Publications

This quot;Operational SWAT+ Limpopo River Basin Seasonal Forecasting Systemquot; report outlines the development and implementation of an automated hydrological forecasting system using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus (SWAT+). This system leverages publicly available global datasets and open-source modeling tools integrated within a custom developed automated system to predict seasonal water availability in the Limpopo River Basin (LRB). Key components include integrating the CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data.) and ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) precipitation data, comprehensive database management, and real-time monitoring scripts. The system provides accurate and timely water availability forecasts within the LRB to support operational decision making. Future directions focus on improving model calibration, incorporating additional weather variables, better representation of large reservoirs and irrigated areas, applying database optimization procedures, and transitioning to a Docker-based deployment on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for improved scalability and reliability. This SWAT+ operational seasonal forecasting system for the LRB marks a significant step towards bridging a key knowledge gap in the basin to support better decision making on multiple water uses and users including provision for environmental flows. This seasonal forecasting system as a part of the larger river basin Digital Twin is designed to influence effective water resource management in the Southern African region.

As part of the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation, GroundTruth, in partnership with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), investigated the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to aid in performing bathymetric and water quality surveys. A key outcome of the research and development within this collaboration has been the design and construction of a low-cost survey system comprising a survey vessel equipped with multiple sensors that collect water quality and bathymetric data and can be connected to a UAV. Traditional point-sampling methods limit comprehensive assessments of river health over large spatial areas. This challenge was addressed by developing a drone-towed survey vessel for spatially extensive water quality and depth data collection. The aim of developing the survey vessel was to improve the data collection process which could be useful to further develop the linkages between river flow regimes and water quality parameters. The vessel that was built was equipped with temperature sensors to capture thermal variations across a section of the river, a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) sensor to monitor total dissolved solids, a Sound Navigation and Ranging (SoNAR) device to map variations in the riverbed profile, a turbidity sensor to provide a measure of water clarity and a Global Positioning System (GPS) module for precise geotagging of all sensor readings. The system was tested at the Lions River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and the drone-tethered data collection vessel enabled a safe and efficient survey of a river segment. The system was used to collect high-resolution data related to water quality along a reach of the river. The depth data acquired from the vessel was integrated with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data to generate detailed bathymetric maps for the site. This highlights the potential for expansion in terms of data collection capabilities compared to traditional point sampling methods.

Challenges in food systems, landscapes and water security call for research and innovation to advance transformation in these systems. Water lies at the center of the integrated approaches needed and it is for this reason that CGIAR and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) together prepared this CGIAR Water Systems Integration Roadmap 2024–2030. Poor communities continue to bear the largest burden of water insecurity, and the voices of women, young people and marginalized groups have few channels through which they can express their lived realities. Water insecurity thus threatens the world’s commitment to ‘leave no one behind.’ Recognizing this, CGIAR is taking an unprecedented step to ensure that its research and innovation lead the way in responding to water challenges. The time has come for CGIAR to seize the untapped potential for integrating water systems science and aligning research and innovation for water security across CGIAR programs and Research Centers. One CGIAR is declaring with one voice that a food-secure future can only exist in a water-secure world. This ambition is shared by the leadership of CGIAR and IWMI. We have created this CGIAR Water Systems Integration Roadmap 2024–2030 alongside the new IWMI Strategy 2024–2030. The two documents establish a common strategic framework, aligned to the CGIAR 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy, to strengthen the contribution of water systems science to the CGIAR Impact Areas. The IWMI Strategy 2024-2030 describes how IWMI applies this framework, while the CGIAR Water Systems Integration Roadmap 2024-2030 shows how the whole of CGIAR, including IWMI, can work together to transform water systems and enhance water security.

The Somali Region of Ethiopia is prone to climate-induced displacement and hosts the highest number of internally displaced people (IDPs) due to drought nationwide. Addressing the vulnerability of local communities (i.e., refugees, IDPs, and host communities in this study) to natural hazards, such as drought and floods as well as environmental (soil, vegetation) degradation, requires humanitarian and development strategies to reconcile life-saving objectives and environmental safeguarding. With this consideration, implementing nature-based solutions (NbS) could be one option to balance the objectives of life-saving and environmental management activities. Therefore, the present study was conducted in the Dolo Ado and Bokolmayo districts, Somali Region, Ethiopia to: (i) identify NbS to address the vulnerability of refugees, IDPs, and host communities to natural hazards, and (ii) map potential areas for implementing the interventions. It used multiple methods, such as an inception workshop, reconnaissance surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and remote sensing techniques to collect and analyze data. In addition, it used two frameworks — the IUCN Global Standard for NbS and the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) — to identify, design, and verify NbS. The results suggest that the study area experienced significant landscape alteration in the last 15 years. Specifically, the increase in farmlands at the expense of forestland, grasslands, and shrublands reflects an evolving agricultural landscape that demands attention to sustainable practices. It is also detected that a considerable proportion (28%) of the land area is degraded, suggesting the need for targeted interventions, especially in grasslands and bare lands, to mitigate or at least reduce degradation risks and natural hazards such as drought and floods. This study identified several context-specific NbS options, which can be classified as water harvesting measures, ecological restoration measures, agroforestry practices, and buffer zone management practices. The NbS vary in cost, trajectory, and specific economic and social outcomes. Most of the NbS were found to be economically viable, environmentally friendly, and socially acceptable. Existing favorable policies and frameworks, active participation of stakeholders in humanitarian and resilience-building activities, enormous government interest, and the possibilities of establishing early warning systems in refugees, IDPs, and host communities can be considered as opportunities for wider implementation of NbS. We offered key recommendations for future actions in the areas of coordination and active participation of stakeholders, capacity building and learning, natural resources management, empowerment of local communities, enforcement of existing policies, the use of adaptive management tools and approaches, and financing mechanisms of NbS. Overall, the study underscores the impor

