Middle East Water and Livelihoods Initiative
Improving Rural Livelihoods through
Sustainable Water and Land-use Management
In Middle East Countries:
Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria & Yemen
Lebanon
July 2009
Contact: Scott Christiansen
ICARDA, P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Tel: +963-21 2213433 x 2205
Fax: +963-21 2225105
Cell: +963-94 4428356
Email:
List of Acronyms
ADG-ICC: Assistant DG for International Cooperation and Communication (ICARDA)
AFESD: Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (Arab Fund)
AGNEP: Agricultural Non-point Source Model
ANU: An Najah University (Palestine)
ARC: Agriculture Research Council (Egypt)
AREA: Agricultural Research and Extension Authority (Yemen)
ARIJ: Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (Palestine)
AU: Aleppo University (Syria)
AUB: American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
AUC: American University of Cairo (Egypt)
ASU: Ain Shams University (Egypt)
BOT: Board of Trustees
BU: Benha University (Egypt)CBO: Community-based Organization
CD: Compact Disc
CGIAR: Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
CTO: Cognizant Technical Officer (USAID)
CU: Cairo University
CV: Curriculum Vitae
CWANA: Central and West Asia and North Africa
DC: District of Columbia (USA)
DDC: Desert Development Center in the AUC (Egypt)
DDG-R: Deputy Director General for Research (ICARDA)
DG: Director General
DSS: Decision-Support System
DU: Damascus University
DVD: Digital Video Disc
ELC: E-Learning Committee
EPIC: Erosion Productivity Impact Calculator
FA[1]: Farmer Association
FIG: Farmer Interest Groups
GCSAR: General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (Syria)
GEF: Global Environment Facility
GIS: Geographic Information Systems
GW: Ground Water
HU: Hebron University (Palestine)
HV: High Value
IAER: Iraq Agriculture Extension Revitalization (USDA)
ICARDA: International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
ICT: Information and Communications Technology
IFAD: International Fund for Agricultural Development
IFPRI: International Food Policy Research Institute
INRM: Integrated Natural Resource Management
IWLMP: Integrated Water and Land Management Program (ICARDA)
IWM: Integrated Watershed Management
IWMI: International Water Management Institute
JUST: Jordan University of Science and Technology.
KS: Knowledge Sharing
LARI: Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (Lebanon)
LAU: Lebanese American University
LOP: Life of Program
LRC: Land Research Center (Palestine)
M&E: Monitoring and Evaluation
MAAR: Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (Syria)
MAI: Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (Yemen)
MALR: Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (Egypt)
MAS: Multiple Agent System
MIP: Modernization of Irrigation Project (Syria)
MWRI: Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (Egypt)
MC: Management Committee at ICARDA
ME: Middle East
MOA: Ministry of Agriculture
MOU: Memorandum of Understanding
MU: Mosul University
MWI: Ministry of Water and Irrigation (Jordan)
MS: Master of Science Degree
NARC: National Agricultural Research Center (Palestine)
NARES: National Research and Extension Systems
NC: National Coordinator
NCARE: National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (Jordan)
NCARTT: National Center for Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer (Jordan)
NGO: Non-Government Organization
NRCS: Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA)
NRM: Natural Resource Management
NTC: National Technical Committee
NWRA: National Water Resources Authority (Yemen)
NWRC: National Water Research Center (Egypt)
OFID: OPEC Fund for International Development
OMEP: Office of Middle East Programs (USAID)
OPEC: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OFID Fund)
OVI: Objectively Verifiable Indicators
PAPP: Program of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP)
PhD: Doctorate of Philosophy Degree
PM: Project Manager
PMU: Project Management Unit
PRA: Participatory Rural Appraisal
PSC: Project Steering Committee
RS: Remote Sensing
SAG: Site Advisory Group
SEPR: Socio-Economic and Policy Research Program (ICARDA)
SBAR: State Board for Agricultural Research (in Iraq’s MOA)
SHG: Self-Help Groups
SREP: Strategic Research and Extension Plan
S&T: Science and Technology
SWAP: Soil-Water-Atmosphere-Plant Model
SWP: Soil and Water Productivity
SWOT: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Analysis
TAMU: Texas A&M University
TS: Technical Support (Office of Technical Support in USAID Washington)
UA: University of Aden (Yemen)
UB: University of Baghdad (Iraq)
UCD: University of California at Davis
UCR: University of California at Riverside
UJ: University of Jordan
UF: University of Florida
US: University of Sana’a (Yemen)
UIUC: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
UNDP: United Nations Development Program
USAID: United States Agency for International Development
USDA: United States Department of Agriculture
USU: Utah State University
UZ: University of Zagazig (Egypt)
WANA: West Asia North Africa
WERSC: Water and Environment Research and Study Center (Jordan)
WLI: Water and Livelihoods Initiative
