BACKGROUND
As defined in preliminary IPTRID (International Program for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage)
documents, benchmarking is a systematic process for securing continual improvement through comparison with
relevant and achievable internal or external norms and standards. The overall aim of benchmarking is to improve
the performance of an organization as measured against its mission and objectives. Benchmarking impliescomparison —either internally with previous performance and desired future targets, or externally against similar
organizations, or organizations performing similar functions. Benchmarking is in use in both the public and private
sector.
The rapid appraisal process (RAP) of irrigation projects as a key part of benchmarking was introduced in a
joint FAO/IPTRID/World Bank publication Water Reports-19 (Burt and Styles, 1999). That publication provides
early RAP results from 16 international irrigation projects. The RAP procedure has subsequently been
improved.
The RAP allows qualified personnel to systematically and quickly determine key indicators of irrigation
projects. The RAP can generally be completed with 2 weeks or less of field and office work—assuming that some
readily available data on the project have been organized by project authorities in advance of the RAP.
Key performance indicators from the RAP help to organize perceptions and facts, thereby facilitating informed
decisions regarding:
the potential for water conservation within a project,
specific weakness in project operation, management, resources, and hardware, and
specific modernization actions that can be taken to improve project performance