A major challenge for agricultural water management (AWM) in the 21st century is to feed a growing population in the face of increasing intersectoral resource competition, evolving diets, degradation, pandemics, geopolitical conflicts and climate change. This has to be achieved within the planetary boundaries and without compromising the livelihood and environmental (ecosystem) objectives linked to water, including provisioning, supporting and regulating services. This paper uses a systems and nexus lens to unravel the centrality and complexities in AWM, with particular emphasis on the interconnected dimensions and objectives of AWM, as well as its practices and technologies. AWM exists beyond water and food with linkages to human and environmental well-being. AWM needs to catalyse transformation and integrate approaches across systems, users and scales to meet its objectives in a changing climate. It must provide perspectives beyond productivity, managing water risks and safeguarding food security – as important as these are – and integrate our understanding of the interconnected climate, land, water, food and ecosystems to address planetary health outcomes. By doing so, AWM could catalyse contextualised, equitable, innovative solutions that acknowledge local socio-economic and institutional structures and limitations while catalysing sustainable development and climate resilience.

Water quality is deteriorating in the worldapos;s freshwater bodies, and Lake Tana in Ethiopia is becoming unpleasant to biodiversity. The objective of this study is to retrieve non-optical water quality data, specifically total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations, in Lake Tana using Machine Learning (ML) techniques applied to Landsat 8 OLI imagery. The ML methods employed include Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Support Vector Regression (SVR), Random Forest Regression (RF), XGBoost Regression (XGB), AdaBoost Regression (AB), and Gradient Boosting Regression (GB). The XGB algorithm provided the best result for TN retrieval, with determination coefficient (R2), mean absolute error (MARE), relative mean square error (RMSE) and Nash Sutcliff (NS) values of 0.80, 0.043, 0.52, and 0.81 mg/L, respectively. The RF algorithm was most effective for TP retrieval, with R2 of 0.73, MARE of 0.076, RMSE of 0.17 mg/L, and NS index of 0.74. These methods accurately predicted TN and TP spatial concentrations, identifying hotspots along river inlets and northeasters. The temporal patterns of TN, TP, and their ratios were also accurately represented by combining in-situ, RS and ML-based models. Our findings suggest that this approach can significantly improve the accuracy of water quality retrieval in large inland lakes and lead to the development of potential water quality digital services.

This review report provides an overview of Ghanaapos;s fisheries and aquaculture sectors. The report summarizes and highlights the formal policies and governance structures related to aquaculture, inland fisheries, and marine fisheries in Ghana. The report identifies the legal frameworks and strategies governing these sectors and the plans and regulations in place. The aquaculture sector is an expanding subsector that has greater potential to increase and meet the increased demand for fish in Ghana, which is currently being met through imports.; The report emphasizes that fisheries resources in Ghana are derived from marine, inland, and aquaculture sources. It notes a decline in marine fish production but a steady increase in inland and aquaculture fisheries production. The National Aquaculture Development Plan aims to further increase the market share of commercially farmed fish.; Furthermore, the report underlines the significant contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to Ghanaapos;s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), accounting for 4.5% of the National GDP and 12% of the Agriculture GDP. It also highlights the importance of fish as the main source of protein for many households in Ghana, which is higher than most countries within the Sub-Saharan region.; The report also highlights some of the Government of Ghana’s programs and interventions to increase aquaculture production. Such interventions include the Aquaculture for Food and Jobs initiative, which is linked to the broader Agriculture for Food and Jobs initiative. This intervention increases aquaculture production by supporting women and youths in pursuing fish production by providing initial capital support, which is complemented by capacity development, quality fingerling provision and inculcating the view of aquaculture production as a serious business and employment creation venture. The report concludes by highlighting some of the points below as key considerations for sustainable aquaculture production. - The importance of linking policy and practice. - The key role of applied research. - Policy harmonization. - Importance of innovative financing models. - Ensuring that women and youths are included in aquaculture investments. - One Health perspective to deal with the threat of fish diseases

