WLE Research Reports

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/34790

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Gender and inclusion in the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE): an end of program reflection and evaluation
(Report, 2021-12-31) Joshi, Deepa; Braaten, Y.; Hakhu, Arunima; Pradhan, Rubina; Gallant, Bryce
The growing relevance of research on gender and social inclusion in agricultural research for development calls for systemic, transformative change processes. Transformative gender ambitions can stand at odds with personal biases and experiences that shape diverse understandings of gender, institutional values, structures and cultures that tend to reward technological quick-fix solutions, and other practical challenges to ‘doing’ gender on the ground. Very little is known about these challenges. How are these challenges navigated by (relatively small) teams of gender researchers, who are often caught between the demand for tangible fast gains on gender, and the intractable challenges of deep-rooted and complex, intersectional gender inequalities? This was the focus of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) End of Program Reflection and Evaluation (EoPRE) to assess how gender and inclusion research is pursued, and the key barriers to knowing and doing gender in eight research projects. Adopting a reflexive, self-analytical feminist approach to evaluation, this EoPRE facilitated eight project teams, diverse and with an uneven focus on gender, to connect the dots between the processes of knowing and doing gender research. A key finding of this evaluation is that the need for change is foremost internal. We need to begin by fixing our personal biases and assumptions, and fixing institutional cultures, values and structures instead of just trying to fix things out there, including fixing poor and marginalized women. A key recommendation is to seek more regular and open conversations across researcher disciplines and hierarchies, and between CGIAR and external partners and stakeholders, including feminist grassroots actors and networks – on what works well (and does not) and why. This would allow us to grasp why we start with different meanings and conceptualizations of gender; how agile we are (or not) in adapting to changes on the ground; and how, through a culture of reflection and learning, we might shift pathways to more transformative change processes in a fast evolving and increasingly unequal world.
Measuring the impact of integrated systems research: promising approaches and why CGIAR needs to care
(Report, 2021-12-31) Johnson, Nancy
Measuring the impact of integrated systems research has been a challenge to CGIAR since it expanded into natural resource management research in the early 1990s. Despite repeated efforts, it has yet to be adequately addressed. Meanwhile, the demand for evidence of impact on development outcomes has only increased, as have calls for greater methodological rigor. At the same time, there is greater recognition of the complex, systemic nature of many problems facing society today and the need for new approaches to designing, implementing and evaluating research. In an attempt to provide pragmatic guidance to One CGIAR and others on how to address these issues in the design of research for development programs that involve integrated systems research (ISR), CGIAR held a virtual workshop on Measuring the Impact of Integrated Systems Research on September 27–30, 2021. Participants took stock of recent experiences and reviewed existing and new tools and approaches with the potential to overcome conceptual, empirical and institutional challenges that obstruct ISR. In terms of methods for assessing the impact of ISR, the workshop highlighted recent advances in the use of geospatial data and called for more significant investment in both the quantity and quality of qualitative methods. Integrating monitoring, evaluation, learning and impact assessment (MELIA) into the research programs will require greater capacity on the part of managers, researchers and MELIA specialists to use theory of change effectively and efficiently for multiple purposes. It is also becoming increasingly clear that some of the challenges in conducting ISR in CGIAR are not technical but have to do with structures, processes and internal tensions within CGIAR itself about the kind of outcomes it seeks and the way it organizes and implements research. While calling for research that contributes to sustainability and systems transformation, CGIAR has in different ways failed to adequately support, and to learn from, the kinds of integrated systems approaches that will likely underpin success. Workshop participants proposed tackling this head-on through changing CGIAR systems, processes and incentive structures, and engaging directly with funders on how impact is understood and measured.
How agricultural research for development achieves developmental outcomes: learning lessons to inform One CGIAR science and technology policy research
(Report, 2021) Douthwaite, Boru; Child, K.
At the end of 2021, CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) will be replaced by Initiatives housed within One CGIAR. This new modality is intended to achieve higher levels of impact at a faster rate and at reduced cost compared to the CRPs. As One CGIAR begins, there is a unique opportunity to reflect on what has worked in different contexts. In this paper, we provide findings that relate to One CGIAR’s overarching view of how it will achieve positive and measurable impacts, and for agricultural research for development (AR4D) more generally. Specifically, we draw from three related CRP evaluations to identify how different types of AR4D approaches have contributed to successful outcomes. In the final section of the paper, we present our conclusions and provide a list of recommendations for the science and technology policy of One CGIAR and possibly other integrated research for development programs.
A hybrid approach to decolonize formal water law in Africa
(Report, 2018) van Koppen, Barbara; Schreiner, B.
