Innovations in water management for agriculture: New pathways, future challenges

Innovations in water management for agriculture: New pathways, future challenges

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  Innovations in water managementfor agriculture: New pathways, future challenges Alan Nicol, Sustainable Growth Program Lead, IWMI Addis Ababa
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  The wider challenge:stresses, pressures & opportunities – Looking back… We need to produce 60% more food by 2050. In 2007 the challenge was well-stated in the Comprehensive Assessment (Molden, et al): “The lack of water is thus a constraint to producing food for hundreds of millions of people. Agriculture is central in meeting this challenge because the production of food and other agricultural products takes 70% of the freshwater withdrawals from rivers and groundwater. Greater competition raises questions: Who will get the water, and how will allocations be decided? Conflict will grow between pastoralists and herders, between farms and cities, between those upstream and those downstream.”
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  Smallholder farming: Managingagricultural water availability, access and use is key to success Smallholder farmers are increasingly initiating and financing small-scale land and water management technologies themselves, but there are barriers: • In India > 50% of the irrigated area watered by smallholder pumps. • In much of Africa, smallholder AWM reaches more farmers than public irrigation. • Lack of available investment opportunities, rising uncertainty and risk (climate, trade-offs amid competing demands) • How to manage the ‘publicness vs. privateness’ of risk? Farmers’ reliance on different types of irrigation in Ghana
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  What does thismean in practice? New pathways Source: Adapted from Giordano et al. 2012 Blending key technical innovations and developments… …with investments in gender equity and wider social inclusion Photo credit: One Acre Fund
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  The context • Indiahas 130,000 GW of installed pumping capacity in the form of electric and diesel tube wells • States subsidize solar pumps as “green solution” Solution: Solar Pump Irrigation Cooperative • Sustainable solar irrigation pumps with feed-in tariff for selling excess electricity to the grid • Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions • Sustainable use of groundwater • Higher incomes for farmers Improving productivity and livelihoods through smart solar irrigation The challenge • Solar pump subsidies could incentivize over-pumping Pathway 1: Solar energy to strengthen access to water for agriculture: India Before energy sales After energy sales
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  Improving productivity andlivelihoods through smart solar irrigation Pathway 1: Solar energy to strengthen access to water for agriculture: Ethiopia The context and opportunity • Mostly rainfed, smallholder farming • 14% of population connected to the electricity grid • Significant potential for solar pumps (~7 M ha) to offer climate smart, supplemental irrigation • Demand is high; traction with public and donor supported programs. • Potential business scenarios for positive returns on investment The challenges • Regulatory: difficult to access information/incentives • Value chain: underdeveloped for irrigation/solar energy • Rural financing: low capacity, limited access • Capacity: limited on technology installation and repairs
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  Pathway 2: Increasingwater availability: rainwater harvesting (Dewas District, Madhya Pradesh) The context and opportunity • Rapid expansion in irrigation area (from 1970s) • Large dependency on groundwater The challenges • Natural rate of groundwater recharge low • Significant declines in groundwater levels Solution: Individual RWH Structures • Wet and dry season farming now possible. • Cropping intensity increased (122% to 198%) • Increased incomes (>70%) • Multiple use options • Reduction in groundwater and electricity use • Payback period: 3 years • Financial B/C ratio: 1.5-1.9
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  Pathway 3: Improvingusage – Wetting Front indicators in Ethiopia The Challenges • Furrow irrigation and water intervals leading to under and over irrigation • Low water productivity, leaching, soil structure damage, etc • Conflict over water access The opportunities • LIVES project support for irrigation scheduling improvements through ‘wetting front’ technology in Koga, West Gojjam • Opportunity developed in Australia to support better judgment on water provision to crops during critical growing periods
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  Pathway 4: Understandingscale: Food security monitoring and hazard risk mapping • IWMI’s South Asia Drought Monitor provides analysts, governments, and aid organizations with insight on agricultural lands, cultivated areas, crop health, and crop diversity. • Accurate maps and ongoing, actionable information help realize increasing levels of food production and ensure those foods are diverse and nutritious. • Timely, reliable information will help aid agencies, governments, and the private sector collaborate on solutions to ensure food and nutrition security. http://dms.iwmi.org
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  IBFI Concept http://ibfi.iwmi.org/ • Indexinsurance can affordably protect small farmers against losses from climate Shocks • Index insurance complements proactive risk management activities (such as water storage) to maximize farmers’ resilience. • IWMI is partnering with the private sector, universities, and local organizations to pilot innovative index insurance that has helped hundreds of farmers and pastoralists cope with extreme weather SNAPSHOT • India’s first index based flood insurance successfully implemented covering 200household in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar • Implementation of post flood management plan using flood parameters (depth and duration) derived from satellite data for agriculture development in India; • As climate change makes weather shocks such as droughts more frequent and more intense, index insurance can help smallholder farmers and herders reduce their vulnerability and protect their assets. 4.1 Going beyond risk transfer through Index-Based Flood Insurance (IBFI)
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  Opportunities • Combining ‘bigdata’ and local interventions • Improved water management can improve quality, increase yield, increase profits • Women perceive tools as a way to improve labor use – buidling gender inclusivity and empowerment at all levels enhances value and supports sustainability • Establishing new systematic thinking on water for smallholder farmers; selling a ‘packaged idea’ akin to WASH • Building a global movement… Challenges • Creating the momentum for change • Enhancing investments and establishing benefits • Melding public information, policy dialogue with practicel support measures Ways forward – Blending ‘water-smart’ and climate- smart agriculture… Managing water to avoid risk, reduce variability and enhance opportunities Establishing greater resilience to shocks, building more robust production systems Blending rain-fed and irrigated farming approaches according to agro-ecologies, market opportunities and conditions for social and institutional sustainability