An ancient form of water management helps Eritrean farmers meet their water needs

Water scarcity is one of the many challenges faced by Eritrea. The country has two perennial river systems, the Setit River, which forms the border with Ethiopia and drains into the Nile basin, and the Gash Barka system, which collects the run-off water from the highlands. All other rivers in the country are seasonal and carry water only after rainfall, which means that most of the year they are dry. The country has limited natural sources of fresh surface water and while groundwater can be tapped, often the quantity and quality leave much to be desired.

The average annual rainfall is approximately 380 millimetres. Rain is usually torrential, highly intense and falls for a short duration. It varies greatly from year to year.

The Gash Barka region, situated in the south-west of Eritrea, has a harsh climate and rainfall is limited and unreliable. The region borders Sudan to the west and Ethiopia to the south. It has a population of 567,000 and covers 37,000 km2, one third of Eritrea's surface area. Gash Barka was severely affected during the 1998-2000 border conflict with Ethiopia. Eight years after the conflict, one can still the remains of tanks and military hardware in the region.

Every three to five years, droughts cause partial or complete crop failure in Gash Barka. In years when crops fail, the survival strategy of farmers and herders is to sell their livestock and other assets.

The IFAD-funded Gash Barka Livestock and Agricultural Development Project introduced improvements in grazing and farming practices. Infrastructure works were carried out under the project: developing and improving spate irrigation systems by harnessing run-offs and diverting rivers and small streams; improving hafirs or ponds to provide water for livestock; and water harvesting to improve groundwater.

Spate irrigation – an ancient form of water management – is one of the most viable ways of supporting the livelihoods of economically marginalized farmers. It is different from conventional perennial irrigation and is used in areas prone to unpredictable and destructive floods particularly in arid and semi-arid areas.

How does spate irrigation work?
Spate irrigation is a form of floodwater harvesting. It is a resource system where floodwater is harnessed or ephemeral streams diverted to agricultural fields using earthen or concrete canal structures. It is considered as a pre-planting system where the flood seasons come first followed by the crop season. In Gash Barka and Debub, major floods occur between June and September and the main crop growing season is between September and February.

Spate irrigation systems are usually built in the plains around mountainous or hilly terrain so that they can collect run-off, allowing the low-lying fields to store moisture for crops during the cropping seasons.

"Farmers can start planting their crops only after the floodwater harvesting", explains Efrem Tekle, crop specialist from the Ministry of Agriculture. "Since the timing, volume and number of floods are highly unpredictable, this type of agriculture is risk-prone. Farmers need to cooperate closely with each other in managing the distribution of flood flows and also in managing and maintaining the spate irrigation system."

The Government of Eritrea, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Gash Barka Livestock and Agricultural Development Project financed the construction of spate irrigation systems in the Gash Barka region.

The Hashenkit River Diversion project is strategically situated to serve 14 villages and a total of 1,300 families, of which 20 per cent are headed by women.

The farmers in this region plant traditional sorghum. Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop after wheat, rice, maize and barley in Eritrea but the premier crop in Gash Barka. It is used as food, feed, fodder and fuel.

"We know that improved sorghum is better quality and has high production value, but given the water scarcity we’re faced with, we prefer to plant traditional sorghum because it needs less water", says Adam Humed, a farmer.

"Before the spate irrigation system, we were engaged in rainfed farming and our yield never exceeded 5 quintals (500 kg) per hectare", explains Humed. "Spate irrigation has increased our yield up to sixfold, which means 20-30 quintals (2,000 kg to 3,000 kg) per hectare. As a result, we are able to feed our children and buy new livestock."

Spate irrigation like any other infrastructure needs to be maintained and requires farmers' organizations to establish a good relationship with local government so that they can jointly administer and maintain the infrastructure. At the same time, the farmers need to administer the spate system by collaborating and agreeing on equitable water distribution.

"We will be meeting with local government to propose that if they help us with the levelling, silage removal and channel improvement, we will take charge of maintaining the spate", says Humed.

Looming shadow of drought
"Drought is one of the many challenges that we face, and it follows a 3 to 5 year cycle", states Humed. "This year we had only 10 millimetres of rain, which means a decrease in food production and more vulnerability."

