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January 16, 2014

Hydrological modelling of sustainable land management interventions in the Mizewa watershed of the Blue Nile basin – A glimpse at NBDC science

Posted by Ewen Le Borgne under Books and Chapters, CRP5, East Africa, Ethiopia, IWMI, NBDC, Nile, Nile 4, Presentation, Report | Tags: , , , , , |
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The current paper discusses the use of hydrological modelling tool to understand sustainable land management interventions in the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia.

A micro-watershed named Mizewa with a drainage area of 27 km2 in Fogera district was selected and instrumented with hydrological cycle observation networks in the year 2011. The SWAT hydrological modelling tool was used to simulate landscape-wide Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) investments.

Simulations of the selected investments modelled in this analysis suggest that improvements in infiltration, decreases in surface runoff and decreases in erosion are achievable in the watershed. Further simulations suggest that a landscape-wide approach of terrace and bund construction has the greatest effect in terms of decreasing surface runoff, decreasing sediment yield and increasing groundwater flow and shallow aquifer recharge.

A comprehensive landscape investment of terraces on slopes greater than 5% and bunds maintained on slopes less than 5% would decrease surface flow by almost 50%, increase groundwater flow by 15% and decrease sediment yield from erosion by 85%. However, constructing terraces in areas with greater than 5% slope (without constructing bunds in areas under 5% slopes) has a similar effect whereby surface flow and sediment yield decreases by 45 and 83%, respectively and groundwater flow increases by 13%. Residue management also has a significant effect on surface flow and erosion in the Mizewa watershed. Average annual surface flow decreased 17 when adopting residue management on all agricultural land and 26% when coupling terracing on steep slopes with residue management in mid-range slopes.

These analyses provide the foundation for understanding feasible outcomes given a more comprehensive investment strategy. Results stemming from the current work can be paired with household level socio-economic data in order to assess program investment alternatives taking into account household constraints to Sustainable Land and Watershed Management (SLWM) investment and maintenance on private and public lands.

See the presentation:

Read the paper

See the full proceedings of the NBDC Science meeting

This paper was first presented at the Nile Basin Development Challenge Science meeting. The NBDC Science meeting was held on 9 and 10 July 2013 at the ILRI-Ethiopia campus, with the objectives to exchange experiences and research results across NBDC scientists involved in the NBDC projects and to discuss challenges and possible solutions.

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January 12, 2014

Effect of current livestock feed sourcing and feeding strategies on livestock water productivity – A glimpse at NBDC science

Posted by Ewen Le Borgne under Animal Feeding, Crop-Livestock, CRP5, East Africa, Ethiopia, ILRI, Integrated Sciences, IWMI, Livestock Challenges, Livestock-Water, NBDC, Nile, NRM, Presentation | Tags: |
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Inefficient management and use of water is unanimously the most single constraint of agricultural production of Ethiopia.

This study was conducted to assess the effect of livestock feed sourcing and feeding strategies on livestock water productivity (LWP) in mixed crop–livestock production systems of the Blue Nile Basin in Ethiopian Highlands. Three districts representing diverse agricultural farming systems were considered. Each district further stratified to different farming systems. Multi-stage stratified random sampling technique was employed to select farm households. Household survey, group discussions and plant biomass sampling were done to generate data on beneficial outputs, water depleted and feed sourcing and feeding strategies. LWP was estimated as a ratio of livestock’s beneficial outputs and services to depleted water.

The results indicated that the major feed sources were mainly from crop residues (58.5 to 78.2%), natural pasture (10.9 to 33.4%) and aftermath grazing (9.9 to 24.3%) in study farming systems. The feed source from energy dense (improved forages) was low. The feeding strategies were relatively similar among the study farming systems. No apparent difference (P>0.05) was observed in LWP within all districts among the farming systems and the value falls between USD 0.15–0.19 m-3. However, LWP difference was observed within clustered wealth status within all farming systems and lower value of LWP general observed for the poor farm households. Such differences of LWP values can be accounted for by the strategies farm households are following in feed sourcing and how water productive those feed sources are.

In the context of this work, options to improve LWP mainly involve sourcing water productive and higher quality feed.

See the presentation:

Read the paper

See the full proceedings of the NBDC Science meeting

This paper was first presented at the Nile Basin Development Challenge Science meeting. The NBDC Science meeting was held on 9 and 10 July 2013 at the ILRI-Ethiopia campus, with the objectives to exchange experiences and research results across NBDC scientists involved in the NBDC projects and to discuss challenges and possible solutions.

