Water and Livelihoods Initiative (WLI) Annual Report, Oct Sept. 30, 2015

Transcription

1 Water and Livelihoods Initiative (WLI) Annual Report, Oct Sept. 30,

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3 Acronyms AREA ARC ARIJ AUB AUC CA CBA CBO CC DEM ECiw GCC GCSAR GEF-UNDP GIS HU ICARDA IFAD INAT INRAT IRA IPM IT IWMI JU K LARI LRC MEPI MENA MC N NARC NARS NASA NCARE NGO NWRA NWRC OAR P RS RFP SEPRP SLA SWAT UJ USAID Agricultural Research and Extension Authority Agricultural Research Center Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem American University of Beirut, Lebanon American University in Cairo Conservation Agriculture Cost Benefit Analysis Community Based Organization Climate Change Digital Elevation Model Electrical Conductivity of irrigation water Global Climate Change General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research Global Environment Facility- United Nations Development Program Geographic Information System Hebron University International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas International Fund for Agricultural Development National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia National Institute for Agricultural Research of Tunisia Institute of Arid Regions-Medenine Integrated Pest Management Information Technology International Water Management Institute Jordan University Potassium Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute Land Research Center Middle East Partnership Initiative Middle East and North Africa Mercy Corps Nitrogen National Agricultural Research Center National Agricultural Research Systems National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension Non-Governmental Organization National Water Resource Authority National Water Resource Center Office of Agricultural Research Iraq Phosphorus Remote Sensing Request for Proposal Social, Economic and Policy Research Program Sustainable Livelihoods Approach Soil and Water Assessment Tool University of Jordan United States Agency for International Development 3

4 USDA-ARS United States Department for Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services WAS Water Accounting System WEAP Water Evaluation and Planning WHT Water Harvesting Techniques WLI Water and Livelihoods Initiative WUA Water User Association WUE Water Use Efficiency 4

5 Table of Contents Executive Summary... 6 I. Introduction... 8 II. Regional Activities... 9 III. Egypt IV. Iraq V. Jordan VI. Lebanon VII. Palestine VIII. Tunisia IX. Yemen IV. Resource Mobilization V. Conclusion Appendix 1: Publications Completed and Under Development... XXXVIII Appendix 2: WLI Benchmark Sites and Out-scaling areas... XL Appendix 3: Simplified M&E Plan for Operational Use at Country Level, XLIII Appendix 4: Report on Selected FTF Indicators... XLVI Appendix 5: WLI Country Research Teams... XLVIII Appendix 6: Members of the WLI Steering Committee... LI 5

6 Executive Summary The annual report offers a summary of activities that were conducted by the Water and Livelihoods Initiative (WLI) during the performance period of the US government s 2015 fiscal year (October 1, 2014 September 30, 2015). 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 eight participating countries, focusing initially on selected benchmark sites in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and Yemen excluding Syria due to the current political turmoil. The main objective is to develop and pilot test integrated water, land-use and livelihoods strategy in the benchmark sites for scaling out and up. Research activities both at the basin and farm level were executed during the performance period in line with work plans approved for the year bringing over 2,200 hectares of land under improved technologies or management practices and included the training of over 550 stakeholders (18% women) in water saving activities for production agriculture. Basin level research carried out in the performance period included land and irrigation water management in Iraq; watershed modeling, monitoring and management as well as maintaining check dams and demonstration sites for implementing water harvesting techniques, and disseminate findings focusing on marab productivity in Jordan; watershed management and modeling in Lebanon; adaptation tools and practices in response to climate change and application of water harvesting (out scaling and up-scaling) in Palestine; and assessing future scenarios for Global Climate Change (GCC) and impacts on water resources, agriculture, and livelihoods through a series of activities in Tunisia. At the farm level, research at the benchmark sites focused on improving water productivity and soil management by pilot testing various water and land management strategies. Major research activities undertaken by participating countries included: planting and breeding of indeterminate growth cucumber varieties on single rows in greenhouses; application of K fertilizer to increase the resistance of potato to saline water irrigation and to enhance yield; assessing the impact of compost fertilizer in mitigating the effect of brackish waters on potato yield; assessing the impact of Cultar hormone on increasing resistance of cucumber to drought and brackish water; and the resistance of pepper to brackish water by applying K fertilizer at open field; evaluating new drought tolerant plants (Atriplex, salsola, alley cropping) and introducing new forage plants; drought mitigation through monitoring beneficial range vegetation indices; production and evaluation of caper plants in arid zone; integrated pest management of main crops; intensive cultivation of early, late and industrial apricot varieties; collection of native rangeland seeds; introduction of Conservation Agriculture; fertigation of papaya; and dissemination of cletoria and lipid; and supplemental irrigation of spate irrigated sesame 6

7 Socio-Economic investigation focused on conducting farmers willingness to adopt WLI technologies survey to improve dissemination strategies and approaches to promote adoption of proven water and land management technologies. Field days and training sessions were also conducted for farmers in Jordan and Iraq, a practical training for university students in Palestine; and field days in Jordan and Tunisia. The Tunisia WLI program facilitated Post-Doc opportunities for researchers from INAT and IRA to work with partnering institutions such as the United States Department of Agriculture s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS). Challenges encountered during the performance period mainly relate to security concerns in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen that prevented researchers from conducting field visits as often as they would have liked. These security challenges have restricted access to WLI benchmark sites and also restricted travel for partners from these countries to participate in trainings. Other challenges are in the extremely competitive fundraising environment and the attrition of ICARDA staff working on WLI projects. 7

8 I. Introduction The report presents a summary of achievements of the WLI team during 2015 (Oct 2014 September 2015). 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 insecurity and health problems are prevalent in the eight participating countries, focusing initially on selected benchmark sites in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Syria and Yemen (figure 1). The main objective is to develop and pilot test integrated water, land-use and livelihoods strategies in selected benchmark sites for scaling out and scaling up. The WLI is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by ICARDA. Research activities at the respective benchmark sites are led by the National Agricultural Research and Extension Services (NARES). Other partners include a consortium of US universities including Texas A&M (TAMU), University of California Davis (UC Davis), University of Florida (UF), and Colorado State University (CSU); and the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS) and Forest Service (FS). Figure 1: WLI benchmark sites in seven partnering countries The WLI organized its 7 th Annual Regional Coordination Meeting in Nov which served as an excellent platform for WLI partners to report on progress made towards achieving goals to improve rural economic development in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. The meeting was part of the collaborative efforts towards developing technology packages for irrigated, rangeland and rainfed agro-ecosystems in the Middle East and North Africa regions that address increasing water scarcity. U.S. Ambassador Lewis Lucke (retired) and over 60 representatives from partnering NARES; USAID; national, regional and U.S. universities; USDA-ARS; and ICARDA attended the meeting. 8

