Water, Land and Ecosystems - 3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Providing ecosystem services and resilience through the use of agricultural biodiversity within production systems of in South Asia (Nepal, Sri Lanka)

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:55 +0000

In the context of WLE, this activity is aligned with the resilience work of the ESR core theme. The work specifically focuses on how biodiversity can be managed in agricultural systems to buffer unpredictable environmental change (Nepal), and how biodiversity management can be used to enhance delivery of key ecosystem services while still providing identifiable livelihood benefits (Sri Lanka). Environmental change provides a specific context where adaptability and resilience based strategies have increased importance to rural communities. Temperatures are steadily increasing and weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable and extreme with prolonged dry or wet spells and very strong storm events in the high mountain agricultural environments of Nepal and humid subtropic areas of Sri Lanka. Changes in water availability and quality, in soil quality, nutrient availability, frequency and intensity of pest and disease problems have all been identified at the selected activity sites and linked to land and ecosystem service degradation. This activity addresses agrobiodiversity’s specific contribution to resilience (Nepal), and ecosystem services provisioning (Sri Lanka). In collaboration with communities and ministries in both countries, the activity seeks ways in which these contributions can be secured and enhanced. The underpinning hypothesis of the activity is that farmers benefit from increased availability of locally adapted materials, together with adapted ecosystem management practices, through (i) improved provision of ecosystem services (e.g. target ecosystem service areas include pest and disease regulation, soil quality, water availability and quality, and pollination); (ii) improving adaptability and resilience to environmental change; and, (iii) improving livelihood options through diversification. The components of this hypothesis are being tested through a series of integrated activities using approaches that ensure full farmer and community involvement and control over key decisions. In Nepal, the primary focus is on diversity’s contribution to pest and disease regulation and environmental change. Species selection and varietal plasticity offer an adaptation and resilience option that may be of considerable significance. In the resilience work, we focus specifically on the response traits of agricultural biodiversity, their response to environmental change. Species selection and varietal plasticity will be assessed in Nepal looking at the overall performance in terms of yield and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress over time. Landscape approaches are critical here as they allow mapping species with specific traits and the option of mobilizing these species/varieties in response to improving cropping system stability in the face of increased environmental variability. The species/varieties identified will be made available to farmers who will have the option of adopting them depending on local conditions. In Sri Lanka an integrated approach is being adopted to investigate the ways in which management and use of agrobiodiversity (associated and selected) can be integrated with sustainable ecological agricultural management practices to provide optimum (win-win) pathways to improved production sustainability, and overall productivity and contributions farmer livelihoods. In contrast to the Nepal work, here the focus is on species effect traits – that is the effect they have on ecosystem service provisioning rather than their response to environmental change. The activities are being undertaken through GEF supported projects in Nepal and Sri Lanka in seven sites (4 and 3 respectively) selected to provide a set of contrasting situations in which high levels of diversity have traditionally played a key role in system management and supporting livelihoods but which inappropriate development options, environmental change, conflicts over land management and other factors are compromising system adaptability and resilience and reducing livelihood options. The GEF framework provides an appropriate framework for assessing and monitoring outcomes that support the investigative action- research framework of the activity and is aligned with national partner commitments to reaching the Aichi targets (Convention on Biological Diversity). A common set of actions has been identified which have individually been successful in other contexts but have not previously been brought together especially with respect to agrobiodiversity’s use within a landscape management framework for ecosystem and resilience. The activity will result in: additional crop species and varieties and livestock breeds adapted to changing environments accompanied with adapted production practices within the target production landscapes (sites); adoption of sustainable management practices and improved ecosystem service provision; improved livelihood options through diversification and development of diversity rich marketing; improved capacity at community, extension service and NARs levels; and, a more conducive policy environment with strengthened local institutions regarding the use of agricultural biodiversity for ecosystem service provisioning and resilience. Baseline and end of activity studies of the different agro-ecosystems provide the necessary information for evaluating results of activities in terms of (a) diversity, (b) soil, water and related ecosystem properties, (c) pollination and pest and disease regulation, (d) livelihoods. Resilience is assessed using social-ecological resilience indicators and other available measures and adaptability strategies using a set of indicators developed within the framework of the national adaptation plan and strategy developed in Sri Lanka and Nepal. An institutional framework for mainstreaming agrobiodiversity conservation and use will be developed in both countries, creating a more favourable policy environment and developing a knowledge framework to ensure that agricultural biodiversity based approaches are a recognized part of national agricultural development and research programmes. The work includes identification of policies, laws and regulations that constrain diversity’s maintenance and use or ecosystem service options, engaging relevant groups at all levels (from community to national) in a series of activities that can support institutional strengthening and policy development, reinforcing participation in local and national decision making fora such as National Agrobiodiversity Committee, National Seed Board, and civil society networks, and the development in Sri Lanka of a National Agrobiodiversity Strategy. We accomplish this by engaging key stakeholders in decision-making teams and by organizing activities (e.g. travelling seminars) to dialogue with, and increase awareness of policy makers. A strong capacity development set of actions will underpin these activities. Key leverage points have been identified as variety registration/seed certification and supply procedures and practices, policies surrounding the supply of agricultural inputs and, in Sri Lanka such positive developments as the establishment of the national Home Garden Support Programme. A specific target that we have identified is the integration of agro-ecosystem management and diversity perspectives in the developing National Adaptation Strategies developed within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC framework. Project activities envisage active participation of farmers and key stakeholders, in such way that full understanding of the value of diversity is reached at different levels (farmers, famer’s associations, local institutions). Participation of policy makers to project activities (e.g. diversity fairs, community seed banks, diversity field schools, diversity field blocks, on-farm trials, etc.) will be facilitated to ensure that contribution of diversity is also understood at in the context of local priorities and national policies as well as to help guide the design of appropriate policy intervention. Major activities carried out in the countries include: Nepal • Multiplication of 125 accessions of Amaranth landraces and the seeds of seven local rice landraces (Sugandha, Barkhe-3 accessions, Salidhan and Hansaraj), were made available to smallholder farmers at the project sites. • Two diversity fairs were conducted (Chippra, Humla district, and Ghanapokhara, Lamjung district) to assess the extent of diversity within the mandate crops in the project districts as well as collect germplasm for the National Genebank. • Naked barley mother trials (8 test varieties and 1 farmer variety) were set up and dispatched along with the activity protocol to four project sites. • Mapping of existing accessions of mandate crops collected in the Genebank from the project districts was completed. Sri Lanka • Agrobiodiversity survey was conducted to identify: (a) traditional and modern cultivars available in each ecosystem, (b) the distribution and abundance of traditional cultivars, (c) farmer requirements of traditional cultivars, (d) possible cultivars for on-farm conservation, (f) cultivars that need to be conserved in ex-situ. • Measures of common crop species and varietal diversity (Simpson, richness, Divergence of traditional varieties of common crops, total number of varieties and % of traditional cultivars) were calculated for each study site. • Surveys on livestock traditional genetic resources (Dept. of Veterinary Basic Sciences, Univ.of Peradeniya) and medicinal plants carried (the Bandranayka Memorial Aurvedic Research Institute (BMARI) have also been carried out. • Assessment of soil (physical and chemical parameters) and water resources (pH, electrical conductivity and turbidity) status started in 2014 and will continue in 2015 (the Natural Resources Management Center, Peradeniya) and associated with system diversity to evaluate the relationship between diversity, management type, and service provision.