 

January 8, 2014

Realistic assessment of irrigation potential in the Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia – A glimpse at NBDC science

Posted by Ewen Le Borgne under Books and Chapters, CRP5, East Africa, Ethiopia, IWMI, NBDC, Nile, Nile 4, NRM, Presentation, Report | Tags: , , |
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Although Ethiopia has a large potential to develop irrigation, only 5% of the 3.5 million hectares of land potentially available has been developed. To examine the underlying causes, this study evaluates the suitability of surface water irrigation for the Lake Tana Basin development corridor.

Surface water availability and land potentially suitable for medium and large-scale irrigation development (200 ha and larger) was considered. Surface water potential was examined by considering river discharges. Land suitable for irrigation was determined with a GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation (MCE), which considers the interaction of various factors, such as climate, river proximity, soil type, land cover, topography/slope and market outlets.

The result indicates that nearly 11% of the Lake Tana Basin is suitable for surface irrigation. However, by analysing 27 years of river discharge, less than 3% of the potential irrigable area (or less than 0.25% of the basin area) could be irrigated consistently by run-of-the river-systems. Thus, the irrigation potential in the Lake Tana Basin can only be met by increasing dry season flows (if proven feasible) and by supplying water from existing or future reservoirs or by using water directly from Lake Tana.

See the presentation:

Read the paper

See the full proceedings of the NBDC Science meeting

This paper was first presented at the Nile Basin Development Challenge Science meeting. The NBDC Science meeting was held on 9 and 10 July 2013 at the ILRI-Ethiopia campus, with the objectives to exchange experiences and research results across NBDC scientists involved in the NBDC projects and to discuss challenges and possible solutions.

 

December 31, 2013

Multi-criteria optimization of rainwater management strategies for sustainable intensification – A glimpse at NBDC science

Posted by Ewen Le Borgne under Books and Chapters, CRP5, East Africa, Ethiopia, IWMI, NBDC, Nile, Nile 4, Presentation, Report | Tags: |
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Using a multi-criteria optimization technique for system analysis, this paper quantitatively characterizes baseline production activities, resource management and environmental relationships of the mixed crop–livestock farming system at the Jaba micro-watershed, upper Blue Nile Basin, to get insights that inform sustainable intensification of small-scale agriculture.

The paper characterizes and models system relationships at a landscape scale under the business as usual land use and resource management scenario (including rainwater management), in the light of social, economic and environmental sustainability indicators (employment, farm income and sediment loss and water generation, respectively). The analysis is based on an optimization technique that weighs the socio-economic and environmental costs and benefits of current land use and resource management practices at spatial and temporal scales, using farm level survey data.

The results show that, under the business as usual scenario, the crop sub-sector will remain the major source of farm income and rural employment. Agricultural income, though trending positively, will not significantly drift from its current level, indicating the limited possibility for rural income growth from agricultural activities under the current pattern of land use, resource management and socio-economic circumstances.

See the presentation:

Read the paper

See the full proceedings of the NBDC Science meeting

This paper was first presented at the Nile Basin Development Challenge Science meeting. The NBDC Science meeting was held on 9 and 10 July 2013 at the ILRI-Ethiopia campus, with the objectives to exchange experiences and research results across NBDC scientists involved in the NBDC projects and to discuss challenges and possible solutions.

 

December 27, 2013

Erosion modeling in the Upper Blue Nile Basin – The case for Mizewa Watershed – A glimpse at NBDC science

Posted by Ewen Le Borgne under Books and Chapters, CRP5, East Africa, Ethiopia, IWMI, NBDC, Nile, Nile 4, Presentation, Report | Tags: , , |
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The main objective of this research was to study soil erosion and sediment yield in Mizewa watershed using SWAT model.

The study involved hydrological and erosion modelling using primary data collected in the watershed. Hydrological and meteorological data were collected from the stations installed in the watershed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Energy and the National Meteorological Service Agency.

Suspended sediment data was collected at Mizewa River in the watershed, used for sediment rating curve development. The land use/ land cover map was prepared using field survey and Land Sat image and the soil map for the watershed was prepared from Abay basin soil as per the United Nations’ Organisation for Food and Agriculture (FAO)’s world soil database.

