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Water & Food Edition 27, CPWF Newsletter Aug/Sept 2008

Things are progressing at a cracking pace at the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food…

Pre-post survey reveals influential results

Pay Drechsel and Hanna Karg, IWMI Africa

During CPWF Projects 38 and 51’s, (‘Safer peri-urban vegetable production’ and ‘Wastewater irrigation opportunities and risks’) inaugural workshop in early 2005, 36 project participants and key stakeholders were interviewed on their knowledge on options for health risk reduction where wastewater is used for irrigation and on their attitudes towards irrigation urban agriculture. The same questionnaire survey was carried out among 29 participants during the final workshop in 2008.

The analysis (KASA) does not replace more complex monitoring and impact assessments, but gives early feedback on intangible changes. It was originally applied to evaluate extension programs (Bennett 1977, FAO 1990) but also used to assess semi-quantitatively changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills and aspirations through applied research projects (Asante-Mensah et al., 1998).

A key result of the two closely related CPWF projects was a shift in knowledge on health risk reduction options from ‘modest’, to ‘good’ and ‘very good’. The percentage of participants indicating very good knowledge nearly tripled from 14 per cent in 2005 to 38 per cent three years hence, while the number with ‘modest’ knowledge dropped from 28 to 10 per cent. See Figure 1.

Asked about ways to reduce health risk on farm, only 22 per cent mentioned options in 2005 pointed at safer practices of water fetching and application. This figure increased to 64 per cent in 2008.

This change in knowledge about options for risk reduction positively influenced the attitude of the stakeholders towards irrigated urban agriculture.

While in 2005, 35 per cent had a negative or more negative than positive attitude to wastewater irrigated urban agriculture, this changed throughout to positive or positive with hesitation (see Figure 2.). Indeed this year, 83 per cent of participants indicated that they see today a brighter future for irrigated urban farming than before the project (14 per cent neutral, three per cent other)

Asked about possible options to support farmers’ behavior change towards safer practices in 2005, about half of all participants indicated the traditional approach of training and education. This changed in 2008 to a much more diverse response highlighting options from market incentives to land security. See Figure 3ab. The result was similar for food vendors.

In general, 69 per cent of the respondents saw their aspirations towards the projects very much fulfilled while 24 per cent were somehow satisfied. Three of four respondents were confident that behavior change is possible if the related campaign is well done, and nearly all pledged their full support. Equally, over 90 per cent suggested combining such a campaign with other aspects of food safety and hygiene.

Asante-Mensah, S., Drechsel, P. and Gyiele, L.A. 1998. KASA changes – An example for participatory impact assessment at farmers’ and NARES level. In: On-farm research on sustainable land management in Sub-Saharan Africa: Approaches, experiences, and lessons, eds. Drechsel, P. and L. Gyiele. IBSRAM Proceedings no. 19: 215-221.
Bennett, C.F. 1977. Analyzing impacts of extension programs. Washington, D.C.: USDA.
FAO. 1990. Agricultural Extension - A Reference Manual 2d ed. Rome: FAO.

Knowledge Sharing in Research (KSinR)

Nadia Manning-Thomas, KSinR project Leader

The CGIAR ICT-KM program initiated a second phase of its work on Knowledge Sharing with a two-year project starting in 2007. ‘Improving CGIAR Effectiveness through Knowledge Sharing’ builds upon the interest and gains generated in Phase I. While the initial focus of the knowledge sharing work was mainly along the lines of Institutional Knowledge Sharing, now this second phase project also includes a component on Knowledge Sharing in Research. The goal of this component is to help improve the effectiveness and impact of CGIAR research through providing options and lessons around good practices to support enhanced collaboration, learning, and delivery research results.

The main objectives of the KSinR project are to generate, share, and support application of knowledge sharing principles, frameworks and approaches in research projects, programs and initiatives within the CGIAR. The knowledge generation component is particularly vital, and is undertaken through:

1) Learning from KSinR-supported Pilot Projects,
2) Exploring other KSinR-type initiatives ongoing within the CGIAR, and
3) Reviewing literature and other key materials on and related to knowledge sharing in research, even from beyond the CGIAR.

The Knowledge Sharing project has continued to enjoy active engagement and interest from the CPWF in this second phase with many of the six KSinR Pilot Projects being either directly involved in or related to the CPWF. These projects will help to provide valuable lessons about the potential of knowledge sharing in research to improve research impact. Their piloting activities will also showcase the reality of use, role and value of various knowledge sharing-oriented approaches, and opportunities for scaling out to other research programs, projects and activities.

The WorldFish KSinR Pilot Project

From the IWMI WASPA-LA KSinR Pilot. To see more images from the KSinR pilot projects, please visit www.ks-cgiar.org

Dr. Natasja Sheriff and her team are piloting alternative, participatory and qualitative methods of monitoring and evaluation and impact assessment with CPWF Project 35 ‘Community-based fish culture in seasonal floodplain and irrigation systems’, an adaptive management community fisheries project. The Pilot is using Outcome Mapping (OM) and Most Significant Change (MSC) approaches to supplement the existing traditional M&E and Impact Assessment methods used in the project. These approaches are currently being piloted in the Project’s site in Vietnam, with plans to outscale the methods and lessons to other country sites.

In February this year the project team was trained in the approaches, and OM and MSC were initiated within three communities in Vietnam. The Pilot Project aims to evaluate the advantages and potential pitfalls of applying OM and MSC in the context of a community level research project, and plans to develop appropriate components that suit the context and needs of individual projects.

As Dr. Sheriff states, “Alternative approaches to M&E need to match the needs of the project and the country context. Many alternative approaches to M&E have arisen in the development field and may be too complex and time consuming to implement within the timeframe and budgets of many research projects. The existing approaches often require strong facilitation skills on the part of implementers.”

She further contends that there is strong potential to develop a highly effective and user-friendly methodology which combines elements of OM and MSC, leading to:

• Better understanding of the relationship between action and impact at all levels within a project, from researcher to beneficiary
• Clearer understanding of stakeholder perceptions and expectations
• Awareness of, and responsiveness to, unanticipated issues and project impacts
• Strengthened partnerships amongst all stakeholders, and
• Improved dialogue between stakeholders, leading to mutually agreed action and sustainable outcomes

ICARDA KSinR Pilot Project: International Farmers’ Conference

Lead by Dr. Stefania Grando from ICARDA’s Participatory Plant Breeding program, who is the leader of CPWF Project 2 ‘Water Productivity Improvement in Eritrea’, the main focus of this Pilot Project is to organize an International Farmers’ Conference. The Farmers’ Conference was recently held from May 4─8 this year at ICARDA HQ in Aleppo, Syria. In the Conference, farmers from various countries were invited to not only attend but to present their situations, experiences, knowledge, ideas, and skills—through storytelling.