Contact Person

Bhuwon Sthapit; Paola De Santis (p.desantis@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

Bioversity International

Partners

Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Biodiversity Secretariat, Department of Agriculture

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2014 — December 01, 2017

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Southern Asia, Global

Countries

Nepal, Sri Lanka

WLE CRP Management Committee and RDE Flagship and ESR Theme Leadership

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:55 +0000

This work encompasses CIAT’s contribution to WLE Management and Science Leadership and includes a leadership contribution to the new Flagship Restoring Degraded Agricultural Ecosystems (RDE), and the Ecosystem Services and Resilience core theme. In 2014 activities included ensuring awareness and increasing the profile of WLE and CGIAR in Global initiatives, including active participation in the Global Soil Forum and its group on soils and land in the SDG’s and the post 2015 agenda, and partnership in the emerging 20by20 land restoration initiative in Latin America that will be launched at the Global Landscape Forum aside COP 19 of the UNFCCC in Lima in December. In 2014 the new RDE flagship was developed, included in the extension phase proposal, and introduced to the WLE SC and to center representatives at the WLE Science Meeting in October; a framework for rollout of development economics approaches associated with Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) in WLE regions was delivered, and an ELD hub for Africa was initiated. In 2015 this activity includes i) continuing efforts within global initiatives with focus on Global Year of Soils, Global Soil Week, soils and land in the SDG’s, the 20by20 initiative, and the German ‘One world without hunger’ initiative; ii) supporting projects and initiatives within the new focal regions on research related to land degradation, ecosystem services, and gender; iii) monitoring and evaluation processes, specifically review and feedback on activity plans and reports from centers participating in RDE to continue to improve alignment of center workplans with WLE goals; iv) development of WLE initiatives under the ESR core theme; v) supporting WLE through participation in WLE SC, MC and Science meetings; and vi) seeking bilateral fund raising opportunities for WLE. This activity overall constitutes 25% FTE of the WLE management team member.

