Uniting agriculture &natureIWMI-ARM, Colombo, Dec 2, 2014

PROSPEROUS COMMUNITIES. PRODUCTIVE FOOD SYSTEMS. HEALTHY LAND.

A new approach to NRM where..

….a healthy, functioning ecosystem is a prerequisite for

agricultural development, resilient food systems and human

well-being.

A different perspective

WLE emphasizes the need to rethink agricultural development in

the context of growing resource constraints and rising risks of

abrupt changes affecting water, land and ecosystems.

WLE’s ecosystems-based approach seeks to harness ecosystem services

for production goals or in ways that support these goals while reducing

negative impacts on the natural resource base providing these ecosystem

services.

Economic development vs. environmental degradation – current

economic growth models may not be sustainable.

Urbanization and peri-urban agriculture – we are moving to a new

era sedentary living in large / mega cities

Equity and inequality – women and youth are being left behind – a

lost opportunity with significant risk.

Environmental risk and crisis – climate change, resource limits

There is a need to rethink agricultural development and the entire

food system.

Global conversations have changed

Integrated solutions in a complex world – the core

focus of WLE

Productivity: Improved land, water and energy productivity in rain-fed and

irrigated agro-ecosystems.

Income: Increased and more equitable income from agricultural and natural

resource management and ecosystem services in rural and peri-urban areas.

Gender & Equity: Enhanced decision-making power of women and

marginalized groups and increased benefits derived from agricultural and

natural resources.

Adaptation: Increased ability of low-income communities to adapt to

environmental and economic variability, demographic shifts, shocks and long-

term changes.

Resilience: Increased resilience of communities through enhanced

ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes.

Putting ecosystem services at the forefront

An ecosystems-based approach to sustainable intensification provides an

opportunity to achieve agricultural productivity and socioeconomic

development, while maintaining resilient landscapes.

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

WLE ES&R Framework

http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/wle/corporate/ecosystem_services_and_resilience_framework.pdf

Trade-offs, costs & benefits across scales

An ecosystem-based approach provides integrated solutions that

consider trade-offs, costs and benefits across sectors and scales,

allowing us to balance seemingly contradictory goals of increasing food

production while maintaining ecosystem services.

The nexus

Increasing global focus on “nexus” thinking. WLE also looks at the nexus

between natural resources (water, land, forests), agriculture and others

developments (industry, energy, mining, etc.).

Urbanization

Increasing urbanization provides opportunities to leverage different

agriculture and natural resource management options both in rural areas

and in peri urban areas. This also provides an opportunity to look at resource

recycling and how we close the nutrient loop nutrient

How we work

WLE’s

programming

combines three

different but

interconnected

components.

Where we work

The focal regions are an important part of WLE’s research-for-development

approach. The focal regions prioritize opportunities to address large- and small-

scale water and land development sustainability challenges.

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

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 Flagships

Unit ing agricultur e and nature for poverty reduction

LED BY:

INTEGRATING ECOSYSTEM SOLUTIONS INTO POLICY AND

INVESTMENTS (IES)

Critical Issues

• National and regional issues

being addressed in an integrated

manner.

• Supporting development through

sound economic investments.

Key areas of work

The Nile and East Africa

The Volta/Niger

The Greater Mekong

The Ganges

The Innovation Fund

Harnessing and integrating WLE’s R4D portfolio will foster a transition to sustainable intensification (SI) while enhancing national and regional capacity.

LEADER:Nathanial Matthews

Unit ing agricultur e and nature for poverty reduction

LED BY:

INCREASING WATER AND LAND PRODUCTIVITY (LWP)

Key areas of work

Agricultural water and land

productivity

Revitalizing irrigation systems

Improved access to natural resources and increased adoption of sustainable intensification practices will lead farmers to become more resilient and food secure.

LEADERS:Meredith Giordano

Theib Oweis

Unit ing agricultur e and nature for poverty reduction

LED BY:

REVITALIZING DEGRADED ECOSYSTEMS (RDE)

Reduce land degradation and increase resilience of small scale farming communities in sub-Saharan Africa and other hot spots across the globe.

Influencing investments on land degradation so they take

an ecosystem perspective

Key areas of Work

• Landscape restorations and their

impacts

• Ecosystem services assessment,

exploring trade-offs, and equitable

planning of restoration interventions

• Economic solutions and incentives

LEADERS:Deborah Bossio

Suhas Wani

Unit ing agricultur e and nature for poverty reduction

LED BY:

RECOVERING AND REUSING RESOURCES (RRR)

Key Activities:

1. Business opportunities in nutrient, water and energy

recovery and reuse

2. Safe waste water reuse

3. Resource management in intensified peri-urban

ecosystems.

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

LEADER:Pay Drechsel

Unit ing agricultur e and nature for poverty reduction

LED BY:

MANAGING RESOURCE VARIABILITY AND COMPETING USES (MRV)

Assist decision makers to reconcile natural variability, competition among sectors and trade-offs, and the importance of equitably sharing these resources

Key areas of research

• Managing water

resources variability and

rethinking storage

• Resource allocation and

sharing of benefits for all

• Water and energy for

food

LEADERS:Claudia Ringler

Vladimir Smakhtin

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 Core Themes

GENDER, POVERTY AND INSTITUTIONS (GPI)

Women as a central component to improving

sustainable intensification

• More than one-third of the female workforce is engaged in agriculture, while in regions like sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia more than 60% of all female employment is in this sector.

• Two-thirds of the world’s 796 million illiterate adults are women.

• Only 29% of researchers in the world today are women.

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

LEADER:Nicoline de Haan

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND RESILIENCE (ES&R)

Core Issues

• 10 million hectares of farmland are lostevery year due to ecosystem degradation.

• Radical overhaul of agriculture can create farms which enhance rather than degrade the world’s ecosystems.

• 66% of wetlands are used for agriculture in Africa and 48% in Asia.

Examples of work

• Community based fisheries

• Changing Landscapes in Kyrgyzstan

• Engaging and contributing to global processes

Understand trade-offs and synergies, both short and long term, on how mixed use landscapes can be managed for their multi-functionality.

Support to thematic work and focal regions in developing

ecosystem based approaches & engaging in global

processes

LEADER:Fabrice DeClerck

STRENGTHENING DECISION ANALYSIS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS (DAI)Use information analysis tools to help governments and investors reduce risk and enhance rural farm livelihoods

Key Issues:

1. Decision analysis and risk assessment.

2. Information systems

Areas of work

1) Cost-effective soil information systems based on new

spectral diagnostics and digital mapping techniques;

2) A global water accounting platform that will provide water

accounts on a monthly basis for major river basins of the world;

and

3) Global information and knowledge facility for agro-

biodiversity.

LEADERS:Keith Shepherd

Lisa Rebelo

Wle.cgiar.org/blogs

PROSPEROUS COMMUNITIES. PRODUCTIVE FOOD SYSTEMS. HEALTHY LAND

and Water.