9 II. Regional Activities This section is to outline specific capacity building activities that WLI partners have conducted in There were 28 activities carried out by the WLI focusing on biophysical and socio-economic advancement of WLI goals. These activities directly benefited over 550 participants with about 30% being female. The activities can be delineated into three general categories: 1) National level trainings and workshops 2) Local trainings and stakeholder meetings/field trainings, and 3) Regional trainings. Table 1: National level trainings targeting NARS partners and farming communities Country Training Title Participants Egypt Management of salt affected and new lands 30 Egypt On farm water management for sustainable agricultural water use 14 Iraq Mitigation the effects of brackish water on growth and yield of vegetables 21 Iraq Use of subsurface drip irrigation method to grow vegetables, and mitigating the effect of brackish water on growth and yield of vegetables 14 Iraq Subsurface drip irrigation to grow vegetables under protected agriculture 14 Iraq Iraq Iraq Iraq Subsurface drip irrigation to grow vegetables under protected and outdoor agriculture Subsurface drip irrigation method to grow vegetables, and procedure to increase the resistance of vegetables to irrigated by brackish water Increase the resistance of potato to irrigated by saline water by apply K fertilizer Soil and water management, and use of sub-surface drip irrigation to grow vegetables 18 Female only 7 Teenagers Iraq Water squandering 29 Jordan Five separate socio-economic trainings on assessing the impact of water harvesting techniques 20 Female Lebanon Mushroom Cultivation 30 Lebanon Conservation Agriculture methods and implementation 40 Lebanon PC Use and software applications 16 Female 9

10 Palestine Palestine Expo for Women s organization and business linkages to Chamber of Commerce Tubas Expo for Women s organization and business linkages to Chamber of Commerce Hebron- Halhol woman association Female Female Palestine Non-conventional cheese making and food hygiene 15 Female Palestine Promoting food hygiene in the society and at homes Female Palestine Management of women association-nasrah 15 Female Palestine Nassarah Woman Association Exchange Visit to Yabad Association 7 Female Palestine Water harvesting at Tubas- Agronomy students 8 Tunisia Tunisia Tunisia Regional Regional Water Resources and Livelihoods in the Dry Areas: Considering Climate Uncertainty- Stakeholder Meeting Six-month post-doc: Irrigation management and crop water modelling at the ARS Conservation and Production Research Laboratory Six-month post-doc: Calibrating crop modeling systems under different irrigation methods at the ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory Training on achieving success with technical scientific writing, Amman, Jordan Regional Methodological Workshop on Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Farmers, Researchers, and Extension Agents Role in Adoption of WLI Technologies Female 14-7 Female Regional Training on salinity management- Partnership with JICA 12 Regional Institutional Innovation and Change for Water Conservation in Arid and Semi-Arid Agricultural Systems-Ph.D. Candidate Thematic Groups Combined Efforts In 2014 the WLI regional implementation included three thematic groups: modeling, socio-economics and economics of natural resources management groups, which focused on the science of scaling. This specifically focused on collecting data that could be extrapolated to understand how and where to invest development efforts in the region. In 2015, the economics of natural resource management and socio-economics thematic groups combined efforts to further develop an understanding of how stakeholders can utilize water saving technologies. The WLI has 30 technologies or innovation packages that have been field tested by partners using participatory research approaches. These technologies reduce water consumption and increased yields. 10

11 However adoption by communities and farmers remains low. In 2015 the WLI focused its Socio-economic efforts on a regional project to understand farmers willingness to adopt shelf ready technologies. There were six WLI countries involved in the study; Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tunisia, and they used a standardized survey to interview over 300 farmers, 34 researchers, and 17 extension agents. Each partner country picked a single technology that they would focus their respective research on. Table 2: Technologies chosen by NARS partners for analyzing the willingness for community adoption Countries Egypt Iraq Jordan Lebanon Palestine Tunisia Technologies Raised bed Sub-surface irrigation Marrab Conservation Agriculture Silage production Deficit irrigation for citrus production With these standardized data across the region the team was able to understand several of the weaknesses of efforts in promoting adoption of water saving agricultural technologies. In addition the team was able to use a qualitative framework software Adopt to estimate the peak adoption rates of a specific technology and how long it would take to get to peak adoptions. The model s good understanding and estimation of how many people will adopt the technology offers valuable information that can assist donors in making investment decisions. This regional work will continue into 2016 with the goal of publishing results of the study. WLI 7 th Annual Regional Coordination Meeting, Nov 3-4, 2015, Amman NOTE: This meeting was hosted under the performance period for 2016 and will be reported in the subsequent annual report. This was the annual opportunity for all of our WLI National teams to come together with technical advisors from WLI partners at USDA, Colorado State University, University of California-Davis, University of Florida and the US Embassy to hone their research for development implementations. This meeting featured full progress reviews from the 2015 implementation of the WLI at national levels, a final report of the Willingness to Adopt study conducted from the regional Socio-Economic thematic group work. In addition the Coordination Meeting featured presentations from our regional NGO and University partners as well as American technical advisors. This annual event serves as a platform for adjusting past work and planning for the next years activities. Student Exchange Program Greg Sixt, a Ph.D. candidate from Tufts University, Agriculture, Food and Environment Program, in the USA spent two months in Amman and Palestine developing his dissertation proposal and focusing on policy challenges for adopting WLI technologies. The title of his research is Institutional Innovation and 11

12 Change for Water Conservation in Arid and Semi-Arid Agricultural Systems. Greg spent his time interviewing officials involved with policy making to develop his dissertation proposal. In addition to his own research Greg spent time in Palestine working on a proposal to the USAID Saving Water for Food (SWFF) program. He worked with WLI partners in Palestine to develop the proposal for Small-scale, Low-tech, Low Cost Hydroponic Animal Forage Production System in the Eastern Slope of the West Bank. 12

13 III. Egypt Overview Introduction The Water and Livelihoods Initiative examines land and water management strategies in Egypt from a livelihoods perspective. The goal of WLI is to improve the livelihoods of rural households and communities in areas where water scarcity, land degradation, water quality deterioration, food insecurity and health problems are prevalent, focusing initially on indepth site-based investigations at selected benchmark sites located in old and new lands as well as saltaffected land. The activities of the WLI project continued during this period according to the work plan of the three components, which are bio-physical, socioeconomic, and capacity building. The activities have been summarized as follows: Figure 2: WLI benchmark sites in Egypt Bio-physical activity Activity 1: Soil degradation Analysis of soil compaction and salinity build up By the end of March 2015 (before the summer season), soil salinity and compaction measurements were completed in both New (El-Bustan) and salt-affected (South El- Houssainia) sites (Fig. 1). In addition, samples of irrigation water from irrigation canals were collected. Measurements will be undertaken in farmers fields who are participating in the socio-economic activity. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples will be collected to study soil salinity build-up and compaction as factors of land deterioration. Soil compaction will be assessed using the cone penetrometer, and water table depth and saturated hydraulic conductivity will be measured. Questionnaires regarding farmers practices will be developed from the data collected during the study. The effect of farmers practice on crop production and salinity build up will be assessed using the SALTMED model. Activity 2: Development and Evaluation of the Use of Brackish Groundwater in Integrated Aqua- Agriculture systems in New Land in Egypt A Tilapia fish experiment was conducted and saline tolerant crops were cultivated last winter (2014/2015) on sandy soils at Wadi El-Natroun Experiment Station in the west Nile Delta of Egypt to represent the new land site and to investigate the potential of using brackish ground water for integrated food systems. Brackish water utilized for aquaculture production was reused for irrigation purposes while monitoring increased nutritive values from utilizing the same water. For this purpose, sugar 13

