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.