Nile Basin Development Challenge
‘INTEGRATED RAINWATER MANGEMENT FOR ENHANCED LIVELIHOODS WHILE SUSTAINING ENVIRONMENT’
Survey to assess current status of planning and implementation of rainwater management strategies at woreda level and to further assess innovation and livelihood aspects of rainwater management.
Research Protocol
Prepared by Alemayehu Belay, Josephine Tucker, Eva Ludi, Kebebe Ergano and Alan Duncan
Addis Ababa, Dec 2010
1 Introduction
Water scarcity and land degradation are twin constraints affecting the livelihoods of millions of households in Sub-Saharan Africa, aggravated by poverty and weak institutional capacity. Water for agriculture - or the water used to grow human food and livestock feed - consumes 70 to 90% of the total water use. To meet the needs of a growing population – there is a need to reverse land degradation and improve water productivity: more food must be produced while using less water.
The CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) has taken on this challenge from a research perspective. CPWF is an international, multi-institutional research initiative with a strong emphasis on improving the productivity of water in river basins in ways that are pro-poor, gender equitable and environmentally sustainable
Over 14 million people live in the Blue Nile basin. Two-thirds of this densely populated area falls within the Ethiopian highlands, receiving high levels of rainfall. Rainfall, runoff and sediment loss are erratic; dry spells significantly reduce crop yields and sometimes lead to total crop failure.
High population pressure and use of marginal land are causing land and ecosystem degradation in many parts of the Blue Nile, with significant loss of water quality downstream. The high sediment loads result in large costs of irrigation canal cleaning and reservoir dredging. Degradation also results in a downward spiral of poverty and food insecurity for millions of people in Ethiopia and in downstream countries.
To meet the needs of growing populations, we need to reverse land degradation and improve water productivity. We need to produce more food with less water.
Established in 2002, CPWF designed a research-for development program with Phase 1 running from 2004–2008 and Phase 2 running from 2009–2013. The CPWF works together with international and national institutions, NGOs and community groups in partnerships which seek meaningful impact. CPWF is working towards achieving:
· Food security for all at household level;
· Poverty alleviation through increased sustainable livelihoods in rural and peri-urban areas;
· Environmental security through improved water quantity and quality as well as maintenance of water-related ecosystems and biodiversity
Building on its research in the Andes, Ganges, Limpopo, Mekong, Nile and Volta river basins in phase I, the CPWF’s Phase 2 research in the Nile Basin seeks to contribute to improved livelihoods and systems by ensuring quality of research for development in rainwater management. It is about improving the resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands through a landscape (watershed) approach to rainwater management.The NBDC research challenge comprises five linked projects:
i) Nile 1 on learning Rainwater management systems (RWMS) from the past
ii) Nile 2 on integrated rainwater management strategies
iii) Nile 3 On targeting and scaling out of RWMS
iv) Nile 4 on assessing and anticipating consequences of innovation of RWMS
v) Nile 5 on catalyzing platforms for learning, communication and coordination
2 Nile 2 – Overview and Objectives
Water scarcity and land degradation strongly affect the livelihoods of millions of households in the Nile basin. Agriculture is predominantly subsistence, low-yielding and rain-fed. To meet the needs of growing populations and to restore landscapes to more productive condition, there is a need to reverse land degradation and improve productivity.
One promising approach to raising productivity and incomes and landscape resilience is to develop and adopt integrated rainwater management systems that mobilize technologies, policies and institutions. This will help to find solutions associated with land and water management, crop production and crop-livestock integration, pastoral systems and agro-forestry that will slow land degradation and negative downstream impacts.
Past research shows that in rain-fed farming systems, dramatic gains in water productivity and crop production can be achieved with small amounts of water while different livestock feeding strategies can increase livestock water productivity. Nevertheless, in the fragile ecosystems such as the Ethiopian highlands, the approaches to improving water productivity (and livelihood benefits) need to take into account complex linkages between different components of agricultural systems so that integration of various farming system components (crops, livestock, trees) is important to achieve the best outcomes.
