Innovating in a dynamic technical context - Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security - page 104

In coastal areas of the Mekong, project PN10 defined and characterized
conflicts in land and water use between farmers. Some wanted freshwater for
rice production while neighboring farmers wanted saline water to produce
shrimps (Tuong and Hoanh, 2009). The solution was to zone the land for each
use and to operate sluice gates to provide each zone with water of the quality
it needs.
In the African basins
Projects in the African basins covered landscape and rainwater management,
small reservoirs and large dams, supplemental irrigation and alluvial aquifers,
water access and integrated water resource management, and market-value
chains for crops and livestock.
Project Nile 2 in the Nile looked into why farmers in Ethiopia did not
adopt strategies to conserve soil and water recommended to stop degrading
the land. The reason was the difficulties and sensitivities to reconcile
community-level, bottom-up needs for land use with top-down priorities and
strategies for land management (Ludi et al., 2013). This was consistent with
the finding in a parallel project, Nile 1, in the same basin (Merrey and
Gebreselassie, 2011). We can understand the problems of conserving soil and
water if we know how they are influenced by institutions and policies, which
we then must reconcile with community needs. The process also needs
adequate institutional, technical and financial capacity at all levels.
Project PN19 in the Nile found that management of large dams often has
undesirable social and environmental impacts, including increased incidence
of malaria (McCartney, 2009). Further research showed that dam managers
could modify operations giving substantial benefits to human health but at
negligible cost in terms of lost hydropower generation. Research outputs were
not used to engage with dam operators, or energy and health sector policy-
makers, however, and were not translated into outcomes.
Project PN28 in the Limpopo and other basins identified the global problem
that most water systems are designed for single use by direct consumption or
irrigation. These designs, however, reduce water productivity and constrain
household incomes. Defining the problem suggested that introducing water
systems designed for multiple uses increased water productivity and improved
livelihoods (Mikhail and Yoder, 2008; van Koppen et al., 2009a; van Koppen
et al., 2009b).
In the Ganges Basin
Projects in coastal areas of the Ganges in Bangladesh give an example of
dynamic problem definition. The area consists of polders, which are parcels of
land of tens or hundreds of hectares, surrounded by embankments (dykes).
Polders are islands surrounded by tidal rivers, protected by the dykes from
flooding during the rainy season and from saline water during the dry season.