IWMI conducts grassroots consultation on irrigated groundwater management in Lao PDR

The following blog was originally posted on IWMI's website.

The meeting is part of a bottom-up approach to ensuring coherent policies on the use of water resources in agriculture.

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) facilitated a consultation last week on irrigated groundwater management at the community level in Attapeu Province, Lao People's Democratic Republic.

The 42 participants, including residents from the villages of Inthy and Donephay as well as district authorities, discussed the groundwater management regulations and their implementation. The meeting was co-chaired by the Vice District Governor, Phoudone Choummaly, and the Director of the District Agriculture and Forestry Office (DAFO), Khounsamay Viengphachanh.

The village representatives committed to implementing all the management regulations, producing a plan to ensure effective use of groundwater and to establish a fund for maintenance. Villagers noted that support may be required for solar cell and other major maintenance as well as extension support from DAFO for agricultural production.

The Vice District Governor welcomed IWMI and CGIAR support in establishing Inthy as a development model village in support of the district socioeconomic development plan. IWMI's work in Attapeu is carried out under the CGIAR Initiatives on Agroecology and National Policies and Strategies.

Author and photo credit

Souphalack Inphonephong, National Researcher - Social-Political Scientist, IWMI

This work is part of the CGIAR Research Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS). CGIAR launched NPS with national and international partners to build policy coherence, respond to policy demands and crises, and integrate policy tools at national and subnational levels in countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. CGIAR centers participating in NPS are The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Potato Center (CIP), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and WorldFish. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.