Funder: Dutch Ministries - Partners for Water, subprogram Water for Food

Period: 2000-2003

Partners:

• WUR - Irrigation and Water Engineering Group - Dr Peter Mollinga, Coordinator
• Dhaka University, Dhaka - Prof. Imtiaz Ahmed
• Bhutan, Ministry of Agriculture - Mr. Kezang Jamtsho
• Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta - Prof. Jayanta Bandyopadhyay
• Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), Anand, Gujarat - Prof. Vishwa Ballabh
• National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore - Dr. Shantha Mohan
• Nepal Water Conservation Foundation (NWCF), Kathmandu - Dr. Ajaya Dixit
• Associated Development Research Consultants (ADRC), Sri Lanka - Ms. Kusum Athukorala

For further information, please, contact:
Dr. Peter Mollinga & Dr. Jasveen Jairath
Wageningen University & Research Centre
Department of Environmental Sciences
Irrigation and Water Engineering Group
Nieuwe Kanaal 11, 6709 PA Wageningen, The Netherlands
+31 (0)317 484190
p.mollinga@uni-bonn.de
saciwaters@rediffmail.com
www.saciwaters.org

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Irrigation Reform in North Africa

Description: This project explores the scope for change in irrigation management in Egypt and Morocco. In both countries the role of the central government is strong in which until recently the crops to be grown by a farmer were prescribed by the state. Both countries are also confronted with water scarcity and, given the high population growth, need action to use the water more efficiently and at lower costs for the central government. Central governments in both countries are developing policies to involve farmers in the management of the lower parts of the systems to reach a better service at lower costs. Policy implementation is however slow and not always effective. The research is looking from field level upward at what the problems are, how attractive farmer participation is for the stakeholders at different levels. Whether the tasks given to the farmers make sense in terms of better returns in crop production and whether the infrastructure is well adapted to the new organisational structure is also envisaged.

Literature studies using national and international sources have been carried out. Analysis will show how and why new water management policies have evolved and what objectives they have to serve. Emphasis will be on the case studies at field level where the effects of policy implementation can be observed and measured. In this way world literature and local practices are brought together to develop new insights and solutions that will be carried upward for new and more effective policy formulation and implementation in the region.

Overview Beni Mousa irrigation project, Morocco. The picture shows a detailed plan with mono cropped blocks
in which each farmer has a small share.

Funder: Dutch Ministries - Partners for Water, subprogram Water for Food

Period: 2000-2005

Partners:

·         WUR - Irrigation and Water Engineering Group (lead)

·         Irrigation Advisory Services, Egypt

·         Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire, DGR, Morocco

·         WUR - Alterra

·         WUR - Alterra-ILRI

For further information, please, contact:
Mr. Gerrit van Vuren
Wageningen University & Research Centre
Department of Environmental Sciences
Irrigation and Water Engineering Group
Nieuwe Kanaal 11, 6709 PA Wageningen, The Netherlands
+31 (0)317 482769
gerrit.vanvuren@wur.nl

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Multi-Stakeholder Platforms for River Basin Management

Description: Now that it is realised that water management should involve a wider circle than experts only to realise democratic and integrated management, ‘dialogue’ and ‘partnership’ approaches are seriously on the rise. Inter-sectoral partnerships have seen a steady increase in the course of the 1990s. Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) for River Basin Management take the partnership and participation ideas one step further by including a diversity of interests. MSPs are not just about bringing water management to the grassroots level, they are also about broadening the basis of representation. This research project investigates how well the platforms under scrutiny score in terms of content, context and process, and whether the above goals are being reached. In addition, it supports the formation of multi-stakeholder processes where feasible. In assessing the strengths and weaknesses of such fora, we are especially interested in the following questions:

·         Do MSPs make a real difference to stakeholders at grassroots level?

·         Can MSPs promote integrated catchment management?

·         What are the conditions for MSP sustainability over time?

