The coastal region of Bangladesh is prone to natural disasters and these events are expected to worsen as a result of climate change. Combined with anthropogenic factors, these events challenge livelihood opportunities, especially crop production. Waterlogging, tidal activity and the lack of proper drainage facilities are major constraints to agricultural production in these areas.
The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) tested, at pilot scale, the combination of innovative agricultural technologies with improved water management to overcome these challenges.
This report assesses this intervention by observing the effects, measuring the short-term impacts and understanding the perceptions. The results highlight the need to integrate the interventions into the local context, and acknowledge that institutions and markets need to mature to harness the benefits from innovations. It also underlines the potential of multi-scale interventions combining plot-level and farmer-led innovations, community management and rehabilitation of large schemes.
Households / Villages / Research projects / Climate change / Benefit-cost ratio / Economic analysis / Irrigation canals / Maintenance / Infrastructure / Water governance / Siltation / Drainage / Salinity / Waterlogging / Submergence / Reclaimed land / Family labour / Hired labour / Farmers’ attitudes / Fertilizer application / Rice / High yielding varieties / Diversification / Farm inputs / Markets / Profitability / Crop yield / Agricultural production / Seasonal cropping / Cropping patterns / Technology / Agricultural practices / Agricultural development / Coastal zones / Agricultural extension / Participatory approaches / Community management / Water management in upland / Water management in lowland / Learning / Agricultural research for development Record No:H049571
This report explores how women perceive participation and empowerment vis-a-vis access to water and other agricultural resources in the Tarai/Madhesh of Nepal. The report argues that gendered vulnerability is indeed intricately connected with other axes of difference, such as caste and economic status, despite women’s critical role in agricultural production and their active engagement in access to water and irrigation in agriculture. Overall, women’s well-being seems to have decreased as a consequence of male out-migration. However, there are women who have also become empowered in new ways, taking up enterprise opportunities.
The authors point out that at the level of policy and external development interventions, a dominating narrative on women’s limited participation in agriculture being a result of ‘social norms’ exists. Public irrigation agencies have used this myth to absolve themselves of the responsibility for ensuring gender equality in program implementation.
The report concludes that strengthening equitable irrigation user groups alongside capacity building for farmers and program implementers are critical measures for improving women’s access to irrigation and overall well-being. Women should be ensured meaningful participation, including leadership roles.
Finally, this report recommends linking irrigation user groups to other income-generation schemes, and facilitating access to better credit, finance and agricultural inputs.
State intervention / Decision making / Institutions / Enterprises / Remittances / Microfinance / Economic resources / Poverty / Labour / Constraints / Villages / Livelihoods / Households / Caste systems / Social change / Capacity building / Water user associations / Climate change / Tube wells / Irrigation canals / Water availability / Land tenure / Land ownership / Farmers / Role of women / Migration / Communities / Groundwater irrigation / Vulnerability / Gender equality / Women’s empowerment / Women’s participation / Agricultural sector / Gender relations Record No:H050103
The purpose of this Guide is to provide an overview of the major considerations and steps to be followed in organizing new irrigation farmers’ organizations or Irrigation Water Users’ Associations (IWUAs). The Guide should support developing or strengthening a specialized formal IWUA for implementing a program aimed at creating or improving a collectively managed irrigation scheme. The Guide is focused on programs involving construction of new irrigation schemes; rehabilitation, modernization or revitalization of existing irrigation schemes; or supporting farmers wishing to improve the performance of their irrigation scheme. While based on extensive research and evidence, the intended audience for this Guide is the set of practitioners responsible for planning and implementing communal irrigation programs. This may include managers of publicly or externally supported projects, government agricultural and irrigation officials, private investments and nongovernmental organizations.; The Guide draws on over 50 years of experience organizing farmers to participate in the creation, improvement and management of both farmer-managed and government-managed irrigation schemes. The major lesson learned is that investing in the “software” component – training and institutional development – of irrigation is critical for success. If the IWUA is weak or ineffective, the scheme will fail to achieve its potential, no matter how good the hardware is.; The Guide seeks to avoid imposing a specific organizational design for what an institution should look like and do, but suggests a process organized around six ‘steps’ to be followed, more or less in sequence. Using these steps creatively as a guideline, not as a recipe to be followed precisely, will increase the likelihood that irrigation investments achieve the desired project goals.