Contact Person

Deborah Bossio (d.bossio@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

Partners

Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies, Center for International Forestry Research

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2015 — December 01, 2016

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Global

Regulating current and future damage from pests and diseases through enhanced use of intra-specific crop diversity in agricultural production landscapes

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:55 +0000

Intra- and interspecific diversity of agricultural biodiversity is one of the principle mechanisms that pest and disease regulating services are provided by agricultural ecosystems and landscapes. As much as 30% of the global harvest losses to pests and diseases occur in developing countries. The continuing evolution of tolerant species of pests and pathogens that are able to overcome resistance genes of modern breeding requires an increased use and reliance on pesticides with consequences for environmental externalities (e.g. water quality) and human health. Landscapes sown to uniform varieties (modern or local) are prone to increased vulnerability to pests and diseases that can spread rapidly (e.g. the Irish potato famine caused by the late blight pathogen in the 1840s; the southern corn leaf blight in the US in the 1970s; the fungal disease black sigatoka responsible for about 47% of yield loss in Central American countries; cassava mosaic virus causes yield losses of up to 40% in some parts of Africa). Until recently IPM methods have concentrated on using agronomic techniques to modify the environment to reduce the need for pesticides, making limited use of the opportunities offered by the effective deployment of the intraspecific diversity of local crop varieties themselves. This project concentrates on management of local crop cultivars as a key resource for pest and disease regulation for a globally agreed set of staple crops for the specific pest and disease systems in China, Ecuador, Morocco, and Uganda: (i) maize (Zea mays): northern leaf blight (Setosphaeria turcica) and stem borer; (ii) common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris): angular leaf spot (Phaeoisariopsis griseola), anthracnose (Colletotrichum lindemuthianum), rust (Uromyces appendiculatus), and bean fly (Ophiomyia phaseoli; O. spencerella); (iii) faba bean (Vicia faba): aphids (Aphis fabae), chocolate spot (Botrytis fabae), seed pod weevil (Bruchus rufimanus; B. dentipes); (iv) banana and plantain (Musa spp.): black leaf streak (black sigatoka; Mycosphaerella fijiensis), Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense), nematodes, and weevils (Cosmopolites sordidus); (v) Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum): Septoria leaf blotch (caused by Zysomoseptoria tritici) and brown rust (Puccinia recondita f. sp. Tritici); and (vi) rice (Oryza sativa): rice blast (Pyricularia grisea) and rice plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens).. By concentrating on intra-specific diversity as an ecosystem service based approach to pest and disease regulation, we highlight ecological mechanisms that reduce field, farm, and landscape vulnerability to pest and disease outbreaks. To date, a global collaboration of national researchers from four countries, have been supported to train national site-level personnel in common participatory approaches and technical assessment of genetic diversity, pathogens and pests incidence, and in the implementation of on farm experimental trials. Ministries of Agriculture, NARS and local governments in all four countries have provided policy support and allocated staff and students to work with farmer communities on integrating the use of crop varietal diversity good agronomic practices to manage pests and diseases. Local research stations, extension and local NGOs support capacity building and mainstreaming methods to manage pest and diseases, including providing good quality clean diverse seeds, and knowledge of pest and disease symptoms identification for better on farm management. Early results of field trials and other project activities include: (a) finding that increased diversity of crop varieties distribution across farmers’ fields and agricultural landscapes corresponds to a decrease in mean crop damage levels and reduced risk to future damage (b) Multi-landscape on-farm experiments identified varieties with more effective resistance to pests and diseases when grown outside their home landscape emphasizing the need for landscape scale mobilization of intraspecific diversity for pest and disease based regulating ecosystem services; (c) Intra-specific (variety) mixtures with non-uniform resistance tested in all countries and specific cases where mixtures out-performed their component monocultures in reducing crop damage and increasing yields identified for further testing; (d) Locally identified resistant materials integrated into national resistance breeding procedures with farmer selection criteria; (e) Clean diverse sets of seeds provided from community seed banks have increased production for small holder farmers in some of the sites up to 30%; (f) An unexpected benefit was these community seed banks acted as a meeting point for household members which adds social cohesion by providing a common means for the communities to improve production and income; (g) Training materials were developed, and over 3 000 farmers, extension, students, and researchers trained; (h) a damage abatement methodology and choice experiments developed to determine economic trade-offs using crop genetic diversity versus other IPM, resistant breed varieties or chemical input methods; and (i) Knowledge products: radio and television programmes, videos, drama, booklets, website articles and posters and peer-reviewed publications jointly authored by national partners. The long-term benefits of this initiative will be increased human capacity of male and female farmers to improve their incomes through the development of the skills, knowledge and enabling environment to use crop biodiversity to reduce crop loss from pests and diseases. Farmers will be empowered to use diversity and conserve it for future use. Rich and unique crop biodiversity, which form the basis for food security will be available to poor male and female farmers in the quality, quantity, and diversity needed to buffer against the increasing unpredictability in the amount and onset of rainfall, temperature extremes, and the frequency and severity of pests and pathogens. Not only will different varieties be availed which are adapted to new landscape conditions, but that diversity per se, i.e., sets of varieties with variation in functional or adaptive traits, will minimize the risk of crop loss under changes in pest and pathogens. Three complementary dimensions will be essential to ensure that farmers increase their ability to benefit from the use of crop genetic resources in their agricultural production systems to regulate pest and disease. The first will be to ensure that variation in resistance to key pests and diseases continues to exist in rural landscapes and be accessible for small-holder farmers from local communities and through seed networks supported by national programs. Second that the policy environment supports the use and benefit-sharing with farmers of the diversity for agricultural productivity and ecosystems resilience, and third that the farmers in these landscapes have the knowledge, institutions and leadership capacity to evaluate and use the benefits that this diversity provides them with. By adding intraspecific diversity, this project is working to reduce current crop loss, like other IPM methods, but also to reduce the probability of future crop loss, where target crops will be resilient to future changes in pests and pathogens (CGIAR IDO on Future Options). We posit that crop genetic diversity can regulate pest and diseases for specific landscapes and farm where there is variation in the host (crop inter- and intraspecific diversity) to the pest in question. However, we are aware that crop genetic diversity may not be the solution in all cases. Although the information is collected at the farmer’s field, it is collected from households across the larger agrocological landscape and the level of analysis is both at farm and at the agricultural landscape level. In this regard, GPS coordinated are collected for each household accompanying with information collected not only on the level of intra-specific diversity, but also the pest and disease damage and levels of pesticide use. Initial maps have already been made for China, Morocco, and are on-going for Uganda and Ecuador. We are using this information to look within each agroecological landscapes whether diversity is having an impact on reducing disease damage at the landscape level. Our up-scaling is concerned with diversity deployment in space from farm to community and across community to the landscape level. Questions such as: is it good to put all the diversity out there or not; and at what spatial scale should diversity be deployed are key to this work. Wheat stem rust (UG99) is a good example of a landscape level threat where single cultivars grown over larger areas has evolved a super-race pathogen that has become a serious threat to landscape level production. Thus, this work has many large-scale implications and aims to answer how much diversity (intra-specific) needs to be deployed at the landscape scale to avoid such super races from continuing to evolve.

