Browsing by Author "Bossio, Deborah"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Carbon, Land and Water: A Global Analysis of the Hydrologic Dimensions of Climate Change Mitigation through Afforestation/Reforestation
(2006) Zomer, Robert J.; Trabucco, Antonio; van Straaten, Oliver; Bossio, Deborah
"Climate change and global warming have become familiar notions throughout the world, as the profound impact that human activities have made on global biogeochemical cycles is increasingly recognized. The global carbon cycle has received much international attention as it has become increasingly obvious that increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are causing changes in our climate at an alarming rate. The Kyoto Protocol is an international effort aimed at mitigating climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Within the Kyoto Protocol, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an instrument which is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while assisting developing countries in achieving sustainable development, with the multiple goals of poverty reduction, environmental benefits and costeffective emission reductions. The CDM allows for a small percentage of emission reduction credits to come from reforestation and afforestation (CDM-AR) projects. "In this report, we articulate the hidden water dimensions of international efforts to mitigate climate change through multilateral treaties through a global analysis of land suitability and water use impacts of CDM-AR carbon sink projects. Large amounts of land were identified globally as biophysically suitable and meeting the CDM-AR eligibility criteria. The eco-sociologic characteristics of these suitable areas were examined, with results showing that much of this land is under rain-fed and/or subsistence agriculture or savannah land. Large amounts of suitable land exhibited relatively low population densities. Generally, most of this land is below 1,000 meters (m) in elevation and of moderate productivity. "If converted to forest, large areas deemed suitable for CDM-AR would exhibit increases in actual evapotranspiration and/or decreases in runoff, i.e., a decrease in water potentially available off-site for other uses. This is particularly evident in drier areas, the semi-arid tropics, and in conversion from grasslands and subsistence agriculture. However, major direct impacts of CDM-AR at the global and regional scales on water resources and food security are ascertained as unlikely, primarily due to the UNFCCC mandated cap on CDM-AR at one percent per annum of total emission obligations. However, significant changes in CDM-AR rules affecting the number of projects or amount of land that could eventually be under CDM-AR, should take into account these potential impacts on the hydrological cycle, and related food security issues. At the local and project level scale, impacts on water use was substantial. It was evident that CDM-AR projects can benefit from identifying locally optimal locations for tree plantations that maximize the positive aspects of increased green water vapor flows and reduced runoff. "This report highlights the potentially significant impacts on the hydrologic cycle and the importance of considering secondary effects, particularly with regard to water, resulting from the widespread adoption of global climate change mitigation measures. It is recommended that the implicit hydrologic dimensions of climate change mitigation should be more formally articulated within the international environmental conventions, and recognized within future UNFCCC negotiations on the CDM-AR provisions."
A Comparative Analysis of the Technical Efficiency of Rain-fed and Smallholder Irrigation in Ethiopia
(2011) Makombe, Godswill; Namara, Regassa; Hagos, Fitsum; Awulachew, Seleshi Bekele; Ayana, Mekonnen; Bossio, Deborah
"Agriculture is the most significant contributor to Ethiopia's economy. Most of the agricultural production is under rainfed conditions and thus extremely sensitive to rainfall variability. Irrigation development, including smallholder irrigation, is used by the Ethiopian Government to attempt to mitigate the effects of rainfall variability. In this study, we look at smallholder irrigation - modern and traditional irrigation systems."
Intensifying Agricultural Sustainability: An Analysis of Impacts and Drivers in the Development of 'Bright Spots'
(2006) Noble, A. D.; Bossio, Deborah; Penning de Vries, F.W.T.; Pretty, Jules; Thiyagarajan, T. M.
"The objectives of this study were to assess the extent and impact of 'Bright Spot' development on a global basis drawing on data sets developed during the course of the project and other research, and to determine whether there are important replicable drivers that contribute to the development of 'Bright Spots'."
