This new online service introduced by ICID is developed to help various stakeholders in locating required business information through a few clicks. The online directory enlists all the services and products being provided by consultants, manufacturing companies, dealers, and other professional institutions dealing in irrigation, drainage and flood management. This online service is totally FREE and can be availed of by any service provider by submitting the required information on ICID website <http://www.icid.org/ypaddform2.php>. To view this new service, please visit http://www.icid.org/ypsearch.php

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

2nd World Irrigation Forum on the theme: Water management in a changing world: Role of irrigation for sustainable food production, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 6-8 November 2016.

www.worldirrigationforum.net

International RiverFoundation hosting International Riversymposium on the theme 'Great rivers of the world: Management for shared benefits', New Delhi, India, 12-14 September 2016.
http://riversymposium.com/

National Water Research Center (Egypt) International Conference on “Research and Technology Development for Sustainable Water Resources Management”  on the theme “Geo-Measurement, Field Investigation, and Monitoring” Special Sessions, Workshops and Exhibition, Cairo, Egypt, 4-6 December 2016.
E-mail: eng.mirmokhtar@gmail.com, website: www.redwarm2016-eg.org

13th International Drainage Workshop (IDW), Ahwaz City, Iran, 4-7 March 2017, Theme: Drainage and Environmental Sustainability. 
E-mail:13idw2017@gmail.com, website:http://idw13.org

68th IEC and 23rd ICID Congress on Irrigation and Drainage, 8-14 October 2017, on the theme: Modernizing Irrigation and Drainage for a new Green Revolution, Mexico City, Mexico, 8-14 October 2017.
Website: http://www.icid2017.org/ E-mail: cnm@mxcid.org, brobles@tlaloc.imta.mx, luis.rendon@cna.gob.mx, luis.rendon@conagua.gob.mx

Nigeria partners South African firm on $700 million real estate, agriculture deal
Premium Times, 13 August 2016
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) on Friday established a partnership with Old Mutual Investment Group (OMIG) of South Africa to co-invest $700 million in real estates and agriculture development projects. The NSIA, which is managing Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund, said at the agreement signing ceremony in Abuja that $500 million would go into real estates, while $200 million would be for agriculture development. The partnership would be established as a private investment holding company, jointly owned between NSIA and Old Mutual Property (OMP), with each party committed to an initial funding of $50 million, and opportunity to increase capital to $100 million each. Agriculture investment will be managed in conjunction with OMIG subsidiary, UFF African Agri Investment (UFF), and would focus on primary production, processing, and logistics, as an important social investment component, in rural development, food security, import substitution, and other areas within the sector beneficial to Nigerians.
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/business/208549-nigeria-partners-south-african-firm-700-million-real-estate-agriculture-deal.html

Louisiana flood: Is this what climate change looks like?
The Seattle Times, 17 August 2016
Climate change is never going to announce itself by name. But this is what we should expect it to look like. That’s what many scientists, analysts and activists are saying after heavy rains in southern Louisiana have killed at least 10 people and forced tens of thousands from their homes, in the latest in a series of extreme floods in the United States during the last two years. The increase in heavy rainfall and the resultant flooding “is consistent with what we expect to see in the future if you look at climate models,” said David Easterling, a director at the National Centers for Environmental Information, which is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Not just in the U.S. but in many other parts of the world as well.” The flooding in Louisiana is the eighth event since May 2015 in which the amount of rainfall matches or exceeds NOAA’s predictions for an amount of precipitation that will occur once every 500 years, or has a 0.2 percent chance of occurring in any given year.
http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/lousiana-flood-is-this-what-climate-change-looks-like/

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UN tells Africa to plan for droughts
Lusaka Times, 19 August 2016
African countries have been urged to consider developing sustainable irrigation schemes for crops and livestock in order to mitigate drought challenges. Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Monique Barbut urged the African continent to also explore the cultivation of more drought tolerant crops and promote water harvesting schemes through recycling and reuse of water. Opening a high-level session of the African Drought Conference on Thursday, Monique Barbut said it is possible to address a drought with tangible solutions. “We can identify measures to address these risks head-on. Things that can be done at a very practical level to reduce drought risk, started right away and that deliver real and tangible benefits to your communities,” said Barbut. Ms Barbut noted that Africa would benefit from an early warning system in all countries, and need to invest in good data and maximise on the available local and traditional knowledge, adding that no amount of early warning will work without action to protect the most vulnerable.
https://www.lusakatimes.com/2016/08/19/un-tells-africa-plan-droughts/

Africa droughts prompt calls to start pumping untapped groundwater
The Guardian, 18 August 2016
Despite recent heavy rains, Ethiopia is still reeling from the worst drought to hit the country for half a century, particularly in the livestock-dependent regions of Oromia and Somali. Yet studies suggest the country could have billions of cubic metres of untapped groundwater. The story is the same across many parts of Africa, where farmers rely on erratic rains and depleted surface water while potentially vast groundwater reserves go ignored. Africa’s subterranean water amounts to an estimated 660,000 cubic kilometres, according to research from the British Geological Society – more than 100 times the continent’s annual renewable freshwater resources. A new initiative co-led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is aiming to mobilise support for greater use of Africa’s under-used aquifers.
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/aug/18/africa-drought-untapped-groundwater-aquifers-water-stress-ngo-partnership-ethiopia