Farmers’ stories were recorded in print, audio and video formats and are being made available through a conference website. In addition, farmers with mobile phones were sent short video clips of the stories to share with others, encouraging a kind of farmer-to-farmer extension system. 

On being asked why the Participatory Breeding Program embarked on this knowledge sharing activity, the Project team responded: “Participatory plant breeding is a way of working that strongly hinges on collaboration in research between scientists and farmers, a way of blending knowledge, experience, ideas, and practices of both to achieve something good and useful for improving agricultural productivity and lives of people. But there is often a reluctance to work with farmers amidst doubts of the knowledge and experience that farmers may have which can be useful to research programs. There is also little farmer-to-farmer sharing of knowledge and ideas. The Farmers’ Conference was designed to address these issues by providing a platform for farmers to share their knowledge with scientists and other farmers”.

Wastewater Projects in West Africa KSinR Pilot Project

This Pilot, lead by Tonya Schuetz, was designed to introduce ‘a knowledge sharing approach to safe food’ across a number of CPWF (CP 38 and 51), WHO, FAO and IDRC supported projects. This initiative has been piloting knowledge sharing approaches to improve coordination between projects and other partners, to better understand the adoption potential of research results, and to find additional ways to share research messages with various target groups.

The project uses an innovative knowledge sharing approach known as a World Café to facilitate a discussion with stakeholders to establish adoption potential of guidelines and messages developed from the results of research projects. To date the project has also supported the development of materials for extension agents based on key messages about wastewater use. A flip chart has been specially designed for extension agents to use in their work to share knowledge and influence practices with farmers, containing the WHO guidelines in visual form to show to the farmers with written messages on the back to help extension agents with their presentation.

The pilot has also supported a Training of Trainers workshop for agricultural extension agents. The workshop utilized a specially developed video entitled ‘Good farming practices to reduce vegetable contamination: options tested on wastewater-irrigated fields in Ghana’, which provides 10 options for farmers as identified in the CPWF wastewater projects. To improve research delivery the pilot has also been working on the development of messages about better practices for wastewater use from research results that will be included and used in radio programs. The project will also be working with Farmer Field Schools and Catering schools to explore how key information generated from research projects on wastewater can be integrated into their curricula.

IRRI KSinR Pilot Project - Laos Rice Knowledge Bank

This project intersects with the CPWF in its work to use a knowledge management/sharing approach to harmonise research outputs coming out of various Lao northern uplands projects into the Laos Rice Knowledge Bank (LRKB). The overall Rice Knowledge Bank (RKB) initiated by IRRI and CYMMYT was introduced as a mechanism to help bring the results of local research to farmers via various extension services.

According to the Pilot Project leader Dr. Benjamin Samson, the project rationale hinges on the belief that “it is necessary to strengthen the link between research activities and the extension services in order to bring the results of research to farmers in a way that is useful to them.”  This Pilot is therefore working to identify useful research outputs, technologies, and knowledge which can be developed into information packets in the LRKB. Some of the CPWF projects from which research results will be integrated into the LRKB include:

• Inventories of community resources, indigenous knowledge (IRRI-IFAD-CPWF)
• More effective strategies for rapid dissemination of technologies (IRRI-IFAD-CPWF)
• Improved capacity of NARES to plan and implement integrative research and development (IRRI-IFAD-CPWF)
• Improved rice-based cropping systems for uplands for raising farm productivity (IRRI-CPWF-DMC-CIRAD-CIAT)
• Managing land and water resources of communities in a sustainable manner (IRRI-CPWF)
• Improved rice varieties and crop and water management practices to raise water productivity (IRRI-CPWF)

To ensure the use and usefulness of the LRKB and the information packets made available, workshops have been held with various agricultural and extension departments as well as academic institutions, another target group for the RKB. The workshops have been designed to facilitate discussion with these key user groups about the appropriate content and formats of information for wide dissemination via this mechanism. A Community of Practice of potential users of the LRKB and the knowledge stored within it will also be formed and persons trained to use it once it has been populated.

Synthesis

All of these projects, as well as the non-CPWF projects involved in the KSinR initiative, are providing valuable insights into the use of knowledge sharing in research in general as well as the pros and cons of particular approaches. The KSinR project has passed its mid-point and will now begin to synthesize the results across all of its Pilot Projects and other activities and document these lessons in a variety of media including the KS website, the KS blog, and through the development of practical how-to documents to be widely distributed and presented at upcoming CGIAR and other fora.

Watch for information, lessons and recommendations coming out of the KSinR project over the next nine months. For more information see the Project website at www.ks-cgiar.org

For news, highlights and discussions join us at the KS blog: http://ictkm.wordpress.com/category/knowledge-sharing/

Science-based water management in the Volta                             

Winston Andah, WRI; Marc Andreini, IWMI; Regina Birner, IFPRI; Eva Schiffer, IFPRI; Tonya Schuetz, IWMI; and Amy Sullivan, IWMI.

The Upper White Volta Basin covers parts of northern Ghana and Burkina Faso, which are characterized by persistently high poverty levels. Among the options, developing water resources for sustainable agriculture and food production has high strategic relevance for this region. Three Challenge Program projects have been collaborating closely for the past three years to help realize this goal: the Small Reservoirs Project (CPWF 46), the Transboundary Water Governance Project (CPWF 47), and the Integrating Governance and Modeling Project (CPWF 40).

The projects have been supporting each other's field activities, exchanging information, discussing approaches, and presenting feedback together.  They have built a strong identity of the Challenge Program for Water and Food in this region and developed reliable relationships with local stakeholders, in northern Ghana and Burkina Faso. As the three projects collaborate with one another, work with virtually the same stakeholders, and have a shared research audience, the projects held a joint final stakeholder workshop in Bolgatanga, in June 2008. The purpose of the workshop was twofold.  Firstly, the researchers shared and discussed the results that had been developed with the stakeholders who had participated in the research, and secondly the participants were asked what should be done next.

