Managing Resource Variability and Competing Use

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/34660

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The impact of irrigation on nutrition, health, and gender: A review paper with insights for Africa south of the Sahara
(Working Paper, 2013) Domenech, Laia; Ringler, Claudia
The hypothesis underlying this review paper is that how irrigation gets deployed in SSA will be decisive not only for environmental sustainability (such as deciding remaining forest cover in the region) and poverty reduction, but also for health, nutrition, and gender outcomes in the region. The focus of this paper is on the health, nutrition, and gender linkage.
Group lending with heterogeneous types
(Working Paper, 2013-02) Gan, Li; Hernandez, Manuel A.; Liu, Yanyan
Changing preferences through experimental games: Evidence from sanitation and hygiene in Tamil Nadu
(Working Paper, 2016-12-16) Stopnitzky, Yaniv
Much policy interest in sanitation and hygiene promotion focuses on changing behavior and increasing demand for these goods. Yet the effectiveness of large-scale interventions has been mixed, in large part because of the difficulty of changing attitudes on deeply rooted behaviors. This study tests whether an experiential learning exercise structured around an experimental game can be used to shift preferences around sanitation and hygiene. A minimum coordination game is adapted to the sanitation and hygiene setting by linking game choices to real-world investment decisions and payoffs in terms of health and status. Individuals from 20 villages in rural Tamil Nadu were randomly assigned to one of three groups: one that played a game in which communication between rounds was allowed, another that played a game in which communication was prohibited, and a control group that only completed a survey. Based on a comparison of survey responses across treatment arms, the game improved stated preferences in relation to sanitation and hygiene. This effect was larger when communication was allowed, and men responded on average more strongly than women across both versions of the game. These results suggest that experimental games can be a valuable tool not only for the study of decision making but for improving participants’ knowledge and pro-sanitation preferences.
Weather index crop insurance as a climate-smart approach for the vulnerable groups: the case of Adiha, northern Ethiopia
(Book Chapter, 2019-07-16) Teame, Ataklti Techane; Hagos, Fitsum
Spatial politics and local alliances shaping Nepal hydropower
(Journal Article, 2019-10) Suhardiman, Diana; Karki, Emma
This paper investigates the spatial dimension of power relations and the shaping of local alliances through a hydropower development project in Nepal. It provides a grass-roots illustration on the role of space in shaping and reshaping power relations, and how it manifests in the formation of local strategic alliances. Taking the Upper Karnali hydropower project as a case study, the paper highlights: 1) the role of private sector actor as an ad-hoc decision maker in hydropower development in the country; 2) how hydropower development is perceived by those who will be most affected; and 3) how the two shape the localized dynamics in hydropower decision making, while also sheds light on some of the key gaps in hydropower decision-making landscape and processes. Viewing space as a process and a product of socio-political interface, it shows how local communities living along the Karnali River view the planned hydropower project differently, how these views are rooted in their relationship with the hydropower company, and how such relationship is predetermined by local communities’ bargaining power in relation to the proximity of their respective villages to the planned hydropower dam site, and vice versa. Unpacking the power relations shaping and reshaping spatial politics in hydropower decision making, it presents the concept of spatial alliances as a theoretical underpinning to unpack the question on why and how power relations emerge, are sustained and reproduced.
Mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries
(Report, 2019) Dickens, Chris; Nhlengethwa, Sibusiso; Ndhlovu, Brown
The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development promises to achieve change in almost every aspect of life on Earth. Encompassing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, the Agenda marks the first time in history when all nations have agreed on how to chart their future. The SDGs are not just a global reporting exercise, however, but rather involve a global program that embraces country-led efforts. Guided by the ideas contained in the 2030 Agenda, each nation must seek to become more prosperous and sustainable, while contributing to the global effort at the same time. If all the countries achieve this, we will have a sustainable planet and a secure future for all. This document offers guidance on how developing countries can adapt the SDGs to their own contexts and priorities. It indicates important areas for developing countries to consider when creating their own program to achieve the SDGs, and provides examples of success to demonstrate concrete possibilities for progress.
