Nile Nile http://nilebdc.wordpress.com Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) partners Promoting improved rainwater and land management in the Blue Nile (Abay) Ambo University http://www.ambou.edu.et basin of Ethiopia Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute Bahir Dar University http://www.bdu.edu.et Catholic Relief Services – Ethiopia http://crs.org/ethiopia Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute http://eeaecon.org International Livestock Research Institute http://ilri.org International Water Management Institute http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org Ministry of Agriculture http://www.eap.gov.et Ministry of Water and Energy http://www.mowr.gov.et Nile Basin Initiative http://nilebasin.org Oromia Agricultural Research Institute Overseas Development Institute http://odi.org.uk Stockholm Environment Institute http://sei-international.org Wollega University http://www.wuni.edu.et World Agroforestry Centre http://worldagroforestrycentre.org Nile BDC Technical Report –1 Promoting improved rainwater and land management in the Blue Nile (Abay) basin of Ethiopia NBDC Technical Report 1 Douglas J. Merrey and Tadele Gebreselassie March 2011 The Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) The NBDC is implemented by a consortium is funded by the CGIAR Challenge Program on comprising the International Livestock Research Water and Food (CPWF). It aims to improve the Institute, International Water Management resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian Institute, World Agroforestry Centre, Oversees highlands through a landscape approach to Development Institute, Nile Basin Initiative, rainwater management. It comprises five linked Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute, projects examining: 1) Learning from the past; Catholic Relief Services – Ethiopia, Oromia 2) developing integrated rainwater management Regional Research Institute, Amhara Agricultural strategies; 3) targeting and scaling out of rainwa- Research Institute, Bahir Dar University, Ambo ter management innovations; 4) assessing and University, Nekemte University, the Ministry anticipating the consequences of innovation in of Agriculture and Rural Development and the rainwater management systems; and 5) catalys- Ministry of Water Resources. ing platforms for learning, communication and coordination across the projects. More information: http://nilebdc.wordpress.com ILRI works with partners worldwide to help poor people keep their farm animals alive and productive, increase and sustain their livestock and farm productivity, and find profitable markets for their animal products. ILRI’s headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya; we have a second principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and 14 offices in other regions of Africa and Asia. ILRI is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (www.cgiar.org), which works to reduce hunger, poverty and environmental degradation in developing countries by generating and sharing relevant agricultural knowledge, technologies and policies. © 2011 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) This publication is copyrighted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- nc-sa/3.0/. Unless otherwise noted, you are free to copy, duplicate, or reproduce, and distribute, display, or transmit any part of this publication or portions thereof without permission, and to make translations, adaptations, or other derivative works under the following conditions: ATTRIBUTION. The work must be attributed, but not in any way that suggests endorsement by ILRI or the author(s). NON-COMMERCIAL. This work may not be used for commercial purposes. SHARE ALIKE. If this work is altered, transformed, or built upon, the resulting work must be distributed only under the same or similar license to this one. NOTICE: For any reuse or distribution, the license terms of this work must be made clear to others. Any of the above conditions can be waived if permission is obtained from the copyright holder. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights. Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used. Editing, design and layout—ILRI Editorial and Publishing Services, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Citation: Merrey, D.J. and Tadele Gebreselassie. 2011. Promoting improved rainwater and land management in the Blue Nile (Abay) basin of Ethiopia. NBDC Technical Report 1. Nairobi, Kenya, ILRI. International Livestock Research Institute P O Box 30709, Nairobi 00100, Kenya P O Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Phone + 254 20 422 3000 Phone + 251 11 617 2000 Email [email protected] Email [email protected] www.ilri.org Table of Contents List of Figures v Acronyms vi Acknowledgements x Summary of main conclusions and recommendations 1 Introduction 1 Conclusions and recommendations for implementation programs 3 Conclusions and recommendations for research programs 8 Gaps in knowledge 8 Elements of a new paradigm RWM research program 10 Recommended research on under-studied topics 14 Conclusion 15 1 Introduction 17 1.1 The Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) 17 1.2 Purpose of this paper 19 1.3 Overview: Structure of the paper 21 2 Concepts, methodology and sources used 22 2.1 What is meant by ‘landscape approach to rainwater management’ and other concepts? 22 2.2 Innovation systems 24 2.3 Research questions 25 2.4 Methodology, approach and limitations 26 2.5 Sources 27 3 Setting the scene: Ethiopia, the Blue Nile, and the Nile River basin 29 3.1 People, landscapes and the roots of rural poverty 29 3.2 Land degradation in the Ethiopian highlands 31 3.3 The Abay (Blue Nile) River basin 32 3.4 The Nile Basin Initiative 35 4 Evolution of the policy and institutional framework for rainwater management 37 4.1 Institutions 37 4.2 Policies and strategies 45 5 Evolution and outcomes of major rainwater management development programs: From coerced to ‘incentivized’ participation 49 5.1 Historical overview of selected RWM projects 49 5.2 Lessons learned from SLM-RWM implementation programs 54 iii 6 Evolution and outcomes of major rainwater management research programs 56 6.1 Early land degradation research programs 56 6.2 CGIAR-supported research programs 58 6.3 Nile Basin Initiative research programs 60 6.4 Conclusions on outcomes of RWM research programs 61 7 Selected findings from studies on rainwater management interventions 62 7.1 Policies and farmers’ incentives to invest in RWM technologies 63 7.2 Performance of selected technologies 65 7.3 Conclusion 79 8 Targeting rainwater management interventions 82 8.1 Gender: Targeting poor women as well as men 82 8.2 Targeting by agro-ecological zones and ‘development domains’ 84 8.3 SLM program targeting 87 8.4 Concluding remarks 88 9 Consolidation: What are the main lessons learned? 89 9.1 From coerced land management to farmer-led integrated watershed management 90 9.2 Lessons to guide research: CPWF landscape approach to rainwater management 94 10 Recommendations for RWM in the Ethiopian highlands 97 10.1 Elements of a new paradigm RWM research program 97 10.2 Research on under-studied topics 101 10.3 Concluding remarks 103 References 105 iv List of Figures Figure 1. Population densities in the Abay basin 33 Figure 2. The livestock water productivity framework for mixed crop–livestock farming systems 75 Figure 3. Abay basin dominant farming systems 85 v Acronyms ADA Amhara Development Association ADLI Agricultural Development-Led Industrialization AE Area Enclosure AfDB African Development Bank AHI African Highlands Initiative AMAREW Amhara Micro-Enterprise Development, Agricultural Research, Extension and Watershed Management Project (USAID) ANRS Amhara National Regional State ARARI Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute ARBO Abay River Basin Organization ARDO Agriculture and Rural Development Offices ASARECA Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa ASSP Agricultural Sector Support Project ATVET Agriculture Technical and Vocational Education and Training AWM Agricultural Water Management BDC Basin Development Challenge BMZ Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) BoA Bureau of Agriculture BoARD Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development BoWRD Bureau of Water Resources Development CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program CBI Community Based Institution CBINReMP Community-Based Integrated Natural Resources Management Project CBPWD Community Based Participatory Watershed Development CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Spanish acronym) CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CIMMYT International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center CPWF Challenge Program on Water and Food CRS/E Catholic Relief Services-Ethiopia CWMO Community Watershed Management Organization CWP Crop Water Productivity CRDA Christian Relief and Development Association DA Development Agent DfID Department for International Development (UK) EARO Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization EDRI Ethiopian Development Research Institute EEPFE Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia EFAP Ethiopian