Funder: Dutch Ministries - Partners for Water, subprogram Water for Food

Period: 2000-2005

Partners:

·         WUR - Irrigation and Water Engineering Group (lead)

·         WUR – Hydrology Group

·         WUR – Alterra

·         AMINAL, Belgium

·         Viksat, India

·         IPROGA, Peru

·         Rhodes University, South Africa

·         Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa

For further information, please, contact:
Mr. Jeroen Warner
Wageningen University & Research Centre
Department of Environmental Sciences
Irrigation and Water Engineering Group
Nieuwe Kanaal 11, 6709 PA Wageningen, The Netherlands
+31 (0)317 483931
jeroen.warner@wur.nl
 

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Water Law and Indigenous Rights (WALIR I and II)

Description: The WALIR initiative, co-ordinated by Wageningen University/ IWE and the United Nations/ ECLAC, is a comparative research and action programme joining interdisciplinary researchers and counterpart institutions in Latin America, North America and Europe. It is a think-tank that critically informs the debates on indigenous and customary rights and their relevance to water legislation and policy, both to facilitate local and national action platforms and to influence law- and policy-makers. Equitable rights distribution and democratic decision-making, as well as support for the empowerment of marginalised water use sectors, are major concerns. The initiative aims to make a concrete contribution to better legislation and water management policies.

The strategy of WALIR builds on academic investigation, action-research, capacity building and advocacy, together with local, regional and international networks – both indigenous and non-indigenous. While WALIR research also covers the cases of Mexico and the United States, its main focus of action is in the Andean countries: Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador. Central issues are indigenous water rights in the context of local rule making, in national law and in international treaties. Several thematic research projects complement and strengthen the network, and lay the foundation for a broad international framework: for example, on water management and livelihood systems, indigenous identity, gender, food security, legal pluralism, and water policy dialogue methods. On the basis of this research, WALIR and its counterpart platforms implement a number of exchange, dissemination, capacity-building and advocacy activities on water legislation.

Funder: Dutch Ministries - Partners for Water subprogram Water for Food, DGIS

Period: 2000-2006

Partners:

·         WUR - Irrigation and Water Engineering Group (lead)

·         Universidad Mayor San Simon / Centro Andino para la Gestión y Uso del Agua, Bolivia

·         CGIAB – Comisión para la Gestion Integral del Agua en Bolivia

·         CAMAREN – Interinstitutional Capacity-building Network on Natural Resource Management, Ecuador

·         IRD – Institute for Development Research, Montpellier, France

·         UN/ECLAC /United Nations Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

·         CONDESAN / InterAndean Concortium for Sustainable Development

·         Colegio de San Luis, México

·         Pontificada Universidad Católica del Perú

·         IPROGA, Interinstitutional Program for Water Management Improvement, Peru

·         CEDLA / Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation, Un. Amsterdam

·         SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, The Netherlands / Peru / Ecuador

·         Department of Anthropology, University of California at Riverside, USA

·         School of Law, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA

The workshop GESTIÓN LOCAL, DERECHOS COLECTIVOS Y LEGISLACIÓN DE RECURSOS HÍDRICOS took place from 20-22 of October 2004 in Quito, Ecuador. The workshop was attended by 75 waterexperts  from Boliva, Chili, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, USA, Nicaragua, Colombia, France and the Netherlands. 

The second Walir course Recursos hídricos, derecho y ciencias agronómicas, Una perspectiva antropológica  is scheduled from 10 – 27th of January 2005 in Lima, Peru.  

For further information, please, contact:
Mr. Rutgerd Boelens
Wageningen University & Research Centre
Department of Environmental Sciences
Irrigation and Water Engineering Group
Nieuwe Kanaal 11, 6709 PA Wageningen, The Netherlands
+31 (0)317 483916
rutgerd.boelens@wur.nl 

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Wastewater Use in Irrigation

Description: In this research and training project, the entity of the wastewater treatment and irrigation infrastructure along with its management is considered.   

Furthermore alternative techniques of collection and treatment are considered. In this approach there is a link to the environmental and productive effects of the system, strongly embedded in management, social acceptance and formal regulations.  The objective of the research is to document the potentials and restrictions of wastewater use under different conditions of overall water scarcity, social acceptance and governmental policies in selected countries in order to stimulate discussions on a new conceptual approach of design and management. More specifically:

Ø       To stimulate discussions on a productive and environmentally sound use of treated wastewater

Ø       To further develop concepts for design and management of re-use systems

Ø       To better understand and incorporate the perception of producers and consumers

Ø       To support human resource development on the subject.

Funder: Dutch Ministries - Partners for Water, subprogram Water for Food

Period: 2000-2004

Partners:

• WUR - Irrigation and Water Engineering Group (Dr Frans Huibers, Coordinator)
• WUR - sub-Department of Environmental Technology (Dr Jules van Lier)
• INRGREF, Ariana, Tunisia (Dr Faycel Chenini)
• Centro Agua, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Cochabamba, Bolivia (Ir Alfredo Duran)
• Kwameh Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana (Dr Sampson Agodzo)

Project reports of Bolivia, Ghana and Tunesia  are available as pdf documents.

