Water, Land and Ecosystems - 1.2 Nile/East Africa region

Sustaining land management interventions through integrating income generating activities, addressing local concerns and increasing women's participation (N6)

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:00 +0000

The government of Ethiopia, together with development partners, has, through the Growth and Transformation Program, supported the ecological restoration of degraded lands differently. The Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project sought to assess the contributions of different natural resource management interventions on livelihoods and ecosystem services in the Ethiopian highlands. The project has worked across scales (i.e., household, watersheds and landscape scales) in order to identify incentives that can encourage communities to adopt these conservation approaches.

The project has examined how the benefits and trade-offs of these proposed interventions may impact men and women differently, and it has explored ways to increase participation by women and other marginalized groups in decision making.

WLE's regional program in the Nile and East Africa Region (WLE Nile-East Africa) was a research-for-development initiative that sought to restore and bolster opportunities for increased agricultural productivity through key ecosystem services, especially in the resource poor areas of the region. WLE Nile-East Africa was one of four regional programs of WLE, which also included the Ganges, Greater Mekong, and Volta/Niger.

Contact Person

Wolde Mekuria (w.bori@cgiar.org)

Partners

Amhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI), International Water Management Institute, Bahir Dar University, Bureau of Agriculture

Completed

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

Research ThemeEnhancing Sustainable Agriculture

Cluster

1.2 Nile/East Africa region

Regions

Eastern Africa

Countries

Ethiopia

Laying the Foundations for Effective Landscape-Level Planning for Sustainable Development in the SAGCOT Corridor

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:00 +0000

Laying the Foundations for Effective Landscape-Level Planning for Sustainable Development in the SAGCOT Corridor: Ihemi agricultural development cluster

Almost 80% of the population in the SAGCOT corridor derive their livelihoods from agriculture and depend highly on natural resources for charcoal, beekeeping, etc. Laying the Foundations for Effective Landscape-Level Planning for Sustainable Development (LiFELand) aimed to promote sustainable intensification in a large agricultural landscape of the Ihemi cluster, by generating information for dialogue in evidence-driven processes for planning sustainable development within the cluster. Elsewhere in the world, corridor development has resulted in the displacement of relatively diverse agricultural production systems by large-scale monoculture.

This project focused on helping local institutions, investors and policy makers to build robust, evidence-driven processes for planning sustainable development within the cluster. It sought to complete a comprehensive baseline survey of agricultural yields and farmer income within the cluster, with particular focus on female headed farming households, the most vulnerable group of farmers. It assessed water resources within the cluster, a key natural resource constraint for agriculture, identified and filled data gaps, and modeled different scenarios for the expansion of agriculture, looking for the most sustainable options. Findings were fed into planning processes within and beyond the Ihemu cluster.

Learn more

Visit the LiFELand website.

WLE's regional program in the Nile and East Africa Region (WLE Nile-East Africa ) was a research-for-development initiative that sought to restore and bolster opportunities for increased agricultural productivity through key ecosystem services, especially in the resource poor areas of the region. WLE Nile-East Africa was one of four regional programs of WLE, which also included the Ganges, Greater Mekong, and Volta/Niger.

Contact Person

Felix Kamau (fkamau@tnc.org)

Partners

The Nature Conservancy, Office of Chief Scientist, Sokoine University of Agriculture, The International Centre for Tropical Agriculture

Completed

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

Research ThemeEnhancing Sustainable Agriculture

Cluster

1.2 Nile/East Africa region

Regions

Eastern Africa

Countries

Tanzania

Nile Ecosystems Valuation for Wise-Use

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:00 +0000

Nile Ecosystems Valuation for Wise-Use

Wetlands provide an array of market and non-market benefits for immediate users but also offer wider catchment and global benefits. Yet, their economic and social values are often unrecognized. The steady and ongoing decline of wetland extent and quality in the Nile basin will lead to a further net decrease of overall value unless managed with greater focus, taking into account the economic value of direct use, indirect use and non-use.