Members from CPWF Projects 46, 47 and 40 have been collaborating closely for the past three years in the Volta River Basin

The Transboundary Water Governance Project investigated how local water management strategies can strengthen transboundary institutions. This project highlighted the role that customary institutions for water resources management play in Burkina Faso and Ghana. The Integrating Governance and Modeling Project examined how simulation models can be used to improve integrated water resources management. The project showed that irrigated agriculture has unrealized potential to reduce poverty in this region, but it also revealed major challenges such as access to credit and well maintained infrastructure. The Small Reservoirs Project developed various tools for the planning, management, design, and use of small reservoirs. It found that careful siting of reservoirs will make it possible to use the region's full hydrological potential. Also the project developed methods using remote sensing imagery to locate the reservoirs and estimate the quantity of water stored in them.

The workshop was attended by representatives from a wide range of institutions engaged in water resources management, both in both Burkina Faso and Ghana.  They included, among others, the White Volta Basin Board, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute for Research in Environment and Agriculture, the Water Research Institute, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, local NGOs as well as and government and traditional representatives from local communities. 

The discussion was very open due to long standing relationships with the stakeholders.  While further research needs were identified, local stakeholders also pointed to the need to implement existing knowledge and requested a better understanding of the mechanisms that support the implementation of these research findings.  This meeting also fostered interactions among different stakeholders.  For example, representatives from an NGO and a District Assembly discovered that they could reach more poor people if they joined the expertise of the NGO with funds from the District Assembly. 

Local decision makers showed their keen interest in developing solutions to their water management problems, but it also became clear that there is still much to do.  The Volta Basin Board presented itself well-prepared to assume a challenging role in supporting more equitable and effective use of water resources.  The Board also showed its capacity to develop alliances necessary to acquire the information needed for making science-based water allocation and quality management decisions in the future.

This workshop helped clarify open questions and validate research results. The outputs are important inputs for a policy workshop that will be held at a national scale. While the workshop in Bolgatanga focused on regional concerns, the national policy workshop will concentrate on overarching policy conclusions for water resources development that can be derived from the joint research.

Improving Tropical Hillside Agroecosystems

Aracely Castro, CIAT Honduras

 To advocate and assist cross-learning between complementary CPWF projects, in August 2007 CPWF Theme 1 (Crop Water Productivity Improvement) announced the availability of funds for travel grants to Theme 1 project members. CPWF Project 15 ‘Quesungual slash and mulch agroforestry system: Improving crop water productivity, food security and resource quality in the sub-humid tropics’ application to visit CPWF Project 11 ‘Rice landscape management for raising water productivity, conserving resources and improving livelihoods in upper catchments of the Mekong and Red river basins’ was approved, and executed in February 2008. The following story discusses the possibility of validating a successful agroforestry system developed by Latin-American farmers and technicians, with small-scale farmers of South-east Asia uplands.

Combating deforestation

Slash and burn (SB) is an ancient form of agriculture practiced in around 25 per cent of the tropical land area. Even though SB agriculture does not guarantee food security and is recognized as a non-sustainable, environmentally unfriendly practice, farmers persist on using it for the short-term benefits it provides. SB practice continues to be the cheapest immediate source of firewood for householders and of nutrients for crop development, and an efficient method to control the incidence of pests and diseases on major staples.

Preliminary extrapolation domains in Southeast Asia for the Quesungual Slash and Mulch Agroforestry System (QSMAS).

Combating deforestation and land degradation to mitigate the negative effects of agriculture on the environment are some of the major forces driving governments to outlaw SB. This may be perceived as the easiest route to impede slash and burn practices, but it certainly not the most effective. Resource-poor farmers simply need to produce food to subsist, and unless they have access to feasible agricultural alternatives, they are unlikely to stop burning. Unfortunately, there are few ready alternatives to SB practice, especially for small-scale farmers forced to produce on marginal lands in the tropics.

In Honduras, an indigenous production system known as ‘Quesungual’ was identified by environmental technicians and then improved in collaboration with local farmers. CPWF Project 15’s Quesungual Slash and Mulch Agroforestry System (QSMAS) is a smallholder production system with a group of technologies for the sustainable management of water, soil and nutrient resources in drought-prone areas of hillsides agroecosystems of the sub-humid tropics. Farmers and development organizations had reported that in the short term QSMAS might be as productive and profitable as the SB system.

In contrast to systems based on SB practice, the QSMAS principles of 1) no SB, 2) permanent soil cover, 3) minimal disturbance of soil, and 4) efficient use of fertilizer, contribute to improved food security, livelihoods and natural resources management through water efficient, soil conserving technologies. In the last decade, QSMAS has been promoted and successfully disseminated between resource-poor farmers in southwest Honduras as an alternative to replace the SB traditional production system.

Alternatives for hillside agroecosystems

Among the specific objectives of CPWF 15 is to evaluate and document potential areas in the tropics that are suitable to QSMAS. Testing of QSMAS as an alternative to SB system through validation work with farmers in Nicaragua and Colombia has yielded significant results beyond expectations due to high acceptance of QSMAS by farmers and local authorities. Due to its good agronomic performance, in terms of productivity, the system successfully spread beyond the validation sites in Nicaragua. Site similarity analysis (SSA), used to define extrapolation domains for QSMAS, had identified other tropical regions with possibilities for its adaptation, including Southeast Asia (SE Asia) around the catchments of Mekong River in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and China.

Both CPWF 15 and CPWF 11, the ‘Rice landscape management for raising water productivity, conserving resources and improving livelihoods in upper catchments of the Mekong and Red river basins’ project,  are addressing similar research for development issues in their respective target areas. Both projects work with small-scale farmers facing similar problems that are limiting productivity and sustainability (e.g. soil erosion, poor sustainability and reduced crop-water productivity) in hillside areas with steep slopes where SB is the predominant production system.

Cross-project collaboration

Given the similar contexts and the probabilities for QSMAS adaptation to SE Asia according to the SSA, a visit to the target region of CPWF Project 11 in Vietnam and Lao PDR was organized with the following objectives to:

• Exchange information on the management practices used by farmers in the production systems located in steep slopes
• Become familiar with the technologies being promoted by CPWF 11 for their potential targeting to similar areas of Latin America, and
• Share CPWF 15 knowledge and experience on QSMAS with CPWF 11 staff and partners, with a view to conduct a preliminary assessment of the suitability of QSMAS as an alternative to SB system in the uplands of SE Asia.

Aracely Castro, a Visiting Researcher of CIAT and also a QSMAS project PhD student, visited Lao PDR and Vietnam. Visits to CPWF 11 field sites in company of project staff and partners provided unique opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and resulted in a better understanding of the biophysical, socioeconomic and political contexts in the target region, and the knowledge of the technologies being tested and/or promoted by the Rice Landscape Management project.