For further information, please, contact:
Dr. Frans P. Huibers
Wageningen University & Research Centre
Department of Environmental Sciences
Irrigation and Water Engineering Group
Nieuwe Kanaal 11, 6709 PA Wageningen, The Netherlands
+31 0)317 484267
frans.huibers@wur.nl

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SAIL-Wasteval I & II

Capacity building on WASTEwater VALorisation for agricultural production in the Middle East area by using cost-effective treatment technologies.

Description: The project aims at further capacity building at the counterpart institutes with respect to the development and proper application of low-cost treatment and recovery methods for waste and wastewater, originating from municipalities, small size communities and to a lesser extent, agro-industries. Irrigation and fertilization of arid areas with appropriately treated wastewater will lead to a significant increase in the agricultural production, meanwhile a safe 'disposal' of domestic and urban effluents is achieved. WASTEVAL aims to consolidate the transferred knowledge and to created regional centers that are able to educate, to disseminate and to diffuse the know-how and technology in the field of cost-effective wastewater treatment and agricultural use. Activities include acquiring appropriate installations for training purposes and demonstration. Activities are complemented with raising of awareness concerning wastewater treatment technologies among government and private sector professionals.

Funder: Dutch Government - DGIS

Period: 1997-2004

Partners:

·            Wageningen University (WU), Wageningen, The Netherlands

• Sub-department Environmental Technology (Coordinator)
• Irrigation and Water Engineering Group

·            International Institute for Infrastructural, Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE), Delft, The Netherlands

·            Birzeit University (BZU), Birzeit, Palestine

·            National Research Centre (NRC), Cairo, Egypt

·            Water and Environment Research and Study Centre - University of Jordan (WERSC-UJ), Amman, Jordan

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CORETECH

Development of COst-effective REclamation TECHnologies for domestic wastewater and the appropriate agricultural use of the treated effluent under (semi-) arid climate conditions.

Description: To integrate sanitary engineering with environmental and agricultural engineering for a cost-effective optimisation and safe usage of the limited water and nutrient resources in the region. To diminish the discharge of raw domestic sewage in the environment, stimulate the use of treated wastewater for irrigation and fertilisation in agriculture, therewith to reduce the health risks and environmental pollution.

Funder: EC INCO-MED

Period: 2000-2003

Partners:

·         Wageningen University (WU) Wageningen (Coordinator: Sub-department Environmental Technology)

·         Water Environment and Research Centre (WERC), Amman, Jordan

·         National Research Centre (NRC) Cairo, Egypt

·         Birzeit University, Jerusalem (West Bank), Palestine

·         National Foundation for Agricultural Research (NFAR), Greece

·         National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway, Ireland

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Regional Capacity Building on IWRM and Gender and Water in South Asia

Description: The main focus in this human capacity building project on IWRM and gender and water issues in South Asia is to:

·         strengthen existing initiatives and institutions working on integration and interdisciplinarity regarding water resources development and management (the social carriers of the paradigm shift);

·         network and support these initiatives and institutions at the regional level to generate critical mass;

·         provide links with and inputs from the international IWRM and water resources knowledge and human resources base to make maximum use of already available knowledge and capacity.

Specific objectives/activities:

·         To discuss with partner institutions (one each in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, two in India) the ‘regional capacity building on IWRM and gender and water’ proposal and design/finalise institution specific implementation plans. (July-August 2002)

·         Conduct a workshop with the partner institutions to design and finalise the regional South Asia component of the programme. (August 2002)

·         Explore possibilities for co-funding of the programme by other donors. (July-September 2002)

·         Present a consolidated project proposal to the Dutch government, and eventual other donors (September 2002)

·         Conduct three workshops on three crucial water issues in South Asia, being ‘floods’, ‘droughts’ and ‘IWRM’, in order to:

-     strengthen the South Asian input into the Third World Water Forum in March 2003, by presenting plans for capacity building on these three topics in South Asia, based on review of existing knowledge and approaches against the need for  an `integrated and interdisciplinary’ perspective.

-     Produce material for the larger `regional capacity building on IWRM and gender and water in South Asia’ programme.