The Nile Ecosystems Valuation for Wise-Use (Nile Eco-VWU) project developed and tested integrated tools for economic valuation of wetland ecosystems services that can be applied at local and regional scales, analyzing policy and investment trade-offs on water governance, ecosystem services and social equity.

A better understanding of the consequences of decisions for ecosystem services will help optimize wetland use for total economic value, and ultimately contribute to improved local and regional policies and enhanced livelihoods for local communities.

Four cases of threathened wetlands in the Nile basin

Training materials on wetlands management and valuation

Project highlights

Learn more

https://www.nile-eco-vwu.net

Contact Person

Amel M. Azab (a_azab@nbcbn.net)

Partners

The Nile Basin Capacity Building Network (lead), Makerere University, Cap-Net, UNESCO Chair in Water Resources, Egerton University, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Szent Istvian University, Ain Shams University, The Faculty of Geo-information Science and earth Observation of the University of Twente, Water Capacity Building Network

Completed

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

Research ThemeEnhancing Sustainable Agriculture

Cluster

1.2 Nile/East Africa region

Regions

Eastern Africa

Harnessing Floods to Enhance Livelihoods and Ecosystem Services

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:00 +0000

Flood-based Farming Systems (FBFS) influence local livelihoods and economies, and biophysical systems. FBFS divert floodwater and spread it over large areas to grow crops, support water rangeland and replenish shallow groundwater. In semi-arid environments it is often the only source of water. Recognizing the importance of FBFS for local livelihoods and economies, the Ethiopian and Sudanese governments, supported by donors are investing in the improvement of infrastructure and on-farm practices to enhance agricultural productivity. However, it is unknown how these interventions may interact with other functions provided by floods at the local and landscape level and how these interventions affect livelihoods.

This project sought to explore how FBFS interact with other functions provided by floods at various scales, especially how to optimize the use of floods for agriculture and ecosystem services to support livelihoods in different landscapes and socio-economic settings in Gash Area (Sudan) and Tigray Area (Ethiopia). The aim was to improve investments in FBFS to ensure an equitable distribution of costs and benefits of the impacts of proposed interventions. The project also explored how investments in FBFS can best embrace gender and social equity.

Research Guide for Inclusive Management of Floods

The Harnessing Floods project produced this Research Guide for Inclusive Management of Floods in Sudan and Ethiopia by engaging with local partners. The project partners have embraced women representation and involvement in flood management. The guide discusses three elements that lay the foundation to successfully conduct research work, pilot the findings and upscale them. The elements are: clearly formulated research questions, scientific and practically relevant methodologies and the full engagement of committed local partners, with interest in the project. The questionnaires and focus group discussions used to collect data have included specific questions to capture the differentiated needs and priorities and constraints of men and women for both project sites in Ethiopia and Sudan. Incorporation of women in the socio-economic research has led to extensive consultation of female farming community members. The project has seen Gash farmers Water User Association endorse the gender and ecosystem approach.

Video highlights

Harnessing Floods to Enhance Livelihoods and Ecosystem Services Project

Harnessing Floods to Enhance Livelihood and Ecosystem Services In the Gash River basin

Spate Irrigation: First Floods

Interview with High-level Ethiopian Delegation Visiting UNESCO-IHE

Managing Microclimates

Webinar: It's the microclimate! You didn't see?

Contact Person

Frank van Steenbergen (fvansteenbergen@metameta.nl)

Partners

UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Mekelle University, Hydraulic Research Center, Spate Irrigation Network Foundation.

Completed

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

Research ThemeEnhancing Sustainable Agriculture

Cluster

1.2 Nile/East Africa region

Regions

Eastern Africa

Countries

Ethiopia, Sudan

Accounting for Nile Waters

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:00 +0000

Accounting for Nile Waters: Connecting investments in large scale irrigation to gendered reallocations of water and labor in the Eastern Nile Basin

Investments in dams and irrigation schemes have often occurred without adequate information on their benefits, risks and trade-offs. The Accounting for Nile Waters project aimed to establish how the reallocation of Nile Basin waters affects livelihood opportunities, productive possibilities, and ecosystem services. The project assessed these effects across different groups of people at different scales in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, which have ambitious investment plans to increase irrigated agriculture in the Eastern Nile basin.