Mozambique readies to harvest rainwater after a severe drought
Africa news, 17 August 2016
Residents of Tingonhamen, a community in Mozambique’s southern region are digging out soil to create a water reservoir in the hope that the long awaited rainy season will mean they can store some water. A prolonged drought which started in March 2015 has scorched Mozambique and parts of southern Africa, wiping out livestock, and pushing up food prices among other things over the last year, affecting the livelihood of millions of Africans. The 2015/2016 El Nino weather system, the Pacific Ocean phenomenon associated with droughts, storms and floods, baked southern Africa before ending in May this year.
http://www.africanews.com/2016/08/17/mozambique-readies-to-harvest-rainwater-after-a-severe-drought/

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USA: Tens of thousands in Louisiana seek FEMA aid following devastating floods
PBS News Hour, 20 August 2016
As floodwaters in Louisiana begin to recede across the state, thousands of residents are returning home to take stock following a week of devastation. Roughly 2.5 feet of rain fell in parts of the state last week, causing several rivers in southern Louisiana to breach their banks and pour into surrounding homes and businesses, the National Weather Service told the Associated Press. While many returned to their waterlogged homes this week to begin the arduous recovery process, rescuers on 20th August continued to search door to door and comb through washed-out neighbourhoods searching for survivors. At least 13 people died and more than 30,000 were rescued from the flooding. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Thursday that emergency workers have largely moved from “response to recovery.”
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/louisiana-floods-fema/

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Yes, Organic farming can create food security on a global scale
Huffington Post Canada, 16 August 2016
Organic farming is merely a niche model of agriculture that is not capable of helping to feed the global population in any serious way. Although that's what the detractors like to claim, the evidence suggests otherwise. In the 2006 book The impact of organic farming on food security in a regional and global perspective, Halberg and colleagues argue that if a conversion to organic farming of approximately 50 per cent of the agricultural area in the Global South were to be carried out, it would result in increased self-sufficiency and decreased net food import to the region. Following on from this, in the book Organic Agriculture for Sustainable Livelihioods (2013), Halberg and Muller suggest that organic crops tend to provide farmers with a higher net income compared to their conventional counterparts due to lower production costs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/colin-todhunter/organic-farming_b_11544900.html

Ethiopia will need urgent global support in race to prepare for main planting season – UN
UN News Centre, 15 August 2016
Seasonal floods, resulting in crop damage and inundation of pastures, following a severe El Niño-induced drought in Ethiopia may be further exacerbated by its cool weather counterpart, La Niña, expected from October onwards, the United Nations agricultural agency has warned. In a news release late last week, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) highlighted that if the floods worsen later this year, there could be outbreaks of crop and livestock diseases, further reducing agricultural productivity and complicating recovery. “The situation is critical now,” Amadou Allahoury, FAO Representative to Ethiopia, said. “We must make sure that farmers will be able to plant between now and September and grow enough food to feed themselves and their families thus avoiding millions of people having to rely on food assistance for another year,” added Mr. Allahoury.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54681#.V7QshVR97IU

World Vision irrigation project brings fields to life in Zimbabwe
World Vision International, 16 August 2016
On the dry and dusty road to the village of Makhovula in Zimbabwe, the effect of the prolonged drought is obvious — crops, grasses, and even trees are yellow or brown. “We’ve experienced drought before but this year is the worst,” says Thamsanqa Makhuyana. But amidst the dry is a surprising expanse of green – 15 hectares that is in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape. 13 years ago, when World Vision first started working in this area, warnings about climate change where being echoed in other parts of the world. The prolonged drought, caused by El Nino, has affected nearly four million people in Zimbabwe and drastically reduced farming yields, leaving thousands of livestock dead according to the Government of Zimbabwe.
http://wvi.org/zimbabwe/article/world-vision-irrigation-project-brings-fields-life-zimbabwe

Tanzania: Govt plans irrigation scheme for every district
Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam), 8 August 2016
Plans are underway to set up irrigation schemes in every district countrywide to boost irrigation farming and avoid hunger, the Deputy Minister for Water and Irrigation Isack Kamwelwe said. The deputy minister was speaking after visiting several pavilions at Nanenane grounds in Lindi municipality. He said the country has 29 million hectares, which are suitable for irrigation farming but only 460,000, which is equivalent to 1.6 per cent is being used for irrigation farming. "We are not doing well on irrigation farming, the government is setting plans to boost the sector and soon each district will get its own scheme to boost the practice," he said. According to Mr Kamwele, irrigation farming in the country accounts for at least 20 per cent of food production, annually.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201608080915.html

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE - The Journal of the ICID
Articles available via complimentary online access at: http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ird