"The Gash Barka region has approximately 3.5 million heads of livestock," explains Humed. "In this community, approximately half of the households own livestock and on average each household has six to seven heads of livestock".

The pastoralists consider their livestock as a valuable resource. "Livestock is a source of money, because we can sell them when faced with hard times", says Humed. "During good times we have learned to put aside 10 per cent of our income towards a community saving scheme. As a result, today we have 240,000 nakfa in our savings account, which we use in times of crisis".

The Ministry of Agriculture and the IFAD-funded projects are conducting capacity- and awareness-building campaigns to show the benefits of good storage mechanisms as an alternative way of coping with crises such as drought.

"The awareness campaign is helping pastoralists and farmers understand that during drought the price of livestock will decrease substantially because there is an over-supply", says Yordanos Tesfamarian, Senior Economist at the Ministry of Agriculture

"The extension workers are showing the farmers how to take advantage of a bumper year by investing in proper storage, so that when drought hits they have food and also the possibility of selling their surplus at a higher price".

"By working together with the farmers to find out their needs and aspirations and involving them in decision-making processes, we are building their capacities and those of their institutions so that they can advocate for themselves", explains Abla Benhammouche, IFAD country programme manager for Eritrea.

"This is how we are ensuring full ownership and sustainability".

http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/voice/tags/eritrea/eritreaspate

Women entrepreneurs in Eritrea contribute to rural household income

Women have always played an important role in Eritrean society. During the struggle for independence, they helped transform Eritrean society and today they contribute substantially to the agriculture sector and to the income of their households.

Like all women around the world and especially those in developing countries, the women in the Gash Barka region of Eritrea start their daily activities bright and early. They not only take care of the household chores, but are also very involved in agricultural activities.


"We raise livestock and we work on the farm. Recently the National Eritrean Women's Association and the IFAD-funded Gash Barka Livestock and Agricultural Development Project organized a series of workshops where we learned to weave mats and fans using palm leaves", says Brri Weldemariam, member of the women's association.

Every morning, Brri Weldemariam and Tebelsm Estfons take their livestock for grazing for about an hour in the semi-arid highlands of Gash Barka. After bringing back the livestock from pasture, they equip themselves with their yellow jerry cans and set out on another one-hour expedition, this time with their donkey, to fetch water from the village centre water pump.

Back home, after attending to the household chores and cooking a meal for the family, they get together with the other women of the community and put into practice their newly acquired skill – weaving fans, mats and baskets from palm leaves.

"We received training on how to work with palm leaves", explains Weldemariam proudly. "Recently we have started using dye to make more attractive and marketable objects."

"On a monthly basis we make approximately 50 fans, which we sell locally for 3 nakfa. We sell the mats for 30 nakfa and the baskets for 10 nakfa," says Estfons.

"Before we did not have any source of income and depended entirely on our husbands' income".

"Now that we are engaged in this income-generating activity we not only have an opportunity to socialize with other women but are also making money. This is allowing us to buy food for the family and also raw material such as dye for our new activity," says Weldemariam with a smile.

"Our dream is to open a shop on the main road, which gets a lot of traffic, to sell our hand-made products," say Weldemariam and Estfons.

"We just need a bit more training to take this newly acquired trade to the next level. This way we will be able to produce better quality products, which will allow us to sell in bigger markets such as Asmara."

Rural development projects around the world have demonstrated that investing in rural women is a secure way of enabling poor rural households to overcome poverty. Rural women are resourceful and keen to go the extra mile to learn new skills and engage in income-generating activities. And Eritrean women are no exception.

http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/voice/tags/eritrea/eritreawomen

Art of possibility

I am a Davos fan. Each year I tune in and stay tuned for the entire duration of the World Economic Forum and I am never disappointed. If you are interested in an alternative leadership and want to know more about "art of possibility" you cannot miss the Davos session with Benjam Zander entitled: "Managing Complexity: A Different Approach"


Benjamin Zander website

Who made the Knowledge Share Fair possible

Well, it looks like all our efforts and hard work of the last 10 months was worth every bit of it. The Share Fair seems to have been a positive and rewarding experience and has created a certain buzz. On Friday my colleagues came up to me saying: "The Share Fair was great, I learnt so many new things, met interesting people and caught up with old friends and colleagues".