Making Investments in Dryland Development Work: Participatory Scenario Planning in the Makanya Catchment, Tanzania
(2008) Enfors, Elin; Gordon, Line; Peterson, Garry D.; Bossio, Deborah
"The agro-ecosystems of semi-arid and dry sub-humid SSA are inherently dynamic. At this point in time they are also experiencing a series of complex social-ecological changes that make their future even more uncertain. To ensure that development investments made today in the small-scale farming systems that dominate these regions make sense also in a long-term perspective they should benefit the local communities over a range of potential futures. We applied a participatory scenario planning approach to a smallholder farming community in semi-arid Tanzania, exploring four alternative development trajectories for the area, to increase the robustness of current investments in small-scale water system technologies. We found that water system technologies will be important across a number of possible futures, but that the most relevant target of these innovations, e.g., staple- versus cash-crop production, or individual- versus community-managed systems, differs. We argue that building capacity for experimentation among farmers is key to upgrading their farming systems, as this will generate benefits over a range of alternative futures. Furthermore, we found it to be essential across a range of scenarios to analyze the system-level impact of proposed interventions for successful investments in water system technologies. We conclude that although the method presents some challenges, participatory scenario planning is a useful tool for integrating research and development projects in the larger context, asit increases the understanding of events and processes that may either challenge the project or provide opportunities for it."
Smallholder System Innovations in Integrated Watershed Management (SSI) Strategies of Water for Food and Environmental Security in Drought-Prone Tropical and Subtropical Agro-Ecosystems
(2006) Bhatt, Yogesh; Bossio, Deborah; Enfors, Elin; Gordon, Line; Kongo, Victor; Kosgei, Job Rotich; Makurira, Hodson; Masuki, Kenneth; Mul, Marloes; Tumbo, Siza D.
"Rapidly increasing population in the dynamic semi-arid agro-ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) highlights the necessity to increase food production, while at the same time safe-guarding other ecological systems that support human development and well-being. In the past, increases in crop production to keep pace with population growth in this region were largely achieved through the expansion of cultivated area. Today, we must also consider ways of improving the productivity of already existing cropping systems. This working paper frames the critical questions that must be addressed through development-oriented research and describes the integrated research approach of the SSI program, its interconnected research projects - their scope and methodologies."
Trees and Water: Smallholder Agroforestry on Irrigated Lands in Northern India
(2007) Zomer, Robert J.; Bossio, Deborah; Trabucco, Antonio; Yuanjie, Li; Gupta, Diwan C.; Singh, Virendra P.
"Trees are increasingly grown on-farm to supply wood and biomass needs within developing countries. Over the last several decades, within the irrigated rice-wheat growing lands of northern India, fast-growing poplar trees have been planted on tens of thousands of small farms. Recent debate regarding afforestation has raised the issue that water use is often increased when trees are planted. This ongoing debate focuses primarily on afforestation or reforestation of upland and rain-fed agricultural areas, and off-site impacts such as reduced streamflow. Adoption of poplar agroforestry in northern India, in contrast, is occurring in areas where land and water are already intensively used and managed for agricultural production. This study based on farmer survey data, used remote sensing and spatial hydrological modeling to investigate the importance and role of the poplar trees within the agricultural landscape, and to estimate their water use. Overall, results illustrate a potential for addressing the increasing global demand for wood products with trees grown on-farm within irrigated agroforestry systems."
Water Implications of Foreign Direct Investment in Ethiopia's Agricultural Sector
(2012) Bossio, Deborah; Erkossa, Teklu; Dile, Yihun; McCartney, Matthew; Killiches, Franziska; Hoff, Holger
"Ethiopia is often highlighted as a country in which a lot of foreign land acquisition is occurring. The extent to which these investments also constitute significant acquisitions of water is the subject of this paper. It is apparent that water availability is a strong driver of the recent surge of investments in agricultural land globally, and in general the investments occur in countries with significant 'untapped' water resources. Ethiopia is no exception. We propose that the perception of unused and abundant water resources, as captured in dominant narratives, that drives and justifies both foreign and domestic investments, fails to reflect the more complex reality on the ground. Based on new collections of lease information and crop modelling, we estimate the potential additional water use associated with foreign investments at various scales. As a consequence of data limitations our analyses provide only crude estimates of consumptive water use and indicate a wide range of possible water consumption depending on exactly how foreign direct investment (FDI) development scenarios unfold. However, they do suggest that if all planned FDI schemes are implemented and expanded in the near future, additional water consumption is likely to be comparable with existing water use in non-FDI irrigation schemes, and a non-trivial proportion of the country’s water resources will be effectively utilised by foreign entities. Hence, additional water use as well as local water scarcity ought to be strong considerations in regulating or pricing land leases. If new investments are to increase local food and water security without compromising local and downstream water availability they should be designed to improve often very low agricultural water productivity, and to safeguard access of local populations to water."