Assessment of local land and water institutions in the Blue Nile and their impact on environmental management

Land and water institutions play a vital role in managing and sustaining land and water resources as well as enhancing economic development and poverty alleviation efforts. While a lot has been done in terms of understanding the micro-determinants of farmers’ decisions in land and water conservation, there is little attempt to understand the broad macro-institutional and organizational issues that influence land and water management decisions. The objective of the study was to assess institutional arrangements and challenges for improved land and water management in the Ethiopian part of the Blue Nile Basin (Tana and Beles subbasins). Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were held in Amhara and Benishangul Gumuz regions with important stakeholders such as the bureaus of Agriculture and Rural Development, Water Resources Development, Environmental Protection and Land Use Administration (EPLUA), National Agricultural Research Systems, and important NGOs, operating in the area of land and water management, and selected community members. As the major findings in this study, we outlined major land and water-related institutional arrangements that are currently in place and their design features, in order to identify those institutions related to superior performance. We highlighted major institutional and policy gaps and actions that are required to respond to emerging issues of environmental degradation, upstream/downstream linkages and climate change. Such analysis of institutions and their design features provides useful insights and contributes to the debate on institutional reform for improved land and water management in the Blue Nile Basin, in general. By doing so, it identifies the gaps in institutional arrangements and policies and potential remedies.Length: pp.185-231InstitutionsOrganizationsWater policyRiver basinsWater managementLand managementWatershed management

Impacts of improving water management of smallholder agriculture in the Upper Blue Nile Basin

With its total area of about 200,000 square kilometers (km2), which is 20% of the country’s land mass, and accommodating 25% of the population, the Upper Blue Nile Basin (Abbay) is one of the most important river basins in Ethiopia. About 40% of agricultural products and 45% of the surface water of the country are contributed by this basin. However, the characteristic-intensive biophysical variation, rapid population growth, land degradation, climatic fluctuation and resultant low agricultural productivity and poverty are posing daunting challenges to sustainability of agricultural production systems in the basin. This calls for technological interventions that not only enhance productivity and livelihoods in the basin, but also bring about positive spillover effects on downstream water users. In this study, the farming systems in the basin have been stratified and characterized; and promising agricultural water management technologies, which may upgrade the productivity of smallholder rainfed agriculture while improving downstream water quality, have been identified. As a consequence, supplementary and full irrigation using rainwater and drainage of waterlogged soils are recognized as being among the promising agricultural water management technologies that can be easily scaled-up in the basin. The magnitude of the impacts of these technologies on the productivity of the upstream farming systems and the concomitant effects on the downstream water flow and quality are under investigation, assuming an assortment of scenarios.Length: pp.7-21River basinsFarming systemsCerealsRainfed farmingWater harvestingIrrigated farming

Transboundary water governance institutional architecture: reflections from Ethiopia and Sudan

Transboundary water resource governance is premised on equitable water and water-related benefit sharing. Using the case of the Blue Nile (Ethiopia and Sudan), we explore the conceptual issues that need consideration in the crafting of cross-border cooperation within the water sector. First, drawing on global experiences with transboundary water management, we evaluate how upstream and downstream concerns are addressed by transboundary water management institutions. Second, we explore the kinds of institutional design and the issues which need to be considered to result in ‘win-win’ scenarios for both upstream and downstream users, as well as the mechanisms of benefit sharing negotiated amongst different stakeholders. Third, we examine ways of addressing equity and livelihoods in transboundary institutional arrangements. Finally, we attempt to assess how transboundary institutions can address broader historical, political and economic issues and their implications for sustainable transboundary water governance. This paper raises key issues that need to be addressed in establishing transboundary governance institutions.Length: pp.246-253Water governanceInstitutionsInternational watersInternational cooperationRiver basin management

Challenges in the dryland agricultural production systems of south asia: research priorities and strategies

Dryland (arid and semi-arid) ecosystems occupy more than 41% of global land area and are home to 2.5 billion people. More than 50% of South Asia’s dryland ecosystems are located in India. Drylands contribute about 40% of the total food grain production and support two thirds of livestock population. Despite these important roles, agricultural production systems in the drylands are facing numerous challenges that threaten their resilience and future sustainability. This paper demonstrates some of the challenges and draws implications for priorities research and strategies. As an example, we selected districts representing different dryland agricultural production systems in western Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states of India. First we focus on the present performance of the major agricultural production systems by highlighting their structure (e.g. farm size) and key indicators of their function and state (e.g. production). We discuss major problems in terms of their cause and effect on these systems’ structure and function. Finally we synthesize lessons as to where system research should focus and what strategies are needed to produce a more resilient and dryland sustainable agricultural production system in in the future

