Aug 2023-Aug 2024 Irrigation for Resilience

The project aimed to provide irrigation water to the border village of Tegh in Syunik region facilitating a transition to more efficient and sustainable agriculture while improving social conditions for residents.

Due to military operations, the village lost most of its farmland, and the remaining plots were non-irrigated, leading to insufficient income for locals. The Urban Foundation engaged the UN GEF SGP in multi-stakeholder initiative which planned to irrigate over 330 hectares by utilizing water from the Vorotan pipeline, which ended in a nearby gorge.

GEF SGP contributed to the initiative through construction of a valve chamber, installation of photovoltaic panels with 13kW capacity for partial renewable energy supply and reconstruction of 80 m³ pressure-regulating reservoir ensuring hydro-isolation and installation of automated floating valve.

This came to support investments by the government and other donors: through state subsidy amounting $300,000 the community laid a 900m pipeline to transport water to a 5,000m renovated internal distribution network. Since the village was at a higher elevation USAID supported in installation of energy efficient pumps (100L/sec capacity). Pumping station was built by the Lithuanian Embassy under the EU’s “Resilient Syunik” initiative.

As a result, around 300 households were granted an access to sufficient water for sustainable farming. The irrigation problem of Tegh village has been completely resolved.

Funding: UN GEF Small Grants programme

Implementation: The Urban Foundation and Tegh municipality

Beneficiaries: Tegh settlement