IWMI Research in EAST AFRICA

IWMI Research in EAST AFRICA Alternative carbon investments in ecosystems for poverty alleviation Accessing the benefits of agricultural water in challenging contexts Pinpointing opportunities to improve crop and livestock productivity through appropriate agricultural water approaches Assessing impacts of climate change and identifying appropriate responses Improving the of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment Improving the resilience of rural livelihoods through a landscape approach to rainwater Improving education in water Smart ICT for weather and water information Increasing smallholder farmer incomes through value chain development Successfully adapting to climate change through integrated natural resource

IWMI in East Africa Despite having significant land and water resources, East Africa is one of the world s most food-insecure regions. Research conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) seeks to find evidence-based strategies and solutions to the agricultural water challenges that contribute to this lack of food security. The Nile River Basin continues to be one of the benchmark basins for IWMI s broader research agenda. Over 70% of the people within this region depend on subsistence rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods. This situation is becoming more problematic with the increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns. Important issues that need to be addressed include the following: Land degradation Erosion and sedimentation Low crop yields Impacts of climate change Unsustainable water use Equitable sharing of water resources Appropriate and development of land and water resources is crucial to reducing poverty, improving food security and increasing economic growth throughout East Africa. The East Africa and Nile Basin Office of IWMI is located on the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and has strong links with other CGIAR Centers. Donors Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) European Union (EU) International Development Research Centre (IDRC) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Natural Environment Research Council/Department for International Development (NERC/DFID) Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education (NUFFIC) United States Agency for International Development (USAID) IWMI s guiding principles Reducing rural poverty Increasing food security Improving nutrition and health Sustainable of natural resources Gender equity Understanding how agriculture interacts with ecosystems Enabling adaptation to climate change impacts Providing research-based evidence for policymakers and other decision-makers Fostering uptake for development impact Regionally aligned collaboration IWMI collaborates with national and international partners in East Africa through a research portfolio that aims to support the East African Community (EAC) and the objectives of its Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy (ARDS), as well as its Food Security Action Plan. IWMI s research is aligned with the aims of the EAC ARDS, in improving food security; accelerating irrigation development; strengthening research, extension and training; promoting agro-based industries; managing natural resources and enabling access to productive resources. Supporting national development objectives IWMI supports national development priorities through partnerships and collaboration with government ministries and national agricultural research organizations. This support includes research and other activities that lead to the enhanced design and implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIPs). Civil society organizations, development partners, national and international universities, and private sector enterprises are also key partners that IWMI works closely with on research for development. As an integral part of IWMI s work we strive to build the capacity of institutions, researchers and students in the Nile River Basin and East Africa, by engaging them in collaborative research processes and activities. IWMI s research uptake work is backed up by detailed output and impact pathways, targeted at key stakeholders, including farmers, farmer and water user associations, national and regional as well as Pan-African decision makers, to demonstrate changes in their actions, attitude, knowledge and skills. Front cover photo: cc: C. Robinson/CIMMYT

IWMI research Accessing the benefits of agricultural water in challenging contexts The AgWater in Challenging Contexts project, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), is looking at how benefits to rural smallholders might be better enhanced through agricultural water (AWM). The project analyzed and developed support mechanisms for specific types of challenges to the design and implementation of AWM interventions in five countries, three of which were in Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana and Burkina Faso). These challenges were defined as: institutional- or governance-related challenges, infrastructural challenges and environmental challenges. The project activities were organized under four main components: 1. Contextual analysis: Developing a framework for analysis of challenging contexts and testing it at case study sites. 2. Analysis of AWM case studies: Documenting case studies of successful AWM interventions and gathering evidence of promising public and private investment opportunities for AWM-led accelerated food security and poverty reduction. 3. Development of guidelines: Developing and testing guidelines for assessment of risks and benefits of AWM interventions in challenging contexts. 