Revitalizing the Ganges Coastal Zone: Turning Science into Policy and Practices

Revitalizing the Ganges Coastal Zone: Turning Science into Policy and

Prac;ces

Revitalizing the Ganges Coastal Zone: Turning Science into Policy

and Prac;ces October 21, BARC Farmgate October 22, BRAC Mohakhali October 23, BRAC Mohakhali

Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta

Today’s Agenda: •  Inaugura;on •  Coastal Zone Development Program: Towards ‘Water

Smart Communi;es’ •  Government of Bangladesh •  Programs and Donors

•  Revitalizing Ganges Coastal Zone: Influencing Policies and Implementa;on Strategies •  Voices from the Coastal Zone •  Drainage, Community and Governance •  Adop;on of policies, prac;ces and future investments

•  WLE future plans for the Coastal Zone

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Who are the Sponsors of this Conference?

Reform of the Consulta;ve Group on Interna;onal

Agriculture Research (CGIAR) Old New

15 Independent Centers 1 Consor;um Diffuse CGIAR priori;es Focus on 15 research

programs (CRPs) Donor funding of Centers

Donor funding of CGIAR research programs

Recogni;on of impact Focus on impact Weak partnerships Effec;ve partnerships

The CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) Led by IWMI

Transi;on from CPWF to the CRP Water Land and Ecosystems(WLE) led by IWMI but with many partners

2015-‐2016+

Jan 2012

IRRI (lead center); AfricaRice, CIAT, Cirad, IRD, and JIRCAS

GRiSP

Outputs Target area for extrapolation domains The coastal zone of Bangladesh & West Bengal

India

Overview of the CPWF Research Findings

Craig Meisner, WorldFish Country Director WLE Ganges Focal Research Coordinator

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Why the coastal zone of the Ganges Delta?

•  Among world’s poorest, most food insecure, vulnerable rural families •  Dense population >36 million people; >760/km2 (>7.6 per 100 m x 100

m) (2001) •  Low land productivity – 1 low yielding traditional aman crop, much of

the land is fallow during much of the dry season - missed out on the Green Revolution

•  Opportunity to build on the achievements & networks of 2 CPWF Phase 1 projects (PN10 Tuong et al.; PN7 Abdel Ismail et al.)

•  Opportunity for scale out through multiple donors and partners—too big to list

•  Good potential to greatly increase land & water productivity (rice, upland crops, aquaculture, homestead production systems), improve rural livelihoods in the coastal zone

•  The coastal zone offers the potential for Bangladesh to make a quantum leap in meeting future food security requirements


Biophysical constraints to increasing produc;vity

•  Too much water in rainy season (tidal surges in non-protected lands; excessive rainfall)

•  Lack of fresh water in dry season (or lack of access…) •  Salinity, more so in dry season •  Cyclonic events (severe flooding, storm surges èsea water intrusion; death & destruction)

These will worsen due to: •  climate change (sea level rise, more extreme events) •  reduced river flows from India in the dry season •  sinking of the lands protected by polders (consolidation & lack of siltation)


The Ganges Basin Development Challenge – 5 Projects

Understanding of water resources – data & models (current & future scenarios)

More produc;ve, resilient & diversified cropping systems (rice,

upland crops & aquaculture) Understanding polder water governance –

recommenda;ons for improvement

Cropping system suitability maps from comprehensive GIS data base

Co-‐ordina;on, liaison with CPWF, policy dialogues, communica;on with stakeholders for up & outscaling

CPWF Ganges Partner Organisa;ons

BANGLADESH CGIAR BFRI Bangladesh Fish Research Institute World Fish IWM Bangladesh Institute of Water Modelling IWMI BRRI Bangladesh Rice Research Institute IRRI BWDB Bangladesh Water Development Board LGED Local Government Engineering Board SRDI Soil Resource Development Institute BRAC SocioConsult Shushilan PSTU Patuakhali Science and Technology University BUET Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology INDIA CIBA Central Institute of Brackish Water Aquaculture - Kakdwip CSSRI Central Soil Salinity Research Institute – Canning Town

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0

100

200

300

400

May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

mm Mean monthly rainfall -‐ Khulna

Annual rainfall ~2,000 mm (range 1,100-‐2,900 mm)

Aus

Boro Aman

Rabi

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Shrimp

Rabi

Boro

Shrimp

River

Draining water out of polder at low tide

River River

Rivers are ;dal (to ~150 km inland)

Tidal fluctuations up to 2-3 m during the rainy season, depending on location

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High tide Low tide (still going down)

Eleva;on (above mean sea level, m) %

<0. 0 0 <0.60 15 <1.00 61 <1.20 80 <1.60 95 <1.80 98

Average water level 1.3 m

Kazibacha river

Low ;de water level 0.0 m

High ;de water level 2.9 m


Lower-Shalta river

High ;de water level 2.7 m

Low ;de water level -‐0.50 m

River levels rela;ve to land level


Polder embankment /dyke protecting land from flooding at high tide

River-side

Dyke

River on eastern side of polder 30

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Polder 31

Polder 30

River

Inlet to sluice gate

Sluice gate on river side

Sluice gate inside the polder

1960-70s 139 polders constructed to protect the lands from: •  tidal flooding in the rainy season •  salinity intrusion in the dry season And to enable production of a rainy season (aman) rice crop Polders of SW & SC Bangladesh

~1 Mha ~8 million people

Wet season Sept 2001 Dry season March 2002

Salinity creeps up the rivers during the dry season – more so in the south west (1 ppt = ~1.5 dS/m)

0-2 ppt

2-4 ppt

8-10 ppt 22-27 ppt

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0

3

6

9

12

15

18

21

24

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Month

Riv

er w

ater

Sal

inity

(ds/

m)

