IWMI West Africa

Short Project Title and Description

Status

Project Leader

• Improving Food Security in West Africa through Revitalizing Irrigation System Performance and Productivity and Promotion of Agricultural Water and Small- Scale Irrigation (USAID Project)

This project aims to improve the performance and productivity of selected irrigation schemes through identifying and implementing targeted interventions in two West African countries, namely Burkina Faso and Niger. The interventions will be implemented through a consortium of relevant institutions involving National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems, irrigation management institutions, and NGOs with expertise capable of revitalizing existing irrigation systems under the leadership and support of the Comité Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse au Sahel and the International Water Management Institute.

Plans will be developed and implemented in Burkina Faso and Niger, with the intention that the lessons learned are up-scaled and out-scaled both within the project countries and throughout the West Africa region. It will help these countries to tackle the growing food insecurity and poverty crises by systematically identifying impediments to irrigated agricultural productivity and efficiency of irrigated crops (mainly rice).

• Niger Basin Focal Project Intervention Analysis

The Niger Basin Focal Project (BFP) is a research project funded by the CGIAR Challenge Programme on Water and Food (CPWF) that aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the basin through four main themes. Analyses of poverty, water availability/access, water productivity and institutional environment will be undertaken and integrated so as to underline the links between these issues, and the causes of poverty that can be linked to water issues. Local stakeholders will be involved and considered throughout the project (overview of the basin, data collection, research, feedback on the results, dissemination, etc.).

The Niger BFP  will build development strategies at the basin scale, with a geographic component (poverty hot spots) and a thematic component (development of burning topics of particular relevance in the basin: the key issues). The overall integrated analysis of water poverty will be done through geo-statistical and thematic (key issues) analyses of the maps created. Some of the key issues have already been identified and will be submitted for further development by specialists.

• Agricultural Water Management (AWM) Solutions project..

How to unlock the potential of small-scale agriculture to reduce poverty and hunger? A project in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia identifies promising investments in agricultural water management.

Smallholder farming can and should be an engine for economic growth, poverty reduction and food security. Just add water! Of course, it is not quite as simple as that--other factors play a critical role, including access to inputs, markets, and knowledge. But water is a key ingredient-one that is too often overlooked. This project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will help unlock the potential of smallholder farming by focusing on investments in agricultural water management. The project collaborates with policymakers, investors and implementers in providing information on what, where and how to invest for maximum impact in terms of increased incomes and reduced poverty and hunger.

• Assessing Realities, Potential and Limitations of Groundwater Use

Understanding groundwater use for various purposes in Ghana, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

 Ongoing

• Shallow Groundwater irrigation for livelihoods security and poverty reduction in the White Volta Basin (CPWF 65)

This project aims to assess the current role of shallow groundwater irrigation in securing livelihoods and reducing poverty in the White Volta Basin and to create management recommendations for shallow groundwater development. Recommendations for improved management practices and policies, based on the generated knowledge base, will be developed and implemented in close cooperation with local partners in the Ghanaian Water Research Institute (WRI) and the Burkinabe Ecole Inter-Etats d'Ingénieurs de l'Equipement Rural (EIER).

• Re-thinking Water Storage for Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The project aims at increasing the resilience of rural poor vulnerable to climate change related risks in sub-Saharan Africa through better water storage mechanisms, improved investment strategies and institutional support. It will examine various storage options and storage creation processes, their economic feasibility, suitability in various physiographic and socio-political conditions, distributional outcomes, impacts on local livelihoods, environmental consequences, adoption potential and resilience under different climate change scenarios. The study will be carried out in Ghana and Ethiopia which will be affected differently by climate change, cover a variety of storage options, attract attention of international investors and have well established relationships with the project members. A diverse range of national and international stakeholders are involved in the proposed project. Outputs will be disseminated through established regional networks, peer-reviewed papers, on-line sources and policy round tables.

• National Public Policy Support for Sustainable Dam Development (Ghana Dams Dialogue)

In the wake of Ghana’s recent power crisis and the construction of the Bui Hydropower Dam, the National Dialogue on Dams and Development in Ghana, was initiated to contribute towards well-informed decision-making and sustainable planning and management of dams in Ghana. To date the Dialogue has provided consensual recommendations to the government for integration into national planning and legislation.

• CP 6: Strategic Innovotion in Dryland Farming

This is a project funded by the CPWF and led by the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) of Ghana but with a component on water harvesting for productive uses jointly implemented by SARI and IWMI Ghana. This project component seeks to introduce poor smallholder farmers to low cost water harvesting systems that could provide opportunities for dry season crop production and other productive activities. The Ghana office of IWMI provided backstopping to activities carried out by SARI in 2007.

