Nile Basin Development Challenge: Rainwater management systems

Water for a food-secure world

Nile Basin Development Challenge: Rainwater Management Systems

Nile BDC Workshop, Addis AbabaApril 8, 2011

Tilahun Amede and TeamNile Basin Leader

AREO

CPWF Consortium Members

Phase 2

Basin Development Challenges (BDCs)

• Andes – Benefit sharing mechanisms• Ganges – intensification in coastal areas• Limpopo – rainwater management and water

access• Mekong – dams, reservoirs and livelihoods• Nile – rainwater management in landscapes• Volta – rainwater management and small

reservoirs

To improve rural livelihoods and their resilience through a landscape approach to rainwater management

SSA’s dependence on rainwater agriculture

Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) • NBDC research will focus on the Ethiopian highlands

and will examine the interrelated issues of rainwater management at Landscape and Sub-basin scales;

• Understanding causes and its consequences of low rainwater productivity;

• Innovations for improving rainwater management systems; addressing poverty, vulnerability and resources degradation in the basin.

i) Managing rainfall variability; increased water storage;ii) Crop and livestock water productivity;iii) Minimizing land degradation and downstream siltation

of water storage infrastructure, increased biomass;iv) Resilient communities and systems that will manage

climatic and market shocks

Nile BDCRainwater

Management Systems

Landscape from NBDC perspective?

Capturing, storing and efficient utilization of water

Protect irrigation schemes; water quality and quantity; Coordinate cross-Community cooperation of diverse

water user groups; Address NRM issues that cannot be addressed by

single farmers; Co-management of common NRM resources (e.g.

conflict management); Exploiting interface between diverse social and

biophysical processes (i.e. water, soil,

livestock, crops, pests, sedimentation) at

landscape / basin.

What is ‘RWMs at Landscape’?

R&D actors, communities, policy makers and others jointly achieve a sustainable and economically viable watershed with improved resource quality, minimized resource loss and improved economic benefits & livelihoods

Improvement through well-targeted combinations of technologies, up-scaling ‘best bets’, policies and institutions, understanding of downstream & cross-scale consequences, facilitating learning, collective action, commitment to change • Nile 1: On learning from the past;• Nile 2: On integrated rainwater

management strategies – technologies, institutions and policies;

• Nile 3: On targeting and scaling out• Nile 4: On assessing and anticipating

consequences of innovation• Nile 5: Nile Coordination and Change

Linkages

Sub-regional

Landscape

Farm level

ImpactLearning

Communication

Nile 5.Coordinati

on / change

Nile 4. Consequences, impact, tradeoffs

Nile 2. Innovatio

ns, technologi

es , practices

Nile 3. Mapping, targeting. Up-scaling

Nile 1. Inventory

and synthesis

Linkages

Linkages

i. Participatory M&E framework will be used to monitor and evaluate progress and make adjustments;

ii. Generic indicators against which the activities and expected results will be measured;

iii. Development of common reporting formats allowing teams to better share lessons;

iv. Schedules for project specific evaluations will be agreed and evaluation studies on cross cutting issues including gender, social preferences will be jointly carried out;

v. Capacity building (inc gender, M&E) will be built both into the whole co-ordination and project implementation, individual activities based on a needs assessment.

Strongly interlinked NBDC projects

NBDC working principles

• Strong partnership; range of partners, larger network and linkages

• Interdisciplinary research; disciplines and institutions

• Capacity building; mentoring, facilitating • Gender and diversity; ability to participate

in and derive benefit from water • Learning, documentation and

communication • Innovation for action

Market incentives for Landscape Management

Value-Addition by NBDC• Farm level

– Participatory, integrated research approaches– Strategic entry points (‘turn keys’) on farm– Linkages among system components

• Landscape level – Integrated research approaches (including water, land, vegetation,

crop, livestock and other common property resources as components)

– Strategic entry points (‘turn keys’) in landscapes, communities (increasing water storage for fruit production creates community enthusiasm and investments in landscapes around springs, etc.)

– Collective action & negotiated land and water use practices ( drainage, niche compatibility in agroforestry, spring management, livestock grazing)

– By-laws and institutional change in support of local resolutions

• National / basin Scales- Analyzing and synthesizing scenarios & methods for out-scaling;- Facilitating knowledge sharing across basins and within basins;- Developing insights into basin level concerns e.g., Climate change

food security, poverty alleviation & biodiversity conservation - RWMS and their widespread dissemination through publications

and guides to decision-makers, implementers and the scientific community at large

Communityparticipation

& commitment

Learning through process

monitoring & documentation

Supportive

policies

Market orientatio

n

Scaling up

strategy

Community facilitation of R&D process

Institutional learning & capacity building

Farmer experimentio

n

Local organizatio

nal capacity

Basket of technology options

Linkages and partnerships

among stakeholders

Multi-interdisciplinary

& systems approach

Managing an Effective RWMS

Supportive infrastrctur

e

Commitment & capacity of research teams

Supportive research

management & organization

Why Platforms?

Peers and organization take more traditional view of Land and water management – the way of doing it, and research topics. This is related to institutional agenda, donor influence etc.

Incompatible visions of partners:- Those perceiving need for partnerships are not

empowered to make them- Limited experience in managing and sustaining

partnerships - Teamwork not rewarded or supported

Need a few champions with attitude and new mind set

Change often driven from the outside and by outsiders – rather than by self-felt need to do things differently

Limited use of feedback culture and learning from the past;

M&E systems not designed to foster learning and change

Platforms Break Institutional Barriers

Well come to NBDC!