Water, Land and Ecosystems - Southeast Asia

Water and irrigation in Central Asia (Bilateral activity cluster)

Amanda — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 08:57:00 +0000

This project is comprised of six bilateral projects which are implemented by IWMI in Central Asia region.

1. Water management in Uzbekistan: This Programme is funded by the European Union in line with the wider framework of the EU bilateral MIP 2014-2020 for Uzbekistan. It pursues the overall objective to contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth in the rural sector in Uzbekistan in the context of a changing climate. *ENDING IN 2019*

2. Tajikistan WUAs evaluation. Objectives are: I. econometrically evaluate impacts of WUAs interventions made by the USAID project II. To identify key factors that may compromise the ability of WUAs to successfully provide irrigation services over time. III. To understand cropping decisions on kitchen plots, and identify opportunities for and constraints in cultivation of key food crops, and improving crop diversity. IV. To identify opportunities for and challenges in accommodating the increasing roles of women in water management. *ENDING IN 2019*

3. iMoMo outscaling in Central Asia iMoMo - Innovative Technologies for Monitoring, Modeling and Managing Water) *ENDING IN 2019*

4. Reduce Water pollution and carbon: This research provides a first major attempt to integrate, quantify and analyze linkages between water, energy, food, climate and health while accounting for stakeholder perceptions and social challenges in rural settings through bottom-up, cross-border cooperation.

5. Monitoring and Controlling Groundwater Levels for Improved Agricultural Outcomes in the Uzbek Ferghana Valley, Central Asia;

6. Background study to inform structuring of potential EBRD technical engagement with the Government of Uzbekistan on water management issues.

Contact Person

Anarbekov, Oyture <o.anarbekov@cgiar.org>

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Donors

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC)

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Partners

CREA - Council for research in agriculture and analysis of the agrarian economy (Italy), GIZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit / German Society for International Cooperation, iMoMo - iMoMo Innovation HUB, IWMI - International Water Management Institute, TIIM - Tashkent Irrigation and Melioration Institute, UBA - Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt), USAID - U.S. Agency for International Development

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2017 — May 31, 2021

Research ThemeLand and Water Solutions

Cluster

2.1 ALWM Solutions for Resilient Smallholder Livelihood and Landscape Systems

Regions

Central Asia, Southeast Asia

Countries

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

Measuring, Understanding and Adapting to Nexus Trade-offs in the 3S River Basins

Amanda — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 08:11:00 +0000

The purpose of this project is to improve the quality of planning and investment in the 3S region by undertaking activities in three consecutive "streams": i) nexus assessment; ii) capacity building for regional decision-making processes; iii) regional dialogues. IWMIs contribution to this study is primarily to support the nexus assessment. Based largely on literature review and guided by a Technical Advisory Group (TAG), IWMI will contribute to understanding of the current condition in the basin, the principal drivers of change and the likely trade-offs associated with different development options. IWMI will conduct sector assessment, economic assessment and livelihoods assessment each of which will comprise a baseline analyses to understand the current situation and an assessment of possible future trends based on development plans and drivers of change. To the extent possible all data/information will be disaggregated by basin and country.

Contact Person

McCartney, Matthew <m.mccartney@cgiar.org>

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Donors

U.S. Department of State

Partners

ICEM - International Centre for Environmental Management, IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature, IWMI - International Water Management Institute

Completed

Start/End dateOctober 01, 2016 — July 31, 2017

Research ThemeVariability, Risks and Competing Uses

Cluster

4.2 Managing Competing Uses and Trade-offs

Regions

Oceania, Southern Asia, Southeast Asia

Countries

Laos

Demonstrating and promoting an innovative landscape-based solution for flood capture and subsurface storage

Amanda — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 08:02:00 +0000

UTFI, an innovative landscape-based solution for addressing multiple water variability related challenges (floods, droughts, groundwater depletion), and enhancing the resilience and livelihoods of smallholder communities, is being demonstrated and evaluated in depth across diverse settings. This is intended to create the evidence-base needed to gain acceptance and support the uptake of UTFI interventions by policy and decision makers in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Contact Person

Pavelic, Paul <p.pavelic@cgiar.org>

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Donors

CGIAR

Partners

HRNS - Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung, IWMI - International Water Management Institute, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Vietnam)

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2017 — December 31, 2020

Research ThemeVariability, Risks and Competing Uses

Cluster

4.1 Risks associated with water variability mitigated

Regions

Southern Asia, Southeast Asia

Countries

India, Vietnam

Improving sustainability by better incorporating the environment in water trade-off assessments

Amanda — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 08:00:00 +0000

This project will support IWMI researchers who are contributing to international conventions and other prominent fora (e.g. IPBES, Ramsar, JAXA) through application of IWMI research. This involvement contributes to better assessment of trade-offs and how to manage them and highlights the value of WLE related research in an international arena.

