Uniting agriculture & nature for poverty reduction

Changing face of the global food system

POPULATION

GROWTH AND

DEMOGRAPHIC

CHANGE

RISING

AVERAGE

INCOMES

RESOURCE

COMPETITION

AND SCARCITY

INCREASED

INEQUITYENVIRONMENTAL

CHANGE

We have mismanaged our resources

We need to change the way we do agriculture

that builds resilience and inclusion into our food

systems.

AND yes, we can do it!

‘Water and climate crisis’ rank in the top

three global

risks

.. and

biodiversity loss is also

very high

Global Risks Report 2015, World Economic Forum

IWMI’s approach to research:

An award-winning, world-leading team:

110 scientists

35 research support staff

Multi-disciplinary:

Diverse perspectives on any issue or problem

Multi-regional:

On the ground, on the frontlines: 68% of staff in the field

Diverse perspectives from 12 countries

Deeply connected to driving “outcomes”:

Uptake team works across multi-country network

Close relations with policy-makers, NGOs, farming

groups

A new approach to NRM where…

…a healthy, functioning ecosystem is a prerequisite for agricultural

development, resilient food systems and human well-being.

How we work

WLE’s programming

combines three different

but interconnected

components

WLE’s research

Evidence-base knowledge

to support a more

sustainable intensification of

agriculture.

Integrated solutions to

better manage risk related to

rising shocks.

Models and scenarios to

understand trade-offs and

synergies.

Institutional innovations

that include new policies and

arrangements to share

benefits equitably (Water

Funds, taxes, PES, Benefit

Sharing etc.)

Harnessing big data for effective

decision-making

Developing solutions for impact

and improved resilience

Making peri-urban agriculture a

win-win for people and the

environment

Seeking to influence development choices by providing:

Land health surveillance – Africa Soils Information Service

Continent wide initiative funded by

Gates Foundation, Columbia Global

Centers and World Soil Information and

ICRAF

Wide-spread application and interest in

Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania

with many Africa countries requesting

support

One acre fund to provide services to

180,000 farmers in Eastern Africa; India

planning to support 3M soil analyses

over 3 years

Managing floodplains for livelihoods in Bangladesh

Seasonal floodplains in Bangladesh

provide a diverse range of livelihood

and ecosystem services (30% of

Bangladesh fish come from the

floodplains)

.

Building/strengthening community

based organizations to increase fish

production using ecosystem based

approaches.

Led to increases in catches and

important livelihood benefits to

landless farmers.

Using 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. Greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced to up to 13 million tons CO2-e per year.

Major outcomes emerging

Bangladesh: a permit to manufacture compost from fecal sludge

India: invited by Gov and WB to assess feasibility of fecal sludge business model in

several states and towns

Ghana: First PPP established

With

Fortifier

Without

Fortifier

FORTIFIERTURNING SEPTAGE

INTO FORTIFIER

Core theme: gender, poverty and institutions

About Gender, Poverty, and Institutions (GPI)

Photo: Ian Taylor/CPWF Mekong

“There can be no peace without equitable

development; and there can be no development without

sustainable management of the environment in a

democratic and peaceful space. This shift is an idea

whose time has come.”

Wangari Maathi, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient 2004

Guiding principles: based on evidence & realities that:

Gender is inherently political and cultural; and dynamic;

Gender, poverty, and institutions are interlinked, and can not be dealt with independently;

Women and men have different roles, aspirations, needs, knowledge sets and opportunities; and will experience costs and benefits differently

Women have less access than men to productive resources and opportunities, but often carry the burden of nutrition and natural resources;

Resilience, through increased access to income, assets and rights, is vital for women and communities.

Equity can be a real driver of change in rural development.

The hypothesis

Are women better stewards of the land, water, and ecosystems?

• How do we increase

access of women to

land, water and

ecosystems?

• How do we increase

decision-making by

women on water,

land and

ecosystems?

• How do we ensure

women can use

these resources

sustainably?

Research and outcome oriented:

The WLE gender matrix: developing research plans

Research opportunities: flagships, focal regions, and own portfolio

Content matrix: • Technical angle: dealing with drought at basin level, where variability is

one of the issues

• Geographic: placing gender within the cultural context but also, for instance, with issues of outmigration in Bihar, India

Research plans:• Focal region gender plans

• Technical research questions and entry points

Outcomes• Investable options for women

• Improved policy options for decision making

Research delights

Flagships:• IFPRI: Experimental Games for

Strengthening Collective Action: Learning from Field Experiments in India and Colombia

• IWMI: Incorporating gendered landscapes into physically-based models via Participatory 3-D Mapping

Focal regions: • UNESCO-IHE: accounting for

Nile waters: connecting investments in large scale irrigation to gendered reallocations of water and labour in Eastern Nile basin

• Wageningen University: Poverty square and gender circles in the Ganges

Gender profiling large basins

IFPRI and IWMI lead initiative

to better collate gender

disaggregated data

Maps will be supplemented by

in-depth case studies and

analyses of gender relations

For use by development

practitioners and policy

makers to better target

interventions

Gender in Irrigation Learning and Improvement Tool

The demand:

Irrigation agencies in Eastern and Southern Africa requested practical tools, metrics and training to strengthen gender equity in irrigation schemes.

Increasing awareness by regional bodies and governments in Asia and Africa of the gap between gender goals at regional, national and sub-national levels and the capacity, tools, and processes required to accomplish those goals.

The need:

The tool can directly benefit women involved in current and future irrigation schemes and in water user groups.

The tool:

Targets and measures issues that are within the control of irrigation scheme management

• Access to scheme resources

• Participation in scheme management

• Access to scheme benefits, e.g. market information, payments from sales

Research areas:

• Equity and ecosystems

• Governance

• Economic empowerment

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

THANK YOUwle.cgiar.org