Just now! MinDA, Israel Embassy Craft Water Mgt. Course For LGUs

A four-session weekly on-line lecture on Water Management and Conservation will be conducted by the Mashav Agency of Israel for Local Government Executives of Mindanao, especially the Governors, next month.

This was agreed today between the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and the Israel Embassy represented by Deputy Chief of Mission Nir Malzan and Honorary Consul Jorge Marquez.

The target participants of the Short Course on Water Management and Conservation are the Governors of Mindanao along with their technical staff.

This is a project which I proposed to Mashav, Israel’s Agricultural Training Agency, through Ambassador Rafael Harpaz as part of MinDA’s Green Mindanao Project.

It is aimed at increasing the awareness level of Mindanao’s Local Government Executives on the importance of Water Management and Conservation on Agriculture and Food Security.

After the lecture series where the attendance of the Governors will be required to get a Certificate of Completion, Israel has offered an actual tour of its existing water reservoirs and catchments, including modern irrigation facilities, to a delegation to be formed by MinDA in October of this year.

Israel is considered a leader in water recycling, conservation and management allowing them to export agricultural products even if the country only has five major rivers and a rainfall pattern of only 360-mm.

In contrast, the Philippines which has over a thousand rivers and the rainfall pattern of between 1,000 to 4,000-mm is the world’s second biggest importer of rice and other food commodities.

The lecture series on Water Conservation and Management, including modern irrigation systems, is expected to widen the perspective of Mindanao’s Governors on the need to focus their LGUs financial resources on projects which would ensure sustainable water supply for agriculture and human consumption.

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!

(Screen-grabbed photos show Israel Chief of Mission Nir Malzam, Israel Honorary Consul in Davao Jorge Marquez, MinDA Undersecretary Janet Lopoz and other participants in today’s Zoom Meeting on the Short Course on Water Conservation and Management for Mindanao Local Chief Executives.)