14 beet and barley were cultivated as a saline crops due to their tolerant properties. The treatments were applied and all related data concerned with the consumptive use, crop water requirements, applied water, and plant performance were collected for analysis over the remainder of the year. Activity 3: Management of Hybrid Irrigation Methods for Enhancing Crop Water Productivity in Old Land in Egypt A field experiment was conducted in the winter 2014/2015 on clay soil at Zankalon Experiment Station in the east Nile Delta of Egypt to represent the old land site and to investigate the performance of the multi-outlet hybrid irrigation for irrigating compared with lined ditch irrigation system. Data was collected on consumptive use, crop water requirements, applied water, and plant performance and will be analysis in the remainder of Socio-Economic Component The work done of the two socio-economic activities during the first half of 2015 are summarized as follows: Activity1: Socio-Economic Impacts of Soil Degradation on Farmer s Livelihood in both Salt Affected and New Lands. The team has completed the following activities: 1- Preparing the questionnaire; 2- Pre-tested the questionaire; 3- Sample selection (100 farmers distributed as 50 farmers in each site); and 4- Analysis and interpretation of data (on-going). Activity2: Socio-Economic Study on Current Crop Rotations and its Impact on Soil Degradation and the Ways to Improve Crop Planning utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) techniques which are being compared to official historical data. In this activity, the team is collecting historical official data sets from different resources and the literature review for the two sites. Capacity building activity Activity 1: Identification of land performance, problems and management of salt affected and new lands The first training course focused on integrated management of soils, water and the environment on saltaffected soils and was conducted at Port Said (Agricultural Services in East Delta for Young graduates Project) during the period from March, Thirty participants, including young researchers, agricultural extension engineers, farmers (graduates) attended the course. Table 3. Course participants. Trainees Number of Participants Extension Agents (MALR) 8 Agricultural Administration Department in Port 4 Said Agricultural inspection 4 Researchers 4 Farmers (graduates) 5 Agriculture Experiments Department in Port 5 Said Total 30 14

15 Table 4. Course schedule and main topics. Date Lecturer Subject Sunday Dr. Mohamed Ismail Opening and welcome statement 22/03/2015 Dr. Saber Mahmoud Different compost production systems from agricultural wastes Dr. Ebtsam Morsy Detection methods for nematode infection and root rot in the rhizosphere, manures and plant roots Monday 23/03/2015 Dr. Mohamed Reda Modern techniques to improve the salt affected soils Dr. Mona Kamal Introduction in the role of land drainage Dr. Mostafa Korany Drainage as a means to improve saltaffected soils Tuesday Dr. Mohamed Afify Humic substance production from 24/03/2015 agricultural waste Dr. Medhat Yamany Production of bacteria lyaccines and biofertilizers Wednesday Dr. Abdel-Hady Mohamed Symptoms of plant nutrient deficiency 25/03/2015 Dr. Mahmoud El-Kholy Methods of fertilizer application in salt affected soils Thursday Dr. Abdalla Mohanedin Open discussion and evaluation 26/03/2015 Dr. Khaled Abdel-Latif Activity 2: On farm water management for sustainable agricultural water use The training course was held from March 22-26, 2015 and focused on, On-farm water management for sustainable agricultural water use at WMRI in El-Kanater, Egypt. The topics and the instructors are presented in Table 4. Fourteen junior agricultural and civil engineers attended the training course. 15

16 IV. Iraq Overview Abu- Ghraib, located 20 km west of Baghdad, represents one of WLI s irrigated benchmark sites where the Iraqi team is implementing its activities. The site, receives 90% of its irrigation water from the Euphrates River and 10% from the Tigris River, grows a variety of crops and vegetables that include wheat, barley, corn, cucumber, eggplant, squash, pepper, Oora, tomato, potato and clover (alfalfa, berseem). Low water productivity, traditional irrigation methods, declining water quality and water shortages constitute the major obstacles to generating increased revenues for rural communities at Abu-Ghraib benchmark. Due to the military conflict in Anbar province, the canal that supplies irrigation water to Abu Ghraib project, has been damaged causing an interruption of fresh water supply. The WLI team in Iraq, consequently, decided to adopt two scenarios when addressing 2015-work plan. The first one deals with drought as a common phenomenon in Abu-Ghraib project, while the second scenario deals with brackish water (well water) used as irrigation water when fresh canal water is not available. Unfortunately violence has continued and farmers in/near the WLI focus area have been cut off from fresh water from the canal and are now depending on brackish well water. For this reason the WLI team in Iraq has been focusing on crop production using marginal water sources to offer guidance and training to local farmers. 1. Integrated water and land-use strategies Community Basin scale strategies Activity 1: Prediction of land and irrigation water management in benchmark site at Abu Ghraib by using the AquaCrop model During the performance period the WLI team developed new water and land management strategies for Abu-Ghraib Project by using the AquaCrop program where members of Bio-physical team were trained on the use of the model in Egypt by August, The team collected needed data for running the model that included climate elements (temperature, rainfall for year of 2014), sowing date, harvesting date, irrigation water quantity applied by farmers, irrigation water salinity, water productivity, k c for each stage of plant growth, dominant soil types including their physical and chemical characteristics, for selected crops (wheat, barley, potato and alfalfa) as a first stage in priming the model. On entering these data into data base of the model, the team discovered that the program did not provide simulation outputs as it required metrological data for the previous five-years as a minimum data set. The team has worked hard to collect the required addition data and is now in the final stages of data entry into the AquaCrop model. The team expects to finish this process by the end April, On-farm improvements Activity 2: Planting and breeding of indeterminate growth of cucumber plants on single rows in greenhouses The study focused on improving water productivity and reducing the input cost of growing cucumbers under protected agriculture. The research involved planting and breeding of indeterminate varieties of cucumber plants on single line or row instead of two lines or rows as in the case with traditional methods of 16 Figure 2: View of greenhouse in the stage of cutting the main branch of cucumber plant at 17/3/2015.

