Transcript Uniformity of consumptive use

Key statements day 1
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Water resources planning is a political process
New agricultural policy will be based on water availability
Water sector did not benefit from foreign aid
The basic statistical data needed for planning is obsolete and is
based on data from the seventies
Real time and local data is needed for good decision making
Dam construction in highlands need to be seriously considered
We must discourage migration to urban areas for job employment
More attention should be given to convert information into
evidence based decision making
The impact of certain interventions need to be understood
Key statements day 2
• Water crisis is not known among many people, even water
professionals
• Water resources planning in Yemen needs more professional
approach
• There is a need for systematic and consistent data on water and
crops
• Existing databases provide scattered and incomplete data sets;
coordination is needed; make accumulated datasets
• The NWSSIP program is not implemented
• There is not sufficient water for future agricultural development
• The economic water productivity (YR/m3) should be a criterion
for water diversions
• Farmers decide what to do; they go their own way
Key statements day 3
• Barefoot hydrology helps to unite the community spirit and
achieve water savings
• Farmers switch to almonds, strawberries and other crops to
increase their returns
• We badly need on-farm ICT information for fertilizers, crop
diseases, rainfall forecast, soil moisture and irrigation
• Agricultural extension should be revived and focus on irrigation
advise and crop diseases
• Drip systems have been successfully introduced in Sana’a basin
with more yield and less water usage
• Communication between farmers, advisors and public agencies
is complicated by own association of words
Feedback ?
Stakeholders, tools and data
Who ?
Tools
Objectives of data
Members of Parliament
• None
• Scenario definition
• Impact assessment
• Sustainability indicators
Ministerial decision makers
• Remote sensing, GIS,
hydrological model,
climate model, water
accounting
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Farmer cooperatives
• SMS messages
• Smart phones
• Increase crop
production
• Reduce water
consumption
Planning next year
Planning 2050
Monitoring
Standardization
Dialoguing
From information to planning
(Technical component only)
Tools
Data
database
Targets
Ministries &
Agencies
Parlement
decisions
Define
Scenarios
Impact &
Advice
MP
Database
CLOUD
Ministries
c
Farmers
Water
experts
Workshop Conclusions - Incentives
Target group Conclusions
Members of
Parliament
• Ministerial decision makers are willing to introduce significant
changes (less cropland, restricted pumping etc.) for controlling the
water crisis
• They need technical assistance to achieve this
• The economic and livelihood dimension of water use should be
included
Ministerial
decision
makers
• NWRA and other organizations want to upgrade their knowledge on
information systems and scenario analysis to better inform decision
makers
• National Water Sector Strategy Implementation Program is based on
suggestions rather than hydrologically verified solutions
Farmer
cooperatives
• Farmers have a drive to increase their returns and are open minded
for changes, also for water savings
• Farmers want to collaborate on water harvesting and efficient water
use programs
• Farmers are not well informed on the magnitude of the problem and
need awareness raising “farmer water schools”
Workshop Conclusions - Information
Target group
Conclusions
Members of
Parliament
Ministerial
decision
makers
• Data and information needs to be accurate and up to date
• Data is needed for planning and monitoring
Farmer
cooperatives
• Farmers want access to ICT technology and receive information on
soil moisture, diseases, pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation, market
prices, crop acreage and rainfall prediction
• Involve the supply and commodity chain for covering operational
costs related to ICT technology
• Any planning process starts with a knowledge base
• Existing hydro-meteorological field stations are not effective
• The existing data bases in Yemen are scattered among the various
agencies, and many of them are not operational
• Remote sensing data can complement field data, and can zoom in
for getting detailed and localized information
• Water accounting is a good framework to get a common
understanding of the water situation
• Data must be accessible for all stakeholders
Workshop Conclusions - Institutions
Target group
Conclusions
Members of
Parliament
• The awareness of the extent of the water crisis needs more
attention
• Politicians need to understand farmers and vice versa
Ministerial
decision
makers
• Water User Associations and other local cooperatives need
technical assistance
• Top down planning by Ministries should be integrated with the
bottom-up solutions of farmer communities
• The link with the National Remote Sensing Agency is weak
Farmer
cooperatives
• Local water resources information are fundamental for
developing a joint action plan by farmer communities
• Agricultural extension services should focus more on irrigation
advisory activities
Feedback ?
Recommendations (1)
• Explore remote sensing data for upgrading the information on
crops and water, locally, at water basin level and at national scale.
Define a proper basic data set based on satellite data that can be
guaranteed
• Develop a publicly accessible and comprehensive database that
supports planning and monitoring of water resources and crop
production. This database will be based on remote sensing data,
field data and output of hydrological models
• The database should be stored in the cloud for operational
purposes and made accessible through the local FAO office
• The various user groups (MP, Ministers, farmers organizations)
should all get their own interface to pull data from
Recommendations (2)
• Integrate remote sensing data with hydrological models for
increasing the accuracy of future water conditions
• Specify a selected set of alternative scenarios together with the
Members of Parliament and the (Deputy) Ministers and insert
them in the National Water Sector Strategy and Impact Program
• Study the impact of the National Water Sector Strategy and
Impact Program with the new analytical tools
• Express the impact of scenarios into a number of sustainability,
societal and economic indicators that can be used by the
Members of Parliament
Recommendations (3)
• Establish a link between the water and agricultural public agencies
at the one hand, with the National Remote Sensing Agency at the
other hand
• Launch an ICT program to support farmers and farmer advisors for
on-farm irrigation management
• Expose Yemeni planning experts to the solutions achieved in other
countries with similar groundwater problems