Level”: Supported the implementation of the LDN project in Turkey through the alignment of the project to the new FAO Strategic Framework and providing the needed clearance of consultants ToRs, technical specifications for procurement of goods and services, and providing input on details of capacity development of the project’s beneficiary farmers through the establishment of Farmers Field Schools.
  • Water Governance in Azerbaijan: Supported the Project implementation with regular technical backstopping and clearances, review of reports and other written products, and general advice for implementation. Participated regularly in the Project Task Force meetings.
  • “Integrated Natural Resources Management in Drought-prone and Salinity-Affected Agricultural Production Landscapes in Central Asia and Turkey” (CACILM-2) in Turkmenistan: Supported the implementation team of the CACILM II project in Turkmenistan with all necessary technical guidance and clearances.
  • Aral Sea Basin Restoration regional project: Supported the development of the project document, which was submitted to GCF. Stressed on the need to amend the approach of the project into an integrated approach that would include the necessary integrated land and water resources management components.
  • Inter-Regional Technical Platform on Water Scarcity (iRTP-WS): Supported the development and operation of this FAO inter-regional platform, based in FAO-RNE Cairo Office.