Floriane Clement

ASSESSMENT OF THE LIVESTOCK-FEED AND WATER NEXUS ACROSS A MIXED CROP-LIVESTOCK SYSTEM'S INTENSIFICATION GRADIENT: AN EXAMPLE FROM THE INDO-GANGA BASIN

Projections suggest that annual per capita water availability in the Indo-Ganga Basin (IGB) will reduce to a level typical for water-stressed areas. Producing more crop and livestock products, per unit of agricultural water invested, is advocated as a key strategy for future food production and environmental security in the basin. The objective of this study was to understand the spatio-temporal dynamics of water requirements for livestock feed production, attendant livestock water productivity (LWP) and implications for the future sustainable use of water resources. We focused on three districts in the IGB representing intensive (higher external inputs, e.g. fertilizer, water) and semi-intensive (limited external input) crop-livestock systems. LWP is estimated based on principles of water accounting and is defined as the ratio of livestock beneficial outputs and services to the water depleted and degraded in producing these. In calculating LWP and crop water productivity (CWP), livestock, land use, land productivity and climatic data were required. We used secondary data sources from the study districts, field observations and discussions with key informants to generate those data sets. Our result showed that the volume of water depleted for livestock feed production varied among the study systems and was highly affected by the type of feed and the attendant agronomic factors (e.g. cropping pattern, yield). LWP value was higher for intensive systems and affected by agricultural water partitioning approaches (harvest index, metaolizable energy). LWP tended to decrease between 1992 and 2003. This can be accounted for by the shift to a feeding regime that depletes more water despite its positive impacts on animal productivity. This is a challenging trend with the advent of and advocacy for producing more agricultural products using the same or lower volume of water input and evokes a need for balanced feeding, by considering the nutritive value, costs and water productivity of feed, and better livestock management to improve LWP.

Integrated water resources management in Nepal: key stakeholders' perceptions and lessons learned

Integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been prescribed in the global water policy literature for decades. This article looks at how the concept has been applied in Nepal. It highlights the normative approach in IWRM policy formulation, the existing institutional barriers to apply it and how these resulted in the framing of IWRM ‘implementation’ as merely a compilation of donor-funded projects. Current discourse on IWRM highlights the need to shift the emphasis from national policy formulation to local adaptive, pragmatic approaches to IWRM. This article brings to light the need to identify potential entry points to scale up locally rooted water management approaches towards the development of nested institutional set-ups in water resources management.

Adapting livestock water productivity to climate change

Purpose – The main purposes of this paper were to assess effects of smallholder farmers access to livelihood capital (e.g. land, livestock and water) on livestock water productivity (LWP) and to evaluate impacts of selected interventions in reducing livestock water demand (per unit of livestock product) and therefore increasing LWP.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 203 sample farm households were selected in intensive and semi‐intensive crop‐livestock systems of Indo‐Ganga basin of India. A household survey was undertaken to capture data on land, water and livestock management. For the analysis, sample farms were clustered into poor, medium, better‐off. LWP is estimated as a ratio of livestock beneficial‐outputs (e.g. milk) to depleted‐water (i.e. evapotranspired water to produce livestock feed). Impacts of selected interventions, on LWP, were analyzed using scenarios developed on a spread sheet model.Findings – The results showed different LWP values among farm‐clusters and levels of intensificati...

Justice in development? An analysis of water interventions in the rural South

This paper explores a fruitful convergence between the distributive and procedural dimensions of environmental justice theory and current debates in the field of development studies over capitals and capabilities, institutions, and discourse formation to shed new light on natural resource management projects in the developing world. Specifically, we document the planning and implementation of two types of water interventions in two contrasting regions: watershed development programmes in northeast India and small reservoirs in sub‐Saharan West Africa. We find that there is a contradiction between the inherently political nature of water interventions and the fact that such projects remain grounded in apolitical, technical and managerial narratives. In contrast to the new semantic of development, this depoliticization results in the near absence of attention paid to procedural (participation and empowerment) and distributive (equity) justice concerns and in local actors having to revert to covert ways to achieve their ends. A constructive dialogue between development studies and environmental justice scholars can offer a fresh look on the society‐environment nexus in the developing world.