4. Support for investment decisions: Developing investment scenarios to support informed investment decision making and portfolio of IFAD partners/operations on AWM issues. The beneficiaries of the results of this project include nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), program staff of International Finance Institutions (World Bank, African Development Bank [AfDB], IFAD, Asian Development Bank), and staff of government agencies who can use the project s tools and recommendations in designing, implementing and monitoring AWM interventions and effectively incorporating AWM into agricultural support programs and projects. Donors and national governments can use the investment opportunities identified by the program to better target resources and strengthen poverty reduction, food security and rural development strategies. Policymakers can also use the approaches and recommendations to develop or strengthen institutions and governance structures for the rural agricultural water sector. Although the project s tools and recommendations will be applicable to challenging contexts across the globe, this research focused on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Ghana in sub-saharan Africa, and Nepal and Sri Lanka in South Asia. http://challengingcontextawm.iwmi.org/project-overview. aspx Pinpointing opportunities to improve crop and livestock productivity through appropriate agricultural water approaches The Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is part of the US government s Feed the Future initiative that aims to address global hunger and food security issues. The overall aim is to transform agricultural systems through sustainable intensification at the household level. Within the component of the work carried out in the Ethiopian Highlands, the initial IWMI-led sub-project has been specifically working on testing the concepts behind: Improving the evidence for targeting agricultural water interventions in Ethiopia. The research undertook a review of policies and initiatives promoting agricultural intensification. From this, researchers generated trajectories of change. These combine a number of policy drivers and practices that set out to achieve different objectives. Trajectories were tested using a number of surrogate indicators and have been applied to evaluate the suitability of a practice, combinations of practices and the likelihood of their adoption by farmers. The final product of this development and analyses has been a set of suitability maps and a toolbox. Together these provide a framework for targeting and prioritizing future land-use interventions to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods at a landscape scale. Worielu woreda, Kabe watershed, community built soil and water conservation. Photo credit: Zerihun Sewunet/ILRI

To validate the proof of concept of this approach we tested the toolbox through two pilot workshops with Ethiopian university researchers and regional policy staff, in which the work was described and participants engaged in the practical use of the toolbox. We did this in collaboration with Arba Minch University and Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia. This suggested that there was a lot of interest in the approach and in areas in which it could be further developed. The research is now moving into a second phase with a strong interdisciplinary approach being adopted, in which direct research for development will be trialed. http://africa-rising.net/about/ Improving the resilience of rural livelihoods through a landscape approach to rainwater The Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) aims to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian Highlands of the Blue Nile River Basin, through a researchfor-development approach to rainwater at the landscape scale. The project is part of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). For the work carried out in the Nile River Basin, led jointly by IWMI and ILRI, there are a number of activities worth highlighting in relation to rainwater : The involvement of local communities and institutions is viewed as being increasingly important in further development of previous top-down approaches to soil and water. Through the increasing use of participatory approaches, our research suggests that there will be a greater sense of ownership of the project outcomes and long-term sustainability. These results are drawn from working with a series of communities, their advisors and government agencies at different scales and regions in the Blue Nile River Basin. Within our work we have taken an integrated approach by collaborating with communities on social, economic and biophysical data collection. The future consequences of improving rainwater at the landscape scale, using the most appropriate interventions in differing agroecosystems and at differing scales, is being assessed using advanced mathematical and spatial modeling techniques. Ultimately, these assessments will assist in identifying where and how investments need to be made to improve natural resource leading to benefits to farmers and other water users. This work builds and extends on some of the smallerscale participatory primary data collection described above. The project is delivering information on the likely cross-scale consequences of the adoption of improved rainwater systems on water flow, siltation, livelihoods, risk and other factors. It is also providing an analysis of the best land-use systems for different parts of the basin, in terms of water productivity, livelihoods and economic benefits, and of the water savings that would result from the adoption of the recommended rainwater systems. The results of the work of the NBDC, which is in its final year, are being documented into a series of papers, policy briefs and short documentary videos (for example, visit http://nilebdc.org/tag/participatory-video/). The results will also be fed into the national planning system through our representation on government technical committees. The NBDC is implemented by a consortium comprising development, research and government institutions. The research is funded through the CPWF. Some of this research for development will be taken forward into the larger CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (http:// wle.cgiar.org) whilst other elements are being transferred to the local universities as part of an ongoing partnership and capacity building initiative. http://nilebdc.org/about/ Working with communities and farmers, IWMI has designed and implemented three participatory monitoring networks in sentinel landscapes of the Blue Nile watershed. Photo credit: Birhanu Zemadim Smart ICT for weather and water information The Smart ICT for Weather and Water Information and Advice to Smallholders in Africa project, funded by IFAD, is exploring the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to increase agricultural productivity. The project aims to provide farmers with advice and information, related to irrigation, agriculture and weather, direct to their mobile phones as part of a pilot study.

