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

US envoy tips Ugandan youth on agriculture
New Vision, 22 August 2016
The US ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac has asked young people in Uganda to embrace farming as a way of fighting youth unemployment. Agriculture remains one of the untapped opportunities by the youth for economic empowerment, she said. “A career in farming is both rewarding and prosperous, and doesn’t just mean spending time working in the field. Young people can develop careers in finance, marketing, logistics and many other areas that support agriculture production, and help add value to products, develop the economy, and create jobs for thousands more young people.” Through its program, “Feed the future, Uganda youth leadership for Agriculture”, the US embassy is trying to leverage Uganda’s enormous potential in agriculture by supporting agricultural programs by the youth in different districts in Uganda.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1433322/us-envoy-tips-ugandan-youth-agriculture

FAO head hails progress in agriculture
Barbados Today, 20 August 2016
Outgoing Sub-regional Coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Dr Deep Ford, has said he is pleased with the work that his office has accomplished in Barbados and the region during his tenure. However he would like to see more 100 per cent homegrown food products being made and sold. He made the comments recently during a farewell visit to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, at her Culloden Road office. Dr Ford listed the development of” blended” bread, made with cassava flour and wheat flour by a local bakery, as one of the projects that his office was successful in implementing to encourage the use of locally-grown products. Adding that the bread could be found on a number of supermarket shelves, he noted that this was the first such venture that had reached such a level of success.
http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2016/08/20/fao-head-hails-progress-in-agriculture/

China’s agriculture reforms to address food crisis despite lack of arable land
YIBADA English, 19 August 2016
China is set to undertake reforms in its agriculture industry to address the growing food security crisis, which is seen as the biggest change since the Great Leap Forward. The changes are being planned as China is faced with problems on how to feed the nation of 1.3 billion, almost a fifth of the world population with only 7 percent of arable land. An article by Time said that fertilizer overuse, intensive animal grazing and the use of biomass for rural energy have caused severe soil degradation to more than 40 percent of the country's land. According to experts, it was agriculture, not the industrial factories, that has exerted a great toll on China's environment.
http://en.yibada.com/articles/152846/20160819/china-agriculture-reforms-address-food-crisis-lack-arable-land.htm

Water-Climate Change Nexus on Agenda at World Water Week 2016 in Stockholm
Cop22, 27 August 2016
World Water Week is taking place August 28- September 2 in Stockholm, Sweden where more than 3,000 participants from 120 countries will dive deep into the theme “Water for Sustainable Growth,” which includes the implementation of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda and the Paris Agreement. The annual global meeting dedicated to water is organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute with support from the City of Stockholm and Governments of Sweden and Germany, as well as through collaboration with key partners such as the OECD, Water Research Commission and 2030 Water Resources Group. The 5-day event will showcase more than 150 events and 400 convening organizations. Morocco is scheduled to be represented during the week by Hakima El Haite, COP22 Special Envoy and Morocco’s Minister Delegate in Charge of the Environment and Abdeladim Lhafi, COP22 Commissioner and Morocco’s High Commissioner for Water, Forestry and Fight Against Desertification.
http://www.cop22.ma/en/node/1188

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Drought a Given in Namibia
AllAfrica.com, 23 August 2016
Deputy Prime Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says droughts should not be seen as a disaster, but rather a risk which could happen at any time and which should be managed. Addressing the Africa Drought Conference which was held in Windhoek last week she said that the government already allocated 11% of its budget to agriculture and related ministries for food security in agreement with the Maputo Declaration during which SADC countries agreed to allocate 10% of their budgets to agriculture. She further said that Namibia has to collect N$695 million in order to provide food to the affected communities until the end of the rainy season in March 2017 when farmers are expected to harvest from their fields. Unfortunately nothing was said about drought relief aid to producers. The conference is a result of a decision which the United Nations Convention for Combating Desertification took in 2013 and African countries were well represented at this conference with more than 400 local and foreign delegates present.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201608230861.html

Africa nations appeal for funding on continuing drought mitigation
Coast week, 22 August 2016
A week-long drought conference ended Friday in Namibia’s capital Windhoek, with a call for international help for funding as 200 million people in Africa are food insecure. The conference identified specific needs for African countries to effectively militate against drought and develop a strategic framework to enhance resilience to drought events. A Windhoek declaration on Drought Resilience was adopted Friday by heads of state. Two outstanding features of the draft are that Africa needs to set up a fund to be used to mitigate drought as well as set up a team that will implement the recommendations made at the conference. Namibia’s President Hage Geingob told the conference Thursday that Africa’s problems arising from the drought now needs the private sector and civil society’s intervention.
http://www.coastweek.com/3934-African-nations-appeal-over-funding-for-drought-mitigation.htm