For CPWF 15, the main product of this visit is the knowledge of paddy rice production in both, uplands and lowlands, as an option to increase rice production in rural areas of Mesoamerica. In a second phase, technologies being promoted by CPWF 11 can be explored as opportunities for crop diversification and improved linkages to markets extend the benefits of QSMAS in Mesoamerica. For both projects, the main future objective could be the validation of QSMAS (or its principles) as a suitable alternative to SB system to improve food security and sustainability in the face of climate risks and land degradation in uplands of Lao PDR and Vietnam.

Expected outcomes from this common objective could be contributing towards national objectives of protecting ecosystem services and local possibilities for the incipient policies on payment for environmental services that are being promoted in these countries.

There is a need for a more rigorous feasibility study to explore the potential of QSMAS in sloping lands of SE Asia before initiating any efforts for its validation and adaptation. The study could include:

• Conducting a specific SSA to contrast conditions in the reference (and maybe validation) site/s with those in north Lao PDR and Vietnam
• Documenting and analyzing key information on agricultural issues and also the characteristics of secondary forests, and
• Determining the potential for acceptance and support to QSMAS by local farmers and also technical and administrative authorities for scaling out and scaling up of the system.

Lowland paddies and upland fields for production of rice, maize and cassaya. Nam Bung, Yen Bai province, Vietnam.

The author wishes to express her gratitude to Theme 1 Staff Dr. Elizabeth Humphreys and Ms. Ruvicyn Bayot, Project 15 Leader Dr. Idupulapati Rao and Project 11 Staff Drs. Sushil Pandey, Benjamin Sampson and Damien Jourdain for their support for realizing the field visits and for their comments on the trip report.

Science Director and Impact Director

The CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food is keen to respond to continued interest in its two new leadership positions and is therefore extending the submission date to 25 August 2008.  The extension also enables the CPWF to further encourage applications from senior professional women and developing country nationals in order to increase our access to their expertise. Current applicants need not reapply as this is an extension, not a re-advertisement.

Both these exciting positions require people of the highest caliber, able to combine scientific expertise in research-for-development with great networking, leadership, and people skills. A correspondingly attractive salary and benefits package at international level will be negotiated at the time of appointment. Secondment arrangements would be considered as would location. To download the position description, please click here or visit our website.

 Impact, Identity, BlueDocs and beyond                                

To be serious about creating durable and multi-scaled impact within our inter-institutional area of engagement, the CPWF, as a community of researchers and support staff, must lift its collective profile. Strengthening identity in a rapidly developing program obviously requires adherence to some practical processes. But perhaps it may serve to align perspectives if we first come together with the understanding that the Challenge Program on Water and Food is a collective research effort, and not a funding agency. As such, the quality of our research determines the Program’s viability. An acknowledgement of this simple and just fact will help the CPWF community to collectively fulfill our Program objectives.

Accordingly, to communicate our body of work and its on-ground benefits to those across our stakeholder spectrum, CPWF research outputs─from peer-reviewed journal articles to PowerPoint presentations─need to clearly acknowledge the Program. One of the main observations from the 2007 External Review was of CPWF members limiting their potential effectiveness by not allowing sufficient visibility; to the detriment of both their own institutions and the CPWF.

Use the CPWF logo

Basic identity requirements include the use of the CPWF Logo on the title page or cover of any publications or outreach products, such as publications or CDs, or acknowledgements in journal articles or film credits. Consult the CPWF Publication Guidelines for details on how to credit the Program, which also outlines getting CPWF publications approved by your Theme Leaders. Feel free at anytime to contact the Communications team for further clarification, or to let them know about a particular publication your team has produced. 

CPWF BlueDocs: Online Publication Library

The Program (with thanks to Simon Cook and his hardworking CIAT-based team) has developed the searchable publications library CPWF BlueDocs. All Program-related outputs can be uploaded here to be shared with other researchers of your choice (by uploading papers to a ‘Private’ group setting of your creation, for use if your material is still being developed or is subject to intellectual property restrictions), or to the world-at-large using CPWF BlueDocs’s robust Public Access database. Papers can also be sorted as ‘peer-reviewed’, if the peer-reviewed tag is tripped during the uploading stage.

BlueDocs is easy to use and a great way to disseminate your project’s outputs. Please keep in mind we are still refining its process, so please feel free to contact us if you have feedback. If you aren’t yet signed-up to access and/or upload papers, you can quickly do so at the CPWF BlueDocs Login page

http://www.bluedocs.org/bluedocs/loginpage

5 Easy steps:       

1. Do you have a CPWF project-related output ready to produce?
2. Have you informed your Theme Leader or sought their guidance on the product?
3. Does the output acknowledge the CPWF, in accordance to the CPWF Publication Guidelines? Can you see a logo?
4. Have you signed-up to our online publication library CPWF BlueDocs?
5. Have you uploaded your project’s publication to CPWF BlueDocs and entered search keywords to make it easy to be found?

CPWF Communications for Impact

The CPWF is expanding the role of its Communications Coordinator (a position for which shortlisted candidates will shortly be interviewed) by enabling it with resources adequate for the Program’s size and scope, and allowing it to work within a renewed, more rigorous (and less reactive) impact-focused strategy.

CPWF Communications will move to the future under a new strategy and Impact Director position and increasingly using the adaptive ‘Knowledge and Adoption’ approach to research outputs. Assisting in the development of the Phase 2 communications structure and  applying ‘transitional triage’ is David Clayton, our acting Communications Coordinator, and Tuppy McIntosh, Communications Consultant at the Secretariat in Colombo.

Now is a great time to heed the lessons of the Program’s past five years and adapt quickly to new challenges in order to make the most of the International Public Goods rising from the CPWF’s collective research efforts.

Welcome to CPWF’s first Board

CPWF recently implemented a major change in the way it is led that has been approved and lauded by CGIAR’s own governance mechanisms.

The CPWF Consortium Steering Committee (CSC) has governed the Program since its inception in 2002. As part of Program evolution, and based on the recommendations of the External Review of the CPWF (2007),  it decided in February that a smaller skills-based Board that meets more frequently should be responsible for most governance duties. Meanwhile, a committee of the CSC is discussing how best to develop CSC’s advisory role to the Board, as a stakeholder committee that represents the 18 Consortium members as well as the broader CPWF institutional community.