17 planting. The methodology included cutting the main branch of cucumber plants by a distance of cm from soil surface and leaving the best of 2-3 secondary branches. Seedlings were transferred to the soil bed in the greenhouse on 15 Jan, 2015 within a farmers fields in Hactria and Share districts in Abu Ghraib after the greenhouse was divided into two equal parts, the first was set aside for the establishment of a single row of subsurface drip irrigation pipe into seven furrows. While five furrows with 10 row pipe lines were established in the second half of the greenhouse, which represented the traditional method of production (Figures 2 and 3). The plants irrigated by fresh water, which transfer by tank (fresh water not available as mentioned before) in equal volume and fertilizers were applied in equal rate to each part. Harvesting has started and the team continues to monitor the experiment in order to determine the yield daily. Figure 3: Number of branches on one plant after cutting main branch in a greenhouse in Abu-Ghraib benchmark site that focused on indeterminate cucumber production systems on 28/3/2015. Activity 3: Application of K fertilizer to increase the resistance of potato to saline water irrigation and to enhance yield The objective of this study is to determine the impact of K fertilizer levels application in mitigating the effect of irrigation by brackish water on potatoes at Abu-Ghraib Project. Land preparation and subsurface drip irrigation pipes were installed and potato seeds were sown without irrigation until 15 Jan, 2015 to avoid frost that is common in that area (Figure 4). The treatments were irrigated by using brackish waters with ECiw around 2.2 ds/m. Three level of K fertilizer were applied at a rate of 0 (K0), 400 and 600 kg/ha of K 2 SO 4 (K 42%), and urea (46% N) at a rate of 400 kg/ ha over four application dates according to physiological growth of potato plants with irrigation water (subsurface Drip Irrigation). Results of the experiment indicated increases in water productivity and yield. The highest water productivity was obtained with application of 600 kg ( Figure 4: Application trial of different levels of K fertilizer to increase the resistance of potato to saline irrigation water. k 2 SO 4 )/h (K2) as compared to applications under K1 (400 kg of k 2 SO 4 per ha). 47 and 58% increases in potato yield were also recorded with K1 and K2 applications as compared with the control. Activity 4: Impact of compost fertilizer in mitigating the effect of brackish waters on potato yield 17

18 The aim of this study is to determine the impact of compost fertilizer application on mitigating the effect of brackish water on potato yield at Abu-Ghraib project. The research team conducted a field trial in Abu-Ghraib on potato with application of three levels of compost fertilizer with rate of 0, 5 and 10 t/ha. Potato seeds were sown on 15 Jan, The treatments were irrigated using brackish waters with ECiw around 2.2 ds/m with different irrigation volume (350, 450 and 550mm). K fertilizer was applied by irrigation system (subsurface Drip Irrigation) at a rate of 100 kg/ha of K 2 SO 4 (k 42%), and 320 kg/ha of urea (46% N) over four application stages depending upon the physiological growth of potato plants during season. Results indicated significant differences between irrigation volumes and compost fertilizer levels applied. The highest yield of 59 t/ha was obtained with the application of 10t/ha of compost fertilizer as compared with the control which generated 49t/ha. The best yield obtained from the interaction experiment which aimed to identify the best combinations of compost and irrigation with brackish was 62t/ha. This was achieved with the application of 10t of compost/ha and irrigation with 3500m 3 /ha of brackish water. The lowest yield was obtained with no application of compost but irrigation levels of 3500m 3 /ha. Activity 5: Increase the resistance of pepper to brackish water by applying K fertilizer in a field based production systems at the Abu-Ghraib benchmark site The objective of this study was to determine the impact of different levels of K fertilizer applied to increase the resistance of pepper to irrigation by brackish waters in Abu-Ghraib benchmark site. Three levels of K fertilizer was apply at rates of 0, 320 and 480 kg/ha of K 2 SO 4 (K 42%), and urea (46% N) with rate of 400 kg/ ha applied as nine split applications dependent upon the physiological growth of pepper plants by fertigation methods ( subsurface drip irrigation). The treatments were irrigated with brackish waters with ECiw around 2.2 ds/m. Total volume of water applied was 650 mm for whole season. Seedlings were transplanted in on 15 March, 2015 in farmers fields in Hactria and Share districts in Abu Ghraib benchmark site and the last harvest was completed on Oct 30, The first application of N fertilizers was applied on March 31, 2015 (Figure 5). Results of the experiments demonstrated significant increases in yield with the highest increase (24%) recorded with application of 420 kg k2so4/h. Similarly the highest level of water productivity for pepper was obtained with the application of 4810 kg ( k2so4)/h. Figures 5 a and b: Experiment on resistance of pepper to irrigate by brackish water by k-fertilizer application at Abu-Ghraib benchmark site. 18

19 Activity 6: Impact of Cultar (Cytokine) hormone in increasing resistance of cucumber to drought and brackish water in farmer fields in Abu-Ghraib benchmark site The objective of this study is to determine improvements in water productivity and cucumber yield by using of Cytokine hormones as a foliar application with subsurface drip irrigation. Three level of Cytokine hormone were applied at a rate of 0, 100, 200 mg/l. The treatments were irrigated by well water with ECiw of 1.0 ds/m on the basis when depletion of applied water reached 30% 45% 60% of available water. N, P, and K fertilizers were added at a rate of 200, 40, 120 kg/ha respectively. Seedlings was transfer to the field on 15 March, 2015 in farmers field at Akarkouf districts in Abu Ghraib project. Results of the study indicated that application of cytokines hormons (200mg/l) and reduced application of irrigation water (150m3/ha) resulted in increased resistance of plants to drought conditions. Table 5: Effect of Cytokine hormone on cucumber yield ( t/ha) by increase resistance to drought in Abu-Ghraib project. Socio-Economic, Gender and Policy Research The Iraqi Socio Economic team completed entry of all data collected from the form of Questions for WLI Site Farmers and Researchers which was prepared by socio-economic team in ICARDA for 70 farmers. These data were separated by those farmers who have adopted the technology provided by WLI and those who have not in Excel sheets, which were provided by ICARDA team and transferred to a SPSS database to be analysed on at a regional level. This study is part of the Willingness to Adopt WLI Technologies activity and improve dissemination strategies and approaches to promote adoption of proven water and land management technologies. Sub-surface drip irrigation was selected by the Iraqi team for this study. Preliminary results of the binary regression model identified several determinants of adoption including farmers level of education, farm size, farmers experience, and alternative sources of income. The study also revealed that increased affordability, triability, and observability of the technology could promote large-scale adoption of the technology. The Iraq team also participated in the Methodology for Data Analysis Workshop which was held during May 6-7, 2015 in Amman. Irrigation volume (m 3 /ha) Cytokines concentration applied Control (F0) (mg/l) 100 (F1) 200 (F2) Mean 600 ( Q1) ( Q2) (Q3) LSD 0.05 Interaction = 2813 LSD 0.05 = 1624 Irrigation volume Mean LSD 0.05 Cytokines concentration applied

20 2. Enhancing knowledge, skills and qualifications of key stakeholders in the benchmark sites Twenty one farmers participated in a training course held at farmers fields in Hactria and Share districts in Abu Ghraib benchmark site on 2/2/2015 for the use of subsurface drip irrigation method to grow vegetables. The title of this training was Mitigating the effect of brackish water on growth and yield of vegetables. The team of WLI provided trainees sufficient explanations about how to establish subsurface drip irrigation systems and the benefits of this irrigation system in reducing the amount of irrigation water applied (Figure 6). Figure 6: Training Course on using of sub-surface drip irrigation to grow vegetables and mitigation the effect of brackish water on growth and yield of vegetables The bio-physical team conducted a training course for one day on 15/1/2015 for 14 farmers at Akarkouf districts in Abu Ghraib project (Figure 7) in the use of subsurface drip irrigation methods to grow vegetables, and mitigate the effect of brackish water on growth and yield of vegetables. The training course was implemented outside of the benchmark site, but in Abu- Ghraib as part of the strategy for out-scaling the technology. Figure 7: Training course on using of sub-surface drip irrigation to grow vegetables and mitigation the effect of brackish water on growth and yield of vegetables for male. 20

21 A field day demonstration on 31/1/2015was held at farmers fields in Hactria and Share districts at Abu Ghraib project for fourteen farmers. The field day focused on using sub-surface drip irrigation to grow vegetables under protected agriculture (Figure 8). Figure 8: Field day demonstration on using of sub-surface drip irrigation to grow vegetables under protected agriculture for male. WLI team successfully completed a field day on 25/1/2015 at Hactria and Share districts at Abu Ghraib project for ten female farmers on using sub-surface drip irrigation to grow vegetables under protected agriculture and outdoor agriculture and provided advice on how to deal with brackish water (Figures 9). Figure 9: Field day demonstration on using of sub-surface drip irrigation to grow vegetable under protected agriculture and outdoor agriculture for female farmers. V. Jordan Overview Located in Jordan s transitional Badia, the Mhareb watershed represents one of WLI s rangeland benchmark sites and covers a total of 60 km 2. Partnering with the National Center for Agricultural 21

22 Research and Extension (NCARE) as well as the University of Jordan (UJ), WLI-Jordan focuses on improving rural livelihoods by pilot testing and introducing proven water and land management strategies to ensure efficient use of scarce and fragile natural resources, while reversing or curtailing their continued degradation. 1. Integrated water and land-use strategies Community and Basin scale strategies Activity 1: Watershed modeling, monitoring and management The team continues to study the effect of selected water harvesting interventions on sediment quantity and quality, run-off, and crop productivity by reprogramming the ESCO machine and adding a rain gauge. Efforts to promote the out-scaling and dissemination of tested technologies in the Badia and similar regions is being underway through conducting a series of activities including; soil data collection, runoff and rainfall monitoring, and SWAT modeling. Activity 2: Maintenance of demonstration sites for implementing water harvesting techniques, and disseminate findings focusing on marab productivity This activity aims at evaluating the water harvesting techniques and marab systems capability in increasing productivity. Several storms early in the season resulted in damage to Mhareb and Majdiyya sites. Repairs were made to the marabs, including maintaining WHT, replanting fodder shrubs, creating a new site to demonstrate multiple systems in one location and maintaining check dams. Three earth dams for water spreading inside a marab were built during the reporting period. In the 2014/2015 season, all the structures were maintained with additional levelling of the land for better water distribution, and stone spillways were constructed to allow the excess runoff to enter well defined areas. The site was planted with vetch and barley. No data was collected because of shortage of soil moisture monitoring equipment. But nonetheless, additional volume of runoff was stored in the soil as evident in the significant improvements in barley growth in the flood plains of the marab. The site witnessed four runoff flow events until mid-february. The last earth bund faced some minor damage and was repaired manually. For the next season, soil profile water content at different depth intervals will be measured to evaluate increase in soil moisture and overall area coverage. This will be done using profile soil moisture monitoring equipment which will be made available through a collaborative project supported by the US Forestry Services. Location: Majdyya- Terraces 1 and 2 These terraces are still performing well and are planted with barley for this season. New Location (Majdyya) A new location with a total area of 50 hectares was selected and preparations were made for four new marabs. About 10 hectares of contour ridges were planted with atriplex. The site has around 5 hectares of existing contour ridges with atriplex that was implemented 4 years ago and required some replanting. 22

23 Figure 10: New site for marabs The total area of the new four marabs is 3.5 hectares. All the work in these structures was undertaken in the 2014/2015 season and all marabs were planted with barley and vetch. Each of the marabs was provided with a stone-spillway to safely drain the extra water out of the marab. The new marabs are functioning and the planted crops are doing well (Figure 10). Activity 3: Maintaining check dams Due to lack of maintenance to the check dams structured during phase one of the Badia Benchmark project over the past few years, some damage occurred to seven structures out of the 33 check dams existing at the site. Some maintenance work was done during 2011/2012 season to these check dams, but still due to the frequent heavy storms and consequent runoff events that occurred in the last two seasons, some structures was damaged. This season, the plan was to perform maintenance work on those seven structures on the main valley bed that required maintenance (Figure 11). Figure 11: Maintenance of check-dams These check dams were three stone check dams, two earth check dams with cement spillways and two earth check dams with gabion spillways. The stone check dams were repaired by completely reconstructing the damaged part in order to maintain the structural integrity of the checks. The first earth check dam suffered from erosion of the spillway which was reconstructed again with cement as before, while the second needed to be expanded from 23

24 both sides. The gabion structures needed signficant maintenance as there was water piping below the gabion cages on the sides of the valley bed. These structures required an additional 10 cubic meters of gabions for the repair in addition to reconstruction of the old gabions. One stone wall was affected and will be repaired during this summer. Activity 4: Replanting two terraces in Majdiyya with Barley Two terraces in a new location in Majdiyya were built with contour ridges on about 10 hectares planted with atriplex. The total area of this new site is 50 hectares. The site has around 5 hectares of existing contour ridges with atriplex that was implemented 4 years ago and required some replanting. The total area of the new four marabs is 3.5 hectares. All the work in these structures was done in the 2014/2015 season and all marabs were planted with barley and vetch. Each of the marabs was provided with a stone-spillway to safely drain the extra water out of the marab. On-farm improvements Activity 1: Evaluating new drought tolerant plants (Atriplex, salsola, alley cropping) and introducing new forage plants The objective was to increase water availability for crop/ fodder production. The team evaluated new forage shrubs for drought tolerance using conservation agriculture. The trials included barley cropping for Muhareb site and Majdiyya site. While vetch and five types of barley (Mouta, Yarmook, Uthroh, Acsad and Baladi) were evaluated and 100 kg/ha of seeds were applied at Muhareb site, barley, vetch and mix cropping using traditional cropping and conservation cropping practice were used at Majdiyya site. Marabs, fodder shrub plantation (atriplex crop) and barley strips were the three main types of planting applied in this trial. Activity 2: Drought mitigation through monitoring beneficial range vegetation indices This activity was conducted to evaluate the drought intensity, and evaluate impact of water harvesting intervention on productivity. Intervention areas and marab position were mapped, Normalized Deviation Vegetation Index (NDVI) maps of different seasons were mapped to compare vegetation growth, detailed classification was used in an attempt to clarify vegetation change, long term NDVI profile were extracted using the of MODIS values ( ), NDVI profile of different land use (water harvesting compared with farmer or control areas) were plotted, correlation between different land use and rainfall were calculated and Landsat eight-image for April, 2014 were downloaded and NDVI calculated and classified. Results indicated an unrecognizable change in vegetation growth using the NDVI index, and difference in NDVI values between different land uses (water harvesting techniques) is not evident. These results could be attributed to both low image resolution plus the sparse vegetation in study areas. The use of other image source with higher resolution was recommended. As a follow up to the findings, discussions with ICARDA s GU are underway to identify proper remote sensing products that meet certain temporal and special resolution requirements to investigate crop cover related to NDVI at different crop development stages comparing treated with non-treated areas. 2. Enhancing knowledge, skills and qualifications of key stakeholders in the benchmark sites Activity 1: Assessing Researchers Perceptions and Farmers Willingness to Adopt WLI Technologies This study aims at assessing farmers perceptions of, and exposure to, the water harvesting technology, assessing researchers perceptions of technology development and existing dissemination strategies (what is working, what is not, and why?), identifying potential challenges and opportunities for technology adoption by farmers and assessing existing extension systems (private and public); identify viable partners; and make recommendations for good practices that can accelerate adoption rates. Farmer s questionnaire have been collected from the project site, a total of 59 surveys had been collected, 25 farmers are adopters of water harvesting technologies and 34 farmers who have heard about water harvesting but did not apply it at their farms. The collected data has 24