Contact Person

Devra Jarvis (d.jarvis@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

Bioversity International

Partners

Unión de Organizaciones Campesinas Indígenas de Cotacachi, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, National Agriculture Research Laboratories, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yunnan Agricultural University

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2012 — July 01, 2016

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Southeast Asia, Latin America, Global, Eastern Africa

Countries

China, Ecuador, Morocco, Uganda

Addressing the challenges of smallholder farming communities: Restoring Degraded Agro-ecosystems

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:55 +0000

The project aims to restore degraded soils and agro-ecosystems in order to enhance the productivity, profitability, resilience, and generation of ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes that are highly vulnerable to climate change, through the adoption of improved climate-smart agroforestry and silvo-pastoral based systems (AFS) by smallholder communities. Agricultural systems provide food, feed, fiber, and fuel to sustain the livelihoods of local populations. These basic services and people’s livelihoods depend on complex webs of ecosystem services (ES) that control risks, vulnerability, and resilience to shocks. Land degradation, largely caused by poor management such as burning and overgrazing, diminishes landscapes’ ability to provide this range of ES, and reduces the ability of populations to respond to social and ecological pressures. Moreover, degraded natural resources increase the vulnerability of the poor to external stresses. It is now widely accepted that reversing land degradation requires integrated management across scales. The proposed work will use a cross-scale systems approach to restore degraded agro-ecosystems and generate multiple ES at plot (sustainable increase in productivity) and landscape (improved use of natural resources). Specifically in 2015, this project will: 1) Document management practices and data on the impact of improved AFS strategies on crop production, soil fertility at the plot scale 2) Document information and develop protocols to examine costs and benefits of AFS to farmers. 3) Document information and develop protocols to quantify environmental costs and benefits at landscape scale and explore promising mechanisms to compensate farmers for ecosystem services. 4) Document information and develop protocols for Extrapolation Domain Analysis. 5) Identify with farmers and other key development partners key components of AFS that should be combined and managed on degraded lands to enhance the multi-functionality of these systems (6) Improve the capacity of technicians and farmers and local organizations to design more diverse and sustainable farming systems, including crops, livestock and trees.

