From research outputs to development outcomes—selected stories - Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security - page 192

depended on storing freshwater and then closing the intake to the polder
before the river became too saline. Where storage was not possible, rice in the
wet season could be followed by shrimp or fish in the dry season using brackish
water from the river, admitted early in the dry season before the river becomes
too salty. In some places, there was no problem because the river water is fresh
almost year round, which allowed triple cropping with rice, or rice rotated
with other crops.
The new contribution of Project Ganges 3 was the evolution of its objectives
as the nature of the problems became clearer. What was needed were new ways
to manage crops and more importantly, new institutions to manage water. The
government had to rationalize its strategies of investment in polders and their
maintenance, and the design of infrastructure within the polders. Also critical
was the management of water entry at the sluice gates. As researchers
understood the problem better, they changed the design and priorities of the
research to meet the development challenge.
Improving resilience among fishers in the Niger Basin (PN72)
In Africa, small-scale inland fisheries are important to the livelihoods of the
poor, contributing both income and food security for millions of households.
These inland fisheries are difficult to assess and manage because of complex
multi-species, multi-gear fishing and large numbers of fishers operating within
the informal sector.
In the inland delta of the Niger, researchers worked with communities to
assess their livelihood strategies and develop adaptive management solutions to
address problems. The research required new ways of looking at the problems,
and researchers used the concept of resilience to understand vulnerability and
how resources could be better managed.
Guided by the research team, fishers identified resilience indicators and
interventions. The decision-making process was enhanced by the creation of
community-level committees. The committees' composition ensured gender
equity and reduced the likelihood of control by the most powerful individuals
and households in the communities.
The project challenged the conventional view that research should focus on
the natural resource base. Although the communities acknowledged that
depleted and fluctuating fish stocks affected their livelihoods, they identified
more fundamental causes of vulnerability. These included food insecurity,
exposure to water-borne diseases and lack of access to cash and micro-credit
facilities.
An important lesson was that the most productive interventions for
promoting sustainable resource use may lie outside the natural system. Hence,
interventions improved access to drinking water by rehabilitating boreholes,
renovated flood control infrastructure, improved school facilities and created
micro-credit facilities. Strengthening rural household resilience was as impor-
tant a goal as adopting specific technologies.