The advice sent to me by mobile SMS is very correct and useful. I can get it when I need it. This is very helpful in saving me water, diesel and fertilizer, and helps me have a good crop, says Adel, a maize farmer in the Nubaria region, Egypt. Photo credit: Ivo Miltenburg Variation in a field s crop biomass growth and its graphical representation. Source: www.fieldlook.com.sd The project uses satellite imagery, combined with other data, to produce practical agricultural information for farmers. Satellite images, which can depict areas as small as 20 m², are analyzed weekly for particular characteristics such as changes in a field s soil moisture as the basis for the need to irrigate. Each project site covers an area of around 3,600 km². These tools will enable growers to make more informed decisions, and negotiate more efficient and equitable transactions with water- and farming-related service providers. This three-year project began in 2011 and is being implemented in Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. The imagery is combined with various data as shown in the table below. Complex water and crop growth models are run for each field using this combination of data and satellite imagery to produce specific, customized advisories for each farmer. When changes in any of the above parameters reach a critical level, an advisory is generated encouraging the farmer to take action, for example, to irrigate within the next 3-4 days. This advisory is sent out to a farmer s mobile phone and also posted online in local languages through a service called Fieldlook. http://www.smartict-africa.com Successfully adapting to climate change through integrated natural resource The AFROMAISON project, funded by the 7 th Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Union, is a multinational project that sets out to develop realistic strategies for integrated natural resource (INRM) in Africa (Ethiopia, Mali, Tunisia, South Africa and Uganda) in order to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The project is assessing potential sustainable solutions for communities and authorities in their operational and strategic policy of natural (water) resources set against a background of climate change. Given the very strong reliance of livelihoods on farming and INRM in the study countries, there is a need to implement best practices. AFROMAISON is making use of tools, expertise, local practices and indigenous knowledge as a way of increasing evidence-based INRM strategies. The work carried out by the project is contributing to this through better integration and inclusion of the following key components of INRM at a mesoscale level: Landscape functioning (regarding the delivery, use, and access to goods and services provided). Weather Hydrology Crop growth Agricultural water Extent of flood Temperature, wind River flow Biomass production, Crop water stress, Daily/weekly speed, reference yield, nitrogen and crop water use, water evapotranspiration, Leaf Area Index productivity, soil rainfall moisture, irrigation

Livelihood and socioeconomic development (including vulnerability to global change). Indigenous knowledge and practices (to take local traditions, cultural norms and specific acceptance structures into account). Institutional strengthening and improved interaction between sectors, scales and communities. The main outputs of the AFROMAISON project include a toolbox of approaches, short- to long-term strategies, quick wins, methodologies and an operational framework for INRM. INRM intrinsically asks for cooperation, exchange of information and communication, so these are key pillars guiding how the research is conducted and the way in which results are shared. As a key aspect to enhancing the capacity of sub-national authorities and communities, the project aims to improve the exchange of information, contribute to filling the gaps and provide a platform for the sharing and geographical expansion of tools for INRM. In Ethiopia, the project is focusing on the Gumera catchment, located in the Lake Tana Sub-basin in the Amhara Region, which represents high rainfall (i.e., 1,800 mm) and a croplivestock system including irrigation and wetlands. http://www.afromaison.net/ Farmers in Ethiopia using a land-use options game approach to improve understanding of interdependencies of land-use decisions across landscapes. East Africa national partners Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia Ambo University, Ethiopia Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI), Ethiopia Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) Ethiopian Economic Association (EEA) Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute (EEPRI) Ethiopian Rainwater Harvesting Association (ERHA) Haramaya University, Ethiopia Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Ethiopia Ministry of Water and Energy, Ethiopia Mountains of the Moon University (MMU), Uganda Oromia Regional Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia Wollega University, Ethiopia Wollo