Presentation of Mr. Jeremy Bird, DG, IWMI at the 1st World Irrigation Forum, Plenary Session I

Game changers for irrigated agriculture –do the right incentives exist?

Jeremy Bird International Water Management Institute

1st World Irrigation ForumMardin, Turkey, 29 September 2013

Humanity’s greatest challengeTo feed 9 billion people in

Humanity’s greatest challenge9 p p

2050, we need to produce 50-70% more p 5 7food and raise nutrition levels…

…and at the same time reverse environmental degradationg

…problems are more than just scarcity

4,000

5,000

6,000

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

1,000

2,000

3,000Water & land

scarcity

Slow growth in

productivity0.20

0.30

0.40

0

y p y0.00

0.10

1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Unequal sharing of benefits

Unequal sharing of

risks

INDIA NEWS CTOBER 1, 2009 India's Drought

www.iwmi.orgWater for a food-secure world

India's Drought Worst Since 1972

What next ‐ reaching the limit of irrigated area?  

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…or a broader perspective – the rainfed to irrigated continuum

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Re‐thinking storage to manage climate variability – but institutional complexityinstitutional complexity 

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Game changers for irrigated agriculture –do the right incentives exist?

What if the benefits of canal commands increase to meetcommands increase to meet higher demand - within the

resilience of natural ecosystems?

Id tif i ti t i flIdentify incentives to influence behaviour at all levels

..some new approaches to rehabilitate and adapt

• e.g. encourage distributed storage to improve systemstorage to improve system flexibility and reliability

• modernize irrigation gsystems e.g. pressurized systems

• incentives for fee collection• incentives for fee collection and service delivery, NIMF

• recognize role of gconjunctive groundwater use

• …

What if the potential for pincreasing the productivity of

agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa can be realized?

Id tif li dIdentify policy measures and business models

Back on the agenda in Small‐scale irrigation in Africa

Ghana, Tanzania,  Zambia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and elsewhere

Unlocking the potential for smallholder agriculture tosmallholder agriculture to 

improve the lives of smallholder farmers in 5 

t i i b S hcountries in sub‐Saharan Africa and 2 states in India

(Giordano et al, 2012)

The Bright Spots Initiativeec

t 10

11

Maize

Comprehensive study of 286 cases in 57 countries where 

afte

r/with

pro

je

7

8

9MaizeSorghum/milletsPulse crops RiceWheatCotton

individuals and communities that have adopted sustainable crop intensification systems.

yiel

d ch

ange

a

4

5

6 Bright spots influenced:12.6 million householdscovering 37 million hectaresi d i ld b

Rel

ativ

e y

0

1

2

3 increased yields by an average of 79% with average carbon sequestration of 0.35 t C ha‐1

yr‐1

Yield before/without project (Mg ha-1)0 2 4 6 8 10

0 yr .Pretty et al., 2006; Noble et al, 2006

www.iwmi.orgWater for a food-secure world

What if degraded lands are brought back into production andbrought back into production and saline waters produce food and

generate income?g

Out of the box thinking on technical approaches and institutional cooperation

Serial Biological Concentration…..

What if conjunctively managed surfaceWhat if conjunctively managed surface and ground water resources becomes a

reality?y

Address both over-abstractionAddress both over-abstraction and under-utilization

Contrasting groundwater i iissues – require diverse responses

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Managed Aquifer Recharge to stabilize groundwater in Central Plains of Thailand

`

Falling GW level trends can be reversed and year round rice/sugarreversed and year-round rice/sugar production maintained

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What if systems are in place to address competing uses and identify win-win co pet g uses a d de t y

solutions ?

Creating the space for inter-sectoral dialogue

Examples of water transfers exist 

Agricultural production levels maintained… 

…as allocation to agriculture was reduced and transferred to urban use

…and co‐management of competing uses rice shrimp production in Viet Nam (and Bangladesh)rice – shrimp production in Viet Nam (and Bangladesh)

Improved locally‐responsive zoning together with sluice gate

SHigher incomeUS$2,150 /ha8700 farmers 

sluice gate management

S

Social conflicts between brackish 

fadopted innovation

Reduced pollutionS

(shrimp) and freshwater (rice) environments

20

Low income< US$ 1,500/haPolluted aquatic environment

What if there is a greater balanceWhat if there is a greater balance between natural capital and the

built environment?

Bringing ecosystem services into the discussion on t i bl i t ifi ti fsustainable intensification of

agriculture

Natural and built infrastructure… striking a balance – increasing the total benefit stream

Natural basin

CropsHydropower Crops

Hydropower

Industrial

Intensively utilized basin

g

CropsIndustrial Regulation of

water balance

Erosion controlRecreation

Industrial Regulation of water balance

Erosion controlRecreation

Climate regulationSoil

formation

Nutrient cycling

Climate regulationSoil

formation

Nutrient cycling

Provisioning servicesRegulatory services

CropsHydropower

Industrial Regulation of water balance

Multifunctional “green” basin

g yCultural servicesSupporting services

water balance

Erosion control

Climate regulationS il

Nutrient cycling

Recreation

regulationSoil formation

cycling

What if waste and used water could have d lif i i lt d ll tia second life in agriculture and pollution reduced at same time?

Closing the nutient loopClosing the nutient loop

A problem, but also an opportunity?

Wastewater

pp y

Piped water

Innovative RRR initiatives – to close water and nutrient cyclesand nutrient cycles

Wastewater – WaterAgro‐industrial waste ‐ Energy

Wastewater  Water (irrigation, aquaculture)

MSW, Faecal sludge  ‐ Nutrients (ag. production)

Reducing risk and uncertainty

Elements of sustainable intensificationElements of sustainable intensification 

• Maintaining downstream flows and water qualityMi i l ff i f ll• Minimal off‐site movement of pollutants

• Utilizing natural infrastructure for water storage, flood prevention

• Maintaining habitat for pollinators and conserving biodiversity, forest cover and grasslands

• Sequestering carbon to improve• Sequestering carbon to improvesoils and mitigate climate change

• Maximizing energy efficiency, i i i i t timinimizing water consumption, 

resource reuse.

Photo: Tom Van Cakenberghe/IWMI

If we combine these approaches with reductionof food waste we can feed 2 billion more people while reducing agriculture’s f t i tfootprint

Photo: Tom Van Cakenberghe/IWMI

W t L d d E t Vi iWater Land and Ecosystem Vision:A world in which agriculture thrives within vibrant ecosystems where communities vibrant ecosystems, where communities have higher incomes, improved food security and the ability to continuously security and the ability to continuously improve their lives

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