cpwf 10 years of r4d for water & food security anu
DESCRIPTION
Presentation made to the French-Australian Forum on Water and Land Management "Food and water security shaping land-use futures" on CPWF 10-year achievements with a focus on the Ganges and Mekong basins.TRANSCRIPT
10 years of research for development to improve water & food security of the rural poor
Alain Vidal, DirectorCGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food
Niger
Water, food and poverty analyzed in 10 basins
1.5 billion people50% of the poorest < 1.25US$/day
Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink
Not just population increase Not just scarcity
-10,000
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
-500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
GN
I ($/
cap
PP
P)
Water availability (m3/cap)
GNI vs Water
Drivers for poverty
Problems are more nuanced that scarcity alone
Water productivity remains very low over most areas
WP (estimated potential / typically 1-2 kg/m3)
VoltaLimpopo
Nile
Niger
Ganges
Indus
YR
Mekong
There is enough water to meet our needs, it’s how we manage it !
Sustainable intensification Beyond a focus on productivity Income and ecosystem services
Equitable sharing of benefits from water Finding balanced solutions
Institutional water management A holistic approach to avoid fragmentation among actors
Addressed through basin-focused research programs addressing a major development issue in each basinGuiding investment to relevant pro-poor interventions
Policy dialogues, stakeholders engagement, outcomes and impact
Research… evidence-based
to deeply understand problems development challenges of
relevance to those living in a basin
and target interventions or solutions… “innovations”, “interventions”, “strategies” or “alternatives”
through engagement and learning processes…
where stakeholder behavior is influenced and outcomes achieved
Engaged and informed stakeholders themselves choose to change practice because they perceive as to their own advantage
Outcomes stories
Transforming threats into opportunities ?
MEKONG
GANGES
Sustainable fisheries and hydropower in the Mekong river basin
The Mekong water – fish – energy nexus
Massive hydropower potentialFisheries provide 50-80% of animal protein to 60 million people and 50% of rural incomeFisheries and food securitythreatened by the discontinuities due to largehydropower dams
MRC, 2010
Changes in practice sharing the benefits between fisheries and energy production
Water management techniques and practices improving the benefits of riparian communities
Rice-fish systems (THPC, Laos)Cassava (Yali Falls, Vietnam)
Artificial wetlands (THPC, Laos)
Improved water control: an opportunity for the poor of the
Ganges Delta ?
Among world’s poorest
BBS / WorldBank / WFP (2009)
Poverty, food insecurity, vulnerability 75% of households (HH) with 0.2-0.6 ha HH income US$700/year 80% of population below national poverty line
Too much water in rainy seasonSalinity and lack of fresh water in dry season
Untapped potential but growing pressure from salinity
Huge potential to improve food security and livelihoodsSalinity not a constraint everywhere – even an opportunity if water properly controlled
Soil salinityNone Very slightSlightStrong Very strong
Sustainable intensification of polders:technical and institutional challenges
Lots of viable cropping systems possible with cropdiversification, fish and shrimpBut it’s all about water control !Need for political changes at national and local levels
Canal maintenance and managementShifting from rice monoculture
Rice Shrimp
Upper threshold limit of salinity - Rice
Date
Wate
r sa
linit
y (
ppt)
Lower threshold limit of salinity - Shrimp
Daily water salinity
How do such interventions increase water and food security ?
Enhanced resilience Combined technical and institutional
innovations prevent systems from moving to undesired state when shocked
Water and food security Looking beyond the « yield gap » enables diversify food
production (crops, fish and livestock) and ecosystem services Additional income alleviates poverty
Empowerment Enhanced people’s rights and institutional governance
