(KPL) A ceremony to mark the handover of newly built irrigation project to Sangthong District of Vientiane Capital and Hinherb District of Vientiane Province took place on 26 November in Sangthong District and participated by representatives of donors and local beneficiaries.

The project costing 619,000 Euro was funded by the German government through KfW Development Bank.

"The development of irrigation schemes is one of the approaches of project activities in supporting livelihood improvement in the watershed by improving farming systems and generating income opportunities for local people and to reduce shifting cultivation,"said Mr Thanongxay Duangnoulak, the National Project Coordinator.

"The introduction of irrigation systems is also to improve the ecological function of watershed by increasing water availability in the dry season and reducing flood in the wet season," said Mr Duangnoulak.

The project supported four small irrigation schemes in the upper part of the watershed area in Hinherb district and one medium scheme at middle part of watershed area in Sangthong district. These schemes included canal diversion at Nam Thom, small weir in Muk and Naphong villages as well as a small reservoir at Nathong and Huay Ten in Nasaonang village.

"The construction was started in 2012 and completed in May 2014 by the Duangpasert Architecture, Road-Bridge and Irrigation Construction Company,"said Mr Buakham Sisongkham.

The project has been designed to irrigate 138 ha of farmland in dry season and 189 ha in wet season to benefit over 130 families in the localities.

"The project is part of the assistance from the German government to help the Lao PDR. The irrigation plays an important role in contributing to the livelihood improvement of local people," said Deputy Head of Department of Cooperation, Embassy of Germany, Mr Katharina Foeldi.

The project is part of the Sustainable Management of Watershed in the Lower Mekong Basin Project (SUMALOM-Nam Ton Project), supported by the German government through KfW, and its overall goal is a secured watershed function and improved livelihoods in the Nam Ton Watershed area.

The project part 1 was implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and covered three outputs: supporting farmers in assisting to establish and execute sustainable village based land use planning, supporting farmers to use appropriate farming systems and integrated water resource management in Nam Ton Watershed area. Project part 2 is implemented by MRCS in supporting replicable development solution for watershed management in the Lower Mekong Basin.

KPL