Contact Person

McCartney, Matthew <m.mccartney@cgiar.org>

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Donors

CGIAR

Partners

IPBES - Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, IWMI - International Water Management Institute, JAXA - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Ramsar - The Ramsar Convention Secretariat

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2017 — December 31, 2021

Research ThemeVariability, Risks and Competing Uses

Cluster

4.2 Managing Competing Uses and Trade-offs

Regions

Central Asia, Eastern Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Southern Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, Western Africa

Countries

Sri Lanka

Understanding the ecosystem services of flood pulsed systems

Amanda — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 07:48:00 +0000

Recent and ongoing investments in the Ayeryarwaddy Delta and upstream are thought to be having an impact on agro-ecological conditions through modifications to the flood pulse. These can significantly alter both the hydrology of the delta and land use patterns, which can further undermine flood-based food systems, resilience of livelihoods and undermine natural ecosystems.

The aim of the spatial analysis conducted through the WLE funded activities is to contribute to the efforts being made by researchers at IWMI, WLE and WorldFish to build an integrated picture of the factors influencing the hydrology of the delta and impacts. During the inception of the FBFS project (mapped to FP2), a gap was noted in existing knowledge of the changes which have occurred to the flood pulse over the past two decades, and the location of areas which are currently suitable for flood based farming systems.

With support from WLE, this project has focused over the past two years on the development of a new approach to develop suitability maps for flood based farming systems in the delta, that take account of changing flood patterns. The project has focused on the development of scientific outputs that complement ongoing bilateral funded initiatives, and are used by projects to ensure a sound scientific basis for any recommendations made, and thus to have a greater impact and contribution to the sustainable development of the delta and the equitable use of water resources, and in particular building the resilience of the livelihoods of female farmers where applicable.

Contact Person

Rebelo, Lisa-Maria <l.rebelo@cgiar.org>

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Donors

CGIAR

Partners

IWMI - International Water Management Institute, MOALI - Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (Myanmar)

Completed

Start/End dateFebruary 01, 2017 — January 31, 2020

Research ThemeVariability, Risks and Competing Uses

Cluster

4.2 Managing Competing Uses and Trade-offs

Regions

Southeast Asia

Sustainable Groundwater

Amanda — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 06:42:00 +0000

The project takes an inter-disciplinary approach to understanding groundwater resources availability (renewability and storage) and variability/trends, dependence on the resource for agriculture and related uses, livelihoods and pathways to sustainable use in cooperation with local, national and international partners. It investigates the transboundary issues related to internationally shared aquifers and how joint approaches can build trust and further impetus for cooperation around long-term sustainability and use of the aquifer resources for increased resilience in the face of climate change.

This project supports RAMOTSWA, Groundwater Solutions Initiative for Policy and Practice (GRIPP), and liaises with UN-Water and other global international organisations on issue of sustainable groundwater use.

Activities under this project include:

Groundwater Futures in SSA Phase 2

GroFutures will apply new geophysical techniques and compile long-term observations of groundwater levels from the Network of Groundwater Obsevatories (NAGO) to substantially improve knowledge of the renewability and volume of groundwater in Sub-Saharan Africa.

GroFutures will also develop an inclusive, participatory framework for groundwater governance in which the views of poor women and men are considered together with the trade-offs associated with groundwater development pathways.

Resilience in the Limpopo Basin: the Potential Role of the Transboundary Ramotswa Aquifer (RAMOTSWA)

The overall objective of the project is to support a long-term joined vision and cooperation on the shared groundwater resources of the upper Limpopo region where the states potentially share significant and valuable freshwater underground resources as well as space for enhanced water storage. The project will facilitate joint management and better groundwater governance focused on coordination, scientific knowledge, social redress and environmental sustainability, in order to reduce poverty and inequities and to increase prosperity, livelihoods and food security in face of climate chance and variability.

Understanding Recharge in the Limpopo River Basin (GRECHLIM)

The GRECHLIM project will increase the capacity to assess groundwater resources, and in particular groundwater recharge, among students at the University of the Witwatersrand. It will also contribute to improving methodologies and practices for groundwater assessments and management among the national and local partners responsible for water supply and management in the Limpopo River Basin.