University, Ethiopia Increasing smallholder farmer incomes through value chain development The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and implemented by ILRI and IWMI, aims to improve the incomes of smallholder farmers through value chain development in livestock (dairy, beef, sheep and goats, poultry and apiculture) and high-value irrigated agricultural commodities (fruits, vegetables and fodder). The objective of the project is to directly benefit more than 200,000 households, improve the skills of over 5,000 public service staff, support 100 MSc students, and work with 2,100 value chain input and service suppliers at district, zone and federal levels. The main components of the project are capacity development, knowledge promotion, commodity value chain development, and documentation of tested and successful interventions. Gender and the environment are integrated and mainstreamed into all components of the project. The LIVES project will run over 6 years in 31 districts of 10 zones of the Amhara, Oromia and Tigray regions, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR), reaching and influencing 8% of the country s human population.

Following the participatory selection of livestock and irrigated crops, the prioritization of interventions by zone was carried out through diagnostic activities and a series of stakeholder workshops in each of the 10 zones. A report of the diagnosis and intervention plan covering each of the 10 zones was then produced for partners of the LIVES project, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Agriculture Bureau, and federal and regional agricultural research institutes. Interventions deal with inputs and service supply, production (irrigated crop and livestock, introduction of fodder crops, and integrated crop pest and disease ) and marketing (market information, market linkages, and formation of marketing groups and cooperatives). Interventions are supported by capacity building and knowledge activities. With respect to irrigated agriculture, the first field-level interventions will consist of organizing action-training activities on participatory rapid assessment and action planning of irrigation systems. A training manual on value chain development and other materials, such as research proposals and questionnaires for a baseline survey, are currently being developed. http://lives-ethiopia.org Improving education in water The University Water Sector Partnership (UWSP), funded by the Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education (NUFFIC), aims to improve education in water in Ethiopia and forge strong links between sector organizations and universities. At present, eight universities, along with many water sector organizations, have joined the partnership. The partnership is supported by the Netherlands Programme for Institutional Strengthening of Post-secondary Education and Training Capacity (NPT) project, Strengthening Ethiopian Universities in Integrated River Basin Management, and is implemented with the help of international partners (IWMI, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Wageningen University, MetaMeta Research and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). The activities undertaken by UWSP include: Education and curriculum improvement through development and provision of common resources for lectures. Demand-driven, short-term research projects. Improvement of libraries and laboratories through discussion and purchase of access to equipment and facilities not currently available in Ethiopian institutions. http://www.universitywatersectorpartnership.org/ Assessing impacts of climate change and identifying appropriate responses The IMPACT2C project, funded by the 7 th Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Union, aims to enhance knowledge and quantify climate change impacts of limiting global warming to 2 o C. It examines climate and its impacts, modeling vulnerabilities, risks and economic costs, as well as potential responses. The IMPACT2C project utilizes a range of models within a multi-disciplinary international expert team and assesses the effects of climate change on water, energy, infrastructure, coasts, tourism, forestry, agriculture, ecosystems services, and health and air quality-climate interactions. As part of the project, the East Africa and Nile Basin Office of IWMI is assessing the impacts of climate change on the available water resources and their allocation in the Nile River Basin, using mathematical models. The work involves using the latest state-of-the-art predictions of changes in temperature and rainfall, downscaled to high-resolution East Africa regional and international partners Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) Carbon Foundation of East Africa (CAFEA) Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Ethiopia Cornell University, USA Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) Emory University, USA Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ide Ethiopia International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) MetaMeta Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Overseas Development Institute (ODI), UK Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) Texas A&M University, USA The James Hutton Institute, UK UNESCO Chair in Water Resources, University of Khartoum, Sudan UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) University of Aberdeen, UK University of Wageningen, the Netherlands World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)

