Resource information
The purpose of this study is to update
the review of World Bank experience in Irrigation (IEG 1994)
and to broaden the scope of evaluation to include all water
lending for agricultural development. Since that first
study, the proportion of World Bank lending for agricultural
water management continued to decline, a trend that started
in the late 1970s when the sub-sector received 11 percent of
the lending, is falling to less than 2 percent in 2001-03.
It has since staged a strong recovery and reached over 4
percent in 2005. Commitments for agricultural water
management account for a quarter of all lending for
agriculture and rural development more recently, this amount
increased to one-half. The study is primarily based on the
analysis of a wide range of World Bank data and reports,
including 131 project appraisal documents, 129 country
assistance strategies, and 71 implementation completion
reports, covering the Bank's experience in 56
countries. In addition, it draws upon the detailed findings
from Independent Evaluation Group's (IEG's)
project performance reports, country assistance evaluations,
and several special sector and thematic evaluations.