WUA: Water Users Association
ZU: Zagazig University (Egypt)
Executive Summary 1
1. Background 4
1.1 Approach: Building on Key Strengths 6
1.1.1 Building on Existing Relationships 6
1.1.2 Knowledge sharing strategy 6
1.1.3 The Integrated Benchmark Approach and Scaling Up 6
1.2. The Rainfed Benchmark Sites 8
1.2.1 The Rainfed Benchmark Site: El Qaa, Bekka Valley Lebanon 8
1.2.1.1 Land Use and Production Systems in El Qaa 9
1.2.1.2 Stakeholders 11
1.2.2 The El Qaa Benchmark in the WLI: Priorities, Outputs and Activities 12
1.3 Training 13
1.3.1 Delivery: International and Regional Partnerships and E-learning 13
1.3.1.1 Needs and Resource Matching: The WLI Portal 15
1.3.1.2 Post Graduate Degrees and Short Courses 16
1.3.1.3 Professional Societies and Post-Doctoral Opportunities 17
1.3.2 Regional Hub Universities and Regional Training 17
1.3.3 US Universities: A Consortium Approach and Comparative 18
1.3.4 Training in the WLI Lebanon 20
2. Strategic Objective Linkages 20
3. Program Description 21
3.1 Specific Objectives 21
3.2 Geographic Focus 21
3.3 Components 22
3.4 Expected Results 28
3.5 Additional Considerations 28
3.5.1 Gender 28
3.5.2 Environmental 28
3.5.3 Coordination with other USAID and Non USAID projects 29
3.5.4 Program Management and Implementation :WLI Lebanon 29
3.5.4.1 Legal and Fiduciary Responsibility 29
3.5.4.2 The Project Steering Committee (PSC) 29
3.5.4.3 ICARDA Management Committee (MC) 30
3.5.4.4 National Coordinator (NC), Site Advisory Group (SAG), and National Technical Committee (NTC) 30
3.5.4.5 Project Management Unit (PMU) 31
3.5.4.6 Program Manager 31
3.5.4.7 Training Coordinator 32
3.5.4.8 CGIAR Centers 34
3.5.4.9 NARES 34
3.5.4.10 US Universities: Enhancement and collaboration 34
3.5.5 Monitoring and Evaluation 34
3.5.6 Responsibilities and relationships 37
4. Reporting Requirements 38
5. Other Information 39
6. Program Team 40
7. Substantial Involvement 41
8. Key Personnel 41
9. Cost Sharing 41
Appendix 1: Map 42
Appendix 2: Logframe WLI Lebanon 43
Appendix 3: US Universities Comparative Research Advantage, Specializations and Middle East Experience 47
Executive Summary
The Middle East Water and Livelihood Initiative (WLI) has arisen as a direct consequence of the single largest concern facing farm households and rural communities of the Middle East; the continuing inefficient use of water and consequent on-going degradation of agro-ecosystems. In the seven countries of the initiative; Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, water scarcity is the key constraint to the improvement of rural livelihoods that are mainly dependent on land productivity. It is the fundamental issue threatening economic development, food security and stability in many parts of the region and must be addressed for improvements to take place. A recent World Bank sponsored workshop[2] convened in the Lebanese Parliament stressed that the water sector in Lebanon poses a serious challenge to the Government’s reform and development agenda. Despite the resources that the country has at its command, water losses are reckoned at 50%[3] .
Current institutional resources needed to address these problems in the seven countries of the WLI are presently ill equipped to do so. There is a gap between fragmented agricultural and natural resource management research and the adoption and adaptation of findings by farmers. Current water and land-use policies are often inappropriate to reverse these trends and human capacity too is in decline with a shortage of trained personnel and ageing human resources within national agricultural research and extension organizations and universities. Leaving these problems unresolved will result in a progressively worsening crisis within the rural ecosystems of the countries of the WLI with serious long-term social, political and economic implications. Lebanon has lagged behind the level of development in the water sector which other MENA countries have achieved over the years, largely because of poor management, weak institutional capacity and financial constraints. In the agricultural sector the opportunities and threats offered by liberalisation of trade in agricultural products also need to be assessed within a broader rural development framework in particular the implications for vulnerable communities in poor resource agriculture as represented by the El Qaa benchmark site.
There is however, a widespread recognition of the mutual need to husband and manage the water and land resources through greater engagement of stakeholders while renewing human capital for future generations. The planning phase of the WLI which has encompassed the WLI Inception workshop in June 2008 and the series of workshops based on agro-ecosystems in 2009[4] has capitalised on this recognition. The WLI builds upon the impulse to mobilise resources and effect change through mutual cooperation across national boundaries and has begun the development of the framework, through which change will be achieved. The two key NARES for the WLI Lebanon are the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute and the American University of Beirut who between them will lead the policy, research and extension in the El Qaa Benchmark Site.
