MENAWARA

Five countries joined forces to boost wastewater reuse in agriculture. We are implementing a component of the project in Palestine, in rehabilitation of the Waste Water treatment plant in Beit Dajan village, and reuse of treated water in agriculture.

Mediterranean Countries are torn between old and new water policies, and water shortage experience is not related only to increasing demand, but also to poor infrastructure and management practices.

The joint challenges of MENAWARA project consist of providing additional resources by recycling drainage and wastewater (WW), tapping water losses, rationalizing water use practices and setting operational governance models in line with national and international plans. The project is designed to enhance access to water through the treatment of wastewater to be re-used as complementary irrigation and to strengthen the capacity of governmental institutions, non-state actors operating in the sector, technicians and farmers.

The action will reduce the stress on freshwater sources from agriculture sector and will improve the quality of treated wastewater (TWW) in agriculture. Clean and environmental friendly technological, managerial and operational innovation will be applied and results shared among relevant stakeholders. MENAWARA will play an important role in reducing water insecurity by designing the most suitable post-treatment and MAR systems for each intervention area and by promoting a sustainable agriculture.

The expected change is to improve the quality of NCW and increase its use in agriculture thus reducing the pressure on fresh water. Know-how, experiences and pilot project’s results will be transferred at regional and transnational levels, in the occasion of meetings, visits, trainings and events.

In the medium term, the implementation of the activity in the different areas and the related training will generate new jobs, also in synergy with national programs while the improving of irrigation systems supplied by high quality TWW will boost agricultural activity and indirectly cause the increase of jobs. In the long term, the engagement of associate partners, due to their institutional functions, will ensure the replicability of the actions thus generating multiplicative effects and so the creation of new jobs.

On July 2023, WeWorld attended the final conference on sustainable water management: the use of non-conventional water in Mediterranean countries organized in Sassari, Sardinia, by the Desertification Research Centre (NRD-UNISS). The conference discussed the outcomes generated by the MENAWARA Regional project. Afterwards, a field visit to Arobria was organized, to reflect the project's interventions in the area and to visit the local cooperative.