The year 2015 has been a momentous year for international development. Not only did the 193 member states of the United Nations adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in New York in September, but 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal in Paris 3 months later.
“The team suggested diverting excess water from a canal fed by the flood-prone Pilakhar River, a minor tributary of the Ganga, to a village pond”
Since September 2015, IWMI scientists have been testing a new method for managing floods while overcoming water scarcity. The approach, referred to as ‘Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation’ (UTFI) (pronounced ‘utify’), involves using surplus floodwaters to recharge underground aquifers during the monsoon season, and then pumping the water to irrigate crops during the dry season. The pilot is being conducted in Uttar Pradesh, India. India is one of five Asian countries where IWMI has explored the potential to implement UTFI.
“Gujarat is one of India’s sunniest states, receiving 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. However, extended hot, dry spells and increasingly unpredictable rainfall are making farming a challenge”
In June, an IWMI-led pilot project, funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), helped one pioneering Indian farmer to profit from sunshine. When wheat and banana farmer Ramanbhai Parmar of Anand District, Gujarat, had finished irrigating his crops, he began selling energy produced by the solar panels powering his water pump back to the grid. The first local farmer to profit in this way, he received INR 7,500 (around USD 110) for 1,500 kWh of electricity produced over 4 months, as part of the Solar Power as a Remunerative Crop (SPaRC) initiative.
“To explore the impacts that migration is having on livelihoods, rural development and water resources, the IWMI-led CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) convened the major policy dialogue ‘Migration matters: Male out-migration and the feminization of agriculture’ in 2015”
Around 214 million international and 740 million internal labor migrants exist worldwide, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“A snapshot of what a wetland is at a particular point in time holds little value”
Wetlands, the most biologically diverse ecosystem on Earth, cover around 12.8 million km2 globally. Their economic value – based on the food, freshwater and building materials they provide, along with services such as water treatment, flood protection and erosion control – is estimated to be USD 70 billion per year. Yet, mapping and monitoring wetlands in order to manage their resources is challenging because of their shifting nature.
Wetlands are fundamentally dynamic. They move, change shape, and expand and contract with the seasons, often to varying extents from year to year. A wetland can sometimes be dryland, depending on when it is observed.
“Many African countries are currently planning the construction of dams, keen to reap the economic and development benefits that having reliable supplies of water for hydropower, irrigation and domestic use can bring”
A study conducted by WLE showed that one million people living near large dams in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are at risk of contracting malaria each year, four times more than previously estimated. The findings are particularly important because recent increased aid for water resources development has prompted a new era of dam building in the region.
“The maps showed the flooding situation in real time, using cloud-free satellite images provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)”
IWMI, in partnership with Sentinel Asia, activated its emergency response disaster charter twice during 2015. Led by the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), Sentinel Asia is an initiative through which organizations in the region use remote sensing (RS) and web-geographic information system (GIS) technologies to assist with disaster management. IWMI, which is a member of the Sentinel Asia Joint Project Team, provided flood mapping in October to its host Sri Lanka when exceptional rainfall inundated the Southern Province. Three months later, IWMI experts helped to prepare emergency response maps to aid relief and rescue operations in Chennai, India, following widespread flooding of the city and surrounding areas.
“The time is ripe to turn wastewater into an economic asset. More than half of the world’s population already lives in cities and this is set to rise further”
As World Water Day drew attention to the increasing pressures on the world’s freshwater resources, IWMI sought to highlight the value of wastewater. Developed countries have long treated wastewater to make it safe for reuse, but this has not been an option for many poorer developing nations. In these countries, wastewater frequently pollutes waterways. With freshwater at a premium, many urban and peri-urban farmers now use wastewater to irrigate crops, some without knowing, others more deliberately. This can present a risk to human health from contamination.
“The drone is currently being used to help health planners monitor the spread of chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu), which has been linked to contaminated well water”
Assessing the health of crops, observing flooded areas and analyzing water use on farms will all be made easier thanks to IWMI’s latest acquisition: a drone. The unmanned aerial vehicle, a Swiss-made Electronic Bee or eBee, caused quite a buzz during test flights over Anuradhapura in northern Sri Lanka. “When we got the first pictures back from the drone, we were delighted,” said Salman Siddiqui, Senior Manager of IWMI’s GIS, RS and Data Management Unit. “The detail and clarity were spectacular.”
“With Myanmar opening up at an unprecedented rate, government agencies need evidence-based research to help them make important decisions regarding national strategies of donor investments”
Myanmar’s central Dry Zone covers more than 75,000 km2, an area roughly equivalent to the size of Ireland. Its 10 million people include many of the country’s poorest. Agriculture, primarily rainfed, is the predominant livelihood among the rural population. However, farmers face challenging conditions, as the Dry Zone is the most water-stressed part of the country. Seasonal water scarcity is very common.
“We wanted to provide advice for agriculture and irrigation planners, decision makers, researchers and students”
As 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal in December 2015, IWMI published a book examining the impacts of future climate shifts on water use in agriculture. Published by CABI, Climate change and agricultural water management in developing countries was edited by IWMI’s Chu Thai Hoanh (Emeritus Scientist), Vladimir Smakhtin (leader for IWMI’s research theme on Water Availability, Risk and Resilience) and Robyn Johnston (IWMI’s Myanmar Representative), and included contributions from 10 IWMI researchers, along with 35 collaborators from 15 external organizations.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT PARTNERS
IWMI thanks all its investors for their financial support and contribution to its research in 2015, and the Institute looks forward to further strengthening its partnerships in the future.
Pay Drechsel, leader for IWMI’s research theme on Resource Recovery, Water Quality and Health, won the International Water Association (IWA) 2015 Development Award for Research. The award recognized Pay’s long track record in research, which has helped to identify ways in which farmers can safely use wastewater for irrigation. In many low- and middle-income countries that have little capacity for wastewater treatment, the use of wastewater for irrigation is widespread. The award was presented at IWA’s Water and Development Congress and Exhibition in Amman, Jordan, in October. Ger Bergkamp, Executive Director of IWA, hailed Pay as “an example to the water community in each corner of the globe.”
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, IWMI launched the touring exhibition Water in Sri Lanka in April at a cocktail reception held at the Light House Galley, Colombo. The exhibition, which showcased IWMI’s efforts to resolve Sri Lanka’s water resource challenges, toured the country during the year. IWMI’s regional offices in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Accra (Ghana), Delhi (India) and Pretoria (South Africa) also held events to celebrate the anniversary. Meanwhile, a new publication, Founding of IWMI in Sri Lanka, told the story of the Institute’s early years.