The new Board consists of five independent members, identified from a field of more than 20 nominations by a Selection Committee of the CSC. The other members are three representatives of the CPWF Consortium and the Program leader ex-officio. Below we highlight some of the members’ past and present activities; more comprehensive CVs of Board members are available here.

George Rothschild (Chair and independent member).  George is Emeritus Professor of International Development at the University of Greenwich and a former leader of ACIAR and IRRI, among many other roles. He acts as adviser to several programs, including DFID’s Research Into Use program for upscaling and outscaling research outputs across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and the network and partnership activities of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).

Barbara Schreiner (independent member) Working in high level positions for the South African Government for over 10 years, most recently Barbara was the Deputy Director General of the Policy and Regulation Branch of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and now leads her own consultancy firm specializing in water resources and management.

Cyrus Ndiritu (independent member) focuses on enhancing the understanding and applications of techno-innovations in agribusiness and on the role of NGOs. Cyrus was the Executive Director of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute for 12 years and more recently has wide experience as a reviewer of research and development programs across Africa.

Walter Falcon (independent member) held the position of the Farnsworth Professor of International Agricultural Policy at Stanford University for almost 30 years. Wally now acts as the Deputy Director for the Food Security and Environment Program at Stanford.

Don Blackmore (independent member) has expertise on water issues across Australia, South and East Asia and Africa. Don was the Chief Executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission in Australia for 14 years.

Colin Chartres (Representative of the CPWF Lead institution, IWMI) is the Director General of the International Water Management Institute in Colombo. Previously, Colin made a major contribution to Australian national science strategy, knowledge and capacity building, particularly during his roles as Chief Science Advisor to Australia's National Water Commission and in various leadership roles for CSIRO’s Land & Water Division.

Joachim von Braun (Alliance representative) is the Director General of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington. Joachim is a member of the Board of Academic Advisors for the Center of Chinese Agricultural Policy and the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council, among others.

Alex McCalla (Representative of NGO, NARES, and ARI Consortium members) has more than 40 years of professional commitment to agricultural policy, international trade, agricultural & economic development and world food policy. Alex has a long association with the CGIAR system, as well as the World Bank and the University of California.

Jonathan Woolley (ex officio), CPWF Program Coordinator since 2004, has over 30 years experience with  international, regional and national research and development institutions, public and private, including several CGIAR programs. He has worked in some 50 developing countries and has a particular interest in processes of institutional change.

The CPWF Board will hold its inaugural meeting at the University of Greenwich, UK, on September 25—26 particularly to review program strategy, staffing and operational plans for phase 2. It will meet again after the International Forum on Water and Food in Addis Ababa to ratify the Program’s strategy for Phase 2, refine the Medium Term Plan in time to present to the Science Council at the end of November, and approve the 2009 CPWF budget.

Second International Forum on Water and Food

Monday 10 November to Friday 14 November
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Planning of this important event in the Challenge Program calendar is well advanced. Logistic support teams began arriving on site in Addis Ababa a few days ago to help the local team prepare the conference site for sessions that will draw out the science contributions and impacts of the CPWF, looking at its past achievements and future plans.

At this year’s Forum attendees can expect a packed program of presentations in parallel sessions on CPWF project results from the nine benchmark basins of Phase 1. Additionally, specific sessions that explore the impact of our research on livelihoods will add some powerful commentary to the severe water and food challenges confronting our world today.

Logisitics

The Organising Committee has reserved 240 hotel rooms in five Addis hotels. While nearby each other, daily shuttles will provide delegates transportation between their hotels and the conference site. Within the next week, many individuals that are planning to attend this year’s Forum will begin receiving requests for travel and attendance details so the logistics team can confirm your hotel accommodation and arrange your airport transfer, among many other details.

While the proposed Forum agenda is full, time has been set aside for delegates to visit Addis Ababa, the progressive capital of a nation nonetheless suffering deeply from the global water and food crisis. Arrangements can be made to assist delegates in planning their itinerary; either in the city of Addis, or for more remote areas of Ethiopia.

The Forum Organising Committee is very close to finalizing the agenda. The addition this year of more keynote speakers means that a little extra time is needed to confirm some exciting possibilities.  In the meantime, let us hope for a successful harvest all across Ethiopia and the region come November.

Information about Forum logistics can be found at the Forum webpage. Queries can be directed to Deepak Shanmuganathan at d.shanmuganathan@cgiar.org

CPWF team lessons from farmer irrigators 

Elizabeth Bryan, CPWF Theme 5 assistant

In order to gain a better understanding of agriculture, livelihood, and environmental issues in the Limpopo Basin, late last year a delegation of CPWF scientists, including Theme Leaders, Basin Coordinators, and Project Leaders, visited several sites in the Limpopo River Basin in South Africa.

Thabina

The group visited a typical small irrigation scheme in Thabina, which started in 1935 when the local chief allocated 126 ha for farming. The seven km long concrete irrigation canal from the river to Thabina was provided by the Department of Agriculture (DoA).

Typical irrigation channel in Thabina.

The farmers grow a range of vegetables, mostly for local consumption, using furrow irrigation from their relatively basic irrigation system.

The CPWF delegation met with local farmers, led by Mr. Mutebulo, Chair of the farmers’ irrigation group. Mutebulo told the delegation that the farmers had met three times prior to the visit to discuss the main points to be raised during the meeting. Their main problem was sourcing enough water. In particular, new settlements around the canal often contaminate or disrupt the water flowing to farms in irrigated wards A and B. The electric and diesel pumps used in areas not receiving water from the canal (wards C and D) had been vandalized or stolen. Moreover, stray animals often wander into the farms and cause damage to crops because the fences constructed by the DoA are in need of repair.

Farmers expressed that they were not adequately consulted by the DoA regarding their core irrigation challenges. They said that it would be three years before the DoA would fix the protection fence; by which time very few viable farmers would be left. The irrigators had attempted to solve their problems by talking with the headmen of each settlement, and by constructing internal fences around their plots. They inquired for assistance with the fences and pumps, and to replace the open channel with a concrete pipe. While the visit reminded the scientists of the huge social problems needing to be solved, it was also a reminder that there is considerable potential for increasing the productive use of water by finding ways to solve the social problems.

Ga-Mampa wetland

The delegation visited the Ga-Mampa wetland site of the CPWF Project 30, ‘Wetlands-based livelihoods in the Limpopo basin: balancing social welfare and environmental security’ in Mafefe. The team was welcomed by Wellington Jogo, a Ph.D. student working with IWMI, and members of the Community Development Committee.

The Ga-Mampa wetlands are being transformed for agriculture.

