While providing new technologies and practices may garner the most attention in today’s development work, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is working hard to assure that providing knowledge has equal prioritization.
The Watershed hydrology impact monitoring research project, funded by the Asian Development Bank and Nordic Development Fund, provides examples of how this knowledge sharing arises. Regular trips to the field allow for valuable capacity development opportunities, as researchers directly discuss local land management techniques and agricultural practices with farmers and community leaders. Recently, these on-the-ground interactions led to two opportunities for capacity development by encouraging existing practices. In IWMI’s study areas, the landslide-prone districts of Doti and Baitadi, farmers regularly need to clear their fields of rocks. Some farmers move the rocks to the edges of the field and fill them in with dirt to create a path.
Ambika Khadka and Romulus Okwany talked to farmers about the unintended benefits of this behavior, as these rock piles act as small check dams that slow water flow and increase soil percolation for groundwater recharge. If this practice catches on across the steep catchment areas, all users will benefit from their neighbors’ diligence. Additionally, spring-flows throughout the catchment will increase, as shallow aquifer recharge improves.
The local practice of planting fruit trees on disturbed land can also be encouraged in order to solve a pressing issue. In observing the frequent landslides adjacent to new road cuts, IWMI researchers gathered community leaders and other residents to share the benefits of fruit trees in ground stabilization and landslide abatement. Planting more fruit trees will reduce the frequency and severity of these landslides, improving the effectiveness of the project’s implementations below these road cuts. As the project pilots new technologies and intervention options in these sensitive catchment areas, care will be taken to continue to first understand existing customs and how they can work in concert with project improvements. Sharing this knowledge with residents will be critical to the longevity of the project’s success and, most importantly, community buy-in and ownership.
The local practice of planting fruit trees on disturbed land can also be encouraged in order to solve a pressing issue. In observing the frequent landslides adjacent to new road cuts, IWMI researchers gathered community leaders and other residents to share the benefits of fruit trees in ground stabilization and landslide abatement. Planting more fruit trees will reduce the frequency and severity of these landslides, improving the effectiveness of the project’s implementations below these road cuts. As the project pilots new technologies and intervention options in these sensitive catchment areas, care will be taken to continue to first understand existing customs and how they can work in concert with project improvements. Sharing this knowledge with residents will be critical to the longevity of the project’s success, and most importantly, community buy-in and ownership.