Contact Person

Mirjam Pulleman (m.pulleman@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

Partners

University of Hohenheim, National Agricultural University, Nicaraguan Institute of Crop Livestock-Technology, Catholic Relieve Service

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2015 — December 01, 2016

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Latin America

Defining management strategies to improve water use efficiency and soil carbon stocks in rainfed systems and modeling their impact at different spatial and temporal scales

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:55 +0000

Proposing alternatives to intensify farming and improve land use and ecosystems services at landscape level in rainfed systems demand for robust methods and tools. In this activity we proposed developing and fine-tuning state of the art approaches, in cross collaboration with sister Centers, ARIs and related CRPs. The first cluster of activities deal with the need of having reliable geospatial information on daily rainfall for modeling water balance, including the characterization and modeling of shallow ground water level dynamics, river recharge, etc. This is an on-going activity with CIAT-Africa in the Volta River basin. Several of the tools being tested for large-scale reconstruction of rainfall were developed by CIP with CCAFS, using mechanical statistical approaches. The second cluster deals with enhancing the efficiency in the use of water by crops. CIP has been testing the partial root-zone drying in potato under different environmental conditions and using different irrigation schemes at small-scale (Reported and published under WLE). In 2015 & 2016 we expect to introduce the technology in the Blue Nile Basin (Ethiopia) and unravel some crucial physiological mechanisms to fine tune the technique as well as testing the method at commercial scale. We are also evaluating the use of minor water stress periods as priming to enhance WUE. The third cluster deals with soil carbon stocks and quality. CIP and EMBRAPA initiated this work in the Andes and East Africa (Reported and published under WLE) and using novel portable or semi-portable laser-based equipment such as Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF). Previous work has been published under WLE and is closely related to the work conducted by CIP. The soil and water department from University of Florida is a partner in this research. A PhD student is working on modeling soil carbon dynamics. A limiting factor in modeling soil-carbon-nutrients-water relations across scales is the lack of good quality data at the resolutions needed. The research proposed focuses on generating and processing remotely sensed information to be used as ancillary data. To assess the robustness of the procedures tested, the theory will be developed in data-rich environments to ascertain the biases introduced as data scarcity increases. We propose using non-linear processes to characterize and model these soil-nutrients-water relations. Tools and methods will be programmed in open source software and national partners in developing countries will be trained in their use, once validated. This work has attracted the attention of policy-makers and with a small grant from CCAFS we will be complementing the research to support Peruvian Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment to generate the first agricultural NAMA in Peru. This is a great opportunity to show synergies between these two CRPs. Tools developed by CIP and partners must be anchored in the larger pathway developed by the Program to generate the expected impact. Therefore, a senior Applied Physicist has been posted to Nairobi to jointly implement the applications with ICRAF, CIAT, and other WLE partners.

Contact Person

Roberto Quiroz (r.quiroz@cgiar.org)

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2012 — December 01, 2016

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Eastern Africa, Western Africa, Latin America

Countries

Ethiopia, Ghana, Peru

Facilitating watershed management in Yewol Watershed of the Nile Basin, Ethiopia and Angonia-Moatize transect of Zambezi Basin, Mozambique for Improved Food Security and Ecosystem Services