In recent decades, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have pursued national water permit systems, derived from the colonial era and reinforced by “global best practice.” These systems have proved logistically impossible to manage and have worsened inequality in water access. A new study conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Pegasys Institute, with support from the UK government, traces the origins of these systems, and describes their implementation and consequences for rural smallholders in five countries – Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The authors of this report propose a hybrid water use rights system to decolonize Africa’s water law, lighten the administrative burden on the state and make legal access to water more equitable. This would strengthen smallholder irrigation, which is vital for boosting Africa’s food production and making it more resilient in the face of worsening drought.
Business model scenarios and suitability: smallholder solar pump-based irrigation in Ethiopia. Agricultural Water Management – Making a Business Case for Smallholders
(Report, 2018) Otoo, Miriam; Lefore, Nicole; Schmitter, Petra S.; Barron, Jennie; Gebregziabher, Gebrehaweria
This report outlines a business model approach to assessing the feasibility and for encouraging investment in smallholder solar pump irrigation. It also proposes a new methodology for mapping the suitability of solar energy-based irrigation pumps. The proposed business model framework and the methodology for suitability mapping are applied to Ethiopia as a case study, based on data from existing case studies and reports. A brief analysis outlines the regulatory and institutional context for investment in solar pump irrigation, and the ways in which it both constrains and attempts to support investment. The report identifies and outlines three business model scenarios that present opportunities for investing in smallholder solar pump-based irrigation, which would contribute towards sustainable intensification for food and nutrition security. The business model scenarios are based on the value proposition of supplying water to smallholder farmers for irrigated agricultural production. Analysis of potential gains and benefits suggests that direct purchase of solar pumps by farmers is feasible, and that out-grower schemes and pump supplier options with bundled financing offer promising solutions. The potential constraints that different investors may face in up-scaling the business models are also discussed, particularly within institutional, regulatory and financial contexts. The report provides development actors and investors with evidence-based information on the suitability and sustainability of solar pump irrigation in Ethiopia, as well as suggestions for helping to enable smallholders to invest in individually-owned, smallholder photovoltaic (PV) solar pumps.
Joint ventures in the Flag Boshielo Irrigation Scheme, South Africa: a history of smallholders, states and business
(Report, 2018) van Koppen, Barbara; Tapela, B.N.; Mapedza, Everisto D.
The report analyzes the changing tripartite constellations between South African black smallholders, the pre- and post-apartheid state, and the country’s large-scale agribusiness and irrigation industry. A recent mode of farming is the ‘joint venture’, in which smallholders hand over land and share in the net profits, while a strategic partner manages the cultivation with own inputs and equipment, and markets the output. With a focus on the 13 sub-schemes of the Flag Boshielo irrigation scheme in the former homeland of Lebowa (current Limpopo Province), the report analyzes the emergence of six joint ventures - the collapse of three and the troubled continuation of the other three. For the government’s support to joint ventures as one of the options of the revitalization of smallholder irrigation schemes in former homelands, it is recommended to ensure there is a robust bilateral contract between smallholders and the strategic partner, to strengthen land tenure arrangements, and to diversify irrigation technologies for women and men smallholders.
Beyond “More Crop per Drop”: evolving thinking on agricultural water productivity
(Report, 2017) Giordano, Meredith A.; Turral, Hugh; Scheierling, S.M.; Treguer, D.O.; McCornick, Peter G.
This Research Report chronicles the evolution of thinking on water productivity in the research agenda of IWMI and in the broader irrigation literature over the past 20 years. It describes the origins of the concept and the methodological developments, its operationalization through applied research, and some lessons learned over the two decades of research. This report further highlights how a focus on agricultural water productivity has brought greater attention to critical water scarcity issues, and the role of agricultural water management in supporting broader development objectives such as increasing agricultural production, reducing agricultural water use, raising farm-level incomes, and alleviating poverty and inequity. Yet, reliance on a single-factor productivity metric, such as agricultural water productivity defined as “crop per drop,” in multi-factor and multi-output production processes can mask the complexity of agricultural systems as well as the trade-offs required to achieve desired outcomes. The findings from this retrospective underscore the limitations of single-factor productivity metrics while also highlighting opportunities to support more comprehensive approaches to address water scarcity concerns and, ultimately, achieve the broader development objectives.
Global environmental flow information for the sustainable development goals
(Report, 2017) Sood, Aditya; Smakhtin, Vladimir U.; Eriyagama, Nishadi; Villholth, Karen G.; Liyanage, Nirosha; Wada, Y.; Ebrahim, Girma Yimer; Dickens, Chris
Environmental flows (EF) are an important component of Goal 6 (the ‘water goal’) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, many countries still do not have well-defined criteria on how to define EF. In this study, we bring together the International Water Management Institute’s (IWMI’s) expertise and previous research in this area to develop a new methodology to quantify EF at a global scale. EF are developed for grids (0.1 degree spatial resolution) for different levels of health (defined as environmental management classes [EMCs]) of river sections. Additionally, EF have been separated into surface water and groundwater components, which also helps in developing sustainable groundwater abstraction (SGWA) limits. An online tool has been developed to calculate EF and SGWA in any area of interest.

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