CGIAR ReseARCh PRoGRAm on WAteR, LAnd And eCosystems

UnItInG AGRICULtURe And nAtURe foR PoveRty RedUCtIon

Our use of land, water and ecosystems is not sustainable. WLE is a unique global network linking disparate areas of

environmental management, agriculture and poverty reduction together to meet development needs by identifying

innovative and sustainable solutions to complex problems.PRofessoR JohAn RoCkstRom, ChAIR, WLe steeRInG CommIttee

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Our visiOn A world in which agriculture thrives within vibrant ecosystems and where communities have higher incomes, improved food security and the ability to continuously improve their lives.

PHOTO gEOrgina smith / ciat

Led by

InteGRAted soLUtIons foR A ComPLex WoRLd

Uniting agricUltUre and natUre for poverty redUction 3

The global population, which is steadily climbing

toward nine billion, is pushing the natural systems

that support us all beyond their limits. Our current

food production systems and natural resource

management practices are unsustainable and hold

significant risk for future generations. The World

Economic Forum (2014) highlighted the ‘water

crisis’ as the third-most significant risk to economic

growth. Large-scale agriculture continues to be one

of the primary drivers of unsustainable practices

and the single largest contributor to loss of

biodiversity, carbon emissions and water scarcity.

“ Sustainable development should be at the core of humankind’s pursuit of shared progress.” Ban Ki MOOn SecreTary General Of THe Un

The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and

Ecosystems (WLE) combines the resources of 11

CGIAR centers, the Food and Agriculture Organization

of the United Nations (FAO) and numerous national,

regional and international partners to foster a new

integrated approach to natural resource management

research: It considers a healthy, functioning ecosystem

is a prerequisite for agricultural development,

resilient food systems and human well-being.

WLE seeks to improve the sustainability of

development in Africa, Asia and Latin America,

regions that are seeing fast-paced economic growth

but need to balance burgeoning demands for food

and water, while ensuring environmental security.

To achieve our vision of building resilient food

systems, WLE has defined five intermediate

development outcomes that are integrated and

build upon one another:

1 Productivity Improved land, water and energy

productivity in rain-fed and irrigated agro-ecosystems.

2 Income Increased and more equitable income

from agricultural and natural resource management

and ecosystem services in rural and peri-urban areas.

3 Gender & Equity Enhanced decision-making power

of women and marginalized groups and increased

benefits derived from agricultural and natural resources.

4 Adaptation Increased ability of low-income

communities to adapt to environmental and

economic variability, demographic shifts, shocks

and long-term changes.

5 Resilience Increased resilience of communities

through enhanced ecosystem services in

agricultural landscapes.

IssUes We AddRess WLE addresses the issues listed below by conducting ecosystem and landscape analysis and synthesis to

identify innovative options that are sustainable, financially viable and equitable. We address problems from

multiple angles and assist decision makers to understand trade-offs and synergies of different solutions.

Almost 90% of all

agriculture depends on

rain, but only 4% of the

rainwater in Africa is used

for agricultural production.

By 2030, the world’s

urban population

is expected to

reach five billion.

Only 5% of arable

land in Africa is

irrigated, compared

with 37% in Asia.

Every dollar invested

in recovering and

reusing resources

saves $4.90

in health costs.

20 million hectares of

arable land worldwide

are reportedly irrigated

with wastewater.

Groundwater reserves

in Africa are about

one hundred times

greater than the amount

of surface water.

2 cgiar research program on Water, land and ecosystems

Land degradation adversely

affects the ecological integrity

and productivity of about two

billon hectares, or 23%, of

landscapes under human use.

In 2011, extreme

climate events resulted

in an estimated $200

billion of damage.

Only 5% of the resources

provided through extension

services in Africa are

available to women.

Up to 40% of the world’s

agricultural land is

seriously degraded.

Every dollar spent on pre-disaster water

infrastructure can save up to $10 in disaster

relief. Yet, 90% of aid is only delivered

after a flood or drought has occurred.

If women had the same access

to resources as men, farm yields

could increase 20–30% and

reduce hunger by 12–17%

in developing countries.

40%

R e G e n e R At I n G d e G R A d e d L A n d s

I n C R e A s I n G L A n d A n d WAt e R P R o d U C t I v I t y U s I n G A n e C o s y s t e m s - b A s e d A P P R o A C h

R e C o v e R I n G A n d R e U s I n G R e s o U R C e s

m A n A G I n G vA R I A b I L I t y

e q U I t y A n d I n e q U A L I t y

5%

5,000,000,000

4% 5%

20-30%

=

PHOTO s. mOjumdEr / drik / cimmYt

4 cgiar research program on Water, land and ecosystems

hoW We WoRkWLE’s programming combines three different

but interconnected components.