The average monthly soil loss was estimated in July with pick suspended sediment concentration despite the pick flow and sediment yield at the outlet being recorded in August – which is believed to happen due to the sediment data developed by the sediment rating curve. The predicted rate of soil loss and sediment yield at the subbasins and watershed outlet were high, leading to consider the watershed as an erosion-sensitive area according to Setegn (2009) and Hurni (1985)’s criteria of erosion sensitivity.

See the presentation:

Read the paper

See the full proceedings of the NBDC Science meeting

This paper was first presented at the Nile Basin Development Challenge Science meeting. The NBDC Science meeting was held on 9 and 10 July 2013 at the ILRI-Ethiopia campus, with the objectives to exchange experiences and research results across NBDC scientists involved in the NBDC projects and to discuss challenges and possible solutions.

 

December 23, 2013

Understanding the dynamics of hydrological processes and rainfall runoff modeling in meja watershed – A glimpse at NBDC science

Posted by Ewen Le Borgne under Books and Chapters, CRP5, East Africa, Ethiopia, IWMI, NBDC, Nile, Nile 4, Presentation, Report | Tags: , , |
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Understanding the basic relationships between rainfall, runoff, soil moisture and ground water level are vital for an effective and sustainable water resources planning and management activities. But so far there is no hydrological study in Meja watershed that aims to understand the watershed characteristics and runoff generation processes.

This study was conducted to understand runoff generation processes and model rainfall runoff relationship in Meja watershed having a drainage area of 96.6 km2. The watershed is one of the three research sites of International Water Management Institute (IWMI) developed in early 2010 in the upper Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia. In the study, primary data of soil moisture, shallow ground water level, rainfall and runoff were collected from the hydrological monitoring network in the watershed.

Hydrological models like HBV and RRL SMAR were configured to understand the relationship between rainfall and runoff in the watershed. Relationships between rainfall, soil moisture, shallow ground water level and discharge were developed to understand runoff generation processes in the watershed.

According to one year and three months data, there is no strong daily rainfall and runoff relationship (r2 <0.5) in Meja and Kolu which is a nested sub-watershed; this may be due to abstractions such as irrigation and human interventions in the watershed. There is a strong linear relationship of rainfall and monthly averaged volumetric soil moisture in most layers of Meja and its nested sub-watersheds. The general relationship between runoff and monthly averaged soil moisture at different layers in Meja watershed and Kolu is strong and linear. Analysis of rainfall runoff models indicated better performance of HBV than RRL SMAR model.

See the presentation:

Read the paper

See the full proceedings of the NBDC Science meeting

This paper was first presented at the Nile Basin Development Challenge Science meeting. The NBDC Science meeting was held on 9 and 10 July 2013 at the ILRI-Ethiopia campus, with the objectives to exchange experiences and research results across NBDC scientists involved in the NBDC projects and to discuss challenges and possible solutions.

 

December 19, 2013

Is ‘social cooperation’ for traditional irrigation what ‘technology’ is for motor pump irrigation? – A glimpse at NBDC science

Posted by Ewen Le Borgne under Books and Chapters, CRP5, East Africa, Ethiopia, IWMI, NBDC, Nile, Nile 2, NRM, Presentation, Report | Tags: , , |
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This paper calls attention to the importance of social cooperation in irrigation farming. It argues that a mere focus on the technical aspect of irrigation, disregarding its social aspects undermines the long-term benefits of irrigation to rural livelihoods.

This assertion draws on lessons from small-irrigation practices in Fogera, in the Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia, where the research conducted fieldwork-based qualitative research. In recent years irrigation farming has drawn a growing interest among farmers in rural Fogera. Farmers practise small-scale irrigation that includes traditional irrigation and motor pump irrigation. Farmers assert that irrigation has brought farming benefits through cultivation of more crops as well as new crops that serve food and cash purposes. Such benefits have particularly spurred the enthusiasm for motor pump irrigation.

However, the practice of motor pump irrigation largely relies on the motor-pump technology, overlooking the social scheme of irrigation. While traditional irrigation involves more social cooperation involving joint activities, water allocations and irrigation schedules, lack of social cooperation and such institutional conditions is widespread in motor pump irrigation. Local classification of irrigation practices also associate the mechanism of irrigation use and management including water use regulations and water use turns with traditional irrigation in contrast to motor pump irrigation.

