Water and Development Partnership Programme: 10 proposals selected for funding

By engaging with marginalised farmers and farmer groups, water user associations, irrigation engineers, practitioners and policymakers, this project aims to mainstream equity concerns by creating new knowledge on grounded perspectives of equity in different irrigation contexts.

Focus theme: Water for Food
Project coordinator:  Pooja Prasad , Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) and IHE Delft
Project countries: Ethiopia, India, Tanzania

This project engages in transdisciplinary knowledge co-production by using citizen science to improve access to uncontaminated drinking water for marginalised rural communities in Tanzania. It focuses particularly on the volcanic zones of the East African Rift Valley area, which faces issues of groundwater pollution.

Focus theme: Water for Health
Project coordinator:  Fides Massawe, University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM)
Project countries: Tanzania

This project adopts an interdisciplinary approach to know and understand local water challenges, experiences and viewpoints. It aims to contextualise capacity strengthening efforts by developing a curriculum for rural community water managers in Kenya and Ghana.

Focus theme: Water for Health
Project coordinator:  Irene Ngunjiri, Strathmore University (SU)
Project countries: Kenya, Ghana

This project uses participatory narrative inquiry methods – that is, community cafes, audio and photography-based storytelling, and focus-group discussions – to understand traditional grounded knowledge of water management and hazard reduction. It combines these with climate-model projections and process-based modelling to assess current and future water and vulnerability scenarios.

Focus theme: Water for Food
Project coordinator:   Bhawani S. Dongol, The Small Earth Nepal (SEN)
Project countries: Nepal

This project mobilizes community-centred and community-led storytelling (Hakaya in Arabic) as a research method to contribute to changing the discourse on shared waters. It aims to  moving the discourse from one dominated by control and prioritizing governments’ interests to one that emphasises collective sharing and caring for water across political borders.

Focus theme: River Basins and Deltas
Project coordinator:   Muna Dajani, Modern University for Business and Science (MUBS)
Project countries: Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon

This project engages Community-Based Organisations to test the idea of Community Asset Management (CAM). It will learn from and leverage the social cohesion of informal settlements and rural communities to make infrastructure asset management an integral part of their water systems.

Focus theme: River Basins and Deltas
Project coordinator:  Disna Pannila, National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB)
Project countries: Palestine, Sri Lanka, Maldives

This project will engage with smallholder farmers in the Central Rift Valley lakes with the aim to realize equitable and improved water use practices for agriculture, reduced impact on water quality and ecosystems, and reduced exposure to water risks. The project ultimately aims to contribute to the sustainability of agricultural production systems, food security and livelihood improvement.

Focus theme: Water for Food
Project coordinator:   Adey Mersha, Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources (EIWR), Addis Ababa University
Project countries: Ethiopia

This project aims to deepen knowledge, foster knowledge exchange and strengthen capacities to tackle the environmental crises of rapidly depleting large lakes. It will also study the resulting socio-economic impact on marginalised communities dependent on these water systems.

Focus theme: River Basins and Deltas
Project coordinator:   Milena Oravcova, Kazakh-German University (DKU)
Project countries: Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan

This project aims to increase collaboration between higher education institutes and smallholder farmers in the highlands of Uganda to improve community livelihoods. It will also co-develop curricula for post-graduate education.

Focus theme: Water for Food
Project coordinator:  Violet Kisakye, Mountains of the Moon
Project countries: Uganda

Through a joint learning network, this project will use a participatory 'museum making' exercise to curate visual narratives that draw on place-based research with marginalised communities – especially young women, youth and local artists. The project’s ultimate goal is to decolonize water sciences and enrich post-graduate curricula.

Focus theme: River Basins and Deltas
Project coordinator:   Sara Ahmed, Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur
Project countries: Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, India