Environmental flows (E-flows) are crucial for maintaining healthy river ecosystems as an essential part of water resources management, but traditional E-flow assessments that include modelling of hydraulic habitats, often rely on limited, single cross-section data. This study presents a novel approach integrating Sound Navigation and Ranging (SoNAR) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data collected using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to create a high-resolution Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and was carried out for a section of the Olifants River in Southern Africa. The integrated DTM enabled detailed 2-Dimensional (2D) hydraulic modelling using Hydraulic Engineering Centre River Analysis System (HEC-RAS), with the resulting depth and velocity outputs used to visualise the HABitat FLOw (HABFLO) fish and invertebrate habitat classes across the entire reach that was modelled. Additionally, a habitat distribution calculator was developed to determine habitat distributions based on river flows. The longitudinal analysis of habitat distributions for a section of the river revealed variations in habitat class distributions that a single cross-section-based analysis would not highlight, thus providing a more comprehensive understanding of habitat dynamics under varying flow conditions. The successful merging of SoNAR and LiDAR data demonstrates the power of combining UAV-derived remote sensing techniques for characterisation of riverine features. This workflow has the potential to further enhance E-flow assessments, aiding in the development of ecologically sound water management strategies. However, future work should include in-field validation of modelled habitat distributions and the expansion of the methodology to larger areas.

Increased frequency and magnitude of flooding pose a significant natural hazard to urban areas worldwide. Mapping flood hazard areas are crucial for mitigating potential damage to human life and property. However, conventional hydrodynamic approaches are hindered by their extensive data requirements and computational expenses. As an alternative solution, this paper explores the use of machine learning (ML) techniques to map flood hazards based on readily available geo-environmental variables. We employed various ML classifiers, including decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), XGBoost (XGB), and k-nearest neighbor (kNN), to assess their performance in flood hazard mapping. Model evaluation was conducted using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and root mean square error (RMSE). Our results demonstrated promising outcomes, with AUC values of 93% (DT), 97% (RF), 98% (XGB), and 91% (kNN) for the validation dataset. RF and XGB have slightly higher performance than DT and kNN and distance to river was the most important factor. The study highlights the potential of ML for urban flood modeling, offering reasonable accuracy and supporting early warning systems. By leveraging available geoenvironmental variables, ML techniques provide valuable insights into flood hazard mapping, aiding in effective urban planning and disaster management strategies.

Gully erosion can be combatted in severely affected regions like sub-Saharan Africa using various low-cost interventions that are accessible to affected farmers. For successful implementation, however, biophysical evidence of intervention effectiveness needs to be validated against the interests and priorities of local communities. Working with farmers in a watershed in southern Ethiopia, we investigated (a) the effectiveness of low-cost gully rehabilitation measures to reduce soil loss and upward expansion of gully heads; (b) how farmers and communities view gully interventions; and (c) whether involving farmers in on-farm field trials to demonstrate gully interventions improves uptake, knowledge, and perceptions of their capacity to act. On-farm field experiments, key-informant interviews, focus group discussions, and household surveys were used to collect and analyse data. Three gully treatments were explored, all with riprap, one with grass planting, and one with grass planting and check-dam integration. Over a period of 26 months, these low-cost practices ceased measurable gully head expansion, whereas untreated gullies had a mean upward expansion of 671 cm, resulting in a calculated soil loss of 11.0 t. Farmers had a positive view of all gully rehabilitation measures explored. Ongoing rehabilitation activities and on-farm trials influenced the knowledge and understanding of similar gully treatments among survey respondents. On-farm experiments and field day demonstrations empowered farmers to act, addressing pessimism from some respondents about their capacity to do so.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from organic waste is a key pillar in advancing the circular bioeconomy. In the Global South, efforts have primarily focused on waste management regulations, with varying enforcement in these countries. These have focused mainly on human and environmental health without considering waste as a resource. For a genuine shift towards a circular bioeconomy, regulations must evolve to ensure environmental safety, promote resource recovery, and foster private sector engagement. This can be achieved through targeted policies, subsidies, financial incentives, and the development of public-private partnerships that open new market opportunities. Countries like Singapore, Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea, Ghana, and South Africa are leading the way with forward-thinking regulatory frameworks. These nations have built robust ecosystems by empowering statutory agencies to oversee waste management, engaging the private sector, and implementing financial mechanisms to support reuse and recovery. These innovative models are setting a precedent for successful circular bioeconomy implementation. Policymakers should take note of these approaches to craft impactful strategies that drive sustainable economic growth while addressing environmental challenges.