spatial scales, to drive computer models to predict the impact on the changes in the availability of water over time and space. http://www.hzg.de/science_and_industrie/eu_projects/fp7/ climate/012508/index_0012508.html.en Alternative carbon investments in ecosystems for poverty alleviation The ALTER: Alternative Carbon Investments in Ecosystems for Poverty Alleviation project is a three-year research-intouse project which sets out to examine whether investments in soil carbon can be used to alleviate poverty by restoring, enhancing or protecting the goods and services provided by ecosystems in regions where soils are degraded or under threat of degradation. The project is working in contrasting study sites in Uganda and Ethiopia. Solutions to soil degradation are not simple and require a much better understanding of the following: How people benefit from soils. What they stand to gain if they can improve the condition of the soils they manage, whether it is for crops, livestock, timber production or as seminatural areas. What they would need to do to accomplish this and barriers that may exist to prevent this. In parallel, the project aims to gain a better insight into the likely success of different options to improve soils. Ultimately, these options will require some form of investment, whether it be money, time, resources or other mechanisms. Research is investigating the relative pros and cons of these mechanisms from the perspective of local people, organizations involved with markets for payments for ecosystem services, and national objectives in alleviating poverty. A broader view of soil carbon benefits and trading is an opportunity to invest in lasting improvements in degraded ecosystems and the livelihoods of the poor that depend on these. This research and evidence-building needs to be placed in the context of climate change. This research project sets out to establish that whatever might be suitable, acceptable and viable for tackling soil degradation now will have long-term benefits to local people, and these benefits will not be negated by the ongoing changes to local climate. This research-into-use project is being undertaken by an international consortium from the UK, East Africa and IWMI. The project is funded by Natural Environment Research Council/Department for International Development (NERC/ DFID) under the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme. http://www.espa.ac.uk/projects/ne-k010441-1 About the International Water Management Institute Vision: Water for a food-secure world. Mission: To improve the of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a member of the CGIAR Consortium, is a non-profit, scientific research organization focusing on the sustainable use of land and water resources in developing countries. The Institute is headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with regional offices across Africa and Asia. IWMI works in partnership with governments, civil society and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water solutions that have a real impact on poverty reduction, food security and ecosystem health (www.iwmi.org). IWMI leads the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) which combines the resources of 11 CGIAR Centers and numerous partners, bringing together innovative thinking on agriculture, natural resource and poverty alleviation to deliver effective solutions for food security and environmental protection to the rural poor. In Africa, WLE is working towards impact on rural poverty, improved food security, better nutrition and health, and greater environmental security in five river basins: Volta, Niger, Nile, Limpopo and Zambezi (http://wle.cgiar.org). In East Africa, IWMI is also involved in the CGIAR Research Programs on Dryland Systems, Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and Humidtropics. IWMI East Africa & Nile Basin Office C/o ILRI-Ethiopia Campus Bole Sub City, Kebele 12/13 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Mailing Address: P. O. Box 5689 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: +251 11 6457222/3 or 6172000 Fax: +251 11 6464645/ 6172001 Email: iwmi-ethiopia@cgiar.org http://eastafrica.iwmi.cgiar.org Head of Office: Simon Langan (s.langan@cgiar.org) Director, Africa: T. Olalekan Williams (t.o.williams@cgiar.org) IWMI Headquarters 127 Sunil Mawatha Pelawatte Battaramulla Sri Lanka Mailing address: P. O. Box 2075 Colombo, Sri Lanka Tel: +94 11 2880000 Fax: +94 11 2786854 Email: iwmi@cgiar.org www.iwmi.org Printed: July, 2013