This project aimed to understand how the re‐allocation of water—which often entails a shift from subsistence agriculture and pastoral activities to commercial agriculture—may alter gendered labor and tenure opportunities, and what this means for equity and sustainability. It linked advanced tools for assessing how large infrastructural projects alter water flows with ethnographic methods to understand the (gendered distribution) of benefits and trade-offs of large investments in irrigated agriculture. To ensure ownership and impact, the project engaged water users, policy makers and investors in the knowledge creation process and used participatory and joint data and information collection exercises to build capacity of policy makers and young professionals.

The project aimed to improve stakeholders knowledge and abilities to understand the linkages between new irrigation projects and gendered livelihoods and ecosystems.

Participants at the Accounting for Nile Waters workshop that as held in Wad Medani, Sudan.

Desalegne Tadesse/IWMI

Project highlight

www.nilewaterlab.org

WLE's regional program in the Nile and East Africa Region (WLE Nile-East Africa) was a research-for-development initiative that sought to restore and bolster opportunities for increased agricultural productivity through key ecosystem services, especially in the resource poor areas of the region. WLE Nile-East Africa was one of four regional programs of WLE which included the Ganges, Greater Mekong, and Volta/Niger.

Contact Person

Margreet Zwarteveen (m.zwarteveen@unesco-ihe.or)

Partners

UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Hydraulic Research Center, Forum for Social Studies, International Water Management Institute, The Faculty of Economic & Social Studies, University of Khartoum, The Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office, Research Institute for a Sustainable Environment of the American University inCairo

Completed

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

Research ThemeEnhancing Sustainable Agriculture

Cluster

1.2 Nile/East Africa region

Regions

Eastern Africa

Agro-biodiversity for Ecosystem Service Restoration in Ethiopia

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:00 +0000

Agro-biodiversity for Ecosystem Service Restoration in Ethiopia

Land degradation affects the services ecosystems provide to society, and thereby compromise food security and reduced resilience to perturbations. This project sought to leverage the potential of plant agrobiodiversity to support the restoration of three degraded landscapes in the Ethiopian highlands. It examined how ecosystem services can help communities cope with the effects of soil degradation and climate change, while simultaneously improving health and nutrition and supporting more productive economies.

Learn more

Agrobiodiversity for Restoration

Contact Person

Carlo Fadda (c.fadda@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

Bioversity International

Partners

Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, Bioversity International, Sirinka Agricultural Research Centre, Scuola Superiore S. Anna, Earth Institute, University of Columbia

Completed

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

Research ThemeEnhancing Sustainable Agriculture

Cluster

1.2 Nile/East Africa region

Regions

Eastern Africa

Countries

Ethiopia

Water, Land, Ecosystems and Trade in Staples

wle_admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 21:26:00 +0000

Water, Land, Ecosystems and Trade in Staples: Regional trade to enhance resilience of ecosystems; equitable wealth creation; food & nutrition security in the East African Community

A combination of failure to recognize regional food trade as a key element of sustainable and resilient food systems and inadequate integrated planning and execution of relevant policies has hindered efforts to ensure nutrition security and resilient food systems in East Africa. Limited commercialization of the region’s food staple sector is seen as a key obstacle.

Water, Land, Ecosystems and Trade in Staples (WaLETS) aimed to investigate which, what and how policies and investments in the EAC can prioritize ecosystem services and trade based approaches to food security. It looked at the current status and ways of empowering women and youth in order to improve food and nutrition security and foster wealth at national and regional levels.

The project worked with numerous partners, including FSI, PSI, NARS, government bodies and policy makers, and the EAC secretariat.

Contact Person

Birungi Korutaro (bkorutaro@kilimotrust.org)

Partners

International Food Policy Research Institute, KARI, Rwanda Agriculture Board, Kilimo Trust, Environmental Management Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture

Completed

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

Research ThemeEnhancing Sustainable Agriculture

Cluster

1.2 Nile/East Africa region

Regions

Eastern Africa