Abstract
Abstract. This paper presents an overview of work in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and SW Bangladesh through a series of projects from 2005 to the present, considering the impact of farming systems, water shed development and/or agricultural intensification on livelihoods in selected rural areas of India and Bangladesh. The projects spanned a range of scales spanning from the village scale (∼ 1 km2) to the meso-scale (∼ 100 km2), and considered social as well as biophysical aspects. They focused mainly on the food and water part of the food-water-energy nexus. These projects were in collaboration with a range of organisations in India and Bangladesh, including NGOs, universities, and government research organisations and departments. The projects were part funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, and built on other projects that have been undertaken within the region. An element of each of these projects was to understand how the hydrological cycle could be managed sustainably to improve agricultural systems and livelihoods of marginal groups. As such, they evaluated appropriate technology that is generally not dependent on high-energy inputs (mechanisation). This includes assessing the availability of water, and identifying potential water resources that have not been developed; understanding current agricultural systems and investigating ways of improving water use efficiency; and understanding social dynamics of the affected communities including the potential opportunities and negative impacts of watershed development and agricultural development.
Highlights
Water security for agriculture is a vital component of food security and improving livelihoods
An Australian-Indian government co-funded project (Cornish et al, 2013, 2015a, b) explored the watershed development (WSD) techniques being used by an NGO (PRADAN) to improve livelihoods in tribal villages in the undulating East India Plateau (EIP)
Water and food security are vital for improving livelihoods in disadvantaged rural areas
Summary
Water security for agriculture is a vital component of food security and improving livelihoods. At the village scale (few km2), focus can be on improving access to water through rainwater harvesting methods that can be applied by farmers. This can include structures that enable access to shallow groundwater systems (e.g. hand dug pits), small ponds or dams that capture local runoff and the use of deep-rooted perennial plants. At meso-scale (∼ 100 km2), options extend to include larger structures that require collaboration across a village or even between villages These include the use of surface water retention structures (e.g. larger check dams, wells) that provide extended access to surface water and shallow groundwater as well as increasing groundwater recharge. The agency is funding research projects that move beyond more traditional discipline based research to consider the challenges facing the rural poor and women that prevent them engaging in agricultural activities in a way that meaningfully improves their lives, and to work with communities to identify opportunities into the future
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