Enhancing farming system water productivity through alternative land use and water management in vertisol areas of Ethiopian Blue Nile Basin (Abay)

Until recently, the Ethiopian government's investment did not systematically target high potential areas for agricultural intensification, limiting the potential productivity gains. Waterlogged vertisols, which cover about 2.7 million hectares in the Ethiopian part of the Blue Nile Basin, are among the high potential soils where management interventions could result in positive impacts. This study utilized soil, climate, crop and livestock productivity data and models to demonstrate intensification strategies which can increase crop-livestock system productivity. To understand the effects of alternative land use and water management interventions on water productivity, the areas have been classified into three drainage status depending on slope classes. Accordingly, non-drainable (0–2%), drainable (2–5%) and naturally drained (>5%) respectively, represented areas where artificial drainage is not feasible, where drainage using broad bed and furrows (BBF) is recommended, and areas where waterlogging is not a problem and no intervention is needed. Early planting of wheat (Triticum spp.) on BBF instead of the traditional late planting on flat beds in drainable areas and rice (Oryza sativa) cultivation instead of the traditional extensive grazing or growing grass-pea (Lathyrus sativus) on the flat areas provide viable alternative cropping options. Yield data of the crops and biomass of the native grass were obtained from research stations in the area while the effective rainfall and crop water requirement were estimated using CROPWAT Model. The value of the native grass and crop straw as livestock feed was estimated based on previous works. With respect to effective rainfall, the water productivity increase due to BBF over the control ranged from 5% to 200%, with an average increase of 57%. Despite higher water consumption of rice, feeding its residues to livestock enhanced the overall economic water productivity of the system as compared to the natural grazing or grass-pea cultivation. This can be accounted for by higher rice biomass productivity and the greater demand for its grain. The study demonstrated that draining the excess water when the slope allows, growing suitable high value crops on non-drainable areas, and integration of livestock into improved land and water management enhance overall agricultural system water productivity

Improving water productivity, reducing poverty and enhancing equity in mixed crop-livestock systems in the Indo-Gangetic Basin: CPWF project report 68

Farming systems / Mixed farming / Water productivity / Feed production / Livestock / Energy consumption / Gender / Poverty / River basins / Case studies / India / Indo-Gangetic Basin / West Bengal / Haryana / Uttar Pradesh

Improving on-farm water management by introducing wetting-front detector tools to smallholder farms in Ethiopia

Global Affairs Canad

Livestock water productivity: feed resourcing, feeding and coupled feed-water resource data bases

While water requirement for livestock is widely perceived as daily drinking water consumption, ~100 times more water is required for daily feed production than for drinking water. Increasing livestock water productivity can be achieved through increasing the water-use efficiency (WUE) of feed production and utilisation. The current paper briefly reviews water requirements for meat and milk production and the extent of, and reason for, variations therein. Life-cycle analysis (LCA) can reveal these variations in WUE but LCA are not tools that can be employed routinely in designing and implementing water-use-efficient feed resourcing and feeding strategies. This can be achieved by (1) choosing agricultural by-products and crop residues where water applications are partitioned over several products for example grain and straw (or food and fodder) contrary to planted forage production where water and land have to be exclusively allocated to fodder production, (2) select and breed WUE crops and forages and exploit cultivar variations, (3) increase crop productivity by closing yield gaps; and (4) increase per animal productivity to reduce the proportion of feed (and therefore water) allocated for maintenance requirement rather than productive purposes. Feed-mediated WUE of dairy buffalo production on almost completely (94%) by-product-based feeding systems could be reduced from 2350 to 548 L of water per kg of milk by the combined effect of increasing basal ration quality in a total mixed ration, which resulted in increased milk yield of ~30%, and by increasing crop productivity from 1 t (actual crop yield) to 3 t (potential crop yield). Exemplary, multi-dimensional sorghum improvement using staygreen quantitative trait loci (QTL) introgression for concomitant improvement of WUE of grain and stover production and stover fodder quality showed opportunities for further linked improvement in WUE of crop and livestock production. Metabolisable energy (ME) yield under water stress conditions measured in lysimeters, (which measure crop water transpired) ranged QTL dependent from 16.47 to 23.93 MJ ME per m3 H2O. This can be extrapolated to 8.23–11.97 MJ ME per m3 H2O evapotranspired under field conditions. To mainstream improvement in WUE of feed resourcing and feeding, the paper suggests the combination of feed resource databases with crop–soil–meteorological data to calculate how much water is required to produce the feed at the available smallest spatial scale of crop–soil–meteorological data available. A framework is presented of how such a tool can be constructed from secondary datasets on land use, cropping patterns and spatially explicit crop–soil–meteorological datasets