Water security is essential for a safe, just and sustainable future. The IWMI Strategy 2024–2030 is an ambitious agenda for research and innovation on water security. It reflects the complexity and severity of current and future challenges in water management. It aims to use research for development to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all – as well as national and regional development priorities. In 2024–2030, IWMI will apply agile, interdisciplinary and systems-oriented research for development to address complex water problems.

Water security is essential for a safe, just and sustainable future. The IWMI Strategy 2024–2030 is an ambitious agenda for research and innovation on water security. It reflects the complexity and severity of current and future challenges in water management. It aims to use research for development to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all – as well as national and regional development priorities. In 2024–2030, IWMI will apply agile, interdisciplinary and systems-oriented research for development to address complex water problems.

Water security remains a critical global development challenge, compounded by persistent public funding shortfalls. Society urgently needs to identify opportunities for innovative private sector engagement in water security solutions. To identify feasible and impactful solutions, quantitative tools are needed to delineate complex environmental and socioeconomic water challenges and prioritize private sector investment opportunity spaces to address these challenges. We introduce the first global and regional-scale maps showing where threats to water security coincide with private sector opportunities to address them. The successful deployment of water solutions is contingent upon the societal and governance landscape that underpins a nation’s capacity to support sustainable water threat interventions and water-related business activities. By delineating areas with substantial pressures on water resources and assessing nations’ enabling environments to support private sector investments, we find nearly two-thirds of the world’s population could benefit from private sector interventions today, with middle income countries realizing the greatest benefits. In the face of global economic development and climate change, such solutions will become increasingly essential in future decades.

Expectations for agricultural landscapes in subtropical and tropical regions are high, aiming for conservation and development amid climate change, unfair trade, poverty, and environmental degradation. Landscape approaches (LAs) are gaining momentum as means to reconcile expectations, although they face multiple challenges, including unclear distinctions among LAs and stakeholder involvement. We studied 380 LAs from three continents via questionnaires with landscape managers (2012–2015 and 2021) and identified three LA types through cluster analysis: an ‘‘integrated’’ type with longer-term, multisectoral goals involving various stakeholders early in the design and two shorter-term types focused on sectoral priorities of preservation or production. Better-performing LAs are associated with longevity, inclusivity, and diversified investments across goals, notably those enabling social justice. International stakeholder analysis shows broad support for LAs but identifies gaps between support and LAs’ needs. The growing interest in LAs is promising. Yet, underpinning effective and lasting LAs that reconcile multiple expectations requires better support.

Comprehensive flood risk assessment is often constrained by a lack of appropriate data in high-altitude watersheds, particularly in developing countries like Nepal, where institutional capacities are limited for mapping and monitoring flood-prone communities. This study, one of the first of its kind, produced spatial multi-criteria-based flood susceptibility, vulnerability, and risk index maps for the Kathmandu Valley (KV) watershed in Nepal using an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach and Geographical Information System (GIS). The result shows that most parts of the KV (around 80%) have moderate to low flood susceptibility around the watershed but susceptibility is prominent in southern areas. Highly flood-susceptible regions (about 14%) are found mainly along the riverbanks. Flood vulnerability, primarily influenced by population density and literacy rate, is moderate to low in most areas of the watershed (around 86%), predominantly higher in the central urban areas, and gradually lower towards the edge of the watershed. Flood risks in the major portion of the watershed (around 72%), mainly in the southern and eastern parts, are estimated as moderate to low risk, whereas higher risk zones are found in the central urban areas. The high contrast in flood vulnerability scores across the watershed has mainly contributed to the variation of flood risk zones, as flood susceptibility scores are fairly distributed over the watershed. The study findings will help policymakers develop location-specific sustainable flood risk management strategies for the flood-vulnerable communities in the KV watershed.

Affordable and reliable energy is an important driver for improving access to irrigation in South Asia. Policies for improving electricity access and augmenting supply are likely to impact affordability and equity in irrigation access, especially in regions where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. In this paper, we focus on the state of Bihar in eastern India to study trade-offs across economic, equity, and political dimensions of energy transition in irrigation. We argue that in the context of the nascent but steadily increasing solar-powered irrigation, a decentralised energy regime is techno-economically and socio-politically distinct from a conventional centralised grid supply. With different economic costs, governance issues, and varied incentives of stakeholders, there are significant trade-offs associated with the two pathways of energisation. We further assess the multidimensional trade-offs associated with the conventional ‘centralised’ and the modern ‘decentralised’ energy supply systems for irrigation to present a comprehensive understanding of the technical systems aiming to address economic development and livelihood security issues. We find that the life cycle costs (LCC) of centralised grid supply are not only higher than that of decentralised solar-powered irrigation (SIP) but also the LCC for grid supply has a high sensitivity to average cost to supply electricity (ACS). We also find that at lower pumping hours or lower average cost to supply (ACS), grid electricity is competitive compared to SIP, but with an increase in pumping hours, ACS or both, there is a considerable increase in the LCC of the grid connected pump, making SIP a more economical option. Furthermore, we augment the analysis using primary data on farmers to examine the economic, equity, and political trade-offs. By highlighting the complexities associated with the diffusion of decentralised energy solutions in irrigation, our findings provide useful insights for public policy related to energy transition in irrigation in India.

