Egyptian agriculture is uniquely dependent on water‎,‎ with over 95 per cent of agricultural production originating from land irrigated by the Nile‎.‎ The improvement of irrigation systems and better control over water by farmers is therefore crucial to the drive to raise productivity in the current ocntext of scarce water resources‎,‎ rich but underutilized land and changes in the institutional environment of the economy after ‎"‎liberalization‎"‎‎.‎ This text evaluates the ambitious state‎-of‎-the‎-art Irrigation Improvement Project ‎(‎IIP‎)‎ and should be of interest to all those concerned with issues of water and development in the Middle East‎.‎