Rainwater management for poverty reduction

Rainwater Management for

Poverty Reduction

Eva Ludi

Overseas Development

Institute

NBDC Workshop on Baselining Changesin Planning, Implementation and Collective Action

Addis Ababa, Nov 8-11, 2010

Overall objective of CPWF

• “to increase the productivity of water for food and

livelihoods, in a manner that is environmentally

sustainable, socially acceptable, and alleviates

poverty for disadvantaged groups”

• Nile Basin Development Challenge (BDC) focuses

specifically on “improving rural livelihoods and

their resilience through a landscape approach to

rainwater management.”

Landscape

• draws attention to the critical importance

of taking an integrated approach -

including land, water, crops, livestock, etc.

at a watershed level

Rainwater Management

• Rainwater management (RWM) draws attention to the need to – capture– store – use

rainfall in a way that is productive and avoids environmental degradation

• Rain Water Management = – Soil and water conservation (SWC)– in situ and ex situ rainwater harvesting– Conservation farming– Small scale irrigation– crop, tree and livestock management

-> used for multiple purposes, both productive and domestic.

Rainwater management strategy

Purpose Management options

Increase plant water availabilityEx-situ (external) water-harvesting systems

Dry spell mitigation, protective irrigation, spring protection groundwater recharge, enable off-season irrigation, multiplewater use

Surface micro-dams, subsurface tanks, farm ponds, percolation dams/tanks, diversion and recharging structures



In-situ water-harvesting systems

Concentrate run-off to cropped area and/or other useMaximize rainfall infiltration

Bunds, ridges, broad-beds and furrows, micro-basins, run-off stripsTerracing, contour cultivation, conservation agriculture, staggered trenches



Evaporation management

Reduce non-productive evaporation

Dry planting (early), mulching conservation agriculture, intercropping,windbreaks, agro-forestry, early plant vigour, vegetative bunds, optimum crop geometry



Increase plant water uptake capacityIntegrated soil and crop management

Increase proportion of water balance flowing as productive transpiration

Improved crop varieties, soil fertility, optimum crop rotation, pest control, organic matter



Crop, tree and livestock management

Increase water productivity = more production per amount of water uptake

Improved crop varieties, shade trees, better distribution of watering points for livestock

• Successful implementation of RWM will lead to

higher productivity of water = more value

produced per unit of water consumed, while

minimizing and even reversing land and water

degradation.

• Integrated rainwater management strategies

combine technologies, policies and institutions.

• Examine the extent to which policy change and institutional strengthening and reform can combine with new technologies to spur widespread innovation.

• Institutions:– micro-credit

– cooperative societies

– land tenure

– collective action in communities

– various roles of formal and informal institutions

Why is RWM important for poverty reduction?

• Agricultural Water Management -> management of water for crops, agro-forestry, livestock and fish

• Continuum from full irrigation to those depending entirely on rainfall

• Sub-saharan Africa -> most farmers depend on rainfed agriculture and most staple grains are rainfed

• Rainfed agriculture depends on timing & amount of rainfall

• In most African countries rainfall – timing and amount – is variable and unreliable

• High risk!

• Low productivity of agriculture has many underlying factors:– weak input and output markets– lacking infrastructure (roads, electricity, ports,

etc.)– weak institutions (e.g. land tenure security,

marketing, financing, export handling, etc.)– Not sufficient investments in agriculture

(including R&D)

• Low productivity of agriculture

->high levels of poverty and poor health

-> high levels of vulnerability to shocks and stress

-> continuous underinvestment in sustaining the productivity of the natural resource base

How to reverse this vicious cycle?

• Most of the additional food production in the future must come from rainfed agriculture;

• There is a huge potential for reversing the present vicious circle by investing in improved water, land and crop management in rainfed systems

Upgrading rainfed agricultural systems

• Improving soil moisture conservation

• where feasible supplementing it with irrigation

• in combination with improved fertility and crop management

• -> holistic approach: including different resources (soil, water, nutrients, etc.) and different components of the agricultural system (crops, livestock, trees)

Technology

Rainwater management for poverty reduction