Increasing water productivity in Agriculture

Increasing water productivity is an important element in improved water management for sustainable agriculture, food security and healthy ecosystem functioning. Water productivity is defined as the amount of agricultural output per unit of water depleted, and can be assessed for crops, trees, livestock and fish. This chapter reviews challenges in and opportunities for improving water productivity in socially equitable and sustainable ways by thinking beyond technologies, and fostering enabling institutions and policies. Both in irrigated and rainfed cropping systems, water productivity can be improved by choosing well-adapted crop types, reducing unproductive water losses and maintaining healthy, vigorously growing crops through optimized water, nutrient and agronomic management. Livestock water productivity can be increased through improved feed management and animal husbandry, reduced animal mortality, appropriate livestock watering and sustainable grazing management. In agroforestry systems, the key to success is choosing the right combination of trees and crops to exploit spatial and temporal complementarities in resource use. In aquaculture systems, most water is depleted indirectly for feed production, via seepage and evaporation from water bodies, and through polluted water discharge, and efforts to improve water productivity should be directed at minimizing those losses. Identifying the most promising options is complex and has to take into account environmental, financial, social and health-related considerations. In general, improving agricultural water productivity, thus freeing up water for ecosystem functions, can be achieved by creating synergies across scales and between various agricultural sectors and the environment, and by enabling multiple uses of water and equitable access to water resources for different groups in society.

Tackling change: future-proofing water, agriculture, and food security in an era of climate uncertainty

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Reframing women’s empowerment in water security programmes in Western Nepal

ABSTRACT Water security has become the new buzzword for water and development programmes in the rural South. The concept has potential to focus policymakers and practitioners on the inequalities and injustices that lie behind lack of access to affordable, safe, and clean water. The concept of women’s empowerment also provides an opportunity to do this. However, the vast majority of water security interventions using the term are apolitically and technically framed and fail to understand complex intersectional inequalities. We suspect that many of these interventions have been implemented following a business-as-usual approach with the risk of reproducing and even exacerbating existing gendered inequalities in access to and control over water. This article explores these concerns in the context of four villages in Western Nepal, where two internationally funded programmes aimed to empower women by improving access to water for both domestic and productive uses. They hoped to transform women into rural entrepreneurs and grassroots leaders. However, differences between women – such as age, marital status, caste, remittance flow, and land ownership – led to some women benefiting more than others. Water programmes must recognise and address difference between women if the poorest and most disadvantaged women are to benefit. Gender mainstreaming in the water sector needs to update its understanding of women’s empowerment in line with current feminist understandings of it as a processual, relational, and multi-dimensional concept. This means focusing on inter-household relations within communities, as well as intra-household relations. In addition, we recommend that water security programmes rely on more nuanced and context-specific understandings of women’s empowerment that go beyond enhanced access to resources and opportunities to develop agency to include social networks, critical consciousness, and values.

When Water Security Programmes Seek to Empower Women – A Case Study from Western Nepal

Women’s empowerment has been a key tenet of international water security programmes. Discourses on water envision that enhanced access to water resources can transform disempowered women into successful rural entrepreneurs. However, because such programmes often rely on simplistic representations of water, gender relations, and empowerment, they risk perpetuating and exacerbating gender inequalities.

A framework to understand gender and structural vulnerability to climate change in the Ganges River Basin: lessons from Bangladesh, India and Nepal

159 Working Papers The publications in this series record the work and thinking of IWMI researchers, and knowledge that the Institutes scientific management feels is worthy of documenting. This series will ensure that scientific data and other information gathered or prepared as a part of the research work of the Institute are recorded and referenced. Working Papers could include project reports, case studies, conference or workshop proceedings, discussion papers or reports on progress of research, country-specific research reports, monographs, etc. Working Papers may be copublished, by IWMI and partner organizations. Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment. About IWMI IWMIs mission is to provide evidence-based solutions to sustainably manage water and land resources for food security, peoples livelihoods and the environment. IWMI works in partnership with governments, civil society and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water management solutions that have a tangible impact on poverty reduction, food security and ecosystem health. Acknowledgements Project This research study was initiated as part of the Gender, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in the Gangetic Plains project. (CCAFS), which is a strategic partnership of CGIAR and Future Earth. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. The views expressed in this document cannot be taken to reflect the official opinions of CGIAR or Future Earth.