High tide Low tide

River salinity dynamics in a moderately saline region

Batiaghata, Khulna Polder 30

1990-2007

(Sharifullah 2008)

This is not the situation everywhere, e.g. – fresh water year round in significant parts of the S Central -  river salinity increases earlier & to higher values in the SW

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Soil salinity is increasing over ;me in the coastal zone (dry season)

Salinity None-very slight Very slight-slight Slight-moderate Moderate-high High-very high

2009 2000 1973

Salinity boundary

SRDI 25

Polder-‐3 Satkhira

HIGHLY SALINE

Polder-‐30 Khulna

MODERATELY SALINE

Focal study areas in Bangladesh for cropping systems & HH survey Polder-‐43/2F Patuakhali

VERY SLIGHTLY SALINE

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* Categories based on Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey (2010)

More than 50% households are functionally landless

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Polder 30 Polder 3-‐H Polder 3 L Polder 43 ALL Polder

# of hou

seho

lds

Func;onally landless < 0.2 ha Small 0.2-‐0.6 ha Marginal 0.6 -‐ 1.0 ha Medium 1.0-‐3.0 ha Large >3 ha

CPWF G2 World Fish survey, February 2012 (1,259 HH)

Rural households in the polders have very lille land

(<0.2 ha) 50 m x 40 m !

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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Na;onal (2005)

Surveyed Households

marginal small Func;onally landless

% of p

eople

CPWF G2 survey by WorldFish, February 2012

Poverty of rural households is extreme in the polders

Mean

% people living below Na;onal Poverty Line (income <$1.25/person/day)

<0.2 ha 28

Polder 30 (~4,000 ha)

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•

River

Sluice gate letting water into the polder at high tide

River River

Sluice gate draining water out of the polder at low tide

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Polder 30

Dense natural drainage network (former river/creek canals – “khals”) Most fields within ~1 km of a khal in polder 30 11 sluice gates connecting larger khals to the rivers

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Khals within polders vary greatly in size, can store fresh water during the dry season, but often heavily silted up (some no longer exist)

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Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Traditional Rice (2-3.5 t/ha)

Sesame, Keshari 0.5-1.0 t/ha)

Traditional Rice (2-3.5 t/ha)

……........Fallow…………………...

....Fallow……

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Predominant agricultural cropping systems in the low & moderately saline regions of the coastal zone

•  Traditional variety •  Tall, photoperiod sensitive (late maturing – harvested Dec/Jan) •  35-70 day old seedlings

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Soil salinity

AFTER RICE HARVEST - much fallow land – for 5-7 months

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Sesame Mungbean

Ooen damaged by early monsoon rains – destroyed in May 2013

AFTER RICE HARVEST – some areas Low input legume crops – late sown (Feb/Mar) because of late rice harvest

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High salinity areas Brackish water shrimp production in “ghers” - extensive to semi-intensive - - high risk Aquaculture Aman rice in some ghers in some locations in some years

High potential of the Ganges coastal zone

Revitalizing the Ganges Coastal Zone: Turning Science into Policy

and Prac;ces

Conference DECLARATION

Dhaka, 21 October 2014

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, seeking to

improve the livelihoods of the people of the Coastal Zone; increase the produc;on

of commodi;es; and ensure the sustainability of the natural ecosystem and infrastructure of the Coastal Zone, has

approved, or has requested, the draoing of Policies, Acts, Strategies and Plans including, but not restricted to the:

Policies, Acts, Strategies and Plans

•  Coastal Area Development Plan •  Master Plan for Agricultural Development in Southern Bangladesh

•  Bangladesh Water Act •  Na;onal Delta Plan •  Coastal Development Strategy •  Joint Coopera;on Strategy

The Par;cipants of this Conference, ‘Revitalising the Ganges Coastal Zone:

Turning Science into Policy and Prac;ces’, hereby:

RECOGNIZE that many appropriate policies are in place to manage the polders on a macro-‐scale. Projects and programs are working to maintain and enhance embankments, de-‐silt canals, and improve polder-‐level water management through water management organisa;ons based on village representa;on;

The Par;cipants of this Conference, ‘Revitalising the Ganges Coastal Zone: Turning Science into Policy and Prac;ces’, hereby:

RECOMMEND that the same government and partners increase their investments inside the polders at the meso and micro levels through the crea;on of Community Water Management Units based on the hydrology of the landscape. Policies implemented around Water Management Units and supported with public and private investments would create the possibility for improved drainage, enabling adop;on of modern early-‐maturing aman varie;es, and in turn allowing diversifica;on into high-‐value farming systems, including rabi crops. Improved drainage also enables the implementa;on of produc;ve and sustainable aman-‐shrimp/fish systems in saline areas. Improved management of (fresh and saline) water resources will allow intensifica;on to highly produc;ve double or triple cropping systems in much of the coastal zone, contribu;ng to increased food security and improved incomes. Further investment in value chains is required to create the necessary market linkages for these products. The Community Water Management Unit approach would have the added benefit of reducing conflict and improving equity in decision making related to natural resource management;

The Par;cipants of this Conference, ‘Revitalising the Ganges Coastal Zone: Turning Science into Policy and Prac;ces’, hereby:

URGE the Government, civil society, private sector, communi;es and development partners to acknowledge the gains to be made by ensuring an integrated approach to developing the coastal zone and undertake a consulta;ve process culmina;ng in a ‘2015 Coastal Zone Summit’ of interested par;es to explore the poten;al for such alignment and harmoniza;on.

THERE WILL BE MORE DETAIL IN THE AFTERNOON SESSON

Food

Revitalizing the Ganges Coastal Zone: Turning Science into Policy and Practices