CPWF Science Progress ReportNovember 2011 – April 2012

Alain Vidal, CPWF Director

Outline

3rd International Forum on Water and Food

Developing science and messages influencing the global agenda

Early results from our six basins

IFWF3 highlights – the story CPWF is all about evidence but

must do more to ensure quality evidence is made available

CPWF needs to maintain its relevance and accessibility for a way beyond the science community

Gender matters – more needed

Young Professionals need real recognition

CPWF is rooted in the local –sincerely global

CPWF in Africa

300+ participants

Research partners, decision makers, donors, media

Mesh of Basin, TWG, local-to-global, global-to-local

Global social media and traditional media coverage

Interactive, dynamic and innovative

Federating

Closing of the gaps between science – development – policy

IFWF3 – the real story

Multitude of case studies

Evidence emerging from all projects

Wide buy-into a model for carrying out AR4D

Real challenge from insiders-outsiders to step up to the challenge of demonstrating the evidence and taking the space offered at the policy table

CPWF able to ask itself tough questions, bring in external view, extend its partnerships

New CPWF messagesOverall message: Despite challenges in many river basins, overall the planet has enough water to meet the full range of people’s and ecosystems’ needs for the foreseeable future, but equity will only be achieved through judicious and creative management.

Message 1. Wise use of our water resources for strengthening (rural) livelihoods and ecosystem services requires simultaneously using it more productively and sharing water and its benefits more equitably.

Message 2. Higher water productivity and greater social equity can be obtained only through a radical in change of policies and institutional arrangements in both developed and developing nations.

Message 3. The CPWF R4D strategy identified and promotes the policy, institutional and technological innovations required in developing countries for people to increase water productivity and ecosystem services in an equitable and sustainable manner.

Very good echo in recent major global events: WWF6, PUP 2012

Andes: Benefit-sharing mechanisms and their low hanging fruits

Trust funds and local dialogues established

Upstream ecosystems restored

Benefits downstream through improved pastures supporting community dairy production

Consolidating Andes experience as a world-laboratory on BSMs

Scaling out in Uganda and Nepal

Ganges: Freshwater storage for improved livelihoods in polders

Well managed short duration aman rice varieties double yield

Improving local institutions to ensure hardware maintenance and improvement

Key to use stored water to

stabilize rainy season production

intensify and diversify dry season production

Limpopo: Rainwater management and value chains

Strengthen agricultural value chains where market-related failures contribute to poverty

Success of community innovation platforms depends on trust among the actors and sufficient incentives

Appropriate technologies must fit existing livelihood systems and include socially acceptable incentives

Mekong: Hydropower and livelihoods

Techniques, land and water uses identified that can increase benefits available to riparian communities

Fish-rice systems

Artificial wetlands in reservoirs

Add value for both dam builders and communities

Dialogue processes identified institutional weaknesses in the ways regulations are implemented

Nile: Rainwater management and landscapes

Rainwater management interventions to target landscapes, linking bio-physical drivers with socio-economic factors

Suitability map considering key limiting factors: erosion, rainfall regimes, soil fertility and enterprise choices

Development of innovation platforms in 3 different landscapes

Volta: Rainwater and small reservoirs

Identified successes (soil-water conservation, small reservoirs, and small pumps) and failures (culture and gender-sensitivity)

Integration of maintenance costs in project budgets and capacity building of actors (mostly farmers)

Resilience analysis helps evaluate common threads driving or limiting innovations

Thank you