• Sustainable Dissemination of Small scale Lowland Paddy fields Development in inland valleys in West Africa (SDSSLP)

This research project aims at disseminating lowland rice cultivation in inland valleys in West Africa by analyzing the current status and constraints of disseminating lowland rice in inland valleys in West Africa through literature reviews and field studies in West Africa.

Research Area 2: Policies and Institutional Capacity Building

• Managing Water at the Urban-Rural Interface: The Key to Climate Change Resilient Cities

The project seeks to strengthen decision support for authorities in Accra and Addis Ababa to address the impacts of climate change and urbanization on urban water demand and supply. The project is situated at the water-sanitation-agriculture nexus, and will work across the urban-rural interface, with efforts to support integrated urban water management. The project will model future water supply and wastewater generation for cities under different climate change and urbanization scenarios. A multi-stakeholder platform will provide inputs into scenario development, deliberate the outcomes of modeling, and devise recommendations for cross-sectoral adaptation strategies.

• Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security - From Seed to Table (RUAF-FSTT) Project, Angophone, West Africa.

The RUAF-FSTT project aims to facilitate the development of sustainable urban farming systems and to contribute to urban poverty alleviation and enhanced food security, social inclusion and empowerment of urban disadvantaged groups in 20 partner cities. The project has selected Ghana and Nigeria in the Anglophone West Africa region. One hundred farming households from each city will be targeted during the activities. The specific outcomes expected of the  project are 1. Enhancement of the capacities of the different regional resource centers on urban agriculture and food security and facilitate their consolidation; 2. Enhancement of the capacities of local stakeholders (researchers, NGO’s, farmer organizations, and/or) in the RUAF partner cities to engage in joint situation analysis and policy advocacy in relation to urban agriculture, and the design, implementation and monitoring of sustainable urban agriculture farming and marketing projects; 3. Enhancement of the income and food security of farming households by implementing “From Seed to Table” projects (stimulating the transition from subsistence farming to more sustainable forms of urban agriculture); 4. Strengthening of the organization of urban farmers groups and organizations, and their capacities to innovate their farming systems and market chains and participate in multi-stakeholder dialogue and planning; 5. Enhancement of urban producers' access (innovative forms of) credit and financing of urban agriculture activities; 6. Enhancement of learning from monitoring: lessons are drawn from the experiences gained in the project and are used in the planning of future activities by RUAF partners at local, regional and international level; 7. Enhancement of the capacities of students and staff of NGO’s, farmer organizations, training and research institutes and local governments in empowerment of urban farmer organizations FSTT approach to farming system innovation through distance education; 8. Enhancement of subsribers' access to UA-Magazine and provide visitors of the websites with up-to-date information on past and recent research and project experiences on urban agriculture; and 9. Consolidate the recently established City Multi-stakeholder Forums on Urban Agriculture in the partner cities and advance in national policy formulation on urban agriculture.

• Upstream and Downstream Impact of Urban Growth and Development on Water Demand, Wastewater Generation and Agriculture in Urbanizing countries

This project analyzes the implications of urban water developments on upstream and downstream water resources and wastewater disposal, across the rural-urban divide. Scenarios will be modeled, considering different types of water demand and sanitation developments. The research is being carried out in three fast growing cities; Accra, Hyderabad and Addis Ababa.

• Sustainable Water Management Improves Tommorow Cities Health (SWITCH)

The SWITCH Integrated Project seeks the development, application and demonstration of a range of tested scientific, technological and socio-economic solutions and approaches that will ensure the achievement of sustainable and effective urban water management (UWM) schemes in the city of the future. The project is being implemented by different combinations of consortium partners, along the lines of six complementary and interactive themes through a combination of action research and learning alliances. IWMI's office in Ghana is involved in sub-theme 5.2 “Use of Urban Water (Fresh and Waste water) for Urban Agriculture and Other Livelihoods”. This project will employ` the multi-stakeholder process for action research on productive use of water and wastewater in Accra, Ghana. The main aim is to ensure that there are significant improvements in agricultural production, using fresh water, storm water and wastewater. A multi stakeholder work-group will be established in Accra to undertake action research on relevant aspects of the productive use of water and wastewater. These processes will explicitly explore and facilitate horizontal and vertical integration within and between the respective stakeholder groups. This project will also seek to explore inter-linkages with other SWITCH work packages which could be implemented in Accra as one of 9 demonstration cities of SWITCH.