This project brief highlights sustainable irrigation methods along with the potential benefits of promoting solar-powered irrigation systems in Punjab, Pakistan. To promote the broad adoption of ecologically sustainable farming methods, the brief stresses the need to create a legislative framework that gives suitable incentives to farmers to improve their living conditions and increase the variety of crops they grow. In this regard, a feed- in tariff (FIT) policy that supports solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) might reduce financial costs and the dependency on nonrenewable fossil fuels, thereby incentivizing farmers to save groundwater resources and sell power back to the grid by implementing a feed-in tariff rate of Rs. 20/kWh for SIPs in Pakistan.

Reusing treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation is a key strategy to build resilience in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly in Lebanon. As Lebanon faces a widening gap in water supply and demand, its agricultural sector is increasingly at risk. The countryapos;s 2024 National Water Sector Strategy identifies water reuse as one part of the solution to this crisis. However, despite years of investment in water and sanitation, Lebanon still lacks the necessary infrastructure, policies, regulatory frameworks, and institutional support. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) plays a pivotal role in bridging science and policy, offering technical expertise to Lebanese counterparts through the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility to Resilience in Central and West Asia and North Africa (F2R-CWANA). IWMI’s efforts focus on developing Lebanonapos;s first tailor-made water reuse standards for agriculture, which are crucial for addressing water scarcity and enhancing food security. While IWMI provides guidance, the responsibility for endorsing and adopting these standards lies with Lebanon’s national regulatory agencies and government authorities. Establishing these standards is critical for ensuring water security and sustainable agriculture, particularly given the region’s environmental challenges. This policy brief outlines key recommendations for integrating treated wastewater into Lebanonapos;s Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus: (1) safeguarding environmental and public health, (2) implementing robust monitoring and evaluation processes, (3) creating business incentives, (4) ensuring inclusive design and implementation, and (5) formulating science-based public policies.

Water, energy, and food provisioning plays a pivotal role in advancing social and economic development. Human well-being cannot be attained without ensuring secure access to water, energy, and food resources, as well as maintaining a healthy environment. The Water-Energy-Food-Environment (WEFE) Nexus presents intricate interlinkages with the concept of an inclusive society, where every individual, regardless of background or circumstances, has an opportunity to fully participate and benefit from societal resources and opportunities equitably. The intersectionality of WEFE Nexus with human security underscores the complex interconnections between access to resources, societal inclusion, and the protection of individual well-being. Understanding the intersectionality of the WEFE Nexus can contribute to fostering an inclusive society and human security through: conflict prevention; equal access and distribution of resources; community participation and engagement; promotion of diversity; addressing gender inequality and social exclusion; resilience building; and sustainable development. This discussion brief investigates and conceptualizes the intersectionality between the WEFE Nexus and the concepts of inclusive society and human security. This intersectionality is highlighted through three examples from the MENA, SSA, and Asia-Pacific regions. It contains insights from a literature review and a summary of discussion points from a three-day Royal Academy of Engineering’s Frontiers Symposium ‘The Nexus in Action: Navigating the Water-Energy-Food-Environment Nexus for Climate Resilient and Inclusive Futures’ held from 7-9 February 2024, in Amman, Jordan jointly hosted by the Royal Scientific Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering. In navigating the challenges posed by climate change, conflict, and socioeconomic disparities, a concerted focus on the WEFE Nexus offers a pathway towards building inclusive societies and enhancing human security as evidenced in the MENA, SSA, and Asia-Pacific regions. Through continuous collaboration, innovation, and commitment to sustainable development, a future can be created where all individuals have access to the resources needed to thrive.

The Limpopo River Basin Digital Twin Ideation and Co-design Workshop was conducted with the purpose of generating innovative ideas and collaboratively designing a Digital Twin platform tailored to the water resource management needs of the Limpopo Basin, ensuring that the design reflected the diverse user needs and data requirements across the basin. ; Purpose: The workshop aimed to generate innovative ideas and collaboratively design a Digital Twin platform for water resource management in the Limpopo Basin. The workshop engaged 18 stakeholders and water resource specialists representing the Limpopo Watercourse Commission (LIMCOM) and four countries – Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa – together with the IWMI project team and GWPSA, to ensure the design reflected user needs and data requirements. ; Context: The workshop took place on May 7th, 2024, in Pretoria, South Africa, following a day of GWPSA led discussions with LIMCOM and the GEF Small Grants Programme (UNDP-GEF) regarding the data needs for managing water resources as part of the development of the Limpopo Management Information System (LIMIS). ; Key Results: Stakeholders reinforced their commitment to adopt the Digital Twin as an additional tool for managing water resources. The workshop allowed the participants to outline the critical data needs, identify new target users for the platform, explore potential use cases for solving existing user needs, and generate innovative ideas for the project. Prioritization of data requirements, management actions, and future developments based on generated ideas were key outcomes.

