Water Land and Ecosystems (WLE):

Building resilience in food production

systems

Uniting Agriculture and Nature for Poverty

Reduction

WLE believes

Sustainable

intensification

provides a pathway

for agriculture

productivity, human

development and

resilient

landscapes.

Why

Increasing environmental

degradation.

Rising risks associated with the

current growth agenda.

Rapidly rising human demands

and inequity

• We are consuming natural capital

in a way that is not sustainable

and equitable.

Recognition that the sustainability

agenda is at the heart of

development.

‘Water and climate

crisis’ is the

high on

global risk

.. and biodiversity

loss also very high

Global Risks Report 2014, World

Economic Forum

How

Influencing development choices to improve sustainable agricultural intensification through nature based solutions by providing:

• Evidence-base knowledge that sustainable intensification provides improved food security, equity, livelihoods and healthy landscapes.

• Integrated solutions to better manage risk related to rising shocks.

• Models and scenarios to understand trade-offs and synergies.

• Institutional innovations to address inequity and gender imbalances, while promoting inclusive and sustainable growth.

WLEs uniqueness

Not about protecting ecosystem for the sake of ecosystem.

Support human development by working with ecosystems and people.

Ecosystems as the foundation for agriculture productivity, equity, livelihoods and prosperity.

We go beyond the paradigm of minimizing the impacts of agriculture.

We are exploring the interface between rural and urban systems.

Working across sectors to provide integrated solutions to reverse land and water degradation.

Combining an ecological approach with a natural resource management approach to build resilience.

VISION

A world in which agriculture thrives within vibrant ecosystems, where

communities have higher incomes, improved food security and the ability to

continuously improve their lives

MISSION

Informing the development of policies, institutions and investments toward

sustaining ecosystems and their services as a prerequisite for sustainable and

resilient agricultural intensification and improved livelihoods

WLE VISION AND MISSION

WLE Program Structure

2

1.2. Ecosystems-Based Approach and Sustainable Intensification WLE recognizes that biodiversity and other ecosystem services are both supported and impacted by agriculture. WLE has developed an Ecosystem Services Framework which lays out five principles and how its ecosystems-based approach to sustainable intensification can address two seemingly contradictory goals: sustaining yields and increasing food production while maintaining critical ecosystems services for other uses (industry, urbanization, energy, etc.). On the one hand, an ecosystems-based approach will maintain or increase yields and ensure stability by reducing pest and disease incidence, increasing gene flow and pollination and enhancing water and land resources (nutrient cycling). On the other, this approach will support other developments by restoring and securing the ecosystem services provided by agricultural landscapes (water quality and quantity, flow regulation, carbon sequestration, in situ conservation of genetic resources, etc.). WLE’s  approach  supports the advances made in the commodity-based and systems Consortium Research Programs (CRPs) by emphasizing the multi-functionality of agricultural landscapes and exploring the trade-offs and costs and benefits of different pathways to sustainability. It does this by looking beyond the agriculture sector at how other development agendas impact and influence the agricultural sector.

1.3. Evolution of WLE WLE has made significant refinements to its structure and investments in order to deliver on its programmatic IDOs. Figure 1 represents the overall program approach, with four layers of integration and synergy. First, flagships are integrated into  WLE’s  program by having impact in its recently defined focal regions. Second, each flagship operates in alignment with WLE’s theory of change (i.e. generating knowledge, engaging and shifting mindsets) with an emphasis on partnership. The third area of synergy happens  through  integration  with  WLE’s  three  core themes of Gender, Poverty and Institutions (GPI), Ecosystem Services and Resilience (ESR), and Decision Analysis and Information (DAI). These core themes provide strategic, cross-cutting research and support to implementing sustainable intensification within the flagships. The core themes also support use of decision-making tools to assess the power and benefits that women and marginalized groups receive from natural resource management. Finally, the flagships integrate around WLE’s core concepts of sustainable intensification: livelihoods, productivity, efficiency and sustainability.