The visit aimed to provide the delegation with an improved understanding of the contribution of wetlands to livelihoods and how the project aims to enhance food security and improve wetland-based livelihoods.

The project site is situated in a riparian wetland, attractive for its rich soils and year-round soil moisture, which can support crops during both the dry season and drought years. The main wetland uses are for crop farming, natural resource harvesting (reeds, sedges), and livestock production (grazing). During the rainy season (October–November) maize is cultivated, while crops like coriander, spinach, and cabbage are cultivated during the dry season (June–July). Reeds are harvested for roofing and construction, while sedges are used for handicrafts. In the past, local livelihoods depended on irrigated dryland plots situated outside the wetland area. However, the irrigation scheme was damaged by floods in 2000, leaving the dryland plots unsuitable for crop production. Because the floods deposited fertile sediments in the wetland area, farmers moved their production. As a result, between 1994 and 2004, 50 per cent of the wetland has been converted to agricultural use.

Project activities include developing guidelines for wetland use, based on an analysis of the trade-offs of wetland resource use while maintaining ecological integrity, and the development of economic wetland valuation tools to simulate impacts of wetland management changes on livelihoods. The simulation takes into account biophysical (hydrology and ecology) and socio-economic features (history of the area, demography and livelihoods activities).

Stakeholder analysis conducted as part of the project revealed important trade-offs in wetland uses (i.e. crop production, livestock grazing, and hydrological functioning) and tensions between the different stakeholders are common. The team noted the importance of valuing aquatic ecosystem goods and services that can potentially be derived from the wetlands, while conserving its regulating and supporting functions. The encroachment of agriculture into the wetlands is a concern, given that spring and groundwater undergoes natural purification in the wetlands. Careful planning and communication among stakeholders can ensure the sustainability of wetland-based livelihoods and the resilience of the wetlands.

Elandskraal partnership

The delegation visited a partnership for commercializing emerging farmers’ agriculture in Elandskraal. The project covers an area of 739.2 hectares out of which 339.2 hectares are under irrigation. The irrigation system gets water from the Olifants River, a tributary of the Limpopo River, located three km away from the farm. In 2002 the irrigation system was upgraded with sprinklers organized around 6 groups each supplied by one electric pump. Almost 200 households are part of the irrigation group, which is registered as a legal entity and was allocated two million m³/yr. Currently, the group does not pay for water because the rates have not yet been established. The main crops produced are maize, potatoes, wheat, beans, and vegetables. Under collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research there are plans to plant shrubs, such as rose geranium extract oil for perfumes.

The CPWF delegation also visited a partnership for commercializing emerging farmers’ agriculture in Elandskraal.

The partnership between farmers, government departments, and commercial farmers constitutes an innovative institutional and management arrangement. The government has secured water supply through the water department while the Department of Agriculture provides financial support for upgrading the irrigation infrastructure and technical support on crop and irrigation management. A commercial farmer is selected to transfer technology and management expertise to the emerging farmers and provide seasonal inputs. In this case, the commercial farmer is responsible for managing the irrigation and crop production system for 10 years according to the project contract and is entitled to 60 per cent of the net income while the emerging farmers share the remaining 40 per cent based on their land areas.

Currently, water supply is fairly reliable and adequate. Theft of electrical cables is a problem in some areas and security guards have been employed. Emerging conflicts are addressed through local farmer groups, the project committee, and the government. More than half of the participants in the farmer committee are women. One main challenge is financing, particularly for expanding the irrigation system and procuring additional machinery. Transforming emerging farmers into commercial farmers would require additional farmer training, financial support by the government, affordable seasonal credit, and secure markets.

Delta2007: Managing the Coastal Land-Water Interface

C.T. Hoanh, CPWF Theme 4 leader

Participants visited the Samaphan Farm where the voluntary Thai Code of Conduct for Marine Shrimp Culture Industry for Good Aquaculture Practice are applied.

Tropical coastal deltas represent one of the most diverse and rapidly changing biophysical regions in the developing world. These deltas are home to large population centers such as Dhaka, Yangon and Bangkok, and are significant centers of agricultural production and industrial development. Coastal deltas contain critical ecosystems, such as mangrove and seagrass, and host a rich collection of historical and cultural resources. Historically, land and water management within many deltas focused on the exclusion of saline water flows that move upstream from the coast during the dry season to ensure freshwater availability for agricultural production throughout the year. Driven by market forces, the rapid development of coastal aquaculture has significantly degraded social and environmental networks, but it has also challenged our assumptions regarding land and water management objectives at the brackish water interface in coastal deltas. 

Delta 2007 was conceived in Bang Saen, Thailand with support from the Challenge Program for Water and Food (CPWF), the FAO-Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO-RAP), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the WorldFish Center and the Burapha University, Thailand to:

• Examine the state of tropical coastal deltas with a particular focus on agriculture─fisheries─aquaculture─environment conflicts and coastal hazards experienced in developing countries
• Exchange findings on land-water interface management from case studies in various countries, and
• Identify and look ahead at the priorities for research and planning, management and governance strategies that will promote environmental sustainability and improve the socio-economic conditions of marginalized rural communities.

The conference was well attended by 100 participants from 19 countries with a total of 52 papers presented in seven sessions.

Group discussions were undertaken to formulate key messages that reflect the outcomes of discussions in each of the sessions:

Group 1 - Agriculture, aquaculture and diversification: Coastal zones are a very tough environment with huge variability but at present, location and extent of problem areas are not well defined/quantified. There is a large potential to increase productivity and resilience in the coastal zones with existing technologies and with approaches that are the in pipeline, e.g. greater salinity tolerance, tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses.  Strategies for achieving rapid and widespread adoption including strengthening communication, training, improving inputs (seeds, fertilizer), stabilizing markets and identifying target areas for the technologies are needed.

Group 2 - Community management and livelihoods: Local communities should effectively engage in planning, development and managing coastal resources. Policies in development should ensure equitable access and share of benefits through improving the capacity of disadvantaged groups. Research should be community-oriented and needs-based with participation of local people throughout the project cycle, capacity building objective and strategies for effective uptake of research results.

Delta2007 participants also visited the Kung Krabaen Bay Royal Development Study Center where the effective management of coastal fisheries, agricultural and aquaculture development are promoted.

Group 3 - Resource management and coastal hazards: Interlinkages between climate change and natural resource management should be considered in policy setting and management arrangement. Integrated networking for learning and sharing knowledge should be developed. Current funding agencies and institutions are not structured in a way to support holistic approaches necessary for efficient natural resource management, therefore adjustments should be considered.

