In the 25 years since the Earth Summit first moved sustainability to the center of the global development agenda, to what extent has agriculture succeeded in putting the concept into practice? Given that agriculture remains a major contributor to ongoing degradation of the environment, the answer must be “not enough.” Even so, by acknowledging the fundamental importance of achieving food security globally, while protecting the environment, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have set the stage for renewed efforts to achieve sustainable intensification of farming.
This is the background against which the first phase of WLE came to a close in 2016. The program has yielded a wide array of outcomes, which reflect scientific excellence and translate into marked changes in attitudes and practices, with significant progress toward impacts in terms of poverty reduction and improved natural resource management. These achievements and the transformative approach that made them possible represent an important contribution to CGIAR’s Strategy and Results Framework, and provide a strong foundation for the program’s second phase.
Numbers that tell a story
Opportunities for sustainable intensification
Water and land resources, if sustainably managed, offer enormous potential to intensify crop production, especially in areas that have yet to see major gains. WLE researchers provided vital evidence and innovative solutions that offer the means to realize this potential.
In West Bengal, India, for example, where groundwater is abundant, WLE facilitated policy changes that expanded electrical connections for tube wells, leading to improved irrigation on 250,000 hectares (ha). Benefits accrued to about 1.3 million farmers, who were able to boost incomes by shifting to high-value crops. In Gujarat, India, the program helped pilot the world’s first solar cooperative. Using solar-powered pumps to access groundwater, it avoids over-pumping by offering farmers the opportunity to sell back excess solar power to the utility.
With the aim of identifying similar opportunities in Africa, WLE researchers developed maps showing the potential for irrigation with groundwater across the entire continent. The maps suggest that the practice could be expanded from just 2 million hectares (Mha) currently to 40 million Mha, much of this in the semi-arid Sahel and eastern regions stretching from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe.
In an important contribution to greener economies, the program produced a suite of business models for waste reuse and contributed to the development of a co-compost called Fortifer™, made from fecal sludge and organic waste in Ghana. In 2016, the product was approved for use and commercial production by the Ghanaian Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and May 2017 saw the launch of a co-composting plant in Tema, Ghana.
Ecosystem action
Enabling individual farmers, whole nations and regions to derive enhanced goods and services from ecosystems requires diverse interventions across scales. WLE has worked successfully at multiple levels to achieve this effect, starting with its influential role in shaping and monitoring indicators for particular SDGs and supporting national implementation plans.
The program has advanced the sustainability agenda through its work in a wide variety of geographical and institutional settings. Its research in support of water funds in Kenya and Peru, for example, helped secure major financial support for measures aimed at improving land management in upper watersheds, with benefits for rural communities as well as downstream consumers and businesses. WLE research on community-based fisheries in floodplains demonstrated how improved management and governance can sustainably increase fish production to reduce poverty and gender inequality.
WLE introduced an innovative approach called Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI) – for tackling the dual threat of flooding and groundwater depletion, by which excess water is channeled into aquifers during the wet season. This can both reduce flood damage and boost agricultural productivity by increasing the amount of groundwater available for irrigation. In Rampur District, India, a WLE-supported pilot enabled remuneration of 2,000 people who participated in applying the new system, and the district has now included this in its irrigation plan.
Evidence-based decision making
Accurate data and information are critical for improved decision making on natural resource management, and WLE has developed a variety of innovations for this purpose.
To help governments and investors find opportunities for the restoration of degraded land, WLE prepared the Soil Best Bets Compendium, which supports more effective targeting of investments. The program also produced digital soil maps for sub-Saharan Africa, which provide information on soil properties, such as soil organic carbon, pH and nutrient content.
WLE is collaborating with scientists in Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania to prepare soil health baselines as part of the Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS), which covers more than 28,000 soil-sampling locations. The service provides information that is critical for making smart land-use choices.
In collaboration with governments and the private sector, WLE is using advanced technology to provide accurate and timely information in response to extreme weather events. In Bihar, India, for example, the program has trialed a low-cost crop insurance product, which uses remote sensing and modeling to predict assets and potential losses. In 2016, 307,677 ha were covered by flood insurance and USD 34 million provided in compensation for losses. Finally, the South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS), a regional drought-monitoring platform developed and managed by WLE, was used by the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Center to manage responses to severe drought in 2016.
Real-world science
To help communities realize opportunities for improved food security, livelihoods and resilience, WLE supported diverse interventions at the local level. Research on women’s empowerment has demonstrated how innovative technologies, finance mechanisms and capacity development can improve women’s access to irrigation – for example, through the use of small reservoirs in Ghana.
An experimental game approach has enabled local stakeholders to better understand the opportunities for improving community management of shared resources, such as groundwater. In Andhra Pradesh, India, and in Colombia, experimental game pilots helped water users understand how to solve groundwater challenges by addressing the problems cooperatively.
In the Mekong Delta, WLE mobilized “citizen scientists” to collect data that helps farmers manage the switch between shrimp farming and rice cultivation, depending on the salinity of the water available.
Banking on natural capital
Improvements in natural capital are critical for sustaining the gains that WLE research generates in crop productivity, livelihoods and ecosystem services. To this end, the program contributed substantially to global policies on the management of wetlands and other ecosystems. In support of the Ramsar Convention, for example, researchers promoted a people-centered approach for planning and management of wetlands. Similarly, their assessments prompted the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to put agroecosystems and agricultural biodiversity at the center of its work.
Global policies are only as good as the local efforts undertaken to put them into effect. WLE research in Ethiopia’s Yewol watershed, for example, has led to improved productivity, crop diversification, improved water availability downstream and enhanced livelihoods for an estimated 15,000 people. The watershed now serves as a “learning site” for integrated watershed management, catering to extension agents and policy makers. Other work in Ethiopia and Tanzania is targeting areas at risk of land degradation for large-scale restoration.
Much remains to be done before sustainability becomes the norm rather than the exception in agriculture. However, in just 4 years, WLE has demonstrated convincingly that, by working across scales to put in place technological, institutional and policy innovations, it can help communities and societies make great strides in the right direction.