Figure 1: Program structure and theory of change

WLE At Scale

4

developed in CPWF. It also includes varying types of agent-based modeling that allow for different perspectives to be shared and included in landscape planning. WLE’s  approach  to  policy  engagement  has  been  honed through a number of successful projects and interactions with regional and global processes and conventions. While each case is contextual there are broad lessons. The first is that having a strong presence with respected, local researchers who are engaged in national development processes leads to increased opportunities for research to be used. For instance, under IWMI-Tata, Senior IWMI Researchers are actively involved in local development programs and boards where research results can be directly applied. Second, it pays to develop relationships with key ministries who are engaged in the policy debate and to begin supporting their needs with demand-driven, evidence-based research. For example, in Peru, WLE has a strong partnership with the Ministry of Environment that allows research on benefit-sharing mechanisms to directly link to policy debates. Research questions are defined partially based on direct requests from the ministry. Third, partnering with regional, national and local organizations and groups have proven to be an effective strategy: In the AgWater Management Solutions project, ambassadors were used to gain entry into key policy processes. 3) Shifting mindsets and changing how people look at agriculture and nature through sustainable intensification requires WLE to not only introduce new tools but to foster a fundamental shift in how people (governments, researchers, donors, investors and the general public) view water, land and ecosystems use and agricultural production. WLE’s  focus is to support and facilitate dialogue among decision makers, fostering to a more sustainable development and growth path. WLE research will have outcomes in a number of current areas in the coming two years: Ongoing research under the Resource Recovery and Reuse flagship is working to change negative perceptions of wastewater reuse for agriculture production. Agriculture Water Management research in sub-Saharan Africa is supporting governments in their quest to expand irrigation. For instance, WLE is supporting the Nigerian government to make investments in water management solutions for dry season farming and to ‘flood proof’   landscapes   subject   to  growing   flooding, potentially benefitting millions of farmers. In engaging with the Nigerian government, WLE demonstrated understanding of how to capitalize on new political imperatives as well as ability to engage with highest levels of government. WLE focuses its work at a national and regional scale supplemented with important investment pathways to local and global scales (see Figure 2 below). Through this national and regional focus, WLE is able to leverage the extensive capacity and research of its partners. WLE recognizes that a transition to integrated and holistic sustainable intensification systems requires decision makers at all levels—from local to international—to make complex choices among competing uses of, and management strategies for, water, land, ecosystems, energy and other resources.

Figure 2: Impact at Scale

Socio-Ecological system: WLE ES&R Framework

Focal Region Flagships.

U N I T I N G A G R I C U L T U R E A N D N AT U R E F O R P O V E R T Y R E D U C T I O N

WLE contributing to sustainable and resilient food systems

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND RESILIENCE

Almost 30% of Bangladesh fish

come from flood plains (beels).

Building community based

organizations to increase fish

production using ecosystem

based approaches.

Led to increases in catches and

important livelihood benefits to

landless farmers.

Understand trade-offs and synergies, both short and long term, on how mixed

use landscapes can be managed for their multi-functionality.

Managing floodplains for livelihoods in Bangladesh

Acknowledgements: Meynell, P-J.

Constructed wetlands in reservoirs

Unit ing agricultur e and nature for poverty reduction

LED BY:

GENDER, POVERTY AND INSTITUTIONS

Gendered decision making – Identifying livelihood

options in resettled communities in the Mekong

Men

Upland rice control limited (material, relational and subjective costs)

Fishing control increased (material benefit)

Livestock control decreased (material cost)

Women

Riverbank gardens control decreased (material cost)

Weaving control increased (material, subjective benefits)

Education increased participation (relational and subjective benefits)

Decisions result in benefits or costs to men and women. These are social (relational), cultural (relational/subjective), emotional (subjective) as well as economic (material).

Identify where, when and how women can gain equitable access to water, land and other natural resources

REVITALIZING DEGRADED ECOSYSTEMS

Reduce land degradation and increase resilience of small scale farming

communities in sub-Saharan Africa and other hot spots across the

globe. Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) for amelioration of salt-

affected soils and income generation, Uzbekistan

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Net

incom

e, U

SD

/ha

Net profit from Licorice production

Natural conditions

Cultivated crop

Salt-affected soils in Syr Darya, Uzbekistan,

2005

Growing licorice on abandoned salt-affected soils can:

Ameliorate salt-affected soils

Return them to productive use

Improve fertility of soils

Generate high income for poor farmers

INCREASING WATER AND LAND PRODUCTIVITY

Banking on groundwater: How policies can

lever change in India

Agricultural growth in West Bengal

had slumped by more than half.