First, its core research area uses integrated

ecosystems-based approaches to achieve

sustainable intensification by increasing land

and water productivity, revitalizing degraded

land, reusing and recovering resources, and

managing variability.

Second, the program’s core research is

complemented by research under three strategic

themes: ecosystem services and resilience;

poverty, gender and institutions; and decision

analysis and information systems. These themes

help the program build capacity and partnerships,

and they guide it toward its objectives.

Third, the program’s focal regions and its

innovation fund, which is managed through

open and competitive calls, encourage innovative,

multi-disciplinary research, seeking to develop

cross-regional and global tools, methods and

analyses that can help improve investments

and decisions on sustainable intensification.

WLE influences development choices to improve

sustainable agricultural intensification through

nature-based solutions by providing

Evidence that sustainable solutions provide

improved food security, equity, strengthened

livelihoods and healthy landscapes. Integrated solutions to better manage risk related

to rising shocks and competing uses. Models and scenarios to understand trade-offs

and synergies. Improved management practices achieved

primarily through action research at the community

and landscape level in order to promote learning

and adaptive management. Institutional innovations that address inequity

and gender imbalances, while promoting inclusive

and sustainable growth.

Gend

er, Pove

rty and Institutions (GPI) Ecosystem Services and Resilience (ESR)

LivELiHOODs PrODuCTiviTY

Ies foCAL ReGIons

LWP

RRR

mRv Rde EFFiCiEnCY susTAinABiLiTY

Strengthening Decision Analysis and Information (DAI)

Generate evidence with partners

Multi-sector engagement & use

shift mindsets and behaviours

Quick reference

iEs Integrating ecosystem solutions into policy and investments LWP Sustainably increasing land and water productivity Mrv Managing resource variability and competing uses rDE Regenerating degraded agricultural ecosystems rrr Recovering and reusing resources in urbanized ecosystems

are wOMen BeTTer STewardS Of THe envirOnMenT THan Men?

Understanding gender perspectives is key to

improving sustainable intensification and poverty

alleviation efforts. WLE seeks to ensure that women

have decision-making power over, and increased

benefits from, agriculture and natural resources –

a central component of WLE’s vision of sustainable

agricultural intensification.

WLE will conduct strategic gender research; mainstream

gender into all its research; and forge relationships

that promote gender work in its focal regions.

WLE has supported partners to examine the innovative

use of gender-related data in hydrological modeling

that quantifies the impacts of land management

practices to improve watershed management.

In Gondar, Ethiopia, for example, the International

Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

(ICARDA) used findings to introduce more fuel-

efficient cooking stoves in an effort to reduce the

time women spend collecting fuel and to combat

land degradation.

Uniting agricUltUre and natUre for poverty redUction 5

WheRe We WoRkWLE is a global program that works in eight

regions where different research components

and crosscutting themes are integrated to achieve

maximum impact. The map depicts WLE’s current

investments in some of the world’s poorest regions

with pressing land- and water-related problems.

At the regional level, WLE works in South Asia

(Ganges basin), Southeast Asia (Greater Mekong),

East Africa (Nile and East Africa corridor) and West

Africa (Volta and Niger basins). WLE also has a

significant portfolio of activities in Latin America,

Southern Africa, the Indus Basin and Middle East

and Northern Africa.

WLE’s focal regions are an important part of its

research-for-development approach and commitment

to generating positive change in specific geographical

locations. The focal regions prioritize opportunities

to address large- and small-scale water and land

development sustainability challenges.

• Latin America (Andes and Central America)

West Africa •(Volta and Niger)

Middle East •(Tigris and Euphrates)

• Southern Africa(Zambezi and Limpopo)

• East Africa(Nile and East African Corridor)

• Central Asia (Syr Darya and Amu Darya)

• Indus (Pakistan)

• Ganges (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal)

• Southeast Asia (Greater Mekong)

Priority Focal Region

Focal Region

Uniting agricUltUre and natUre for poverty redUction 7

oUR AChIevement And oUtComes

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

(e.g., increased yields, nutrition and goods) or

in ways that support these goals (e.g., controlling

pests, diseases and weeds, and regulation of

hydrological flows), while reducing negative

impacts on the natural resource base providing

these ecosystem services.

AGRICULtURe fRom A neW PeRsPeCtIve

An ecosystems-based approach to sustainable

intensification provides an opportunity to achieve

agricultural productivity and socioeconomic

development, while maintaining resilient landscapes.

WLE focuses on strengthening the regulating

services that ecosystems provide, such as by

moderating extreme weather events, regulating

water flows, treating waste, preventing erosion,

maintaining soil fertility, controlling pollination,

and regulating the climate. The program works

in peri-urban areas, degraded sloping-lands,

deltas and floodplains.

stronger Policies and Laws

WLE produces integrated solutions to complex

problems across the water, land, energy and

environment nexus. These solutions support

decision makers to understand costs and

benefits, trade-offs and synergies of different

development pathways. WLE provides evidence-

based solutions to governments to improve

policies, laws and implementation guidelines

as well as to investors (public and private)

to consider in their investment plans.

example In Peru, WLE, through the International

Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and its other

regional partners, has been working to promote

the concept of benefit-sharing mechanisms, which

redistribute the cost and benefits of ecosystems

services. On June 11, 2014, the Peruvian government

passed a historic law on implementing and

establishing such mechanisms. CONDESAN (the

Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the

Andes) and CIAT have made important contributions

to the law by advising the Peruvian Ministry of

Environment on technical and terminological

challenges related to benefit-sharing mechanisms.

“ The new law is important because it provides legitimacy to the schemes and guidance for their practical implementation.” BerT de Bièvre cOndeSan

Changed Investments and Global Processes

WLE seeks to bring ecosystem services to the

forefront of the development agenda by engaging

in global fora, conventions and dialogues around

sustainable development and agriculture resource

management. WLE also seeks to influence how the

private sector, donors and multi-lateral agencies

invest in agriculture.

example WLE partners are actively contributing

to several deliverables of the Intergovernmental

Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and

Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an intergovernmental

body for assessing ecosystem services. WLE has

also led discussions on the water, food and energy

nexus and is engaging in disaster preparedness

and insurance schemes.

WLE’s work on resource reuse and recovery seeks

changes in perceptions and use of waste streams

by analyzing, evaluating and promoting the most

promising scalable business models (e.g., private

sector, public-private partnerships or models that

leverage private sector capital) and technologies

(e.g., co-composting of faecal sludge). To achieve

this, WLE forms strategic partnerships with a

number of global change agents including the

private sector, UN agencies and other global

programs focused on water and sanitation.

PHOTO nEiL PaLmEr / ciat

PHOTO nEiL PaLmEr / ciat

PHOTO jOsianE nikiEma / iWmi

ContACt Us CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), International Water

Management Institute (IWMI), 127 Sunil Mawatha Pelawatte, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka

Email wle@cgiar.org Website wle.cgiar.org Agriculture and Ecosystems Blog wle.cgiar.org/blogs

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Improved decisions

WLE works with farmers to help them make more

informed decisions on land and water management.

We focus on the impacts of farming practices on the

overall system rather than solely on aggregating yield,

and this ecosystems-based approach has proved

crucial to ensure that technical options can improve

agricultural production and help alleviate poverty.

example In Vietnam, resettled communities

living nearby the 720-MW Yali Falls dam had begun

cultivating cassava in the drawdown zone on the

bank of the reservoir, but with the primary variety

requiring more than 10 months to reach maturity,

and with the land in the drawdown zone being

exposed only for 7 to 8 months, the possibility of

a sudden and devastating flood was high. Instead,

researchers introduced a new variety with a shorter

growing season, fostered greater capacity in local

extension agents and spurred the hydropower

company to share a water level calendar with

farmers—all of which made trialing of the new

variety possible. Farm-based trials in 2013 led

36 households to experience 60-89% increases

in yields and 100% increase in net income.

balanced Costs and benefits

At the landscape level, WLE supports local government

agencies, farmer organizations, private sector

actors and others to understand the trade-offs of

different investment decisions. Costs and benefits

are accounted for based on the overall system,

and agriculture is weighed against industrial,

urban and other uses of ecosystems.

example In Kenya, CIAT has been invited by

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Water

Resources Management Authority (WRMA) to

support the country’s first water fund in the

Tana basin, which is to facilitate more equitable

sharing of water while considering many competing

water uses. WLE is providing evidence to guide

investments that can make implementing sustainable

farming practices more attractive to farmers and

preserve essential ecosystems services.

PHOTO cPWF PHOTO a. daVEY

Science with a human face

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