RESEARCH PROGRAM ON Water, Land and Nile Ecosystems Rainwater management for resilient livelihoods in Ethiopia Proceedings of the Nile Basin Development Challenge science meeting, 9–10 July 2013 Nile BDC Technical Report–5 Rainwater management for resilient livelihoods in Ethiopia Proceedings of the Nile Basin Development Challenge science meeting, Addis Ababa, 9–10 July 2013 Editor: Wolde Mekuria © 2013 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/. 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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. Cover photo credit: ILRI/Zerihun Sewunet ISBN 92–9146–327–2 Citation: Wolde Mekuria. (ed). 2013. Rainwater management for resilient livelihoods in Ethiopia : Proceedings of the Nile Basin Development Challenge science meeting, Addis Ababa, 9–10 July 2013. NBDC Technical Report 5. Nairobi, Kenya: International Livestock Research Institute. ilri.org Better lives through livestock ILRI is a member of the CGIAR Consortium Box 30709, Nairobi 00100, Kenya Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Phone: + 254 20 422 3000 Phone: +251 11 617 2000 Fax: +254 20 422 3001 Fax: +251 11 617 2001 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Rainwater management for resilient livelihoods in Ethiopia iii Contents Foreword 1 Introduction 2 Overview of rainwater and sustainable land management 3 The Nile Basin Development Challenge: Methods, outputs and outcomes 4 Is research for development a good investment? Reflections on lessons from the NBDC 7 Irrigation and livestock 13 Impact of small-scale irrigation schemes on household income and the likelihood of poverty in the lake Tana basin of Ethiopia 14 Realistic assessment of irrigation potential in the lake Tana basin, Ethiopia 20 Unlocking the potential of livestock technologies in Ethiopia: Shifting from individual pieces to optimizing the sum of the parts 27 Water productivity 31 Improving agricultural water productivity through integrated termite management 32 Enhancing farming system water productivity through alternative land use and improved water management of rainfed agriculture in Vertisol areas 38 Effects of livestock feed sourcing and feeding strategies on livestock water productivity in mixed crop–livestock systems of the Blue Nile basin highlands of Ethiopia 43 Hydrological/erosion modelling 47 Hydrological modelling of sustainable land management interventions in the Mizewa watershed of the Blue Nile basin 48 Erosion modelling in the upper Blue Nile basin: The case of Mizewa watershed in Ethiopia 54 Understanding runoff generation processes and rainfall runoff modelling in the Meja watershed of Ethiopia 61 Rainwater, land and water resources management 67 Prioritizing rainwater management strategies in the Blue Nile basin 68 Rhetoric vs. realities—An assessment of rainwater management planning and implementation modalities in Oromia and Amhara regions, Ethiopia 74 Integrated termite management in degraded crop land in Diga district, Ethiopia 81 iv Rainwater management for resilient livelihoods in Ethiopia Sustainable intensification of small-scale agriculture in the upper Blue Nile basin: Multi-criteria optimization of rainwater management strategies 87 Evaluation of rain water management practices for sediment load reduction in the (semi) humid Blue Nile basin 91 Hydraulic properties of clay soils as affected by biochar and charcoal amendments 98 Local knowledge of the impacts of eucalyptus expansion on water security in the Ethiopian highlands 105 Institutions, adoption and marketing 111 Assessment of farmers’ rainwater management technology adoption in the Blue Nile basin 112 Is ‘social cooperation’ for traditional irrigation what ‘technology’ is for motor pump irrigation? 116 Factors in the suboptimum performance of rural water supply systems in the Ethiopian highlands 123 Impacts of brokerage institutions on the marketing of horticultural crops in Fogera district, Ethiopia 129 Posters 139 Management practices and agro-ecological effects on crop water productivity in Meja watershed, Ethiopia 140 Characteristics and on-site financial costs of erosion in the Meja watershed of the Abay basin, Ethiopia 148 Assessment of rainwater management practices and land use land cover changes in the Meja watershed of Ethiopia 154 Synthesis of local knowledge on drivers of tree cover change in the Blue Nile basin 165 Determinants of smallholder farmers’ participation in sesame production: Evidence from Diga, Ethiopia 171 On-site financial costs of soil erosion by runoff from the Mizewa catchment of the Blue Nile basin 176 Examining advance time of furrow irrigation at Koga irrigation scheme in Ethiopia 182 Runoff estimation and water management for the Holetta river in Ethiopia 187 Visualizing clogging up of soil pores in tropical degraded soils and their impact on green water productivity 192 Arresting gully formation in the Ethiopian highlands 196 Effect of drip lateral spacing and irrigation regime on yield, irrigation water use efficiency and net return of tomato and onion production in the Kobo Girrana valley of Ethiopia 204 Hydrological modelling of a catchment using the SWAT model in the upper Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia 209 Water investment domains for sustainable agricultural development in the Blue Nile basin 214 Rainwater management for resilient livelihoods in Ethiopia 1 Foreword The Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) is in its final year. Over the last six months, we have been reviewing and pulling together all of the various strands of this research for development program to identify the key messages coming from the work. This science workshop was convened in July 2013 as a key element in the consolidation process. The workshop set out to examine and review the evidence base that has been built to which support or question the key messages emerging so far. The results of this review of the evidence base are captured in this technical report. They will be further used to identify research and development gaps and opportunities as well as mechanism to inform the future development of rainwater management strategies in Ethiopia. Our appreciation goes to all the authors and co-authors of contributions in this report; we particularly acknowledge the excellent efforts of Wolde Mekuria who collated and edited the contributions. Our thanks also to Meron Mulatu and Tesfaye Jemaneh who completed the report for dissemination. Simon Langan and Alan Duncan 2 Rainwater management for resilient livelihoods in Ethiopia Introduction The Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) is funded by the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands through a landscape (watershed) approach to rainwater management (RWM). If this development Challenge is successfully met, best practices for rainwater management will be developed and implemented at landscape scales across agro-ecosystems in the Ethiopian Highlands. These will minimize unproductive water losses, soil erosion and nutrient mining across landscapes. Appropriate rainwater harvesting technologies will be deployed, maintained and monitored. Small-scale irrigation techniques would allow farmers to efficiently irrigate their crops and forages. The management system will enable farmers to exploit rainwater for multiple uses, including livestock and fisheries. And overall landscape water productivity will improve. There will be policy adjustments which yield greater focus on rainwater management in the Blue Nile Basin. The system will integrate the needs and decisions of local (formal and communal) institutions, which will in turn work to implement and maintain it. The success of the projects, and the lessons learned will prompt its uptake by government and development agencies leading to the widespread implementation of the system across the Nile River Basin. Further, the NBDC will provide planning and management tools for efficient use of water resources that would benefit policy makers, farmers, water managers, irrigation planners and development and extension authorities. It will facilitate cross-basin learning and generate new knowledge for Ethiopia,