Presented by IWMI’s Kakhramon Djumaboev at the International Conference on Agricultural Transformation, Food Security and Nutrition in Central Asia, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on June 1, 2018

1. KAKHRAMON DJUMABOEV
IWMI-CENTRAL ASIA
JUNE 1, 2018
WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS IN CENTRAL ASIA: CASE
STUDIES FROM LIFT (PUMP) IRRIGATED AREAS OF SOGD
PROVINCE IN TAJIKISTAN AND KASHKADARYA PROVINCE
OF UZBEKISTAN

2. IWMI’S ACTIVITIES IN CENTRAL ASIA
IWMI started its activities in Central Asia in 2001 with
main focus areas of research on:
 Introduction of IWRM principles
and Basin Planning
 Establishing water management
organizations
 Identifying best practices for water
savings
 Improving irrigation performance
 Land Degradation and Salinity
Management
 GIS/Remote sensing and climate
change
 Water –Energy-Food nexus
Member of Regional Program
for Sustainable Agricultural
Development in Central Asia
and Caucasus led by ICARDA
Implemented Programs/Projects in Uzbekistan:
 SDC: IWRM-FV (2001-2012)
 SDC: WPI-PL (2008-2012)
 ADB: Bright Spots and others
 CRP Water, Land & Ecosystems
 GIZ/BMZ: Improving irrigation efficiency in Potato
fields
 IWMI hosts GWP-CACENA
 Partnership with European Universities (Humboldt
University Berlin, CDE/University of Bern/IMoMo
and other active networks/initiatives
GIZ TWMCA
Murgab
EU/GIZ
USAID/PEE
R4&5

3. What is Water-Energy-Food Nexus and
Why Is It Important?
The Water–Energy–Food (WEF) nexus is a useful concept, framework for
analysing the dynamic interactions between water, energy and food systems and
developing strategies for sustainable development (Liu et al. 2017);
At the heart of the nexus approach is a strong understanding of the
interdependencies among these three systems and how to ensure water, energy
and food security for a growing population;
WEF nexus helps to identify and manage trade-offs and to build synergies, allowing
for more integrated and cost-effective planning and decision making;
In Central Asia, however, the nexus between water-food-energy has not received
adequate attention, with few studies that have been conducted falling short of
quantifying nexus tradeoffs and benefits at a practical, small scale.

4. WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS
Water
FoodEnergy
Agricultural
water
Pumping
Desalination
Wastewater
Treatment
Water Transfer
Resource
development
Cooling water
Hydropower
Biofuels
Biofuels
Pumping, agricultural
machines,
Agricultural facilities

5.  Farmers overuse scarce
water for irrigation
purposes
 About 70 percent of
MWR Uzbekistan
budget is allocated to
electricity used by pump
stations (Khamraev
2011)
 Leads to excess polluted
drainage runoff
5
QUANTIFYING WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS IN LIFT
IRRIGATED AREAS OF AMU DARYA AND SYR DARYA
RIVER BASIN
Karshi Main
Canal
Pumps
• Pumping distance is about 80
km
• Pumping altitude is about 153
m
• Irrigated area is about 335,000
ha

6. STUDY OBJECTIVES
 To estimate water and energy ‘gains’ through improving
water and energy use practices in agricultural production;
 To assess the costs and benefits of employing water- and
energy-saving technologies for farmers, policymakers, and
society in general;
 Promote widespread adoption and use of evidence-based
management practices that improve water- and energy-use
efficiency at sub-basin scale in selected areas of Syrdarya
and Amudarya River Basins.

7. GEODATABASE OF KASHKADARYA PROVINCE
Geodatabase is a collection of geographic
datasets of various types held in a
common file system.
Content:
- Agricultural administration
- Ground water
- Water resources
- Climate
- Soil
- Land cover/use
- Vegetation
- Crop
Methods:
- Analogue data
- Satellite image analyses
- Climate model
- Field trips
Aim: to provide key stakeholders an
evidence-base tool and guide to inform
water and land management practices
and to support decision-making that will
lead to more productive and efficient use
of resources.