Transboundary Ramotswa Aquifer -II

The overall objective of the RAMOTSWA Project is to support a long-term joint vision and cooperation on the shared groundwater resources of the Limpopo River Basin and build a community of practice around transboundary aquifer management in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region. The project will facilitate joint management and better groundwater governance focused on coordination, scientific knowledge, social redress and environmental sustainability, in order to reduce poverty and inequities and to increase prosperity, livelihoods and food security in the face of current climate variability future climate change.

Contact Person

Villholth, Karen <k.villholth@cgiar.org>

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Donors

UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

CGIAR

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom

Partners

AGWT - American Ground Water Trust, Aquamatters, AWARD - African Women in Agricultural Research and Development, AWDROP - Association of Water Well Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners, AWRA - American Water Resources Association, BGR - Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe / Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, BGS - British Geological Survey, CAWR - Center for Advanced Water Research, DHI, GEF - Global Environment Facility, Government of Botswana, Government of Denmark, Government of South Africa, Government of Uttar Pradesh (India), Government of Zimbabwe, HRNS - Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung, IAH - International Association of Hydrogeologists, ICAR - Indian Council of Agricultural Research, IDS - Institute of Development Studies, IGES - Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, IRHA - International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance, IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature, IWMI - International Water Management Institute, KickStart International, MetaMeta, NCGRT - National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, NERC - Natural Environment Research Council, NGWA - National Ground Water Association, NUOL - National University of Laos, OKACOM - The Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commissio, OSS - Sahara and Sahel Observatory (Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel), Peace Parks Foundation, SADC-GMI - South African Development Community - Groundwater Management Institute, Sanitech, SANParks - South African National Parks, SKAT - Swiss Resource Centre and Consultancies for Development (Skat Consulting Ltd.), SuSanA - Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, SWM - Smart Water Metering, SYSU - Sun Yat-Sen University , TU Dresden - University of Dresden, UB - University of Botswana, UCL - University College London, UCPH - University of Copenhagen, UNDP - United Nations Development Programme, UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, University of Strathclyde, University of the Western Cape, UNL - University of Nebraska, UNU-INWEH - United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health , USAID - U.S. Agency for International Development, WUC - Water Utilities Corporation (Botswana), ZAMCOM - Zambezi Watercourse Commission

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2015 — December 31, 2021

Research ThemeVariability, Risks and Competing Uses

Cluster

4.1 Risks associated with water variability mitigated

Regions

Eastern Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Southern Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, Western Africa

Countries

Botswana, Ethiopia, India, Laos, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam

Innovative Risk Management Solutions for Floods and Drought to support national strategies for Disaster Risk Reduction in South Asia

Amanda — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 06:24:00 +0000

The main aim of this project is to develop a framework to help institutions in South Asian countries reduce vulnerability and strengthen preparedness to droughts. The project will advance the existing prototype of drought forecasting and warning that includes the science of monitoring and forecasting and can provide information on how different groups can use the forecasts to support their decision-making. On the risk transfer solutions on flood insurance project we will investigate business models and the establishment of an enabling institutional framework to contribute to development at meaningful scales. Further, the index insurance, will enable the poor to access financial tools for development, properly prepare for, and recover from flood disasters. Other activities include rapid emergency response mapping during major flood disasters to support disaster agencies in relief and impact assessment as well as a range of capacity building activities to brief national stakeholders and strengthen national strategies for Disaster Risk Reduction in South Asia.

Contact Person

Amarnath, Giriraj <a.giriraj@cgiar.org>

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Donors

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd.

Partners

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, ICAR - Indian Council of Agricultural Research, IWMI - International Water Management Institute, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Lao PDR), MPKV - Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, SAARC - South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, The World Bank, UN-SPIDER - United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response, WFP - World Food Programme, WRMS - Weather Risk Management Services Private Limited