25 been cleaned and checked for unreliable information, the questionnaire was coded by SPSS program, and data was entered and ready to be analyzed. To serve the above purpose, data were collected from researchers and extension agents working with the WLI project, and is being analyzed. Activity 2: Capacity building A member of the socio-economic team (Dr. Samia Akroush) participated in the Regional Training Workshop on Impact Pathway with indicators, water harvesting technology and adoption- the case of Jordan; where she was a trainer and a lecturer in the workshop that was held in Amman on the 13 th of November. 25

26 VI. Lebanon Overview The WLI benchmark site in Lebanon is located in the El Qaa village in the Northern Beka a valley source of the Orontes River (Figure 12) where agriculture is the main source of livelihoods. Major challenges in the sector relate to scarcity of water, access to affordable inputs, and access to sufficient markets. Partnering with the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) as well as the American University of Beirut (AUB), WLI-Lebanon focuses on improving rural livelihoods by introducing proven and new water and land management strategies that increase water use efficiency, yield, and household income. 1. Integrated water and land-use strategies Figure 12: WLI s El Qaa benchmark site in Lebanon Community and Basin scale strategies Activity 1: Watershed management and modeling The Soil-Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model requires spatial and attribute information provided by the user to simulate watershed management. Following the steps required throughout the SWAT mode, the watershed was divided into sub-basins, using high resolution topographic contours. The sub-basins were automatically obtained by running SWAT model on the area s Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The land area is divided into Hydrologic Response Units (HRU) which is based on unique slope ranges, landuse/landcover and soil types. The SWAT model will compute runoff and sedimentation for each HRU. Maps of landcover/landuse, soil types and slope ranges are under preparation. Weather data will be generated for all the watershed, using existing weather stations of the Lebanese Agriculture Research Institute. Once the land cover map is completed, groundtruthing for data accuracy will be conducted. Crops will also be studied for their agriculture calendar based on various investigation including farmers surveys. In addition, soil type maps which not only use existing spatial soil data but field studies will be developed to feed into the SWAT model. Data on slope gradients and ranges will be obtained directly from the DEM which considers the spatial detail of slope ranges which in turn depend on the level of contour/topographic lines existed. On-farm improvements Activity 1: Production and evaluation of Caper plants in arid zone Different cultural practices, including pruning, tillage and fertilization, were continued between early December 2014 and early February 2015 for the 44 varieties of capers that were cultivated in April 2014 in Kfardan site. Fertilization Two hundred grams of Nitrogen (N) and two hundred grams of phosphorus (P) were applied near the base of the plants in early January 2015 in order to promote shoot and root growth. This trial intended to investigate the effect of three irrigation regimes on growth and development of Capparis Spinosa L. plants, analyze the effect of complete drought on the caper production (quantity and quality), study the performance of a newly introduced cultivar 26

27 of caper in the inlands of Lebanon and examine the caper plant production under local environmental conditions. Activity 2: On farm demonstration trial (wheat, barley and chickpea) Five durum wheat varieties, five barley varieties and five Ccickpea varieties are planted at Kfardan LARI Station on 31/12/2014 to evaluate yield and resistance to drought in Kfardan, a semi-arid climatic region. A field day was conducted with participating farmers from North Bekaa. Each farmer received a wheat booklet with all necessary information. Activity 3: Integrated Pest Management of main crops in Qaa region Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs are required in Qaa region to control and regulate the sanitary status of apricot trees. WLI team conducted several activities in collaboration with the Department of Plant Protection, Tal Amara during December including: A meeting with LARI Team to discuss the work plan to be implemented in Qaa region and prepare needed tools for laboratory analysis and field work. Evaluating the sanitary status of apricot trees in Qaa region. The study started by identifying the main graft transmissible diseases affecting apricot fruit. Samples from diseased plants showing symptoms of wilting, decline or others caused by fungi and bacteria were collected for laboratory analysis. Observations of other problems that affect apricot production in Qaa region caused by insects or by any traditional abiotic problems on apricot trees. Two visits by LARI group for Qaa region were undertaken to observe the area of apricot crop cultivation and put a work plan for activities starting next spring. Activity 5: Intensive cultivation of early, late and industrial Apricot varieties in El Qaa region Different cultural practices, including pruning, pest management and fertilization, were continued between early December and early February for five selected apricot varieties planted late February 2013 in the north of Bekaa (El-Qaa). 27

28 VII. Palestine Overview WLI benchmark sites in the West Bank are located in Tammun (Eastern slope) and Hebron (South Western of the Central highlands). The sites are predominantly characterized as rangelands with minimal rainfed agriculture. The project led by the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) also fosters good collaboration with the Applied Research Institute- Jerusalem (ARIJ), Land Research Center (LRC), Hebron University (HU) and various Farmers Associations. In line with the national objectives of the country to ensure water availability, land fertility, and food security - the WLI team is engaged in pilot testing integrated water and land management strategies as means to improve rural livelihoods. During the first quarter, Palestinian WLI partners focused on out-scaling the achieved results obtained by previous years, specifically in improving water harvesting, adopting drought tolerant wheat variety and enhancing farmer s skills to adopt these practices. 1. Integrated water and land-use strategies Community and Basin scale strategies Activity 1: Adaptation tools and practices in response to climate change The team planted drought-tolerant wheat mainly Cham 3 and Hetayh (more than 8 tons) and 2 tons of barley in both benchmark site and outside. Within this and through cooperation with LRC and Denmark projects, 50 hectares were planted at Thaheray with wheat in water catchment area. More than 92 beneficiaries benefited from this activity. Activity 2: Application of water harvesting (out scaling and up-scaling) This year, the team tried a new practice by applying water harvesting techniques at a larger scale where three projects [Denmark project (LRC), Climate change, Adaptation for learning (ARIJ) and RAWASI (PARC and ICARDA)] started working in synergy. Three sites have been recommended by WLI consultant for water harvesting. At Thaherya, about 67 hectares of rock terraces, check dams and contour lines were introduced to the watershed. Rock terraces were also built in nearby slopes to slow down water runoff and reduce soil erosion. Herders and nearby farmers have benefited from water collected behind the check dams (Figure 13). More than 81m 3 of water were collected and used by those farmers. Figure 13: herders and farmers utilizing check dams to water their herds at Thaheray site Land was plowed according to contour line to maximize water use efficiency and reduce runoff. At Bzeek (outside benchmark site) and Atuf, water harvesting techniques (eye brow and rock traces) were applied on a total of 3.8 hectares of land and most of it was planted with olive, and a Roman well was constructed. On-farm improvements Activity 1: Collection of native rangeland seeds Our team from LRC started the collection of seed of native plant species, while NARC team started collection from Northern Part- Atuf, Jenin, Nasaryah and other areas These seeds will be used next year to be sown in range land area Activity 2: Introduction of conservation Agriculture This activity, introduced for the first time, aims to conserve water, reduce water loss, and minimize costs. Approximately 5 hectares in Atuf, Tubas, Tyasser and Aqaba were planted with drought tolerant vetch and barley without plowing the land 28 Figure 15: Planting seed with machine zero till in Atuf

