Project News

The Project for Strengthening Water Management Transfer (SWMT Project) successfully completed the first TOT which was implemented for a total of 13 days over the period from February 10 to April 30, 2014.

Besides the trainings on three topics of "Water Delivery and Distribution" (on February 10), "Matching between Water Requirements & Cropping Pattern" (on February 13) and "Land Improvement & On-farm Works" (on February 19) which were introduced in the Project News on February 28, trainings on other six topics were implemented by trainers from organizations relevant to the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) including the project counterparts; the Central Department of Irrigation Advisory Service (CDIAS), the Training Sector for Water Resources and Irrigation (TSWRI) and the General Directorate of Irrigation Advisory Service (GDIAS) in charge of each pilot site. Those six training topics were "Participation in Operation and Maintenance" (on March 12), "Administrative Work Improvement for the Branch Canal Water Users' Associations (BCWUAs)" (on March 16), "Environmental Improvement in the Pilot Sites" (on March 23), "Concept of Water Management Transfer (WMT) and Ministry Strategy" (on April 1), "Joint Repair Work (JRW)" (on April 6) and "Concept of WMT" (on April 13 and 28).

As part of the same training program, Eng. Kunihiko Naito, Chief Advisor of the SWMT Project, gave three lectures: "Japanese technical cooperation in Water Management" (on April 1), "JRW in the Water Management Improvement Project II (WMIP2) (2008-2012)" (on April 6), and "Results of the Workshop of Project Cycle Management (PCM)" (April 6). Eng. Yutaka Ueno also gave a presentation on "Irrigation Management Transfer (FAO Water Report)" (on April 27).

Trainees were then curiously listening to each of those presentations and seriously asking many questions about experiences and technical cooperation projects on WMT in Japan and other countries. Furthermore, on April 30, three staff members of the TSWRI who used to be counterparts of the Water Management Improvement Project (WMIP) (2000-2007) also gave lectures on necessary skills for trainers. They not only spoke of the lessons they learnt in the WMIP, but also had the trainees act out some role-plays of major stakeholders in Water Management.

First TOT

First TOT

First TOT

First TOT

First TOT

First TOT

Giving that the trainees will become trainers of the Staff Training for regional counterparts in charge of each pilot site, they were given a chance to give presentations on each training topic they learned in the first TOT in two days. Presenters then received comments on their presentations by their colleagues. One trainee gave her first ever presentation on Water Management in front of an audience, while another integrated his own experiences into his presentation so that his colleagues could easily understand the contents. This exercise was quite helpful in terms of helping the trainees improve their presentation skills.

Trainees giving their presentations after the first TOT

Trainees giving their presentations after the first TOT

The next step is that we will develop the training materials for the first Staff Training so that the contents may correspond not only with the training needs but also with the technical capabilities of regional counterparts and members of the BCWUAs. By analyzing results of the first TOT and making full use of the lessons learnt in the first TOT, we will make our best efforts to prepare and implement the first Staff Training.