The neglect of social cooperation within current practices of motor pump irrigation will have significant adverse implications on long-term practices. Farmers have been already concerned about how competitions for water are growing, limiting the duration of water availability and creating water shortage.

The study suggests that while farmers’ willingness to practise motor pump irrigation in Fogera has been stimulated by its livelihood benefits, sustained benefits of this irrigation scheme require social cooperation and feasible institutional conditions that can mediate water usage across user villages.

See the presentation:

Read the paper

See the full proceedings of the NBDC Science meeting

This paper was first presented at the Nile Basin Development Challenge Science meeting. The NBDC Science meeting was held on 9 and 10 July 2013 at the ILRI-Ethiopia campus, with the objectives to exchange experiences and research results across NBDC scientists involved in the NBDC projects and to discuss challenges and possible solutions.

 

November 19, 2013

Nile Basin Development Challenge comes to a (public) close behind closed doors and then out in the open

Posted by Ewen Le Borgne under ASSP, CPWF, CRP5, East Africa, Ethiopia, Event, ILRI, Integrated Sciences, IWMI, Livestock-Water, NBDC, Nile, NRM | Tags: , |
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The Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) is coming to an end in late 2013, as will all Basin challenges of the Challenge Program for Water and Food (with the exception of the Ganges basin for another year). The Nile Challenge has generated many rich experiences that we hope will be taken up by CGIAR research programs (such as ‘Water Lands and Ecosystems‘ and ‘Integrated Systems for the humid tropics’).

The NBDC team organized a double event on 14 and 15 November to facilitate the transition to new programs:

  • A dinner for very important persons (VIP) organized on 14 November to discuss the eight key messages developed by NBDC.
  • A ‘Knowledge Watershed’ event at the ILRI campus on 15 November to look at past achievements, current observations and practices and possible next steps.

The VIP dinner was organized with 30 experts in land and water management in Ethiopia, including the State Ministers for agriculture, energy, water resources, and representatives from the World Bank, the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research etc. The dinner was squeezed between presentations of the eight key messages. The messages were presented in two batches of very short and compelling presentations, interspersed with the different courses of the dinner. The invited guests provided some insights about the key messages and were networked ‘in a different way’. An experience appreciated publicly by one of the state ministers and likely to be followed again for other programs.

Amanda Harding moderating the high level panel closing the Knowledge Watershed (Photo credit: Ewen Le Borgne / ILRI)

Amanda Harding moderating the high level panel closing the Knowledge Watershed (Photo credit: Ewen Le Borgne / ILRI)

The Knowledge watershed was run the next day as a sort of share fair with about 80 participants spanning partner organisations and important actors in land and water management. An initial open mic session invited all participants to share what they considered major achievements of the NBDC. Then the eight key messages were presented and discussed around ‘scale stands’ representing the local (woreda/district), regional (sub-national) and national levels.

The Knowledge Watershed ended with a talk show inviting participants representing partners at woreda, basin authority and federal level to discuss next steps and what would happen ideally if a ‘new NBDC’ was to take place. The final cocktails allowed further networking and public thanking for all the actors that contributed to NBDC in the past years.

More information about these final NBDC events at: http://nilebdc.wikispaces.com/reflection5

 

November 5, 2013

Uptake of integrated termite management to rehabilitate degraded land in East Africa

Posted by Ewen Le Borgne under CRP5, Ethiopia, ILRI, Integrated Sciences, IWMI, Nile, Nile 6, NRM | Tags: , |
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In degraded areas in East Africa, termites pose a major threat to agricultural crops, forestry seedlings, rangelands and wooden structures. In the past, several attempts were made to reduce damage caused by termites, including extensive termite mound poisoning campaigns. But as termite species also have beneficial effects in sustaining functionality and provision of ecosystem services, attempts to control termite species should therefore be conducted with care.

Termites are usually symptom of human induced degradation of land and biomass resources. Land rehabilitation is necessary for securing increasingly threatened feed and water resources for livestock.

Cognizant of this finding, a Research Into Use (RIU) project was designed to identify appropriate combinations of technical and institutional options for Integrated Termite Management (ITM) through a process of shared learning and innovation. The project is being implemented in Nakasongola, Uganda, and in Diga, Ethiopia.