Group 4 - Policy and management: Policymakers need to give clear long-term policy directions balancing economic development and conservation of the deltas, and integrate the future of the deltas in decision-making at basin, national and regional levels. Multi-disciplinary/sectoral/scale approaches in research considering the interests of multiple stakeholders, starting by mapping issues and identifying future research agenda along these lines should be applied. Integration of policy, research and development issues into an information discourse needs to come up with an appropriate blend of regulatory, incentive-based and voluntary/self-regulatory governance mechanisms.

Thoughts and lessons learned from Delta2007

By Ngo Dang Phong, Abdul Ghani, Sanjida Parveen Ritu, recipients of a travel grant from the Challenge Program on Water and Food (administered by the Crop Water Productivity Theme).  Phong, Ghani and Sanjida are involved in the project, ‘Coastal Resource Management for Improving Livelihoods’ (CPWF Project 10).  Article written with the assistance of Rucivyn Bayot and Andrew Noble’s introductory speech.

Recipients of the CPWF Delta2007 Travel Grant, Abdul Ghani, Sanjida Parveen Ritu and Ngo Dang Phong.

River deltas maintain important ecosystems that provide resources and services which enable the livelihoods of local communities.  As deltas tend to be heavily populated, anthropogenic activities can often deeply affect natural cycles and environmental processes.  For example, construction of megadams reduces the amount of alluvial sediment deposits; sluice gates that obstruct the flow of saltwater upstream can restrict shrimp and fish farming; intensive food production exploits natural resources and pollutes ecosystems.  In addition there are the changes that result from natural occurrences like shoreline erosion and sea-level rise. 

Anthropogenic activities dictated by economic and market forces repeatedly lead to environmental degradation.  Although important for food production and income generation, extreme rates of development threaten the ability of the delta system to sustain its environmental services to the human population.  Management practices and policy recommendations are now being developed to balance the benefits of developments and delta ecosystems.

Several papers on Policy, Management and Livelihoods, with case studies in Thailand, Niger Delta, India, were presented in the plenary at the Delta Conference. Sanjida presented a poster on ‘Conjunctive use of rainfall, surface and groundwater for higher productivity of coastal saline soil of Khulna District, Bangladesh’ containing two years of her PhD research work.  In her study, Sanjida is trying to establish the Aus–T. Aman cropping pattern to replace the traditional Fallow-Local T.Aman–Fallow cropping pattern in the southwest costal part of Bangladesh.  Sanjida reported that her participation in the conference allowed her to learn more about research priorities, planning, management and governance strategies that focus on environmental sustainability and improving socioeconomic conditions.

Sanjida presents her study to Dr. Ghani

Dr. Ghani presented a paper on ‘Beneficiary empowerment for effective land and water use in coastal area of Bangladesh’ in the Community Management session that stressed the importance of participatory and bottom-up approaches to sustainable resource management, including conflict resolution, the process of scaling up- and out-, and institutional arrangements.

During a session on the relationship between water quality and aquatic resources, Phong presented his paper, ‘Loading amount, temporal, and spatial variation of acid pollution in coastal zones: a study case of Ca Mau Peninsula, Vietnam’.  For Phong, among the important take-home messages were the integration of policy and R&D into a regulatory governance system; the participation of local communities in planning, development and management of coastal resources, and; the equitable access and sharing of benefits between stakeholders, including improving the capacity of disadvantaged and marginal groups. 

Long-term changes in the delta are also the result of natural occurrences.  Climate change accelerates these processes and brings about other coastal hazards such as strong typhoons and tsunami.  Cyclone Sidr was recent catastrophe that hurt millions of people in the coastal area of Bangladesh.  Coastal hazards and resilience of the delta ecosystem were an issue discussed in the final plenary session.

During the visit to the Samaphan Farm in Rayong province, we learnt about the importance of implementing a Code of Conduct in regulating aquaculture practices that advances the production of shrimp without using antibiotics and other chemicals.  The production cost is high, but advocates agree it reduces the adverse impacts of shrimp production on the environment. 

The last day of the Conference was an interesting one-day scientific field trip to visit the Samaphan Farm in Rayong province.

Delta 2007 enthused NARES participants about developing programs to address issues in the coastal deltas in their respective countries. However building capacity for this will require committed support from the international community and strong policy and regulatory measures at the national government level.

We would like to acknowledge the Challenge Program on Water and Food management for supporting our participation in this Conference.  We would also like to thank the organizers of this Conference: FAO, CPWF, Bhurapa University, IWMI, IRRI and WorldFish Center.

New publications from the CPWF 

Make sure you search our new publications database CPWF BlueDocs, for all the latest materials coming out of our projects.

In the meantime, here are a few freshly released publications you can access from our www.waterandfood.org website.

The Basin Focal Projects Review 2008: Workshop Report (PDF 698Kb)http://www.waterandfood.org/research/basin-focal-projects/bfp-publications.html

Most Significant Change Synthesis: Stories from the Field (PDF 401Kb)
http://www.waterandfood.org/fileadmin/CPWF_Documents/Documents/ Publication_Lists/MSC_synthesis_logo.pdf

CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food Annual Report 2007 (PDF 827Kb)

http://www.waterandfood.org/publications/management-documents.html

Proceedings of the International Workshop on Improving Water Productivity and Livelihood Resilience in the Karkheh River Basin [CPWF Projects 8 and 24] (PDF 3Mb)

http://www.waterandfood.org/fileadmin/CPWF_Documents/Project_Documents/8/ Karkheh_Report_No_2_proceedings.pdf

FILM: Click below to links to video-streaming sites

Significant changes with the CPWF Scales Project in the Coello River Basin, Colombia

News faces and farewells

We warmly welcome Mark Svendsen, who replaces Annette Huber-Lee as our new Theme 5 ‘Global and national food and water systems’ Leader.  Mark has more than 30 years of experience in International Agricultural and Water Development and previously worked with both IFPRI and IWMI.  His breadth and depth of experience make him well suited to lead this theme. Annette remains with the CPWF in the role of Science Leader, guiding our research strategy into phase two.  

