This document discusses the implications of the 2011 Bonn Nexus conference for irrigation and drainage. It highlights that the water-energy-food nexus concept from Bonn has been cited over 600 times and discussed in many global meetings. It presents the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris climate agreement as opportunities to improve policy coherence across sectors and accelerate access to solutions. It also outlines several challenges for irrigation systems including increasing variability, equitable access, rural-urban linkages, and assessing different management models in this new context.

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Jeremy Bird
Chiang Mai, 6 November 2016
Five years after the Bonn Nexus conference:
implications for irrigation and drainage
2nd World Irrigation Forum
Key issues of irrigation and drainage in
balancing water, food, energy and ecology
1. Nexus – ‘buzzword’ or ‘stimulus for change ’?

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Acknowledgements to Stuart
Carlson and the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
Biofuels – a classic ‘nexus’ case
 Increase policy coherence
 Accelerate access
 Create more with less
 End waste and minimise losses
 Value natural infrastructure
 Mobilise consumer influence
http://www.water-energy-food.org/
Nexus messages - multiple implications for irrigation

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Multiple initiatives:
 Citations
Bonn Conference: 622 Citations in Google Scholar; 278 Book
Chapters in Google Books
Background paper: 323 citations in research publications
 Global and regional meetings
 – e.g. nexus theme at Mekong Summit 2014
 IWA – IUCN Dialogue on Nexus infrastructure
 Industry and development bank flagship reports
 e.g. World Bank - Thirsty Energy;
 BP – Water in the energy industry
 ..and more
Post‐Bonn2011
World Energy Council 2016: water‐energy nexus

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2. An unprecedented opportunity for change
SDGs
..both sectoral and cross-sectoral (nexus)
COP 21 Climate change agreement
..both mitigation and adaptation dimensions
Global agreements and political commitment

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‘Irrigation’ or ‘agricultural water management’?
3. The starting point: climate resilient and
sustainable agriculture

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 Sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes
 Adapting and building resilience to climate change
 Reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emission, where possible.
FAO, 2013
Taking a broad perspective – climate smart villages
Understanding the context within which decisions are made and
providing the incentives to change
Source: T. Shah, IWMI
‘Solarizing pumping’ could reduce CO2 emissions in
Gujarat State alone by 1.8 million tonnes of CO2
Feeding excess electricity generated into the grid
provides an incentive for improved water management
Diversifying income streams – solar power as a
remunerative crop
What started as a mitigation measure has adaptation benefits

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www.iwmi.org
Water for a food-secure world
>60% of inner Ganges
Basin potentially suitable
for managed aquifer
recharge
Storing flood water underground – a new reality?
IBFI Concept
Partners: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Indian Institute of
Water Management (IIWM-ICAR); Agriculture Insurance Corporation of India;
Institute of Water Modeling (IWM); Bajaj Allianz; Pragati Insurer; Swiss Re
Insurance payout
2016 Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana Crop Insurance Scheme in Bihar:
 > 285,000 farmers benefit by stabilizing farm income
 c. 2.5 m.ha insured covering crop loss or damage due to natural calamities
Index‐based crop insurance – a safety net?

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Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Dry season
System productivity can be increased from 3‐6 tons per hectare
to 11‐19 tons per hectare, depending on location.
Wet season
Shrimp Rice + Fish
Integrated sub‐polder management, Bangladesh
Institutional solutions ‐ identifying win‐wins?
Uniting agriculture and nature for poverty reduction
Tana-Nairobi Water Fund
Regenerating degraded lands – a viable model?

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Fodder from biomass
Reclaimed land
Licorice roots
Extract for pharmaceuticals
Reclaiming saline soils – and making a profit?
Uniting agriculture and nature for poverty reduction
Increased focus of attention,
for example,
 the 4 per 1000 Initiative to
mitigate climate change
through soil carbon
sequestration
 Adaptation of African
Agriculture (AAA) –
initiative of African
Ministers being tabled at
COP22
Managing the soil differently – a carbon sink?

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Safe use of waste water – multiple benefits
Conserving natural resilience and related
livelihoods by understanding:
• how land‐use and catchment management
affect the reservoir
• how upstream tributaries and wetlands
interact with reservoirs through movement
of water, fish, plants etc.
• how dam operation affects both the
reservoir and downstream ecosystems
• how the reservoir will evolve over time
• the role of the reservoir in livelihood
adaptation for local communities coping
with dam‐driven change
Balancing built and natural capital –
generating the evidence

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4. Some ‘nexus’ challenges for irrigation
Hyderabad, India
Rural – urban linkages are intensifying:
Need to be proactive in managing change
 Resource dependency
 Resource degradation
 Dietary change – crop choice
 Labour migration
 Influence of remittances
 Consolidated land holdings
 Commercial investments
 …

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Need to adapt systems for increasing variability
 Design under conditions of uncertainty
 Meet expectations for more flexible operation
 Deliver on SDG targets
 Co‐manage surface and groundwater resources
Photo: Arif Anwar
Need for equitable access to raise incomes
 Feminization of agriculture in many parts of the world
 Responses needed at multiple levels – regulatory, cultural,
finance, perceptions, etc.
Photo: Liza Debevec

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Need to develop groundwater in Africa – lessons
from Asia?
GRIPP – objectives
• Enhance the role of groundwater management in reaching the SDGs
• Showcase and out‐scale success stories
• Support governments in adopting evidence‐based policies and approaches
• Implement research that enhances and sustains groundwater benefits
Groundwater Solutions Initiative for Policy and Practice (GRIPP)

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Need to re‐assess irrigation management
 WUAs ‐ some successes but many failures – do the
underlying objectives remain valid today?
 PPPs ‐ exchange experiences on what has worked and why
Targeting areas for improving
water productivity at field
scale….
..and at basin / country scale
Need to exploit big data – from field to basin

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Water for agriculture is a prominent part of the climate adaptation and
food security agendas….at the same time…
 competition from urbanization and industry is rapidly increasing
 variability of rainfall and extreme events makes water management more
uncertain
 groundwater is often over exploited and under threat of pollution
The SDGs and Paris climate agreement provide an opportunity bringing…
 greater political support to find and scale out solutions
 new financing mechanisms from governments, private sector municipalities
and the climate funds
We all have a role to play in providing the evidence base for solutions
Some reflections
Sustainable solutions for
people and societies
CGIAR Water, Land and Ecosystems Research Program
www.iwmi.org
https://wle.cgiar.org/