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:55 +0000

Nile Basin: The Ethiopian highlands have been one of the most affected by land degradation, erosion and water scarcity. ICRISAT and its partners have developed a watershed learning site in Yewol, Ethiopia, where the physical soil and water Management work was done in about 7500 ha of land. We have now identified niches and commodities that would facilitate sustainable intensification of the landscape while improving land and water resources management at farm and landscape scales. The research questions are 1) what are the effects of the soil and water conservation structures on upstream infield food and feed crop productivity, soil water status, erosion incidence and crop and livestock water productivity?; 2) what are the system changes that has been created/modified due to collective action in managing the Yewol agricultural landscapes , including emerging tradeoffs and conflict management strategies, shift in crop types, varieties, management options and byelaws? 3) How does the institutional and local arrangements downstream are changing due to increased provision of ecosystem services in upstream areas (e.g. increased water flow for irrigation, reduced movement of livestock downstream in search for water) ? and 4) what are the key technologies, practices and policy instruments that could be scaled up/out to another watershed site in 2015? The 2015 activities are as follows: 1. Testing the performance of food and feed crops in the various landscape niches and quantify water and nutrient productivity across scales. We will collect data related to what type of crop/variety different farmers of various social category and landscape position will choose, what type of agronomic management they will employ to which crop and the changes in water and nutrient productivity? 2. Identifying and testing various community facilitation pathways, and training methods for farmers and development agents, for improved collective action and conflict resolution; We will monitor and document emerging community issues related to development of new watering points, identify and test local rules and negotiation pathways for conflict management, use various social arrangements for group discussion and document the role of the local government and community leader in facilitating change and resolving conflicts. 3. Comparing various water sources for improving water access and productivity, particularly for high value crops and seed sources across landscape positions and soil fertility gradients. 4. Quantify farm and landscape level benefits of terraces and soil bunds across soil fertility gradients and during small and main rainy seasons. We will measure soil water holding capacity across gradients, crop performance and crop yield 5. Organize policy forums and high-level workshops for scaling-up and wider influence. We will organize a scaling-out workshop, by bring key players from the old and new watershed sites together, facilitate discussion and plan for joint action 6. Scaling out the experiences from Yewol watershed to other landscapes with similar landscapes and climatic challenges. The Haik watershed, which is in a sorghum-based systems of the basin has been identified by our National partners as a potential target watershed for joint engagement. We will test the tools and methods developed in Yewol to characterize the new watershed, create strong partnership and mobilize the local actors for collective engagement. Zambezi Basin: Zambezi Basin, Southern Africa: This is another basin, where very limited investment has been made in land and water resources management, despite high level of poverty and resources degradation. 1. Capitalizing on the review done by Amede etal., 2014 (WLE Research series 1) and the baseline information we have generated in 2014 across three farming subsystems of the Chinyanja triangle (Maize-based, Sorghum-pigeon pea based and Livestock-based), identify key entry points for landscape intensification; 2. Document local knowledge about soil and water resources management and identify indigenous drought management strategies across the three farming systems; 3. Participatory evaluation of ecosystem health from farmers’ perspectives, considering the expansion of tobacco and associated deforestation; 4. Organizing and facilitating capacity building for farmers (particularly women) in land and water management;

Contact Person

Tilahun Amede (t.amede@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

Partners

Wollo University, Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2015 — December 01, 2016

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Eastern Africa, Southern Africa

Countries

Ethiopia, Mozambique

Management of Water and Salinity in the Nile Delta: Across-Scale Integrated Analysis of Efficiency and Equity Issues

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:55 +0000

The overall aim of the project is to identify physical and institutional interventions to improve water management in the Nile Delta using an integrated approach across scales (from farm to main canal levels) and encompassing water quantity–quality interactions. The specific objectives can be summarised as follows: 1. Identify and develop strategies that address institutional and technical barriers associated with the management of main and branch canals and assess the effectiveness of collective action in the functional operation of water user associations (WUAs) at the mesqa (tertiary) and branch (secondary) canal levels. 2. Develop and assess marwa- and farm-level interventions that improve the productivity of diverse farming systems, and that contribute to increased water productivity under conditions of salinity, while assessing the economic and social dimension of crop choice and water management.. 3. Build an understanding of the temporal and spatial dynamics of salt at several nested and successive scales (farm, meso, main canal/drain levels, fishpond area, lake) to understand the linkages between water management practices and salt movement/accumulation. 4. Develop an understanding of the implications of these cross-scale interactions through the modelling of the whole central delta, and assess the fraction of water that could potentially be ‘saved’ and used in the New Lands under constraints of salt management and sustainability of current uses (rice, aquaculture, fisheries). 5. Build capacity of decision-makers, water managers, researchers, extensionists, farmers and other stakeholders through seminars, targeted training courses in Egypt and formal and informal education and training programs.

Contact Person

Francois Molle (f.molle@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Partners

Water Management Research Institute, ADC-supported livelihood improvement through sustainable resource management program