Southern Africa countries at risk of flooding after El Nino droughts
Africa news, 19 August 2016
The UN has warned that southern African countries are at risk of another year of food shortages as the drought-hit region is expected to be hit by above-average rainfall likely to trigger floods. This comes even as the region still reels from the effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon which has devastated crops leaving about 18 million people in need of food aid, according to the World Food Programme. Weather experts forecast that the region will this year experience more rainfall than normal due to an extreme weather pattern known as La Nina. But this is still good news to the farmers, as more average rainfall normally means good harvest. La Nina is characterized by flooding and waterlogging. To ensure farmers benefit from the rains, the UN officials said farmers needed to plant early to avoid the floods, although most of them have little or no capital to buy farm inputs, having been hit by two successive droughts.
http://www.africanews.com/2016/08/19/southern-africa-countries-at-risk-of-of-flooding-after-el-nino-droughts/

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Floods in Ethiopia displace hundreds of thousands as more rains forecast: UN
Reuters, 24 August 2016
More than 600,000 Ethiopians have fled their homes since March, largely due to flooding, the United Nations said on Wednesday, with more rain predicted up to December. Ethiopia was hit in 2015 by one of the worst droughts in decades, with 10 million requiring emergency aid, which ended when the spring rains arrived in March. Almost 300,000 people were displaced between March and June due to floods, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its latest update. Others were displaced by inter-communal conflict in Ethiopia's southern Oromia and Somali regions. Many of the people who fled the floods have since returned home but more than 10,000 families are still displaced and need emergency shelter and household basics, it said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-floods-idUSKCN10Z15L

Economic impact of floods assessed with new technology
DHI, 22 August 2016
Climate change and its effects have put a great strain on cities to adapt to an increasing threat of floods. As such, the Danish authorities are investing on large-scale projects that look into finding solutions to mitigate the impact of floods in the country as well as develop pre-emptive measures against flood events. DHI has recently launched an R&D project, with funding from the Danish government, to develop software tools for flood damage assessment, in line with efforts towards fostering sound and cost-effective urban flood infrastructure in cities. Still in its conception, the software tool can help calculate direct as well as indirect tangible damages resulting from flooding. In an effort to better understand economic impacts of flood hazards, the tool can facilitate authorities in estimating the costs of urban flood events.
http://www.dhigroup.com/global/news/2016/08/economic-impact-of-floods-assessed-with-new-technology

India floods: Several dead and thousands rescued
BBC News, 22 August 2016
Central Madhya Pradesh state has suffered the highest death toll with at least 17 people killed in flood-related incidents, officials said. And in eastern Bihar state, at least 15,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after a "flood-like situation" in a dozen districts. Floods are common in India during the monsoon season between June and September. But excessive rains this year have caused the Ganges River and its tributaries to rise above the danger level in about 20 districts in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. At least 13 people have died in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states because of drowning, electrocution or injuries sustained after house collapses.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-37152121

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Nigeria: FG challenges youths to ensure food security for the country
World Stage, 21 August 2016
The Federal Government of Nigeria has challenged youths to ensure food security for the country by deploying their energy towards productive engagement. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani gave the charge in Ibadan at the completion of training programmes organised by the Ministry on commercial snail farming, entrepreneurship and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for women and youths from the Niger Delta region. According to a statement by the Director of Press in the Ministry, Mr Marshall Gundu, the Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Alo Williams Nwankwo said that participants should use the knowledge and skills gathered from the training to contribute to food security and the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), in the country.
http://worldstagegroup.com/index.php?active=news&newscid=31132&catid=36

Irrigation canal rehabilitated in south Kyrgyzstan with UK support
Times of Central Asia (subscription), 23 August 2016
Michael Tatham, Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and Robin Ord-Smith, British Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, on August 20 visited the Osh province in southern Kyrgyzstan to meet with Ahmadjan Mahammadov, Deputy Governor of Osh Oblast. The delegation also met with international organizations and visited AKF/MSDSP KG project sites in Aravan district, the British Embassy to the Kyrgyz Republic said. In Aravan district they visited the Kyrgyz-Aryk irrigation canal, which was rehabilitated under the project ‘Reducing conflict over water and pastures in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’ with support from the British Embassy to the Kyrgyz Republic. In addition, they met with representatives of the District Water Department, local communities’ members, local self-government authorities (Aiyl Aimak (AA)).
http://www.timesca.com/index.php/news/17020-irrigation-canal-rehabilitated-in-south-kyrgyzstan-with-uk-support

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