Review of water and climate adaptation financing and institutional frameworks in South Asia. Background Paper 3
(Report, 2019) Suhardiman, Diana; Silva, Sanjiv de; Arulingam, Indika; Rodrigo, Sashan; Nicol, Alan
Use of remote sensing and GIS for identifying tanks and rehabilitation benefits to the rural areas
(Journal Article, 2019-03-01) Anand, S.; Kakumanu, K.R.; Amarasinghe, Upali A.
Water storage is crucial for water security (WS) in countries with monsoon-driven climates. Tanks significantly contribute to WS by augmenting water supply to agricultural production in parts of south and Southeast Asia. The present paper assesses the potential locations of small tanks for rehabilitation to enhance WS. The Bhadrachalam catchment from the Godavari river basin, India was selected for the study. Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems techniques were used to identify the small tanks and water spread areas for augmenting storage. The cost -benefit analysis was also carried out for the identified tanks with various scenarios, cropping pattern and management options. The returns from desiliting, increase in area under the tank command with paddy and cotton crops are found to be beneficial. It concludes that rehabilitation of small tanks should be considered a priority investment as it will not only enhance WS and financial benefits to local communities, but also augment river flows in the non-monsoon season.
Unpacking the water-energy-environment-food nexus: working across systems
(Working Paper, 2019) Sood, Aditya; Nicol, Alan; Arulingam, Indika
The increasing demand for water, energy and food, and the interdependence of these systems could lead to potential human conflict in the future. This was seen in the food crisis of 2008, which stirred a renewed interest in taking a "systems" approach to managing resources. The initial flurry of activities led to many nexus frameworks, but there remains a gap between theory and its implementation. This paper tries to look at various frameworks and unpacks the concept of nexus in order to develop matrices to help quantify and understand the interlinkages between the nexus systems. It suggests multi-level and multi-system indices to measure the health of nexus systems and to identify the weak links. It is hoped that such frameworks can be used at country level, and eventually be used to measure and rank countries on the health of their systems. The paper suggests a questionnaire that can be used (after modifying for local conditions) to collect country-level institutional and political-economy data (which is difficult to get from online resources) to be used in the framework.
Hydropower dams of the Mekong river basin: a review of their hydrological impacts
(Journal Article, 2019-01) Hecht, J.S.; Lacombe, Guillaume; Arias, M.E.; Duc Dang, T.; Piman, T.
Environmental assessment of water and soil quality in the Vientiane Plain, Lao PDR
(Journal Article, 2019-04) Brindha, Karthikeyan; Pavelic, Paul; Sotoukee, T.
A water and soil quality baseline study was carried out across the ~ 4500 km2 Vientiane Plain in Lao PDR. Eight water quality and nine soil parameters were analysed using field kits at 95 sites in March 2015. Elevated electrical conductivity and chloride were apparent at two sites due to geogenic leaching from the marine rock-salt present in some areas. Groundwater was acidic in most locations. Nitrate and faecal contamination were also observed from nitrogenous fertilizers (diffuse) and from leaky sewage pits (localised) respectively. Soil quality is neither nutrient deficient nor does it pose a threat to plant growth. Where groundwater is used for drinking, removal of bacterial contamination by simple filtration or boiling is sufficient. In the absence of a functional monitoring network in the Vientiane Plain, periodic surveys of this kind should be performed. The results should be made widely available to the relevant government departments and other stakeholders for better management of the land and water resources.
Urban food-wasteEnergy nexus and the private sector
(Brief, 2017-09) Drechsel, Pay
Reflecting on the food-energy nexus, my first thought went to the Haber–Bosch process. Perhaps no other human invention has had a more dramatic impact on our wellbeing and mother Earth than the Haber-Bosch chemistry. As the reader might know, and I am citing here largely from Wikipedia, the Haber-Bosch process is the main industrial procedure for the production of ammonia fertiliser today. It is named after its inventors, the German chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who developed it in the first half of the 20th century.