Local authorities / Communities / Socioeconomic environment / Infrastructure / Stakeholders / Sustainability / Nongovernmental organizations / Water availability / Water institutions / Water governance / Water policy / Evaluation / Monitoring / Training programmes / Gender / Costs / Investment / Policy making / Small scale systems / Collective action / Irrigation schemes / Farmers organizations / Guidelines / Best practices / Water user associations / Irrigation efficiency / Irrigation management / Irrigation water / Learning / Research and development Record No:H049026
Water and nutrition are linked in multiple ways, but few of these interlinkages are well understood. What is, for example, the exact relationship between water pollution and health or between water resource management and nutrition? Even less is known about the interactions across these various linkages. The importance of better understanding these connections has been highlighted as we pursue the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which challenge mankind to meet both water security as well as food and nutrition security goals, while also improving water-based ecosystems. It has become increasingly clear that progress toward these goals can only be achieved if measures in the food and nutrition space (SDG 2) do not constrain progress on water (SDG 6) and if measures undertaken to support targets under one of these SGDs also support the outcomes of the other. This paper provides an overview of water–nutrition linkages as reflected in the SDGs, and it identifies key gaps in these linkages and suggests a way forward to support the achievement of both water and nutrition goals and targets.
Irrigation water / Risk management / Communities / Ecosystem services / Wastewater treatment / Public health / Landscape / Equity / Economic aspects / Policy making / Climate change / Drinking water / Agricultural systems / Sustainable agriculture / Diet / Food production / Food security / Sanitation / Waterborne diseases / Water availability / Water use / Water pollution / Water security / Water quality / Water supply / Water management / Water resources / Integrated management / Nutrition / Sustainable Development Goals / Learning / Research and development Record No:H048974
This paper provides a brief synthesis of research conducted on gender in irrigation, and the tools and frameworks used in the past to promote improvement for women in on-farm agricultural water management. It then presents results from the pilot of the Gender in Irrigation Learning and Improvement Tool (GILIT) in locations in Malawi and Uzbekistan in 2015. Through the results of the tool, the paper looks at benefit sharing between men and women farmers: (i) access to irrigation scheme resources (including information, for example, in the design phase; land, water and other inputs); (ii) participation in scheme management; and (iii) access to scheme benefits, including access to market information, packaging and payments. The indicators for the tool were modelled after principles reflected in existing gender policies and strategies, and intended to improve performance at field level in line with national and regional goals. The paper concludes with informal and formal constraints to gender-equitable outcomes from irrigation investments identified during the pilot, and suggests how the tool can be used by various development actors to improve the benefits for women from investments in agricultural water management.
State intervention / Decision making / Resource management / Stakeholders / Community involvement / Investment / Market access / Farmers / Water allocation / Water management / Productivity / Agricultural production / Agricultural extension / On-farm production / Assessment / Improvement / Participation / Irrigation schemes / Men / Women’s participation / Women / Performance evaluation / Training programmes / Learning / Gender equity / Research and development Record No:H048368
This report outlines a participatory approach for mapping actors along value chains. The methodology provides novel ideas on how to combine value chain analysis with participatory statistics and visual network research approaches, to generate valuable insights about complex value chains together with local stakeholders in a cost effective way. A framework is introduced, which provides a canvas for mapping actors onto different analytical dimensions relevant in value chain analysis. After outlining some of the conceptual foundations and the methodological approach, a sequence of steps for mapping actors and their relationships is described. The experience from a case study is used to illustrate the steps involved. The case study is on fodder value chains in the Sahelian agro-ecological zone of Burkina Faso, but the mapping approach can be adapted to a range of contexts.