Marcia Macomber, the CPWF’s Capacity Building Officer based with the Secretariat has also left us to return to her home country in an exciting new challenge, after nearly three years with the CPWF; her energy, good spirit and dedication will be fondly remembered by all. The Program Coordinator writes: “We shall miss Marcia’s enthusiasm, commitment and skill in building networks and designing curricula. She strengthened and systematized CPWF capacity building, always responding to a very challenging job with professionalism and characteristic good humor. Marcia’s most recent contribution was in pioneering support to young researchers in the Volta basin through agreeing and implementing an innovative model of cooperation between CPWF and the International Foundation for Science. We thank Marcia for those professional achievements and for all her contributions to CPWF team spirit in the Secretariat and worldwide.”

Bernadette (Babette) Resurreccion has resigned as a stakeholder member of the CPWF Management Team because of her increased research responsibilities in new projects she leads at AIT, her home institution. We wish her all the very best and thank her for her contributions to CPWF management over the last two-and-a-half years. Happily for us, Babette will continue a part of the CPWF community as a lead researcher with CPWF Project 50 ‘Enhancing Multi-Scale Mekong Water Governance’.

Vale Dr. Erika Meng (1963 – 2008)

Nashville, June 29, 2008

An excerpt from a tribute by Melinda Smale

Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends. - Yeats

Erika had many friends—many dimensions, like the plant genetic diversity she researched—and one tremendously courageous, persevering heart. Her glory—her legacy—lives in us and will live in others after us.

                  Erika’s friendship with [a] member of our ‘community of practice’, Doug Gollin, [is reflected in his following thoughts]:

                  “Perhaps […] what I will remember most clearly from Erika [is] her generosity towards others, even when she would have been entitled to be self-absorbed; her optimism even when her own medical outlook was grim; and her commitment to improving the world, one research project (and one great meal) at a time.”

                  Erika’s own book on [crop biodiversity], edited with John Brennan, will also be published this year. That book culls from an enormous body of conscientious research she implemented with teams in China and Australia, and exemplifies Erika’s forte—working in complex international teams with multiple disciplines. It represents more than research. Messages from the Chinese team confirm what we already knew—the research was a vehicle to advance what Erika believed in so strongly—relieving the burdens of the world’s poor and protecting the world’s valuable environmental resources. She was personally committed to her research teams and the farmers with whom they worked. Hu Ruifa gives us this portrait of Erika:

                  “During farmer visits in Shandong in 1998, we interviewed an old farmer who had lost his wife, lived alone, and, despite working hard, could not produce enough to meet his needs. This may have been the first time Erika met a poor farmer in China. She asked others to leave the room and gave him all the Chinese currency she had. Her generosity earned respect from the team, inspired its members to work in benefit of farmers like the old man, and, on her initiative, to establish a foundation to support children returning to school in Longhua village.

                  Erika’s hard work away from the comfortable life of most foreign economists impressed both students and Chinese officials. In spring 2000, after late interviews with farmers we had to walk back to our inn around 10 pm in the darkness. A passing dump truck picked us up and, given the rough road, offered a cab seat to Erika, who insisted on standing in the hopper with other members of the survey team. The lime carried by the truck penetrated everyone’s clothing, but Erika did not complain about this or the cold inn with no shower afterwards.”

Erika was and is and will be my champion. To me she remains undefeated.

Editor’s note: Erika Meng was a principal researcher on CPWF Project 12 ‘Yellow River Rainfed Conservation Agriculture’ for several years, and led its inception. If you would like to donate to the Erika C.H. Meng Scholarship Fund for Development Policy and Research please follow the links from the CPWF homepage.

Events and happenings

The CPWF’s Basin Focal Projects have a special session in theforthcoming 13th World Water Congress on Global Changes and Water Resourcesin Montpellier, France, from September 1—4. For more information about the BFP session, please drop Maya a line by emailing m.rajasekharan@cgiar.org

International applicants are invited to apply for the Master of Integrated Water Management Program Scholarship. Scholarships cover full tuition costs of the three semester Program as well as Overseas Student Health Cover.  To uncover your eligibility, go to http://cambodiajobs.blogspot.com/2008/07/iwc-water-leader-scholarships.html

The second issue of the student-founded academic journal Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development, will be published in November 2008. The Editorial Board invite the CPWF community to contribute to this issue by August 18. Visit www.consiliencejournal.org to find out more.

In the hope of reaching as many scientists as possible, the call for pre-proposals?the first step for making grants for the 2009 Africa Small Grants program?has been announced. Details can be found at the START website: http://www.start.org/Program/African_sm_grants.html.

New for 2009, the Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research’s goal is to foster productive dialog among the disparate sectors in natural resources and social science perspectives leading to an improved understanding of institutional and economic dynamics and informed policy making
http://scientific-direct.net/c.asp?702065&080de2efb7e4e255&9

The Indian Statistical Institute’s Fourth Annual Conference on Economic Growth and Development is on in New Delhi from 17-18 December, 2008. Submissions must be received by September 30. Papers with an India focus are especially welcome. For more, please visit http://www.isid.ac.in/~pu/dec_08_conf.html

www.waternetwork.info is a new internet based contact tool for water professionals around the world. WaterNetwork gives you the possibility to have your existing network on-line available, to develop your professional network and to search for water expertise worldwide

The Insuring Future Climate Change conference will be held from November 3-4 in Oslo, Norway, with the goal of bringing together researchers, stakeholders and decision-makers from insurance, science and politics. Visit www.climateindure.no for the preliminary agenda.

The final phase of preparations towards the opening of the three agricultural programs to be held at the Galillee College study centre, Israel, between September 4—22, 2008, means that the call for the few remaining tuition scholarships are open until August 21. Information accessible at the Galilee College website: www.galilcol.ac.il

A new journal devoted to the ‘Impact of climate change on water management’ in 2009 welcomes your involvement and support for the journal through the submission of papers; refereeing papers in your field, and; providing recommendations for members of the International Editorial Board (30-40 internationally recognised authorities on the topic). Please contact IWA Publishing Managing Director Michael Dunn at: mdunn@iwap.co.uk

The International Institute for Sustainable Development’s new tool for climate change policymakers is the CLIMATE-L.ORG Project: a knowledge management website and electronic newsletter on the actions of international organizations in responding to the problem of global climate change. http://www.climate-l.org users can find the most up-to-date knowledge-base on climate-related actions throughout the international community, and, specifically, the latest information on United Nations activities.

What’s going on in your CPWF project?

The October/November edition of Water & Food is due out soon. Deadline for copy is September 5. Why don’t you let us know what is happening in your river basin or CPWF project? We’d love to hear from you.

Send your science snacks, thoughtful photographs, campfire stories or other contributions from your world of research for development to Tuppy McIntosh by emailing her at t.mcintosh@cgiar.org