Project summary: “Given that four research projects have been designed to respond to the Volta Basin Development Challenge (VBDC) of integrated management of rainwater and small reservoirs for multiple uses, the Coordination and Change Project V5, is formulated to orient, align and integrate the VBDC to contribute to poverty reduction and improved livelihood resilience in the Volta Basin. To do this, the project team will apply seven strategies: ensuring and coordinating quality research, fostering change through multi-stakeholder processes, communications, adaptive management, innovation research, gender mainstreaming and capacity development while working in collaboration with the other four projects (V1 – V4) to achieve the VBDC”

1. Project V5
Coordination and Change
Olufunke Cofie
VBDC Annual Science Reflection
Workshop 3-5 July, 2012
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

2. Project Summary
“Given that four research projects have been designed to respond to the Volta
Basin Development Challenge (VBDC) of integrated management of rainwater
and small reservoirs for multiple uses, the Coordination and Change Project V5, is
formulated to orient, align and integrate the VBDC to contribute to poverty
reduction and improved livelihood resilience in the Volta Basin. To do this, the
project team will apply seven strategies: ensuring and coordinating quality
research, fostering change through multi-stakeholder
processes, communications, adaptive management, innovation research, gender
mainstreaming and capacity development while working in collaboration with the
other four projects (V1 – V4) to achieve the VBDC”
Lead Institution: VBA
Partners: GWP, IWMI and INERA
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta

3. Strategic Interventions
Effective Communications
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
M&E/ Adaptive management
Fostering Change
through MSP
Capacity Development
Innovation Research
Gender Mainstreaming
Research Coordination

4. 1. Research Coordination
How best can we orient and integrate research conducted by BDC Projects V1,
V2, V3 and V4 to achieve expected outcome?
– is the VBDC research implementation relevant to the issue on the
ground?
– are projects being implemented in perspectives (e.g considering gender
aspect etc.) and delivering on agreed outputs and outcomes?
How?
-Engage V1-V4, Ensure synergies and interactions between BDC projects,
-Customized capacity development to enhance VBDC research ad uptake
-Evaluation of 6-monthly reports
-Gender audit
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta

5. V1 – Targeting and Scaling Out
•Guideline on rainwater management
strategies (RMS) that improve s farmers
livelihood targeted to different
biophysical and socio-economic domains
•Innovation platforms on crop-livestock
value chains
•Tools for integrated analysis of RMS
V3 – Integrated Management
of Small Reservoirs (SR)
for Multiple Use
•SR management options that
improves the livelihood of
reservoir water users
•SR management that improves
the functioning and the resilience
of reservoir
Watershed
V4 – Sub-basin management and governance of RW and SR
•Information on governance decisions that combine
sustainability, planning concerns and livelihood priorities
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
V5 – Coordination & Change
Community
V2 – Integrated Management
of rainwater for Crop-Livestock
Agroecosystems
•high quality integrated research results effectively
communicated to next and end users provides enabling
environment for RW and SR management
Basin
Identification of successful agricultural water management (AWM)
interventions in specific locations and under specific conditions
VBDC Research

6. Project Links
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Review on AWM: completed
Joint publication: on-going
Policy and institutional analysis: ongoing
Volta Storylines and Scenarios (VSS) project: What are the common research
threads, that link the different VBDC projects: ongoing
What are the interventions that enhance ecosystem services and that could put
our target communities in the Volta Basin on a resilient path?: about to start
V2 &V4 : on PhD of Balma?
V4 & V3 on the PhD on health?
Application of V4 participatory tool to validate issues identified by V1, V2 and V3
issues?
Further PGIS on the sites of V2, V3 and V4?
•
Cross cutting topics: MSPs, modeling, ….
•
•
•
•
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta

7. 2. Fostering Change through multi-stakeholder processes
• Stakeholder database
• Mapping and analysis
• Engagement plan with various levels of stakeholders Region, National
Local
• Capturing the feedback of end users and other stakeholders
• Document and analyse processes for learning
Focus on national regional level stakeholders: GWP/VBA platforms
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta

8. 3. Communicating VBDC R4D
• Internal & External to VBDC.
• Multiple actors and scale
• Multiple channels and products focused on use not mere
production
• Compliments project level communication activities
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta

9. 4. M&E and Adaptive Management
• Ensure learning oriented monitoring in the VBDC
• Clear basin level M&E plan based on the V1-V5 impact
pathways and harmonised BDC level theory of change
• Monitor the Impact Pathway to analyze it for intended
outcomes and provide regular feedback
• Ensure that V1-V5 is leading to planned outputs and identify
triggers that can enhance achievement of VBDC Goal.
• Regular reflection meetings.
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta

10. 5. Innovation Research
• Understanding policy processes in agricultural water
management sector – IWMI (JP)
• Evaluation of the whole spectrum of research and change
processes within the BDC for learning and for up/out scaling
(Karen)
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta

11. V5 Presentations
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•
•
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Policy and institutional analysis
Communications
Innovation Research
M&E
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta

12. Thanks
www.volta.waterandfood.org
Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta