Rainwater management: Next Agricultural Revolution to Support climate change adaptation and livelihoods. By Tilahun Amede, Deborah Bossio, Bharat Sharma. Learning event number 9, Session , Room G. How can rainwater management help support food production and smallholder farmers’ ability to adapt to climate variability and change?

1. Rainwater Management:
Next Agricultural Revolution to Support Climate Change
Adaptation and Livelihoods
Tilahun Amede, Deborah Bossio, Bharat Sharma

2. Challenge Program on Water and Food
• Time‐bound program of “high impact research”
• Use water as an entry point to address Rural
Livelihoods and agroecosystems;
• Target complex issues of overwhelming global
and/or regional significance related to water, climate
and systems;
• Closely work with partnerships among a wide range
of institutions;
• Part of “CGIAR institutional reform”

3. Dependence on Rainwater for Livelihoods
3

4. CC IMPACTS: RAINFED AGRICULTURE
Decreasing or variable water availability
Biodiversity, crop variety, forage types;
Changing Pests and Diseases
Declining crop and Livestock yield
Extreme events, damage crops and infrastructure
Complicate farm operations and services;
Fluctuations in farmers’ income
Impact on national economy, with 90% probability
4

5. Make Choices :
Scenarios to 2050, without CC
Today
Without productivity
improvements
CA Scenario
Policies for productivity gains, upgrading rainfed,
revitalized irrigation, trade 5
Based on WaterSim analysis for the CA

6. Convert unproductive water to productive use for
CC adaptation
High unproductive water losses = Low system productivity;
Kuhar Michael - all cropland Lenche Dima - all cropland
1800 3000
1600
2500
1400
flo w s p er HH (m 3)
f lo w s p e r H H ( m 3 )
1200 2000
1000 livestock livestock
1500
800 crops crops
600 1000
400
500
200
0 0
ev aporation
trans piration
perc olation
e v a p o r a tio n
tr a n s p ir a tio n
p e r c o la tio n
runoff
r u n o ff
deep
deep
6

7. Collective action Capturing water
In landscapes
Managing landscapes
yield more water
Rainwater Management Systems
More Food / More Income / Resilient Systems
Institutions!
Institutions!
Storing water
Institutions! Improved WP

8. Climate‐smart Rainwater management
systems (RWM)
• Integrated strategy that enables actors to systematically
map, capture, store and efficiently use Green and Blue
water in a landscape for productive and domestic
purposes and ecosystem services.
• Decrease unproductive water losses;
• Improve the water productivity (increase returns per unit
of water investment)
• Capitalizes on harvesting principles, water productivity at
various scales;
• Combining water management with land and vegetation
management.
8

9. Conservation structures to rehabilitate systems; trapping
nutrients and water in Ethiopia

10. Rainwater harvesting along with high value crops, Kalu, Ethiopia
10

11. Investing in watershed management
Investing in Irrigation
Upstream‐downstream linkages (irrigation)
2.5 320
World Bank lending for
irrigation 280
2.0
Irrigated Area
240
200
1.5
160
1.0
Food price index 120
80
0.5
40
0 0
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Dependency effect?
2005
11

12. Reduce water loss for climate change
adaptation
Average % loss
Loss % loss/
Canal type N flow rate per
(l/s/100m) 100m/30l/s
(l/s) 100m*
Main canal 121 43.21a 2.58a 6.46a 4.49b
Secondary canal 57 33.03b 1.59b 4.40b 4.00b
Field canal 49 2.88c 0.39c 2.49c 25.94a

13. Increased Storage Capacity for CC adaptation; even
without external support
Comparision of Per capita Storage Capacity
7000 6150
Per Capita Storage (m^3)
6000
4729
5000
4000 3255
3000 2486
2000 1287 1406
746
1000
4 43
0
Kenya Ethiopia South Thailand Laos China Brazil Australia North
Africa America
Countries
13

14. Micro dose 8
7
6
0
0
0 F a rm C
Tuber yield (t/ha)
5 0
4 0
3 0
4
3
2
1
0
2 4
2 1
Tuber yield (t/ha)
1 8 F a rm B
1 5
1 2
4
3
2
Zai
1
8 0
0
7 0
Tuber yield (t/ha)
6 0 F a rm A
5 0
4 0
1 2
8
4
0
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
14
30
60
30
60
30
60
0
0
0
C o n tro l W ith o u t Z a i W ith Z a i

15. Improve Livestock Systems for CC adaptation
Improve feed quality; reduce
methane emissions
Integrate livestock into the wider
development agenda (e.g. irrigation;
watershed management);
Developing watering points in closer
distances (> 35% milk yield);
Limit conversion of range to annual
croplands;
Improve animal management (health,
feed quality, productivity);
Interventions to maximize
transpiration at the expense of
evaporation (feed);
Market Incentives

16. Building Adaptive capacity on local
experiences ..
• Building on byelaws/ religious
organizations/ Water User
Associations
• Facilitate information flow /
technologies using local channels
• Local institutions for collective
action: Upstream‐downstream
• Commitment from local authorities
and policy makers
• Home gardens; women
16

17. PES – Water and Carbon
• Mountains are the water towers; degraded
and mis‐managed;
• Landscape management key to C
sequestration
• Challenges:
– Funding and institutional modalities
– Measuring, monitoring and reporting (time)
– Incentives
– Co‐benefits
Adapted from Tarawali, 2011

18. Key messages for CC adaptation:
1. Investing in water storage at landscape and higher scales
(reservoirs, strategic dams, ground water etc..);
2. Policy geared towards climate‐sensitive systems
(Agriculture / wetlands / water towers) and vulnerable
communities;
3.Cross‐boundary hydrological planning /management; drought
and flood monitoring and information system; coping strategies;
4. Improving rainwater management systems, from capturing to
efficient utilization and resilience;
5.Responsive research system along with resources for
18
innovation;

19. Tilahun Amede
CPWF Nile Basin Leader
t.amede@cgiar.org
A CGIAR Challenge Programme Water for Food
(CPWF) aims to increase water productivity and
resilience of social and ecological systems
Thank you !