• Water Rights in Informal Rural Economies in the Limpopo and Volta Basins (CP66)

This interdisciplinary project fosters innovative dialogue among different knowledge, policy and implementation communities that used to work in parallel. In particular, it translates knowledge on indigenous water rights, (which is available but has largely remained academic), into operational insights on how to build upon its strengths while overcoming weaknesses. The often ignored linkages between water and land rights are examined in-depth. Lessons from more advanced debates in Latin America and South Asia are drawn upon.

• Reducing Health Risks Arising from Irrigation with Polluted Water.

 This umbrella project comprises several smaller projects funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agricultural Organization of the University Nations (FAO) which address (i) quantitative microbiological risk assessments; (ii) participatory trials of options for the reduction of wastewater use related health risks on farms, in markets and households, and (iii) analysis of possible adoption drivers and cost effectiveness of risk reducing options.  The project supports the new WHO Guidelines on safe wastewater irrigation and one PhD study (Razak Seidu).

Ongoing

• Re-use Options for Faecal Sludge in Agriculture (Co-composting)

Testing options for co-composting of solid waste and human excreta and the direct use of excreta in farming.

• Scoping Study on Small-scale Agricultural Water Management (AWM)

This project was conducted in collaboration with  the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), FAO and Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The objective of the study was to provide an initial assessment of the potential for small-scale water control interventions to support poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, represented by India.

Ongoing

• Empowering Farming Communities in Northern Ghana with Strategic Innovations and Productive Resources in Dry-Land Farming (CP 6)

Supporting options for rainwater harvesting for productive (domestic and agricultural) uses.

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Closed/Completed Projects

• ECOWAS Project

• GLOWA-Volta

Developing decision support systems for sustainable water use under changing land use, rainfall reliability and water demands in the Volta Basin.

• Small Multipurpose Reservoirs

Planning and evaluating ensembles of small, multi-purpose reservoirs for the improvement of smallholder livelihoods and food security: tools and procedures (CP Water & Food project 46).

• Comprehensive Assessment (Volta Basin)

Understanding the development of agriculture and water use in the Volta Basin based on an inventory of existing biophysical, socioeconomic and institutional data.

• Safe food despite wastewater Irrigation

Supporting on-going projects with interactive knowledge sharing approaches in their tasks to define institutionalization potential and application of so-called "good health risk reducing practices", low-cost interventions, at the different entry points of the contamination pathway.

• Adoption studies of treadle pumps in West Africa (IPTRID)

Understanding factors supporting and constraining (early) adoption of water lifting devises in West Africa in relation to different pump marketing strategies.

• WHO Guideline Testing in Tamale

The project aims to test non-treatment options for the reduction of farmers’ health risks and to analyze their adoption drivers and constraints at the farm and institutional level. Increasing awareness of farmers, city authorities, relevant groups and agencies, as well as other stakeholders on the necessity of such measures and its framework as provided by new WHO Guidelines for the Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater (2006). Application of both waste water and/or faecal sludge by farmers is usually carried out without any accompanying protective measures or risk reducing practices and therefore poses serious health risks to farmers and – especially where wastewater is used on vegetables eaten raw – to consumers. Target group for the study are urban and peri-urban poor farmers: men and women who have but one option - to use limited resources available to them in order to sustain their livelihood. The proposed study adds a new value to the soon ending Challenge Program for Water and Food (CPWF) Projects 38&51, which focused more on consumers’ health, to test the adoption potential and institutionalization of those identified interventions which also address farmers' exposure.

• Urban Malaria

Investigating how urban agriculture increases the risk of malaria in West African cities for recommendations to minimize any potential risk.

• Improving the Rural-urban Nutrient Cycle through (Peri) Urban Agriculture

Development of recommendations on options for waste com- posting for Municipalities taking into account detailed analyses of (i) waste supply, (ii) compost demand, (iii) institutional and legal issues, (iv) financial analysis, and (v) different
compost process options.

• Transferring Effective Irrigation  and Water Resource Management Technique (TEIWRMT)

The project is aiming to develop the methodology to evaluate suitability for rice in inland valleys in West Africa. The spatial model using R/S and GIS technology was developed and then the suitability was evaluated in the two case study sites in Ghana. The model includes 29 parameters, which are composed of bio-physical, technical, socio-economic and health & environmental factors, for suitability evaluation of lowland rice in inland valley. Also the technical guidelines for selecting suitable sites for lowland rice in inland valley in West Africa was produced through the findings obtained from the surveys in the two study sites in Ghana.