29 (Figure 15). Thirty five farmers were involved in these studies. Results will be collected on June-July where yield will be measured against input cost. Sample collection and evaluation of yield and biomass is underway in all pilot sites including Atuf, Tubas, Aqaba and Tyaseer. 2. Enhancing Knowledge, skills and qualifications for key stakeholders in the benchmark sites Activity1: WLI 6 th Annual Regional Meeting WLI team, representing four partners (three NGOs and one governmental institution) participated in the WLI 6 th Annual Regional Coordination Meeting which was held in Amman on Nov 11-12, During the meeting, achievements and budget for the year 2014 and a work plan for the year 2015 were presented before the steering committee who approved the budget for Activity 2: National Coordination Meeting The WLI national team held a coordination meeting in Hebron at LRC. Tasks for next year s activities were distributed among all three participating national partners (ARIJ, LRC and NARC). Activity 3: Project Benchmarks Training for University Students Eight agronomists from Hebron University, Annajah University and Al Quds Open University received practical training on water harvesting, reading GIS maps and designing and building rock terraces at Tubas site (1 hectare). 3. Improved rural livelihoods through sustainable land and water management practices Activity 1: Technology adoption and cost analysis Comprehensive survey was conducted to test level of farmers awareness and willingness to adopt silage technology. Out of 70 questionnaires collected, 35 farmers were aware of the technology. Data collected was analyzed and reported as part of the socio-economic thematic group. Activity 2: Introducing WLI activities to local communities In December, a workshop was conducted for 30 participants to expose local communities and private sector to post harvest uses of introduced wheat varieties and to introduce farmers association and private sector to various WLI activities. A furtherr workshop was conducted in the month of April to expose woman associations and farmers to the benefits of utilizing improved varieties of seed and also for dairy processing. Male and female farmers from Hebron were also given the opportunity to see and learn from the success stories in the North. Participants visited the seed production unit where clean and verified seeds (wheat and barley) can be bought (Figure 16). Figures 16 a and b: Field days to introduce community members to new varieties 29

30 30

31 VIII. Tunisia Overview The agricultural sector accounts for 83% of annual water consumption in Tunisia. According to a water availability estimation study conducted in 2012, water availability in Tunisia is estimated at 390 m 3 per capita (FAO, 2014), which is a lot lower than the average per capita consumption level in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This is expected to decline further due to Climate Change (CC), unsustainable water management practices, and population growth. WLI project in Tunisia works on three sites along a North-South water scarcity transect and aims to improve rural livelihoods through improved water management and agricultural production systems by pilot testing and out-scaling proven CC adaptation strategies and assessing the costs and benefits of improved interventions. The project s objective is effectively aligned with national climate change adaptation strategies that, among other things, aim to improve water productivity and save water resources. 1. Integrated water and land use strategies Basin scale strategies During the reporting period the team continued their efforts to assess future scenarios for Global Climate Change (GCC) and impacts on water resources, agriculture, and livelihoods through a series of activities, including: (1) Identify available downscaled GCC model results applicable to the study areas and combined with available climatic datasets to explore other available models to assess their relevance to the study areas and their possibility of downloading, (2) Develop scenarios for altered atmospheric carbon, temperature and rainfall patterns over a range of temporal cases, (3) Model the production systems to identify effects of altered conditions and generate outputs to feed into an economic assessment. The identified models are being parameterized, and inputs are also being collected. Aquacrop is parameterized and validated for durum wheat and CropSyst for barley. For the latter case, results are currently under assessment in order to determine suitable strategies for barley crop under saline conditions. CROPWAT has been tested for Citrus in order to simulate the effect of deficit irrigation on the yield in terms of quantity and quality. Research activities are also underway with regard to water management in rangeland and crop production systems. Important progress has been made in: (1) Integration of climate models and scenarios for effect on hydrology within the basin, and (2) field testing, model adaptation and monitoring effect on water availability and use. The team has worked on quantification of benefits in terms of enhanced Benefit/Cost ratio through: (1) Characterization of livelihoods and household strategies for adaptation to climate change, (2) Economic assessment of Climate change effects on agro-ecosystems, (3) Cost-benefit analysis of adaptation measures for farmers. On-farm level strategies Field testing sites, both for the rainfed and irrigated agriculture, were identified and implemented by the three teams. 31

32 Table 6: Technologies under pilot-testing in WLI sites Sites Northern Site Central Tunisia Technologies under pilot-testing Supplemental irrigation for wheat (Morneg and Zaghouan) and deficit irrigation for citrus (Nabeul). Five adaptation strategies are being tested: (i) Alley cropping (barley and cactus) and livestock, (ii) Cactus and livestock (iii) Barley under supplemental irrigation and livestock (iv) Olive trees and livestock (v) Olive trees, barley, and livestock (vi) Conservation agriculture Southern Site (i) Irrigation mangement with saline water (ii) Deficit irrigation (iii) Supplemental irrigation for drought control (iv) Water harvesting The team is currently analyzing the data that have been collected from experiments on drip irrigation management with saline water for vegetable crop. Data has also been collected for the deficit irrigation of citrus and replicate experiment to test the application of sensor calibrated by the team in monitoring soil water content in citrus fields. Data on water use within two citrus growing areas in Cap Bon are collected from farmers associations. Analysis of the data is in progress to determine the actual water uptake by individual farmers for citrus irrigation. The team continued conducting trials on deficit irrigation of citrus and vegetable crops irrigated with saline water. The analysis of data collected from previous experiments is still in progress. Two papers were accepted for oral and poster presentations by scientific committee of international conference on Integrated Land and Water Resources Management in the Dry Areas under Climate Change Djerba Island, Tunisia, May th, Nagaz et al. Response of vegetable crops to irrigation regimes with saline water in arid regions of Tunisia. Nagaz et al. Impact of deficit irrigation on yield and fruit quality in orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck, cv. Meski Maltaise) in Southern East Tunisia. The team submitted revised paper by Nagaz et al. on Potato response to different irrigation regimes using saline water that has been accepted for publication in Irrigation and Drainage Journal (IRD) after minor revision. In central Tunisian site at Sidi Bouzid, the team continued conducting trials which are: i) Alley cropping under rainfed conditions (barley and cactus; barley and vetch) with cactus as alleys, ii) Barley and durum wheat under supplemental irrigation and iii) iii) Barley and durum wheat under conservation agriculture based on direct drilling. A Phd student from INAT (Mariem Barbouchi) is involved in the project and working on monitoring of water stress and supplemental irrigation scheduling cereals in semi-arid areas using polarimetric radar. In addition, an engineer student (Saoussen mahjoub) from INAT is involved in the project (project graduation) and works on the effect of supplemental irrigation on WUE and yields of barley and durum wheat. A paper on the effect of supplemental irrigation on WUE of barley and durum 32