In addition to a literature review on the relation between termites and land degradation, the project also envisaged a baseline study to collect relevant information on the problem in the focal sites and potential termite and land management options that can help to rehabilitate land productivity.

This report refers to the study in Ethiopia. The second section gives an overview of the research design and the action sites in Diga, Ethiopia. The third section presents and discusses the major findings of the study and their implications. The last section summarizes the major conclusions of the study and provides recommendation for future action

Read the report

Read the technical report No. 9 “Integrated termite management for improved  rainwater management: A synthesis of African experiences“

 

October 16, 2013

River of learning share fair celebrates agricultural water management progress in East Africa

Posted by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) under CRP5, East Africa, Event, IWMI, Nile, Participation
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Today in Addis Ababa the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) hosted a learning share fair on agricultural water management. It was designed to celebrate 10 years IWMI engagement in Ethiopia and East Africa and to link with World Food Day and a series of meetings of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems.

Approximately 100 people from Ethiopia and beyond congregated in the plenary tent on the Addis Ababa campus. First on the agenda: a retrospective on IWMI in East Africa.

IWMI retrospective

Doug Merrey, first IWMI Director for Africa explained how the East Africa office in Ethiopia grew out of discussions in early 2000, a December 2002 national workshop bringing together all agricultural water management actors in the country, and resulted in an IWMI agreement with the Ministry of Water in 2003.

Key elements in the establishment and subsequent operations of the office included a strong IWMI partnership with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) as well as evolving partnerships with the Ministry of Water initially, then with the agriculture ministry, research organizations, NGOs, universities and other organizations.

After this brief historical retrospective, Simon Langan, Head of the IWMI East Africa office also reported on IWMI achievement in the past 10 years.

First, he identified 20 significant projects in the past 10 years as the basis on which IWMI built its achievements in the region. He particualrly highlighted:

  • The Nile Basin Development Challenge – a strong partnership with national partners to address land and water issues at a landscape scale;
  • IMAWESA – an IFAD-funded water management best practice network across east Africa
  • Agwater management solutions – a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded project that assessed different interventions and their uptake
  • LIVES – a new Canada-supported program with ILRI with a systems focus on the crop-livestock-irrigation interface

Second, he highlights the publications – reports, papers and books – produced by the office as a contribution to the evidence base for agricultural water management practice and decision making. The tally includes 8 books, 83 journal articles, 104 proceedings and many policy briefs, investment briefs and research reports.

Third, he pointed out some capacity building dimensions of the work of the office: More than 80 MSc students, 11 PhD students, several interns and 6 postdoctoral fellows supported through various projects.

Fourth, he highlighted the importance of partnerships – across CGIAR centres, with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Nile Basin Inititiative, the  Global Water Initiative and with universities.

All in all – “A lot to be proud of and to build upon.” He emphasized that the share fair is designed  to be an opportunity to strengthen these partnerships , to share, and to learn …

Communal river of learning

Following the brief summary of IWMI achievements in the region, participants were asked to contribute their institutional and personal achievements along a timeline. Some of the achievements posted were:

  • Livestock-water productivity concept
  • Active network of agricultural water management partners
  • Participatory communication and role-playing
  • Empirical evidence of agricultural water management impacts on poverty
  • Water evaluation and planning tool
  • Community based participatory watershed planning guidelines
  • Review of policy institutions on land and water
  • Tools for improving irrigation performance
  • Substantial evolution of Ethiopian sustainable land management policies
  • Developed PhD program in civil and water resources engineering
  • Multidisciplinary assessment on water productivity
  • Development agents training and experience sharing on land-water linkages
  • Launch of regional charter on investment in water for agriculture
  • Stakeholders engaged in participatory natural resource management planning and implementation in 3 NBDC watersheds
  • Concepts and principles of innovation platforms have been applied in practical rainwater management efforts
  • Established Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources at Addis Ababa University

Share fair actors

Who attended the meeting? the list includes RIPPLE, ILRI, CRS, Care east Africa, OXFAM America, HUNDEE (Oromo Grassroots Development Institute), Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources, Ministry of Water Development, IFAD, CPWF, IFPRI, MetaMeta, ICRISAT, SEI, Global Water Initiative, Ministry of Agriculture, ENTRO, FAO, ODI …

The share fair was designed and facilitated by Ms. Nadia Manning-Thomas for IWMI

 

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