·         Present capacity building plan for these three issues at Third WWF, together with larger regional programme. (March 2003)

·         Produce collections of commissioned papers on the three issues. (March 2003)

Funder: Dutch Government – DGIS

Period: 2002 –2003

Coordinating organisations:

·         SaciWATERs (South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies), Quarter No. 20B, College Park, Road No.3, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500 034, India (applying institution)

·         Irrigation and Water Engineering group, Wageningen University, (financially administering institution)

Partners:

·         Centre for Water Resources, Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

·         Institute for Rural Management (IRMA), Anand, Gujarat, India

·         Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Islamabad, Pakistan

·         Peradineya University, Sri Lanka

·         Partners in Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan to be identified

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Women Professionals in Water Management

Description: The project addresses the problem of the limited number of female professionals in the water sector through a targeted fellowship programme. The programme is designed to enable women to participate in water management courses and training programs. Recognising that the professional gender gap is greatest in the rural water management and irrigation sector, initial focus will be on courses in this sector. Through the programme, women will be offered opportunities to obtain up-to-date water management expertise and skills which will make it easier for them to move into more senior level water management positions at national and international levels. Explicit opportunities for building alliances and networks between female professionals in the water sector are incorporated into the programme.

·         Selection, administration and co-ordination of 10 fellowships for female professionals.

·         Provision of logistical and technical support to women awarded with fellowships.

·         Development of specific tailor-made courses for 12 female professionals working in water management.

·         Active dissemination and development of gender analysis concepts and tools as applicable to water management.

·         Development of a network of female professionals working in water management.

·         Development of interdisciplinary water management training and course opportunities in Southern institutions.

Funder: SIDA – Swedish Government

Period: 2000 – 2007

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Agricultural Drainage: Towards an Interdisciplinary and Integrated Approach

Bank-Netherlands Partnership Program Environmental Window

Project for Water Resources Management

Description: The study is a comparative investigation of drainage in six countries, representing different drainage situations. The countries are: (1) the Netherlands in a temperate region (land reclamation/wetlands, and drainage in rainfed agriculture), (2) Bangladesh with a humid tropical climate (flood control/wetlands), (3) Egypt with an arid/semi-arid climate where drainage is practised within canal irrigation commands to control waterlogging and soil salinity, and where a relative increase of water scarcity puts demands on water management, (4) Indonesia with its humid tropical climate where coastal and inland wetlands are reclaimed, and where drainage of the reclaimed lands requires meticulous management because of occurrence of soils like peat and acid sulphate, (5) Pakistan with an arid/semi arid climate, with irrigation-induced waterlogging and salinity, expanded tubewell irrigation, high levels of water scarcity, substantial investments in drainage and experiments with institutional reform/user organization ongoing; (6) Mexico with drainage situated in the context of user managed systems and of an integrated water management approach.

The study in each country will involve the historical development of drainage technology and management in relation to its agro-ecological, social, environmental, and economic-political setting. It will be based on literature study, interviews with the World Bank staff who managed the World Bank funded projects in the study countries, consultants from consultancy firms and elsewhere, and field data collection (mainly interviews with stakeholders). In order to cross-check and improve on obtained information, discussion sessions with stakeholders will be organised in each country of study. The following groups of participants are envisaged: drainage users, people affected by drainage, government and development funding agencies, civil society organisations, and scientists/academic experts. The country studies will be streamlined and coordinated with the ongoing and pipeline World Bank projects with a drainage component.

Funder: World Bank

Period: 2002-2003

Partners:

Consultants, government agencies in respective countries.

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Centro Andino para la Gestión y Uso del Agua (Centro -AGUA)

Description: The aim of this project is:

·         the establishment of a ‘Centro Andino para la Gestión y Uso de Agua’, Centro AGUA (Andean Centre for Water Management and Water Use);

·         a deepening of interdisciplinary research with emphasis on irrigation and water management;

·         the development of graduate and postgraduate courses.

The ‘Centro Andino para la Gestión y Uso del Agua’ will be in charge of the co-ordination of the education programs and research activities of the different academic units of the University involved in irrigation and water management problems. By offering special services, programs and projects it will contribute to the solution of concrete problems. Likewise, the Centre will contribute by participating in the discussion and decision-making about matters concerning policies and laws on water management and water use.

Funder: NUFFIC – MHO program

Period: 2000-2004

Partner:

Universidad Mayor de San Simón (UMSS)

Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas y Pecuarias "Martín Cárdenas", Bolivia

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If you want to know more about the projects, please mail to: Gerrit.vanVuren@wur.nl