Agricultural Production and Groundwater Conservation: Examples of Good Practices in Shanxi Province, People’s Republic of China

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2009 approved the Shanxi Integrated Agricultural Development Project to strengthen agricultural production in 26 counties in Shanxi Province. Complementing the project is a $500,000 grant from the Multi-Donor Trust Fund under the Water Financing Partnership Facility to support climate change adaptation through groundwater management.The grant supported farmers introducing water conservation and energy-efficient water use practices and increasing climate change resilience to halt declining groundwater levels. Declining groundwater tables lead to higher pumping costs and lower water security, making support for farmers to adopt such sustainable practices in selected pilot sites in Shanxi Province highly relevant.