33 wheat prepared by Cheikh M hamed, H., et al is competed and will be submitted on Journal of Agricultural Science. 2. Enhancing knowledge, skills and qualifications of key stakeholders in the benchmark sites Ms. Fathia El Mokh (IRA Médenine) completed her 6 months postdoc placement at the end of November 2014 on Irrigation management and crop water modelling at the Conservation and Production Research Laboratory (USDA-ARS, Bushland, Texas) with Dr. Paul D. Colaizzi. Dr. Nabil Sghaier (INAT) completed a six-month post doc at the end of February 2015 at USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory (Beltsville, MD) with Dr. Martha Anderson to work on the Performance evaluation of ALEXI Evapotranspiration model in Northern Tunisia. A project paper is ongoing entitled Wheat yield correlations with remote sensing satellite derived indices over Northern Tunisia. The study area covers Ariana, Beja, Ben Arous, Bizerte, Jendouba, Kef, Manouba, Nabeul, Siliana and Zaghouan governorates. The remote sensing indices used for the present work are: Evaporative Stress Index (ETa/ETo), LAI, Land Surface Temperature, Tropical Rainfall Mapping Mission (TRMM) precipitation product and Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS). 3. Improved rural livelihoods through sustainable land and water management practices a. The team has conducted a survey in Zoghmar. The first part of the questionnaire focused on collecting data on costs and returns of different crops and livestock while the second part is used to assess effects of climate change on land use and approaches for adaptation. The survey permitted to determine farm incomes of different productions systems, compare incomes between the baseline production system (barley and livestock) and alternatives for adaptation. A cost-benefit analysis is undertaken to determine the profitability of different adaptation options through the calculation of different indicators such as the net present value, the benefit/cost ratio and the internal rate of return. b. In Beni Khedache site, the SLA approach started in 2014 is under improvement in order to publish a scientific paper. c. A scientific paper was submitted and accepted by the scientific committee of the ILDAC2015 conference The International Conference on Integrated land and water resources management in the dry areas under climate change Djerba Island, Tunisia, May th, 2015 within the Theme 5: Socio-economic aspects and integrated approaches: Integrated participatory approaches for sustainable development. d. The scientific paper titled Integrated impact assessment of livelihood and water management practices in Oum Zessar watershed, south east of Tunisia by Sghaier Mongi, Abdeladhim Mohamed Arbi, Ouessar Mohamed, was selected to be presented as key note of the Session 5: Socio-economics. e. Under the WLI socio-economic thematic group activity, the team working on citrus has conducted a survey on farmers willingness to adopt WLI technologies. A sample of seventy farmers was used in the study to cover the irrigation sectors of Beni khalled and Menzel Bouzelfa of the Nabeul Governorate. IX. Yemen 33

34 Overview Given the worsening water crisis in Yemen, it was necessary to search for solutions that aim to achieve sustainable management of renewable and available water resources to improve livelihoods. In Yemen, the Abyan Delta benchmark site offers an opportunity to engage with stakeholders for the formulation of a strategy to combat the policy, technical and livelihood concerns in a predominantly supplemental (spate) irrigated system. The main issues are groundwater depletion and over-extraction of water for cash cropping, inequitable water distribution of flood water and the technical constraints connected with the spate system itself such as the annual deterioration of irrigation infrastructure by flood waters and livelihood constraints which include a need for improved fodder resources and knowledge of improved land and water management, processing and marketing of livestock products, post-harvest production and a gender-sensitization of the work. This pilot strategy will then be available for scaling-up. Agricultural Research and Extension Authority (AREA) representative by Elkod Agricultural Research Station and the National Water Resources Authority (NWRA)-Branch of Aden took over the implementation of the WLI project agenda over the past years, in coordination and cooperation with the Regional Office for International Centre of Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) - Dubai. To achieve the above objectives there has been ongoing WLI field activities since 2010, under biophysical and socio-economic studies which showed current situation in the Abyan Delta. During 2011, a database was initiated for water and land resources, which were used to prepare soil maps and land suitability map for irrigation in the Abyan Delta. In 2012 the team prepared land suitability maps for the main crops in the Abyan Delta, vegetation map, assessment of groundwater resources and launched on-farm activities related to water productivity in close collaboration with the farming community. During 2013 the team transferred buffel grass (lipid) and supplemental irrigation for spate irrigated sesame and assessed the effect of war against terrorism in Abyan Delta on the agricultural rural communities. A study on Opportunities of Improvement and Activation of spate Irrigation system with participation of Water Users Associations in Delta Abyan was also conducted in the same year. Other socio-economic studies conducted include: initial assessment of impact of water productivity on livelihoods, assessment of the role of associations in managing agroecosystems, and assessment of indigenous knowledge and social norms in management of agro-ecosystems. 1. Integrated water and land use strategies On-farm level strategies Activity 1: Fertigation of papaya, dissemination of cletoria and lipid, supplemental irrigation of spate irrigated sesame Four farms were selected to study the impact of supplemental irrigation on spate irrigated sesame yield. It was recorded that there was % increase in yield productivity when applying a single supplemental irrigation before flowering stage (Figure 17). The costbenefit analysis of applying supplemental irrigation to spate irrigated sesame indicates that the gross margin ranged from to USD$/ha, while it was to USD$/ha when supplemental irrigation was not applied (Figure 17). The benefit-cost Ratio was 3.74 to 5.06 % under supplemental irrigation and 2.42 to 3.76 % under farmer practices without applying supplemental irrigation. (Table 6). Soil samples were collected at harvest to calculate the actual evapotranspiration of sesame at the studied fields. A manuscript from this research study has been submitted to the American Journal of Experimental Agriculture entitled GIS-Based Assessment of Land Suitability for 34

35 Industrial crops (cotton, sesame and groundnut) in the Abyan Delta, Yemen. The document is currently under peer review and should be published before the end of Table 7: Increasing yield Under Supplemental Irrigation of Spate Irrigated Sesame Farmer s name Date of Farmer Supplementary Increasing Harvest Practices Irrigation Yield, % Rashad Fadhle A. 16/ Nasr Zein Al-Shabhi 19/ Sheikh Nasr Alabsi 7/ NabeelTobeek 25/ Sesame field with supplementary irrigation irrigation Sesame field without supplemental Figure 17: A comparison of spate irrigated sesame yield with (a) and without (b) supplemental irrigation 35