Completed

Start/End dateSeptember 01, 2012 — November 01, 2015

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Eastern Africa

Countries

Egypt

Salinity Management in Central Asia

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:55 +0000

Irrigation and in particular large public irrigation schemes are often criticized for mortgaging the future of ecosystems services. Some would even go so far as to argue that the problems of salinity and waterlogging, degrading the ecosystem are an inevitable consequence of irrigation. This research addresses a problem in the Aral Sea Basin, namely degrading of ecosystems services through waterlogging and salinity. The area of the waterlogged soils alone in Uzbekistan is estimated at 2.47 M ha (~60% of total) and the salt affected is 2.43 M. ha (~60% of total). The objective of this project is sustainable intensification of water management in salt-affected irrigation scheme areas based on healthy functioning ecosystems with minimum return flow to the natural watercourses. The study tests technologies for reducing return flows to the natural water courses of the Central Asia. Specific objectives are examining changes of return flow quantity and quality and its impact on river water quality. In Uzbekistan, the traditional practice of saline land amelioration in Central Asia consists of heavy winter leaching of salt-affected soils and intensive drainage. In many cases drainage flow returns to the rivers and affects the provisioning ecosystem services in the downstream. Recent increasing irrigation water deficit multiplied evaporation from shallow water table followed by accumulation of salts in the topsoil. The Government has tried to reduce the water losses by rehabilitating the canal system and improving the drainage to increase the return flow. However these costly measures do not guaranty sustainable farming practices on salt affected soils and continue affecting to provisioning ecosystems downstream. This study focuses on: (1) evaluating enhances of the provisioning services by improving salinity management practices in Central Asia; (2) evaluating the impact of irrigation system rehabilitation projects on soil salinity levels; (3) evaluating the impact of alternative methods of salinity management, including sub-surface evaporation basin and cultivation of licorice on salt-affected abandoned soils on ecosystem services and healthy functioning ecosystems. Wide scale adaption of licorice technology of reclamation is limited due to planting of roots which require significant labour and high investment and time consuming. During this stage alternative technologies will be tested to increase germination of seeds of licorice. Subsurface evaporation basin will be modelled using Hydrus 2D.

Contact Person

Akmal Karimov (a.karimov@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Partners

Gulistan State University, Tashkent State University

Completed

Start/End dateJune 01, 2013 — December 01, 2015

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Central Asia

Countries

Uzbekistan

Agricultural biodiversity to improve regulating and supporting ecosystem services in agriculture landscapes in water scarce environments of Central Asia

wle_admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 22:28:03 +0000

Water scarcity and salinization are major problems of agricultural ecosystem degradation and development in Uzbekistan. While reforestation has often been used as a means of landscape restoration, its economic contribution to livelihoods is limited. Fruit tree orchards (almond, apple, apricot and pistachio) in contrast can provide many of the same benefits of reforestation, while providing an economically important crop for cultivation that complements restoration objectives. Considering the growing severity of this issue over the last decades, this project aims to conduct primary research on how orchards can be used to target ecosystem service restoration at landscape scales in water scarce and saline vulnerable environments. Within these sites, the project aims to understand how diversified orchards in these degradation hotspots contribute to ecosystem services based rehabilitation focusing on soil fertility, carbon storage, and soil water retention. It also investigates how inter- and intraspecific diversity of orchard species contribute to pollination and pest and disease regulation at the field scale. We map critical regions in the country’s agricultural landscapes where orchard development, as an alternative to other land uses, can be promoted as an intervention that both provide important restoration and livelihood impacts. We hypothesize that fruit tree diversity can be targeted and managed to promote long-term stability of agricultural production systems in water-scarce environments of Uzbekistan. While much research focuses on the role of biodiversity and ecosystem services in natural landscapes, much less research has been performed in cultivated systems, which, because of their importance for human health, finance, and food security, show an important potential. Our approach will be scaled up to move away from the current practice of promoting simplification of agricultural production systems that focus on mono-cropping of uniform varieties, to agroecological intensification alternatives that include a broad range of methods that better use agricultural biodiversity to enhance ecosystem services. The project will enhance integrated natural resource management practices by including and scaling up the use of the intra-specific diversity among cultivars maintained by farmers. The project seeks to mainstream such diversification in Uzbekistan by working in partnership with the national farmers’ association to develop a toolkit of best practices and procedures that enhance ecosystem services through the management of fruit tree diversity, and include these practices and procedures as part of the agricultural extension package for water-scarce farming communities. Other approaches in the project include Farmer Field Schools and Diversity Fairs which have the added benefit of providing forums for farmers to exchange ideas about the targeting, use and management of orchards for restoration, accompanied by the selection and conservation of crop genetic diversity to complement field scale services. The project asks whether and how integrated field and landscape restoration efforts contribute to the landscape scale in situ conservation of genetic diversity in this critical center of origin of fruit tree species. The approach also offers training opportunities that create new partnerships amongst farmers, researchers and extension services. A participatory market chain analysis will be used to identify obstacles to obtaining greater value for traditional fruit tree varieties, to map out relationships amongst market actors and bottlenecks in flows of crop genetic resources, and to provide insight into how prices behave in seed, seedling and product markets. The analysis will be used to quantify how fruit tree varieties obtain market value as they move from producers to consumers. As a result of the movement of goods through the value chain, a series of transaction costs arise. These will be classified into information, negotiation, and monitoring or enforcement costs and used to help identify how to equitably link market actors (producers, processors, traders, consumers). One of our deliverables for 2015 is the economic valuation of the ecosystem services provided by orchards. The infrastructure, institutions, policies, and customary practices that influence the broader market and the institutions and policies shaping the enabling environment will also be mapped. This will be followed by participatory market chain stakeholder consultations/meetings, which combine interests of producers, traders, retailers, exporters, cultivation experts, NGOs, government ministry representatives, and others. The project will also build farmers' capacity in management, use and exchange of market information regarding planting material of local diversity of fruit crops. Innovative methods to create and market local fruit tree products which contain their varietal diversity will also be developed and applied as, for example, the creation of a sets of diverse varieties of specific fruit trees to be sold as a package. The involvement of a selected group of international organizations, with expertise in key areas of agrobiodiversity maintenance and use, and in the issues of sustainable production, will ensure that Uzbekistan has direct access to some of the best developed procedures, protocols and methodologies currently available. For example, Bioversity International brings to the project its unique expertise on genetic resources conservation and on policy issues in agro-biodiversity gained over decades. IWMI has globally recognized expertise on water management in rain-fed and irrigated agriculture. Other international partners (FAO) bring unrivalled knowledge on e.g. ecosystem service provision and pollinator effectiveness in agro-ecosystems. The involvement of international partners also provides a cost effective way in which the project can bring benefits to the global community and to other countries exploring the demands to improve the livelihoods of rural communities and maintain diversity.