A guide to SDG interactions: From science to implementation
(Report, 2017-05-12) Nilsson, M.; Griggs, D.; McCollum, D.; Stevance, A
The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in September 2015. It is underpinned by 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. National policy-makers now face the challenge of implementing this indivisible agenda and achieving progress across the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development world-wide. As the process moves towards implementation, there is a need to address the scope and systemic nature of the 2030 Agenda and the urgency of the challenges. This requires a wide range of tools and science-based analysis to navigate that complexity and to realise the ambition. This report explores the nature of interlinkages between the SDGs. It is based on the premise that a science-informed analysis of interactions across SDG domains – which is currently lacking – can support more coherent and effective decision-making, and better facilitate follow-up and monitoring of progress. Under standing possible trade-offs as well as synergistic relations between the different SDGs is crucial for achieving long-lasting sustainable development outcomes. A key objective of the scoring approach described here is to stimulate more science-policy dialogue on the importance of interactions, to provide a starting point for policy-makers and other stakeholders to set their priorities and implementation strategies, and to engage the policy community in further knowledge developments in this field.
Piloting managed aquifer recharge (MAR) in the central highlands of Vietnam to sustain groundwater supplies for irrigated smallholder coffee production
(Brief, 2017) CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems
Investment in irrigation for global food security
(Brief, 2017) International Food Policy Research Institute
What will it take to achieve a level of irrigation investment sufficient to support sustainable agriculture for improved food security and nutrition? Climate change and all the resulting uncertainties are sparking new interest in raising investments in irrigation to enable more stable food production. In order for these investments to pay off, they need to be targeted and ideally should be accompanied by the following: 1. Support for smallholder irrigation systems whenever feasible. 2. Improvements in water-use efficiency 3. Economic incentives to conserve water resources 4. Linkages with other sectors. 5. Linkages between irrigation and nutrition
Assessment of groundwater availability from recession flows and instream flow requirements of rivers in South Africa
(Report, 2015) Ebrahim, Girma Yimer; Villholth, Karen G.
Groundwater is an important resource for multiple uses in South Africa. However, setting limits to its sustainable abstraction while assuring basic human needs is a must. Due to prevalent data scarcity related to groundwater replenishment, which is the traditional basis for estimating groundwater availability, the present report presents a novel method for determining allocatable groundwater in quaternary catchment through information on streamflows. Using established methodologies for assessing baseflows, recession flows, and instream ecological flow requirements, the methodology develops a combined stepwise methodology to determine annual groundwater storage volumes in the catchments using linear reservoir theory, essentially linking low flows proportionally to upstream groundwater storages. The approach was trialled for twenty-one perennial and relatively undisturbed quaternary catchments with long-term and good streamflow records. Using the Desktop Reserve Model to estimate instream ecological flow requirements of the streams and equating these with ecological groundwater reserve, excess baseflows were converted into groundwater storages on an annual basis. Results show that groundwater development potential exists in nineteen of the catchments, with upper limits to allocatable groundwater volumes ranging from 0.01 to 1.58 MCM/yr over the catchments. With a secured availability of these volumes 75% of the years, variability between years is assumed to be manageable. A significant (R2 = 0.86) correlation between baseflow index and the drainage time scale for the catchments underscored the physical basis of the methodology and also enables the reduction of the procedure by one step, omitting recession flow analysis. The method serves as an important complementary tool for the assessment of the groundwater part of the Reserve and the groundwater directed measures.
A global assessment of Basin Plans: Definitions, lessons, recommendations
(Journal Article, 2016-04-01) Kazbekov, Jusipbek S.; Tagutanazvo, Emelder; Lautze, Jonathan F.
Basin plans have become a core element of water management in the 21st century. Systematic analytical scrutiny of the contents of basin plans is nonetheless scant. This paper develops a framework for assessing basin plans and systematically applies it to understand how contents of basin plans vary. The paper synthesizes a definition of ‘basin plan’, generates a classification system for basin plans, and proceeds to classify a regionally diverse set of 23 basin plans. Major findings are that basin plans typically contain the components and sub-components suggested in best practice guidelines. Focus on some issues that are presumably central to water management such as water quality and quantity is nonetheless comparatively low. Disaggregating basin plans suggests that developing country transboundary plans are more geared toward hydropower development, navigation and coping with uncertainty, while developed country and national plans appear to focus more on issues such as water quality and fish management. It is hoped that findings contained in this paper support future basin plan development by informing those crafting basin plans of the options available to them.
