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Water for a food-secure world

www.iwmi.org

Approaches to improving engagement , strengthening uptake

Nicole Lefore

13 March 2014

Pretoria

www.iwmi.org

Water for a food-secure world

Network expectations

1. Create an online platform for hundreds of water professionals to

share information and knowledge

2. Provide a repository of professionals in the sector for stakeholders

to find reliable consultants and experts

3. Use research outputs to improve policy, project implementation and

impact of investments in East and Southern African

4. Develop regular knowledge products to support the improvements

in the sector and make those widely accessible

5. Establish a learning alliance to improve investments in several

countries in the region (challenge would be based on the

challenges expressed by that group)

www.iwmi.org

Water for a food-secure world

Learning alliance within network

Related network

Related network

Related network

IWMI project

IWMI project

Learning alliance of knowledge

users

www.iwmi.org

Water for a food-secure world

Uptake Strategy General:

1. Regular e-news, social media and e-alerts on research

2. Convening sharefairs on agricultural water

Learning alliance:

1. Action research! Research IN development

2. Training manual, with toolkit and guidelines, will be produced and

shared through IFAD regional meetings and websites.

3. Trainings, materials and backstopping of knowledge use.

4. ‘Success stories’ to raise awareness and generate interest.

5. Videos to raise awareness and also share how to use the tools.

6. Identify ‘sharefairs’ and other convenings where the practical tools can

be shared.

7. Potential publication on the action learning process and the results.

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Water for a food-secure world

• Increasing community

engagement around

water to change practices,

be more innovative

• Increase inclusivity

• Increase market access for irrigation users

Learning alliance

Challenges

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Water for a food-secure world

Impact stories from learning alliance

• improved participation of women in WUAs;

• increased contributions by WUA members

• improved executive committees;

• farmer groups have changed policy on access roads;

• resolved conflict where WUAs are across multiple communities and districts;

• extended activities of farmer field schools in Zanzibar;

• developed WUA monitoring tool in Swaziland

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Water for a food-secure world

Lessons from the learning alliance

on community engagement 1. Trust your community partners to identify stakeholders

and solutions; they are innovative and know their context.

2. Use video, photos, video clubs for knowledge sharing at community level; engages people, accessible.

3. Document, document and then document more to learn how to scale.

4. Get experts to translate research into useable documents.

5. Be aware of the RISKS to community members and leaders

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Water for a food-secure world

Lessons from the users

1. Policy change was not their first priority, or even second.

2. Knowledge products have to be very easy and quick to use, with relevant knowledge clear and obvious.

3. Build capacity to use the knowledge on projects.

4. Mentors with expertise are needed for backstopping even if they were not part of creating the knowledge products. Link users to resources that can support use.

5. Group learning at regional level was limited. Small external networks were good, but most focus was on problems within a particular area or project.

Learning-by-doing with extensive flexibility and support

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Water for a food-secure world

What we learned from the network

1. On-line communities of practice are not easier, cheaper or necessarily more effective than in person convening to get research used.

2. Internet use is still limited and tends to discriminate against females and those who are further from the main cities.

3. Email is considered the most effective way to receive information; people preferred receiving information as an attachment.

4. People liked receiving knowledge products in subject clusters, such as groundwater, rainwater harvesting, wastewater reuse.

5. Social media was not an effective way to share research products, but was adequate to share general information and announcements.

6. Learning alliance was representative of the knowledge needs of the broader network.

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Water for a food-secure world

www.iwmi.org

imawesa.info

Improved Management of

Agricultural Water in

Eastern and Southern Africa