As of 2009, the total area provided with irrigation service is 1.54 million hectares wherein 765,000 hectares are under the National Irrigation Systems (NIS). Communal Irrigation Systems (CIS) cover around 558,000 hectares. The total service area represents 49 percent of the potential irrigable area of 3.126 million hectares. However, the pace of irrigation development in the country has been estimated at less than 1 percent per year. While quick-gestating irrigation development activities such as rehabilitation and improvement of existing systems and facilities were envisioned to fasttrack irrigation development, the sector remains hampered by lack of funds to sustainably operate and maintain these irrigation systems, inadequate technical capacity of Irrigator's Associations (IA) and the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) field personnel, as well as inadequate water supply. The succeeding Chapter 5, Infrastructure Development, offers a detailed assessment of rural infrastructure, particularly irrigation bottlenecks and narrates strategic directions to overcome these bottlenecks.