Institutional and policy analysis of wastewater (re)use for agriculture: case study Hyderabad, India
(Journal Article, 2015-07-01) Saldias, C.; Speelman, S.; Amerasinghe, Priyanie H.; Huylenbroeck, G. van
Wastewater constitutes an alternative water source for the irrigation sector. To fully benefit from it, and reduce possible adverse effects on public health and the environment, we need to look at the regulation of the practice. A prerequisite for this is an institutional analysis, and the points to consider are the institutional mandates. We used the city of Hyderabad, India, as a case study. There, irrigation with wastewater is not supported or recognized, but it happens in practice. It takes place in an indirect and unplanned way. Institutions fail at enforcing regulations, and little attention is given to formalization of the practice. With this article, we aim to untangle the institutional setup, and by doing so, identify the constraints surrounding development of a formal practice. Ultimately, we aim at contributing to the discussion on the agricultural use of wastewater.
Integrated cost-effectiveness analysis of agri-environmental measures for water quality
(Journal Article, 2015-09) Balana, Bedru B.; Jackson-Blake, L.; Martin Ortega, J.; Dunn, S.
This paper presents an application of integrated methodological approach for identifying cost-effective combinations of agri-environmental measures to achieve water quality targets. The methodological approach involves linking hydro-chemical modelling with economic costs of mitigation measures. The utility of the approach was explored for the River Dee catchment in North East Scotland, examining the cost-effectiveness of mitigation measures for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollutants. In-stream nitrate concentration was modelled using the STREAM-N and phosphorus using INCA-P model. Both models were first run for baseline conditions and then their effectiveness for changes in land management was simulated. Costs were based on farm income foregone, capital and operational expenditures. The costs and effects data were integrated using ‘Risk Solver Platform’ optimization in excel to produce the most cost-effective combination of measures by which target nutrient reductions could be attained at a minimum economic cost. The analysis identified different combination of measures as most costeffective for the two pollutants. An important aspect of this paper is integration of model-based effectiveness estimates with economic cost of measures for cost-effectiveness analysis of land and water management options. The methodological approach developed is not limited to the two pollutants and the selected agri-environmental measures considered in the paper; the approach can be adapted to the cost-effectiveness analysis of any catchment-scale environmental management options.
Riverbed clogging experiments at potential river bank filtration sites along the Ping River, Chiang Mai, Thailand
(Journal Article, 2015-06) Pholkern, K.; Srisuk, K.; Grischek, T.; Soares, M.; Schafer, S.; Archwichai, L.; Saraphirom, P.; Pavelic, Paul; Wirojanagud, W.
Riverbank filtration (RBF) is a process during which river water is subjected to subsurface flow prior to abstraction wells, often characterized by improved water quality. The induced infiltration of river water through the riverbed also creates a clogging layer. This decreases riverbed permeability and abstraction rates, particularly if the river water has high turbidity, as in Thailand. As Chiang Mai Province is one of the most favorable sites for future RBF construction in Thailand, two sites, Mae Rim and San Pa Tong, were selected to simulate clogging by using a channel experiment. The mobile experimental apparatus was set up at the bank of the river in order to use fresh river water. Riverbed sediment was used as channel bed and filling material for the columns. The aim was to simulate riverbed clogging using river water with high turbidity and determine the effect of clogging, which can be quantified using vertical hydraulic conductivity (Kv). An increase in channel flow velocity caused partial removal of a clogging layer in only the top 0.03 m of the sediment column. The combination of low channel flow and high turbidity leads to much more clogging than high channel flow and low turbidity. A complete manual removal of the external clogging layer led to an increase in Kv, but the initial Kv values were not recovered. The external clogging had a lower effect on Kv than internal clogging. For planning new RBF sites along high-turbidity rivers, reduction in Kv to estimate RBF well yield cannot be calculated based only on initial Kv but requires field experiments.

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