This study examines the barriers faced by irrigation technology and service suppliers in Ethiopia, and their influence on business effectiveness. Data were collected from 42 firm owners and managers across 21 enterprises through online surveys, phone calls, and in-person interviews in August 2020. Additional insights were provided by 35 key informants. The study utilized a qualitative analysis of survey responses by employing narrative and triangulating information gathered from several actors in the irrigation technology supply chain. The results indicate that a range of barrier categories, including difficulties linked to business enablement, technology user behavior, and business capacity, significantly impede the development and success of small-scale irrigation technology enterprises in Ethiopia. More specifically, barriers include the increasing diffusion of substandard irrigation technology products, such as water lifting devices, and a scarcity of genuine spare parts, which present major obstacles for small-scale irrigation technology suppliers in Ethiopia. Insufficient user awareness regarding the importance of maintenance and repair services has led to frequent equipment failures, eroding consumer trust and demand for irrigation technologies. Additionally, limited access to market information and financial constraints, including foreign currency shortages, further hindered suppliers’ ambitions to increase the scale of their operations. More importantly, lengthy import processes and inefficient tax exemption systems increase equipment costs, impeding the adoption and dissemination of technologies, such as solar-powered irrigation pumps. Addressing these challenges is critical for improving the supply and effectiveness of irrigation technology in Ethiopia.

Refugee and hosting communities of the Somali Region of Ethiopia are deeply impacted by water insecurity. Water supply and irrigation systems developed by UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations suffer from weak value chains, high running costs, and overburdened infrastructure/equipment, hence are unable to respond to the needs of growing populations. This has led to insecure livelihoods and over-dependence on humanitarian aid. This report aims to identify priority areas to improve water security, as both water supply and irrigation systems are vulnerable to the effects of droughts, floods, and other weather extremes. It recommends prioritizing anticipatory action, enhancing adaptation to climate change, and increasing resilience to economic stresses to strengthen the resilience of water supply and irrigation systems. Anticipatory actions, including identifying locations for water harvesting, upgrading and protecting key infrastructure, and raising community trust in climate forecasts, can minimize the effects of disasters and protect developmental gains. Adaptation to climate change can be enhanced with the identification of new clean water sources and the development of innovative water utility models. Finally, resilience to economic stresses can be mitigated by strengthening value chains, encouraging innovation systems around solar power, and filling water system gaps with local enterprises.; Policies, strategies, and frameworks already in place can support the development of anticipatory action and climate adaptation measures to address water-related challenges. National- and regional-level initiatives prioritizing integrating refugee and host communities and developing livelihoods and economic opportunities can help build resilience to economic stresses. Finally, water supply and water resource management policies can help inform how the range of interventions, cutting across water, livelihoods, energy, and disaster planning, can be harmonized. New governance approaches are required to match the area’s needs with organizational capacity and resources. A movement towards decentralized, flexible, and adaptive water systems, informed by transition governance, can mitigate current forms of water insecurity, and effectively respond to future needs. This would entail reevaluating institutional mandates so that actors’ roles and responsibilities are aligned with realistic expectations. It also involves grappling with key contradictions inherent to the humanitarian space and agreeing on the role that UNHCR needs to play to encourage localized development programming.

We conducted stakeholder mapping and analysis in the Dolo Ado and Bokolmayo districts in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia to improve our understanding of how to co-create and co-plan nature-based solutions (NbS) to address the vulnerability of displaced people and host communities to natural hazards such as floods and drought. Diverse stakeholders such as government development agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), research and development institutions, international humanitarian entities, the private sector, communities and community-based organizations participate in the planning, design and implementation of NbS in multiple ways. The modes of their participation include provision of expertise, material and financial support, community mobilization, implementation of interventions, and monitoring and evaluation. Our analysis found that most of the stakeholders have strong perceived legitimacy in their field of endeavor. This facilitates access to political support and helps in the mobilization of local communities. There were similarities among various stakeholder groups in respect of strategic aims, such as development vision, relationships, management, conflict resolution, and capitalizing on experience. Although stakeholders had similar views on the importance of NbS in addressing societal challenges, they differed in terms of the degree of influence they have on planning, design and implementation of NbS. Stakeholders from the government sector and humanitarian organizations were influential enough to support, accelerate, obstruct or block the process at several points. On the other hand, most of the stakeholders classified as NGOs and community and community-based organizations did have influence in some areas or on specific issues but no veto on the process. Our results indicate that there is a low degree of trust among government agencies, international humanitarian organizations, NGOs and the private sector. This trust deficit could be attributed to the lack of continuous communication between stakeholders and also to the lack of efforts by stakeholders to make their interests and intentions more transparent to others. The strength of alliances or relationships between different stakeholders in terms of continuing information exchange, coordinated action, and co-production with common resources ranged from weak to intermediate. This can affect the implementation of NbS to address the vulnerability of livelihoods to natural hazards and efficient use of limited resources, leading to productivity reduction. Analysis of empowerment and exclusion in the stakeholder groups suggested that most of those from the government sector lack full access to and control of resources. Regarding competencies, we found that most government agencies lack the basic skills to plan, design and implement NbS, though they can communicate societal challenges and suggest possible solutions. We think it is important to build the capacities of local p