Other experiences show that the impact of such interventions on rural livelihoods has been limited by, among other reasons: blanket approaches of policy makers; technology-oriented interventions not supported by effective policies and institutions; inadequate research-development linkages; and a lack of understanding of the inter-linkages (bio-physical and social) among different landscape components.
Uptake and successful implementation of rainwater management system requires:
· Detailed understanding of how landscapes function (bio-physically and socially) and are inter-connected.
· Integration of bio-physical, technical, institutional and socio-economic aspects.
· Targeted, context specific interventions that reflect local values, agro-ecologies, production systems and communication channels
· Engagement of local communities (particularly women) and institutional participation in all project phases.
This project will examine the extent to which new or existing technologies can best be combined with policy changes and institutional strengthening and reform to spur widespread innovation. It seeks to optimize the roles and contributions of micro-credit, land tenure, collective action in communities, and formal and informal institutions to yield more integrated rainwater management strategies. The outcome will be enhanced livelihoods for the rural poor while sustaining the ecological integrity of rural landscapes.
The research approach is based on the premise that successful and sustainable rainwater management systems are underpinned by a set of interlinked mutually supportive landscape components.
It includes the idea that all landscape components perform beneficial natural functions that as far as possible should be protected or enhanced through interventions. It also encompasses the need for a rainwater management system to provide resilient livelihood improvement options, given specific rainfall variability and policy and institutional contexts.
2.1 Key aspects of the project design:
Working within the landscapes: the research will be carried out in specific study landscapes chosen to represent the dominant farming and socio-economic systems in the Ethiopian highlands. Action research sites have been selected within these study landscapes, providing a nested set of sites for learning and research at various physical and social scales.
Innovative multi-disciplinary research: the project seeks to integrate research from several disciplines, including: 1) hydrometric analyses to provide insight into bio-physical processes, baseline data and water use and water productivity in different landscape components; 2) Livelihood monitoring and analyses to provide insight into how people benefit or lose from different rainwater management systems, and equity issues; 3) institutional and policy analyses to provide insight into policies, social norms and approaches to rainwater management; 4) economic analyses to provide insight into the viability of the systems.
The following three landscapes/action research sites have been selected based on inputs from an inception workshop, consideration of a set of criteria from stakeholders, and aiming to capture the variability in Ethiopian highland landscapes,.
Study Landscape/ Woredas / Predominant farming systems / Mean annual rainfall (mm)Diga / In the lowland maize & sorghum based agriculture (mono-cropping) is practiced with crop rotation every 3-4 years.
In the midland, teff, millet & maize are important.
Farming system is: “Mixed crop-livestock system” / 1,376 – 2,037
Jeldu / Potato is the dominant crop. Barley and teff are also common. Crop rotation is also practiced within the year with fallowing every third year.
Farming system is: “Mixed crop-livestock system” / 900 – 1,350
Fogera / Rice is the major crop followed by maize, millet & teff and barley.
Farming system is: “Mixed crop-livestock system” / 974 – 1,516
The NBDC is implemented by a consortium comprising the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute, Catholic Relief Services (CRS)- Ethiopia, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Oromia Agricultural Research Institute (OARI), Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI), Bahir Dar University (BDU), Ambo University (AU), Wollega University (WU), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), and Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR).
3 Research Approach
In line with the planning, implementation and innovation aspects of rainwater management strategies, this research is expected to provide baseline data for the outcomes specified in the project Outcome Logic Model, which are expected to be addressed during the course of the project lifetime.
Change 1: N2 will co-develop tools for better landscape scale planning of NRM and agricultural development with Woreda/Regional/NGO planners, test, refine and support planners in using these tools by engaging in existing planning processes at research sites using Learning and Practice Alliances (LPAs) as vehicle- hence building capacity.
Change 2: N2 will develop testable hypotheses regarding barriers and opportunities to effective implementation of programs, and test these hypotheses through engagement with relevant actors. It is hoped that this demonstration will influence not only the implementer(s) to be more motivated, but also their supervisors to manage individuals in a way that helps to motivate them.
Change 3: will involve diagnosis of local innovation capacity through assessing the presence, roles, interactions and ways of working with a range of actors involved, in some way, in rainwater management. This diagnosis will be used as the basis for experimenting with models of enhancing collaborative action among different stakeholders including farming communities to achieve RMS that benefit smallholder livelihoods and agro-ecosystem resilience.
As a baseline piece of research, this component aims to:
· Establish how rainwater management interventions are currently planned and implemented
· Identify the level of capacity of implementers and the barriers they face in successful implementation and Diagnose the innovation capacity for rainwater management in the study areas
· Identify principal livelihood strategies, history of land-use change and constraints to adoption of rainwater management interventions.
NB: Each research team will be provided with a handout on Agricultural innovation systems perspectives
More detail on the expected outputs of the research is given in the reporting template which outlines the key areas to be covered.
3.1 Data Collection
The research will use a combination of primary and secondary data collection.
3.1.1 Secondary data
Secondary data will be collected from various sources including the following:
· Documents from woreda government offices related with agriculture and natural resource management (e.g. plans and strategies of agricultural office, land use related documents, crop and livestock data, manuals used by DAs for NRM etc.)
· Training materials and curricula used by training institutes in RWM/NRM (e.g. TVET Colleges)
· Quantitative data will be collected mainly from existing secondary information; i.e. information on changes in weather patterns, rainfall pattern/data, over a period of time.
3.1.2 Primary data
Primary data collection will be mostly qualitative and will be gathered using interviews with key stakeholders in the study sites (including staff of government agencies, NGOs, universities, research centers, private enterprises, and farmers). A range of techniques will be used including semi-structured key informant interviews and focus group discussions (FGD).
3.1.3 Composition of research/field teams
The research team for each location will consist of two member organizations; each team will comprise researchers from an agricultural research center and Universities based in proximity to the study sites. i.e Holetta Agricultural Research Center and Ambo University will handle the Jeldu site; Bako Agricultural Research Center and Wollega University will work in the Diga study site and Bahir Dar University and Adet Agricultural Research Center will work in the Fogera study site. Holetta Agricultural Research Center, Bako Agricultural Research Center and Bahir Dar University will be the lead partners for the Jeldu, Diga and Fogera study sites respectively. The lead partner for each site will nominate one person to serve as key contact person as well as a collaborator.
3.2 Sampling and data collection
3.2.1 Selection of study sites
As discussed in the introduction, landscape study sites/Woredas (Jeldu, Diga and Fogera) have been selected by taking variability within the Ethiopian highlands into consideration.
Within each woreda at least 5 Kebeles[1] will be selected based on the following criteria;
· Agro-ecology: ensure that all key agro-ecological systems in the woreda are represented (at least one kebele from each)
· Presence of rainwater management interventions: as far as possible, within each agro-ecological system select at least one kebele with RWM interventions, and one without any RWM interventions.
· Natural resource status: as far as possible, within each agro-ecological system select at least one kebele with a high level of degradation, and one with a low level.
· Location in the hydrological catchment: A catchment has been identified in each woreda for hydrological research. At least two kebeles should be selected from within this catchment. More kebeles should be selected from within the catchement if the size of the catchment allows, and if the catchment contains sufficient variation in (i) agro-ecology, (ii) natural resource degradation level and (iii) existence of RWM interventions.
Woreda maps showing kebele boundaries, major roads and towns and farming systems are attached as annexes and can also be found from these links:
Jeldu: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilri/5242825461/ (Annex 3)
Diga: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilri/5243420896/ (Annex 4)
Fogera: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilri/5243420434/ (Annex 5)
IWMI will provide maps showing the hydrological catchment and kebele boundaries. Other information for kebele selection (agro-ecology, presence/absence
of RWM interventions and status of natural resources) may be obtained during woreda level interviews or based on local knowledge held by the research institutions.
Kebele selection will be supported by ILRI/IWMI staff in the field at the start of the data collection phase, and the final selection of kebeles should be approved by ILRI before the start of data collection.
3.2.2 Sampling of interviewees and data collection at woreda level
Respondents from different stakeholder groups will be interviewed on planning and implementation of rainwater management strategies as well as their interactions with other stakeholders operating in the woreda. In general, however, interviews / discussions with the following key informants should be carried out (those in bold are essential):