9. DOCUMENTING WATER- AND ENERGY-
SAVING TECHNOLOGIES IN THE FIELD

10. Parameters Unit Results Economic
efficiency
% (+/-)
Traditional
method
Drip
irrigation
Crop yield c/ha 26.0 37.0 +42%
Water use m3/ha 6600 3300 -50%
Fertilizer use kg/ha 750 450 -40%
Fuel use l/ha 300 85 -72%
Seed use kg/ha 55 27 -51%
Ripening time Day 132 110 -17%
Comparison of traditional and drip irrigation methods
in the “Najotkor” farm, Karshi steppe
Improved crop yields, water use efficiency, mineral fertilizers
efficiency, fuel use efficiency, seed use efficiency, and
reduction of ripening time

13. FRAMEWORK TO ASSESS WATER AND ENERGY
NEEDS OF LIFT IRRIGATION AREAS
(ADAPTED FROM DACCACHE ET AL., 2014)

14. TOTAL WATER USE, WATER AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION
SAVING UNDER CURRENT AND IMPROVED IRRIGATION
PRACTICES (KARSHI)
Current
Improve
d
irrigatio
n
practice
s
Current
Improved
irrigation
practices
Current
Improved
irrigation
practices
Current
Improved
irrigation
practices
Wheat 102600 1011 587 1037 602 435 468 272 196 219 127 92
Cotton 119681 765 648 916 776 140 413 350 63 194 164 30
Total 222281 N/A N/A 1953 1378 575 880 621 259 413 291 122
Total
energy
saving,
GWh
GHG emissions,
Kton
CO2
reduction,
Kton of
GHGs
Crop
Total
pumped
area, ha
Irrigation
application, mm
Total water use,
MCM
Total
water
saving,
MCM
Electricity
consumption, GWh

15. TOTAL WATER USE, WATER AND ENERGY
CONSUMPTION SAVING UNDER CURRENT AND
IMPROVED IRRIGATION PRACTICES (ZAFARABAD)
Current
Improve
d
irrigatio
n
practice
s
Current
Improved
irrigation
practices
Current
Improved
irrigation
practices
Current
Improved
irrigation
practices
Wheat 6388 662 546.8 42 35 7 41 34 7 237864 196471 41393
Cotton 12220 1302 885.2 159 108 51 127 87 41 737078 501123 235956
Alfalfa 5975 1367 1320.8 82 79 3 71 68 2 409272 395440 13832
Maize 1047 1040 850.7 11 9 2 12 9 2 67067 54860 12208
Vegetable 932 1289 619.1 12 6 6 10 5 5 59417 28538 30880
Melon 1172 1289 767.9 15 9 6 13 8 5 74903 44622 30281
Trees 1849 730 535.1 13 10 4 12 8 3 66831 48988 17843
Rice 200 3600 2491.9 7 5 2 4 2 1 20623 14275 6348
Total 29783 N/A N/A 341.8 260.6 81 289 222 67 1673055 1284316 388739
Total
energy
saving,
GWh
Pumping cost, USD
Pumping
cost,
USD
Crop
Total
pumped
area, ha
Irrigation
application, mm
Total water use,
MCM
Total
water
saving,
MCM
Electricity
consumption, GWh

16. 16
 This analysis shows that many benefits can be obtained
by adopting improved irrigation practices in the lift
irrigated areas of Central Asia (e.g., saving water,
reducing energy use and CO2 emissions);
 In order to better natural resources management, there is
a need to introduce institutions and policies to create
incentives for water and energy saving, which is currently
missing in the region;
 There is a need to develop database or information base
on natural resource use in agriculture to quantify Water-
Energy-Food-Ecosystem nexus at national or regional
and transboundary river basin levels, which can inform
strategies for sustainable natural resources management.
CONCLUSION

17. Potential for improving water use efficiency as a mitigating measure for energy use in central Asia
17
IWMI DATA AND PUBLICATIONS
• http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/resources/apps/

18. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Kakhramon Djumaboev
Senior Research Officer, IWMI-CA
Email: k.djumaboev@cigar.org