The issue of quality in developing small-scale irrigation projects (SSIPs) in Sub-Saharan countries has become a concern. This necessitated the development of a quality management system (QMS) toolkit covering all phases of irrigation project development. The current toolkit was developed to provide guidance and support to establish a robust system that aligns with irrigated agriculture development best practices, standards and regulatory requirements. Literature from the three focal countries – Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda – was reviewed and stakeholder consultations, field visits and focus group discussions were conducted to learn lessons and gain insight to enrich the proposed parameters and checklists. Based on the lessons learned, the QMS toolkit was created, including a comprehensive set of guidelines, checklists, tools, resources, forms and templates that can help irrigation agencies and stakeholders at all levels implement and maintain an effective quality management system. It is an essential tool for organizations such as irrigation and agriculture ministries, regional bureaus and county offices to assess and improve their performance by meeting quality requirements, standards, regulations and specifications. The toolkit is prepared in two volumes. Volume II is a series of checklists of key parameters that need to be considered when implementing an irrigation quality management system. The checklists cover the first three phases and associated stages, components and subcomponents of an irrigation development process. These checklists will aid in streamlining quality management review processes and ensure consistency in quality control practices. By following the checklists in this volume, irrigation implementing agencies (IAs), organizations and project managers can ensure that each task is completed correctly and in compliance with established procedures, guidelines, methodologies, standards and technical specifications. Volume II also provides QMS workflow charts for each phase and stage of an irrigation project, which serve as quality control mechanisms that track whether tasks and services provided are fully completed and adhere to specified standards. This volume also contains proposed institutional arrangements for implementing a QMS initiative. These arrangements include a generic organogram, human resource requirements and job descriptions for key positions within the proposed QMS implementation team. Volume II includes the following three annexes: - Annex II-1 QMS forms and templates for pre-construction phases - Annex II-2 Forms and templates for project implementation and construction phase - Annex II-3 Annotated Terms of Reference (ToRs) for pre-construction phases

The Sustainable Development Goals are interconnected and cut across Food, Land and Water (FLW) systems. But the formulation and implementation of national policy objectives to attain the SDGs may be fragmented and uncoordinated. The CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS), aims to contribute to agri-foods system transformation, by identifying ways of building stronger FLW policies with greater coherence and investment capacity, to support Nigeria in addressing current crises and future development needs. This flagship report focuses on (in)coherence in policies related to FLW systems in Nigeria, through the lens of Policies and Institutions Landscape Analysis Framework. To achieve policy coherence for sustainable development, the report highlights the need for: 1. strengthening staff and institutional capacities for FLW contextual and policy analysis to effectively identify, anticipate and respond to crisis. 2. developing systemic polycentric decision-making and governance, involving multi-stakeholders at the Federal, State and Local levels. 3. providing sustainable funding for the effective implementation of policy objectives, projects and programmes in the relevant FLW-related sectors 4. maintaining continuity of the implementation of ongoing transformative FLW policy objectives and programmes when an incumbent government comes into power. 5. promoting evidence-based (real time and high-quality data) policy formulation, monitoring, evaluation, and learning.

The most populated (urban) area in Sri Lanka is its Western Province with Colombo, Sri Lanka’s commercial capital. This “Megapolis” depends for its food supply significantly on different geographical areas of Sri Lanka. These foodsheds differ by commodity. Peri-urban agriculture plays a minor role and until very recently, urban farming did not get (institutional) attention, although the role of both, urban and peri-urban agriculture is mentioned in the national agricultural policy. The policy also calls for the identification and strengthening of city region food system (CRFS) to better link rural and urban communities, also in view of climate shocks and other disasters. The need for this became clear during the Covid-19 epidemic and subsequent economic crisis of the country when the Colombo Municipal Council started actively to support urban food production.

