Water for Food SecuritySLCARP Symposium, Colombo, August 2014

Photo by Hamish John Appleby / IWMI

IWMI’s Vision: A water-secure world

IWMI’s Mission: To provide evidence-based solutions to

sustainably manage water and land resources for food security, people’s livelihoods and the environment

IWMI’s core competencies:• Applied research at field and basin

scale• Modelling of bio-physical processes• Socio-economic assessment• Policy and institutional analysis• Capacity development

A solution orientated research agenda:

IWMI’s expertise supports 6 key challenge areas

Intensify agricultural productivity sustainably

Manage risk and increase resilience

Benefit from functioning ecosystems

services

Enhance efficient resource use and re-

use

Promote gender and social equity Maximize shared

benefits across sectors and borders

IWMI Offices worldwide

‘Water crisis’ is the third highest

global risk

..extreme weather, climate change and

biodiversity loss also very high

Global Risks Report 2014, World Economic Forum

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We know about climate change and increasing population, but changes in consumption patterns also leads to significant

increase in water demand

1961-2000

1. How to ensure sustainable agricultural growth and productivity increases are achieved in ways that create and enhance resilience for the poor?

Water for Food Security – more than just crops

Photo by Neil Palmer / IWMI

Water for People

http://bit.ly/1BapyNq - People gather to get water from a huge well in a village in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

A photograph by Amit Dave, Reuters

www.iwmi.orgWater for a food-secure world

Water for Health

Photograph by Cherry Wolf

Resilience

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…problems are more than physical scarcity

Water & land

scarcity

Slow growth of

productivity

Unequal sharing of benefits

Unequal sharing of

risks

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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INDIA NEWS CTOBER 1, 2009 India's Drought Worst Since 1972

Safe

Semi-critical

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Over exploited

Saline

‘Free’ electricity encouraged groundwater overuse

Over past 10 years solutions have been found built on research into technical interventions supported by policy and financial initiatives and incentives

One example - over abstraction of groundwater e.g. in Gujarat

Shah, Tushaar (IWMI)

Agro-well density, Jaffna Agro- wells increased by 37 % Agricultural land increased by 6%

(in Valikamam South, 2003 - 2007)

Excess irrigation: up to 230 % Excess fertilizer: 108 in N (kg/ha)

(in Valikamam, 2011)

(IWMI, 2011)

Potential over-abstraction

Research shows signs of sustainable abstraction thresholds being exceeded in Jaffna…

(IWMI, 2011)

Suggestions: Efficient irrigation

management Increase the groundwater

recharge Salt tolerance crops Awareness programs Strengthen the water

management committee etc

Consequences on saline intrusion…

We know that: in most cases resources are limitedpressure on agriculture from urban and industrial users will

continue the poor and marginalized suffer most in shortage situations So we need to: enhance the productivity of water adopt available supply and demand solutions, and research

into new onesensure the right incentive frameworks are in place

e.g. Yield potential exists

Rainfed Minor Major Mahaweli Global Max

02468

101214

3.31 3.86 4.8 5.5

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Paddy Yields t/ha

Examples of water transfers and increased productivity exist

…as allocation to agriculture reduced and transferred to urban use

Agricultural production levels maintained…

High tech systems are moving from the lab to the field

(courtesy Jain Irrigation)

…adopting efficient systems

Kalpitiya

Photos by Herath Manthrithilake (IWMI)

Wastewater reuse – can also be a safe and valuable resource (after Drechsel)

Can we develop effective business models that promote safe recycling and reuse?

Resource recovery and reuse - Source: Drechsel

Benefits:

Energy reduction in: Water treatment, chemical fertilizer production and transport

Environmental benefits: Re-use of nutrients, reduced pollution of water bodies, reduced nitrogen and phosphorous demand, reduced GHG emissions

2. How can we plan for variable climates?

Water for Food Security – resilience to shocks

Photo by Hamish John Appleby / IWMI

Uncertainty and Ambiguity in Future Projections –complex planning challenge

Spatial Pattern of Rainfall Projections for 2050s

Dry Zone

Wet Zone

Intermediate Zone

Dry Zone

Wet Zone

Intermediate Zone

Projection 1 Projection 2

De Silva, 2006

De Silva 2006Basnayake et al. 2004

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Projection 3

De Silva, 2006

Punyawardane et al. 2010

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Identifying climate change Vulnerability Hotspots – to design locally relevant adaptation measures

Climate Change Vulnerability Index

Anuradhapura

Nuwara-Eliya

RatnapuraSensitivity Index

Exposure Index

Adaptive Capacity Index

One approach is develop tools for Disaster Relief RAPID EMERGENCY RESPONSE MAPPING

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.120452013

…another approach is to improve targeting of investment

e.g. flood duration analysis, Indus Basin, Pakistan

(IWMI) Amarnath, Giriraj

Water Storage Continuum

Source: McCartney & Smakhtin 2010

… another is to improve resilience through storage options

Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI)Source: Pavelic 2012

Managed Aquifer RechargeGanges Aquifer Management for Ecosystems Services (GAMES)

Encouraging more groundwater use in under-utilized areas (after Mukharji)

Agricultural growth in West Bengal had slumped by more than half

Research identified that a major obstacle to agricultural productivity was getting access to groundwater

New policies recommended by IWMI were adopted to reduce ‘red-tape’ and improve groundwater access for smallholder farmers.

The policy change could benefit more than 5.6 million smallholders

Competition for water is increasing Variability and extremes are a reality 80-90% of increased production will have to come from

investments in existing land Innovative solutions exist at various scales and across

sectors – room for optimism New technology offers new opportunities Research has an important part to play n developing a

range of viable technical, management, institutional and policy solutions

Challenges and opportunities

iwmi.orgCGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and

Ecosystems

wle.cgiar.org