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2017 — December 31, 2021

Research ThemeVariability, Risks and Competing Uses

Cluster

4.1 Risks associated with water variability mitigated

Regions

Global, Southern Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa

Countries

Afghanistan, India, Myanmar, South Africa, Sri Lanka

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

Tools for assessing water dynamics in rainfed agro-ecoystems

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

This is a compendium of smaller projects that were previously stand-alone activities. Understanding the dynamics of water variability is essential to managing water in rainfed agricultural systems. Conventional approaches are driven largely by biophysical data, disregarding farmers’ behaviors, responses and strategies. The Water Dynamics (WD) component aims to reconcile scientific (remotely sensed) descriptions of the dynamics of water variability with small-holder farmers’ perceptions, concerns and responses. This is essential to devise well-targeted policies and interventions that can improve livelihoods, as well as optimizing water management and agricultural production. Studies are being conducted in two different agro-ecologies, each with different options in terms of water management: Fogera, Blue Nile (terracing and SWC); and North Central province, Sri Lanka (tanks). MODIS data (available daily for 15 years) are processed and analysed to derive a range of standard products that describe spatial and temporal variability of water at landscape scales. These are compared with survey data describing small-holder perceptions and management responses. A second component uses participatory 3D mapping (P3DM) of land and water resources in the Jeldu catchment, to integrate local knowledge and technical hydrological modelling approaches, with specific emphasis on gender-differentiated views of landscapes and land use. P3DM has been developed and tested very successfully at village scales in 2014. Application of the approach at both village and watershed scales complements work being done under ILSSI to integrate hydrological modelling across scales (ILSSI IDSS, combining SWAT, FARMSIM and APEX). Preliminary work to set up P3DM for the Jeldu catchment was undertaken in 2014. The actual mapping exercise which involves several days of working intensively with the community, was conducted in early 2015. A third component, also ongoing, is assessing the extent and sustainability of groundwater resources in the Cambodian (GWCam) floodplain, to contribute to increased agricultural productivity and decreased agricultural risk for small-holders. The project is based on: • Interviews with local well drilling contractors, to compile their knowledge of the extent of the resource, including flow rates and depth to groundwater in different areas • Collation of results from existing hydro-geological studies • Re-establishing measurements in wells monitored by MOWRAM, iDE and JICA in late 1990s through to 2008, to examine long-term trends in water levels in aquifers which are currently being exploited. A parallel project (under AAS) will examine patterns of use for domestic and agricultural purposes, and institutional issues around sustainable management of groundwater at village level (however, as of November 2014 the status of this project is uncertain, due to revision of the AAS program) A fourth component is completion of an on-going activity exploring key drivers of successful irrigation schemes in SSA by examining irrigation mosaics – small, medium, and large scale irrigation schemes in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Ghana.

Contact Person

Robyn Johnston (r.johnson@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2014 — December 01, 2015

Research ThemeLand and Water Solutions

Cluster

2.1 Agricultural water and land management

Regions

Southeast Asia, Eastern Africa, Western Africa

Countries

Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania

Enhancing the resilience and productivity of rainfed dominated systems in Lao PDR through sustainable groundwater use

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

Agriculture sustains the livelihoods of the majority of people within Lao PDR. However most farmers can only grow a single crop each year on small plots of land that can be severely impacted by climate variability. The area under irrigation still remains very low and largely sourced from surface water. Groundwater development can potentially offer water on demand for crop diversification and intensification for food security and livelihood enhancement. Experience in the use of groundwater for irrigation in Laos is limited but could offer a great deal of promise if the main technical and non-technical barriers can be overcome and the available resources are adequately understood, appropriately developed and sustainably managed. The research is multi-disciplinary in nature to address the wide range of biophysical, socio-economic and institutional aspects of groundwater development and management. The project has 6 main components: 1) Development hotspots and resource potential; 2) Irrigation pilot trial evaluations; 3) Opportunities and constraints for agricultural groundwater use; 4) Groundwater governance and policies; 5) Sustainability assessments and modeling; and 6) Capacity building, training & institutional enhancement. The project is now into its third year and due to end in mid-2016. Elements of the research in each component are maturing and a steady stream of outputs and outcomes are emerging that meet the needs/priorities of the research users. In 2015 outputs will include tools and publications on the groundwater resources, papers on farmers perceptions on groundwater as a livelihood strategy, specialist trainings and numerous Lao student theses. At the national level greater recognition is being given to groundwater in Laos and this is in part attributed to this project.

Contact Person

Paul Pavelic (p.pavelic@cgiar.org)

Lead Center

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Partners

Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Lao PDR, National University of Laos Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Department of Irrigation, Natural Resources and Environment Institute, NUOL Faculty of Water Resources, Khon Kaen University Groundwater Research Centre, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies

Completed

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

Research ThemeVariability, Risks and Competing Uses

Cluster

5.2 Resource allocation and sharing of benefits for all

Regions

Southeast Asia

Countries

Laos