The goal of the WLI is to improve the livelihoods of rural households and communities in areas where water scarcity, land degradation, water quality deterioration, food security and health problems are prevalent in the seven participating countries, focusing initially on specific benchmark sites. In Lebanon, the El Qaa Benchmark Site offers an opportunity to engage with stakeholders for the formulation of a strategy to combat the policy, technical and livelihood concerns in an area of climatic variation where urban migration and lack of access to information, credit and markets have resulted in vulnerable rural communities exploiting marginal lands in an attempts to increase profit. The explicit development of methodologies that link social and natural environments including the combining of new irrigation technologies and management practices to support the sustainable productivity of irrigated lands and improve water productivity will lead to a formulation of a strategy that will then be available for scaling-up.
New income-generating crop and livestock strategies will be introduced in the context of sustainable and appropriate production technologies, market chain development and strong farmer-based organizations which focus on the priority issues and cross-cutting issues identified in the 2009 workshops. The priority technical areas and cross-cutting issues for Lebanon were identified and prioritised at the WLI Rainfed Workshop in Aleppo and can be found on p7.
Human capital will be replenished through an extensive and innovative training program which will make the most of the latest in telecommunications technology and e-learning methods to target all levels, from farmers to PhDs, working in the integrated benchmark sites in the priority technical areas and cross cutting issues identified at the Aleppo workshop. Policy decisions will be informed by institutional capacity building in tandem with decision-support technology. The challenge and crux of the initiative is to achieve these improvements while reversing current trends in the overuse of water and the stabilizing of the ecosystems in which the livelihoods are based through sustainable water and land use management.
The initiative will concentrate on self-reliance and enhancement of capacity of the implementing partners: harnessing the regional expertise and established relationships of ICARDA, IFPRI and IWMI, the educational and research strengths and linkages in the region of the US Universities and the in-country knowledge and human capital of multiple stakeholders at the benchmark site led by LARI and AUB. Key stakeholders include, farmers, extension personnel ists, students, INGOs including Mercy Corps and CHF, NGO’s and CBOs (community-based organizations). These will influence the work plan, management and outcomes at the site through membership in El Qaa Site Advisory Group (SAG) in conjunction with the National Technical Committee and National Coordinator.
The strength of the WLI and the WLI Lebanon is its emphasis on the use of existing data, social capital, research, linkages, partnerships and proven methodologies and technologies in the Middle East[5], adapting and creating as new only where necessary. This will ensure that the goal of the WLI Lebanon, improvements to livelihoods, will be created on a continuum from the beginning of the project.
The outputs of the WLI Lebanon will be achieved through the pilot tested integrated water and land-use management strategies developed for scaling up at the El Qaa Benchmark Site.
Implementation of the project will be achieved through the process of training MS and PhD students alongside the current generation of researchers, extensionists and politicians – much like on-the-job training. The successful strategies will then be replicated at national levels following a scaling-up[6] strategy implemented through partnerships with policy-makers.
Outputs: The WLI Lebanon initiative is expected to produce the following direct outputs:
1. Integrated water and land-use strategies for policy-making, tools for sustainable benchmark
management and organizational mechanisms for community inclusion at the benchmark site.
2. Enhanced knowledge, skills and qualifications for key stakeholders in the benchmark sites.
3. Improved rural livelihoods of farmers in the El Qaa Benchmark Site through the adoption of sustainable land and water management practices and livelihood strategies.
Outcomes: The initiative is expected to achieve the following outcomes:
1. Income increased in rural households/villages.
2. New livelihoods adapted/diversified production systems adopted.
3. Access to clean, high quality water improved by adoption of better water management systems.
4. Natural resources managed better at community and institutional levels.
5. Land use intensified, decreasing pressure to move agriculture to new or fragile lands.
6. Status of land degradation and water quality monitored.
7. Improved capacity of extension and research institutions.
1. Background
The WLI is a regional initiative involving seven countries; Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, thirteen NARES institutions across those countries, three international agricultural research centers, a group of regional hub universities, national universities and five US university systems. The 2008 WLI Inception Workshop brought together representatives of all participating institutions and marked the culmination of a long period of planning initiated by ICARDA[7] and key personnel from US universities in response to the chronic problem of water scarcity in the region and the relative lack of progress that had been made in the region in improving the livelihoods of rural households. The initiative was designed to focus on increased income generating opportunities whilst reversing the degradation of watersheds through sustainable water and land management strategies.
At the 2008 Inception workshop, the regional importance of the WLI was stressed by Dr Mahmoud Solh, Director General of ICARDA as he detailed the chronic problem of water scarcity in the Middle East noting the per capita availability of water in the Middle East of 1200 cubic meters as opposed to a world average of 7000 cubic meters and the additional challenges wrought by climate change and rising food prices. This was echoed and driven home by Dr Adel El-Beltagy, GFAR Chair at the 2009 Irrigation Workshop who noted that ‘global warming was being superimposed on water scarcity with the consequent threat to peace and stability’. He also emphasised that the discussions at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul had shown that awareness of the problems was increasing as was a sense of urgency and the recognition of the need for international cooperation corresponding to what was being proposed by the WLI.