Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food
Crop Water Productivity
Water and People in
Catchments
Aquatic Ecosystems and
Fisheries
Integrated Basin-Level Water
Management Systems
Global and National Food and Water Systems
Figure 4.1
CPWF Phase 1 themes at multiple scales.
Source: Author.
The nine benchmark river basins were selected because they represented
diverse biophysical, socioeconomic and institutional settings (CPWF, 2005,
p. 8). They were: a group of small basins in the Andes (called Andes System of
Basins), and the basins of the São Francisco, Volta, Limpopo, Nile, Karkheh,
Indus-Ganges, Mekong and Yellow rivers.
With the basin as the main unit, research was to understand the effect of
scale at the farm, catchment and basin level on water and food problems. The
five themes were interlinked, but were to examine the dynamics of water and
food. An integrated, thematic approach to water management was essential to
understand how the components of water and food systems interrelate with
each other and human activity (Biswas et al., 2007, p. 21). The components
include agricultural productivity and sustainability, livelihoods, income
distribution and providing ecosystem services. By comparing and contrasting
basins, the objective was to draw conclusions at the global level.
Phase 1 contracted research projects to a wide range of institutions. Projects
were selected through an independent external review. The first call for
concept notes was in March 2003. By October the Consortium Steering
Committee (CSC) had approved 50 projects for funding, 31 of which received
grants from the CPWF. The remaining approved projects were encouraged to
seek additional funding opportunities under the auspices of having already
been through the CPWF's rigorous review process. Between 2004 and 2006,
the CPWF commissioned two special call projects, ten BFPs, 14 small grants
projects (SGPs) and 11 second call projects.
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