Contact Person

Muhabbat Turdieva (m.turdieva@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

Bioversity International

Partners

Uzbek Research Institute of Horticulture, Viticulture and Wine-making, Uzbek Research Institute of Genetics and Plant Experimental Biology, Uzbek Republican Research and Production Centre of Ornamental Gardening and Forestry, Uzbek Research Institute of Plant Industry

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2014 — December 01, 2017

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Central Asia

Countries

Uzbekistan

Use of agrobiodiversity for ecosystem resilience in managed and natural landscapes of Cuba

wle_admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 22:28:03 +0000

Cuba’s six Man and the Biosphere UNESCO reserves protect an important portion of the country’s wild floral and faunal species and are a refuge for unique components of agricultural biodiversity that are crucial for human wellbeing in tropical island landscapes. These components provide a range of ecosystem services from food, nutrient cycling, crop pollination and seed dispersal services to conserving genetic and species diversity and providing recreational and spiritual spaces. The unique biocultural heritage found in Cuban Biosphere Reserves is attributable in part to the presence of people, whose traditional patterns of land use have proven sustainable over centuries. The sustainable and traditional agricultural biodiversity management practices contribute to a more resilient, diversified agricultural system and to increased food security for the local communities. Most of the communities within the Biosphere buffer and transition zones depend for their livelihoods on small family farms and small gardens called conucos. Conucos have maintained traditional cultivars even after the introduction of modern varieties and promotion of monocultures of imported varieties by centralized, state-run development projects. This has important implications for the potential of home gardens to conserve threatened diversity in situ which is necessary for protecting so-called “minor” species and species that are difficult to preserve ex situ (i.e., vegetatively propagated and tropical fruit trees). The economic crisis that started in 1990 in Cuba had a strong negative impact on agriculture, but at the same time created conditions for emergence of a new model strongly based on principles of organic low-input agriculture and agro-ecology. With continuing food shortages, urban residents were forced to grow some of their own food. The government encouraged this process by starting an urban agriculture program that fostered both private and commercial gardens on underutilized urban land to supplement the food available in urban areas from the commercial agriculture sector. These gardens emphasized an organic, sustainable-agriculture approach for food production. Based on the experience of the National Movement of urban Agriculture and on the need to increase the national production of food, the government has recently developed the Sub-Urban Agriculture Program. This program, largely based on the principles of low-input organic agriculture, aims at increasing availability and diversification of food for the sub-urban population. The project seeks to meet national goals of food security and sovereignty by encouraging the production of local food crops and improving their value through an improved agricultural system that relies on local seeds adapted to local environment and climate, a reduced need for expensive inputs, income benefits from certification schemes, new local market opportunities, etc. The new suburban agriculture program is a promising start for stimulating and incentivizing domestic production and sale and the project seeks to maximize the potential benefits from the new policies.

Contact Person

Pablo Eyzaguirre, Nadia Bergamini (n.bergamini@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

Bioversity International

Partners

Centro Nacional de Areas Protegidas, Food and Agriculture Organization, ADC-supported livelihood improvement through sustainable resource management program

Completed

Start/End dateDecember 01, 2012 — December 01, 2017

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

3.1 Landscape restoration and their impacts

Regions

Latin America