Grant is provided under the PVO Development Initiatives project (6770051) to CARE to increase food production through improved irrigation in two areas in Chad's Sahelian zone -- the irrigated perimeters within the country's interriverine lands and the wadis, or bottomlands. in ten irrigated perimeters between the Chari and Logone Rivers, CARE, working with Chadian agencies, will (1) construct gravity flow irrigation systems which will use water pumped from the Chari river, serving collectively about 250 ha; (2) provide training and extension services in crop selection, water management, soil fertility maintenance and agroforestry; (3) establish a mobile maintenance repair unit to service irrigation equipment; (4) provide some agroforestry interventions, including live fencing and erosion control plantings; and (5) organize 1,700 farmers into village-level groups capable of sustaining irrigation operations and integrating the irrigation systems with traditional rain fed farming. The average plot per farmer will be one-fourth of an ha and will be farmed by hand; two grain crops with a complement of cool-season vegetables will be produced annually. As the farmer groups are developed, fee systems will be introduced to help reduce the recurrent cost burden on the Ministry of Agriculture, which will eventually assume responsibility for project activities. in the wadi areas in Kanem Prefecture, CARE will target 13 sites for project assistance, 5 of which will be focused on initially. in these areas, CARE will, inter alia, (1) introduce hand pumps to replace traditional water-lifting devices; (2) expand diversified agriculture to wadis not currently farmed; (3) offer opportunities to surrounding populations (particularly pastoralists) to participate in wadi gardening and rain fed agriculture; and (4) use its existing Food for Work activities to encourage tree planting. Agroforestry/soil conservation techniques -- primarily windbreaks to prevent encroaching dunes caused by sand blowing -- will be introduced first in four intensively farmed wadis, later in five more. Overall, wadi activities are expected to benefit 1,700 farmers and result in the cultivation of about 85 new ha and the protection of 125 ha through agroforestry/soil conservation measures. Training is a major component of the project and will include (1) 2 years of formal agricultural management training for two technicians, to be conducted at N'Gala Training Center in Nigeria; (2) formal and informal technical and extension training for 35 personnel of the National Office for Rural Development (ONDR), the Ministry of Water and Forestry, and CARE; (3) training in equipment maintenance and repair for ONDR and MOA personnel and selected farmers by the mobile maintenance unit; and (4) formal and informal training of farmers at two training centers to be built or renovated at Nokou and Cheddra.