Case studies / Surveys / Livestock / Relationships / Agricultural trade / Agricultural production / Production structure / Markets / Communities / Cost analysis / Social aspects / Statistical data / Participatory approaches / Mapping / Supply chain / Value chain Record No:H048396
Public sector / Private sector / Risk reduction / Sustainability / Management techniques / Watershed management / Water conservation / Soil conservation / Fodder plants / Income / Living standards / Land degradation / Land management / Land use / Community involvement / Local communities / State intervention / Governance / Guidelines / Youth / Women / Gender / Natural resources management / Energy sources / Renewable energy / Habitats / Woodlands / Milk production / Livestock production / Smallholders / Stakeholders / Economic situation / Ecosystems / Capacity building / Learning / Research and development Record No:H048081
Energy generation / Farmers / Crops / Livestock products / Sustainability / Institutions / Research / Land use / Land tenure / Living standards / Watershed management / Soil fertility / Markets / Socioeconomic environment / Foreign investment / Farming systems / Mining / Ecosystem services / Climate change / Dryland management / Forest management / Population density / Rural development / Natural resources management / Agricultural production / River basins Record No:H046513
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Economics and equity
At IWMI, researching underlying economic and social trends helps us understand why people migrate. They also explain the impact of remittances and loss of agricultural labor, as well as consequences of migration on gender roles and food and water security. For instance, communities with higher levels of income inequality, or relative deprivation, may experience greater levels of out-migration compared to consistently low-income communities. In addition, migration changes intra-household gender-labor composition, which can change the access of smallholders to water resources, affecting the functioning of community-based institutions and consequently household and local food security. IWMI also focuses on circular economy, a strategy to recover and reuse waste, to boost food security and understand how interventions can encourage refugee and host communities to retain scarce resources.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Urban & rural transformation
As agricultural opportunities fluctuate in rural areas, migration, particularly to urban areas, is an adaptation technique to secure incomes and alternative livelihoods. Income generated by migrants is often sent back to family as remittances to support communities at home. At IWMI, we assess linkages between rural and urban areas, as well as the role of agricultural knowledge systems and food and water security. We recognize there are complex push and pull factors such as individual aspirations, economic opportunity, social norms, climate variability and government policies which drive migration and affect rural communities, particularly youth. Our work follows a ‘positive migration’ philosophy, framing migration as an adaptation technique and socio-economic choice (in many cases) rather than a problem to be solved, and focuses on establishing safer, more regular migration by supporting changes to migration governance in sending regions.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Covid-19 disruption & adaptation
Covid-19 has caused a rupture in migration logistics and exposed inequities in the migration system, yet drivers of movement remain. Government lockdowns and closed borders due to the pandemic curtailed movement for migrants, posing complex problems for migrant hosting and origin countries. There have been significant economic shocks, with a sharp decline in unemployment for migrants and an inability to send money home through remittances to support family. Some migrants face social stigma for returning home without an income, particularly if families relied on loans to support their journeys. Consequences have been severe for informal migrants who lack government protection in their host countries. Migrants, particularly those living in crowded, lower-income neighborhoods, have been experiencing stigmatization related to the spread of Covid-19. We look at the impacts of Covid-19 on migration governance and rural areas across seven countries,development planning in Ghana, migration challenges in Southeast Asia, and community-based disaster management and resilience building in South Africa.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Water, climate change and agrarian stress
Migration, water and climate stress are inextricably linked to rural development. Water stress and climate variability can act as a driver of fragility, intensifying pre-existing political, social, economic and environmental challenges. Initiatives designed to address migration-related challenges must tackle inequalities and the exclusion of women, youth and marginalized groups; governance opportunities to better manage water and natural resources and technology and innovations to help communities escape socio-ecological precarity and thrive despite climate challenges. IWMI intends to build climate resilience by implementing projects which tackle gender-power inequalities in the face of dynamic, economic-social-ecological challenges. Our work brings together affected communities, institutional stakeholders and social actors to manage water in response to climate variability and agrarian stress, striving to address complex physical and social variables.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Gender, intersectionality and social inclusion
It is critical to center gender and intersectional identities when unpacking migration phenomena. Gender as a social construct guides social norms and relations, including the decision-making processes and mechanisms leading to migration. We recognize that the intersections between race, age, class, sex, caste and region shape the migrant experience.