Research identified a major block to

agricultural productivity was getting

access to groundwater.

Policies recommended by IWMI

were adopted to improve

groundwater access for smallholder

farmers.

Estimated rise in irrigated area from

3.0 to 4.8 mill ha and an additional

4.6 mill tons of paddy per year.

Develop technical, managerial and institutional solutions for

managing water and land

RECOVERING AND REUSING RESOURCES

20 promising business models for the safe reuse of human waste

based on 200 case studies across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The first investment pledges exceed $4m with several banks in the

pipeline.

Outputs being used by WHO, FAO, UNEP and UNU (Global

guidelines, assessments, methodologies, databases and training).

Reduce the negative urban footprint on ecosystems and human health through

market driven incentives that promote investments in water and energy recovery

and reuse Business models and innovative partnerships

Fortifier With

Fortifier

Withou

t

Fortifier

Waste to fertilizer – closing the nutrient loop

Co-

composting

Introducing business models to turn

waste into an asset

Solid waste and fecal sludge

composting in Asia and Africa

could save billions of US$ per

year, assuming a market for only

25% of the urban organic waste.

Not a new concept, but many

pilots not viable or sustainable

Business models for resource

recovery & reuse (RRR) target

private and public investors and

business schools.

Resource recovery and reuse -

Sustainable waste and wastewater

treatment Source: Drechsel

Water Energy Nexus

benefits:

Energy reduction in: Water

treatment, chemical fertilizer

production and transport

Environmental benefits:

Reduced pollution of water

bodies, reduced nitrogen and

phosphorous demand,

reduced GHG emissions

MANAGING RESOURCE VARIABILITY AND COMPETING USES

Assist decision makers to reconcile natural variability, competition among

sectors and trade-offs, and the importance of equitably sharing these

resources

Sharing water benefits in the Andes

Institutional innovation to improve

how benefits of water are shared

up-stream and downstream:

Developed Benefit Sharing

Mechanism for Caneta Basin,

funded by IFAD and Peru

Government.

Inputs and advice into to

developing new PES Law in

Peru.

Support to implementing BSM in

more than 30 locations

throughout the Andes.

Managing resource variability and competing uses

Assist decision makers to reconcile natural variability, competition among

sectors and trade-offs, and the importance of equitably sharing these resources

Resolves water variability by accelerating

surface–subsurface interactions

Process:

Extract groundwater before monsoon

Fill sub-surface storage using distributed

recharge mechanisms during the

monsoon

Results:

Increased water for dry season irrigation

Reduced downstream flood impact

Increased river flow in the dry season

Ganges Aquifer Management for Ecosystems Services (GAMES)

INTEGRATING ECOSYSTEM

SOLUTIONS INTO POLICIES AND INVESTMENTS

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct No

v

Dec

Dry season

Integrated solutions in Southern Bangladesh

System productivity can be increased from 3-6 tons per

hectare to 11-19 tons per hectare, depending on location.

Planning Commission has directed key departments to

adopt improved planning, maintenance and management

of polders.

Sub-watershed management recommendations taken up

by Blue-Gold project and Delta plan sponsored by DGIS.

Wet season

Shrimp Rice + Fish

Provide policy makers, private sector, NGOs and donors with evidence based research to

assess the long-term impacts, risks and trade-offs of large-scale investments and strategies

in a given region

STRENGTHENING DECISION ANALYSIS

Use information analysis tools to help governments and investors reduce

risk and enhance rural farm livelihoods

Merti Aquifer

Working with Government of Kenya to assess impacts of

120 KM pipeline using probabilistic decision-making

models.

Convening stakeholders and engaging them in model

building has shown potential to overcome some of the

controversy surrounding the Merti aquifer project.

Important aquifer for Wajir City, Somali refugees and

pastoral communities and outcomes will support their

development needs.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Building resilient and sustainable food

systems can be achieved.

Key to this is how we manage our

natural resources on which our entire

food system is contingent upon.

There are no magic bullets or quick

fixes to the challenges we face.

Our current production systems and

approaches to food production need

radical changes that place

sustainability and resilience first.

To achieve this will require greater

perseverance, hard decisions and

political will.

Thank you

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Agriculture and Ecosystems Blog:

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