Over the last thirty years, Ghana’s population in towns and cities has more than tripled, from 4 million to nearly 14 million, exceeding growth in the rural areas. In fact, rural-urban migration is an important factor for urban growth. It is estimated that the urban population will reach over 70% by 2050, calling for fast and sustainable strategies for facilitating the main challenges deriving from rapid urbanization including urban food security and food system resilience against shocks. Several projects mapped urban foodsheds and the overall extent of specific city-region food systems. But not only food quantity, also food safety is at stake. A particular challenge for the farmers is widespread water pollution in urban area resulting in the contamination of irrigated vegetables. The largely informal nature of irrigated urban vegetable farming as well as the street food sector makes it difficult to regulate, promote or control compliance with food safety measures which are needed from farm to fork.

Conventional water resource governance and monitoring systems, while essential, are falling short of requirements to address urgent challenges and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, the global north and wealthy regions are typically overrepresented in science, while marginalised, disaffected and indigenous regions in developing countries, especially in the global south, remain underrepresented. Addressing these challenges requires diversified involvement that includes local community members who are disproportionately impacted by environmental and social problems.; In the late 2000s, the non-profit Duzi-uMngeni Conservation Trust (DUCT) helped establish the Enviro-Champs, a community-based citizen science-driven monitoring initiative, in the Mpophomeni and Shiyabizali townships in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), South Africa. The initiative offers a range of impressive and important social contributions, such as communicating flood risks across the community and monitoring of wastewater effluents, but knowledge co-creation and data collection via citizen science has always been at its core. Despite gradual technological progress within the data capture and reporting framework of the initiative, there has been a need for a digitally integrated system to assist with data capture, submission, collation, visualization, reporting, and feedback. Collaborating within the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation, we aimed to address these issues to increase the power, impact, and scalability of the Enviro-Champs initiative. Initially, we consolidated the knowledge from the community of practice that had formed around the Enviro-Champs and similar initiatives to synthesise a recruitment and training framework for the Enviro-Champs initiative. We then customised a version of the Open Data Kit (ODK) mobile data collection app, called ODK Collect, which submits data to Formshare1 , a CGIAR-based cloud-hosting infrastructure. Here, we report on piloting the use of this system of ODK Collect for citizen science data collection, with Formshare for cloud-based data collation and storage, within the Mpophomeni Enviro-Champs initiative. As part of this pilot, we aimed to use an Excel macro-coded data cleaning process coupled with Microsoft Power BI2 dashboard for real-time, semi-automated data handling and visualisation. The pilot was undertaken in collaboration with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW) who are the managing authorities of the Mpophomeni Enviro-Champs initiative. This pilot showcases the process of codeveloping a digitally integrated system of data collection, curation, and reporting for the Enviro-Champs initiative, as a model method to co-develop and establish a community-based, collaborative, coordinated, and technologically integrated citizen science driven monitoring program in a rural and previously disadvantaged area.

Among many other efforts, high spatial and temporal resolution water quality monitoring data are required to help mitigating the ongoing global freshwater crisis. Citizen science is said to have a high potential to contribute valuable water quality monitoring data, while at the same time offering a range of qualitative benefits such as generation of a social fabric, environmental education, and improved relationships between citizenry and authorities. The potential of citizen science is elevated by integration with technology, especially smartphones, which allow for easy data capture and information sharing among a range of other powerful features. ; As part of the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation, we aimed to test some of the most prominent smartphone applications (apps) to investigate their scalability to developing regions for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.3.2 indicator water quality parameters or other key water quality metrics. We used southern Africa as a case study, since it characterises numerous key challenges to citizen science water quality monitoring using smartphones in developing regions. We evaluated five smartphone apps that are plug-and-play, assessing both their quantitative accuracy as well as their qualitative suitability to a southern African context. We found that the Hydrocolor and EyeOnWater apps showed theoretical promise but would not be useful for typical citizen science monitoring of streams, river, and dams from the banks of those water bodies given their requirement for deep water. The MQuant StripScan App was not useful given that the reference cards required to use the app could not be sourced and that the app did not function to read the Mquant nitrate test strips. The Nutrient App showed some promise but has ceased being supported, illustrating the critical importance of designing and developing tools with sustainable financing and maintenance in mind (as well as the need for funders to support key tools so they remain freely accessible) so that the great efforts that go into research and development are not ultimately wasted. The Aquality app was fairly user friendly, intuitive, and accessible for free via the Play Store and the Apple App Store. The development and support team were helpful and responsive, with ongoing research and development regarding the app showing good potential for upscaled functionality and implementation in the future. However, we found that there were significant qualitative and quantitative issues with the app that should be investigated further and addressed to ensure the app is suitable for global use, especially in the context of developing regions. These included that i) the material requirements for the app (i.e., a reference card mailed directly from Deltares in the Netherlands and Hach nitrate test strips) were difficult to source in South Africa (which is likely to be the case in many other countries), ii) each test carried a significant finan