IWMI strives to offer transformative approaches and solutions for women, youth and marginalized groups, regarding them as equal partners in our work rather than passive end-users. For example, within communities that experience male out migration, socio-political systems are restructured to make women, youth and other groups active agents in their own agri-food transformation. Migration patterns contribute to the feminization of agriculture, and women may experience a greater burden of responsibility coupled with an increased ability to access and control resources and policies to build sustainable livelihoods. Acknowledging social complexities helps researchers and communities understand migration trends and address structural power imbalances to build a more equitable world.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Innovation bundles
Farmer-led irrigation development is about much more than installing a pump in a field. It requires access to financing, labor, energy, and input and output markets, so that investments in irrigation translate into sustainable returns. IWMI uses a systemic approach to understand the farming system as well as the factors in the enabling environment that prevent women, men and youth from engaging in and benefitting equitably from farmer-led irrigation. We partner with farmers and the public and private sectors to test contextually relevant innovation bundles that combine irrigation technology such as solar pumps with financing mechanisms like pay-as-you-own or pay-as-you-go, agricultural inputs and agronomic techniques. We also look at ways to improve on-farm water management and nutrient use efficiency and reduce evapotranspiration through digital advances and agricultural extension. We integrate the scaling of innovation bundles into agricultural value chains to enhance the impacts on farmers’ irrigation investments, incomes and livelihoods.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Gender and social inclusion
The barriers facing women and men in accessing irrigation technologies are not the same. Neither are the benefits. Social, cultural and religious norms influence inter- and intra-household power relations. These, in turn, affect access to resources such as land, credit, information and training. IWMI carries out cross-dimensional analysis of gender and social inclusion in policy, financing, livelihood assets and access, institutional approaches and interventions as well as gender-based technology preferences. For example, we work with farmers, financial institutions and the private sector to address gender-based constraints in credit scoring and enhance women’s purchasing power. But benefitting from farmer-led irrigation does not stop at accessing and adopting technologies; enabling women and resource-poor farmers to participate in input and output markets is equally important to ensure that investments in irrigation result in improved nutrition and economic empowerment. Other ways we enhance gender and social inclusion include tackling agency issues around financial management and literacy, livelihood diversity and social capital as well as access to infrastructure, extension services and market linkages.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Environmental sustainability
Population pressure and increasing water competition in a changing climate require us to take stock of the availability and use of water across scales. Water availability not only influences farmers’ commercial prospects but also irrigation-related enterprises and agri-businesses. Greater water scarcity could jeopardize irrigation and agricultural markets while excessive water use can lead to declining ecosystems, water quality and soil health. IWMI advises development partners and the public and private sectors on all aspects of water resource availability and use through a variety of advanced modeling and remote-sensing products and tools, including Water Accounting+, solar irrigation mapping and internet of things. These are complemented by multi-criteria analysis to evaluate the potential of irrigation expansion, taking into consideration environmental flows. With our private sector partners, we are leveraging converging technologies, such as sensors on solar pumps that capture usage data, to encourage better resource management and governance.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Adaptive scaling and partnerships
The ability of farmers to engage in or expand irrigation depends on the prevailing socioeconomic, ecological and political contexts, which are often complex, non-linear and changeable. Overcoming systemic barriers to farmer-led irrigation development while taking advantage of existing opportunities requires scaling processes to be adaptive. This means diverse actors feed off, adapt to, support, cooperate, compete and interact with each other, forming different multi-actor networks and engaging in collective action to undertake various functions in the scaling ecosystem. IWMI works with farmers and public and private sector partners to co-design and pilot contextually relevant innovation bundles and their scaling pathways or strategies, influence policies and accelerate the transition to scale of innovations with demonstrated early impact.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Financing ecosystem
A lack of affordable credit, particularly for women and resource-poor farmers, is one of the main barriers to expanding farmer-led irrigation in low- and middle-income countries. But credit alone is not enough. Financing for irrigation equipment must be embedded in a wider financing ecosystem that bundles credit with inputs and services, market information and access, and technology such as digital payment. In several countries, irrigation equipment suppliers are stepping in to provide financing directly to farmers. In doing so, they increase their own risk. To address this issue, IWMI works with farmers, private companies, finance institutions and development partners such as the World Bank Group to analyze whether credit-scoring tools are inclusive. We also help to identify gaps in the financing ecosystem and de-risk the private sector from testing innovative end-user financing mechanisms that take into account farming system typologies, financial and social capital and crop seasonality.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
Human capacity development and knowledge exchange
Scaling farmer-led irrigation requires strengthening human capacity and knowledge exchange among all actors and stakeholders involved. IWMI takes an action research approach, working with national and international research institutions, governments, extension agents and public and private organizations to co-develop the scaling ecosystem and strengthen capacity to drive scaling networks and collective action. We support the development of or reinforce national multi-stakeholder dialogues with the aim of sharing scaling experiences and realizing win-win collaboration, interactive learning and capacity development. Other modalities for capacity development include hackathons, innovation research grants for bachelor’s and master’s students, private sector scaling grants and innovation internships with private companies. These all serve to stimulate local and contextually relevant innovation, close the research-private sector divide and enhance job readiness among young professionals.
This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:
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