We are running a survey to assess the impact of the Share Fair and to find out the overall perception of the participants so that next time we can do a better job.

Many colleagues, facilitators and volunteers worked hard and long hours to make the Share Fair a success. A big thank you to each and every one of them (see slides 7-9).


And then there is Gauri Salokhe alias "Share Fair Mother Teresa" who made it all possible. Without Gauri we would not have made it. She is an amazing lady. I learnt so much from her. I was amazed how she never lost her calm, how she always had a smile on her face, how she continuously reached out to everyone, how she was always tactful and understanding with everyone, how she did what she could to please everyone, how she never shied away from taking on new tasks, how she took charge, how she never said "no", how she was there for everyone, how she had an innovative solution for every challenge and how she never lost her wonderful sense of humour. For the last 10 months Gauri was our beacon. We all have a lot to learn from her. A very special and heartfelt thank you to GAURI SALOKHE.

At the end of the day, the Share Fair provided us not only an opportunity to learn and share rural development experiences but also to learn from colleagues such as Gauri and others how to effectively work and collaborate with others.

So, now that we all feel enriched, when shall we start planning the next Share Fair?!

Waltz With Bashir

Ari Folman is a courageous man. His film Waltz with Bashir is a powerful and thought provoking film. It is one of those films that everyone, starting from politicians to young kids who think war and killing is really cool stuff, should almost be forced to see.

Folman tells the harrowing story of innocents being killed in a senseless war. It is incredible how almost three decades later we have not learnt anything and continue to indulge the same atrocities.

In an interview Folman says: "I hope that at least young people will see that unlike what they're told in schools about brave soldiers who gave their lives, there's no glory in war. Basically, it's about a waste of lives, a very useless idea. The glorification of the dead is horrible."

Make sure you see Waltz with Bashir and let us just hope that sooner rather than later, human-kind will stop wasting lives of young people and finally starts cultivating something good and long-lasting.

Waltz with Bashir website

Let's build on the Share Fair energy and momentum to bring about change

Seven hours ago the Share Fair came to end. As of 5pm today we have approximately 700 people more colleagues who have a better understanding of knowledge sharing and see the value-added of knowledge sharing. 700 people established new contacts and networks. 700 people learnt something new and shared something with others. And most importantly 700 people had fun.

I commend my colleagues for having proactively participated in great numbers. I commend my leadership who despite their busy schedules set aside at least half a day to come over to the Share Fair to visit the booths, talk to people and see for themselves the organization's knowledge in action. I commend senior colleagues and directors, who over the last three days visited the Share Fair more than once and spent considerable amount of time going to sessions and learning something new. I commend all my colleagues who spent many hours attending sessions and taking an active part in the Share Fair.

Kudos to all members of senior management, the Executive Director of our Change and Reform programme, our directors of HR, IT, policy, communications, technical advisory division, chief of staff and regional divisions directors.

Thanks to the Share Fair, we've increased the number of KM champions within the IFAD and converted some cynics. We've strengthened our partnership with the other agencies and built new networks, made new contacts and new friends.

Three days ago in my blog I said: "The fair's inauguration coincides with President-elect Obama taking oath of office. While history is being made across the Atlantic, in Rome, we too are taking an important step to bring about change by demystifying knowledge management and showing that KM is not a fad but a fact and a way of living." And YES we did it!!

We should all go proud of our achievement. The challenge is to keep the momentum and build on the positive energy. The closing ceremony may have closed the Share Fair but the real work starts now. And we are in a better position to do it, because thanks to our expanded networks we have more opportunities to draw on each other's knowledge.

Watch video

Knowledge Share Fair a unique event - bringing about change and the gender dimension of KM

In about 27 hours the Knowledge Share Fair show will start its 3 day journey. The fair's inauguration coincides with President-elect Obama taking oath of office. While history is being made across the Atlantic, in Rome, we too are taking an important step to bring about change by demystifying knowledge management and showing that KM is not a fad but a fact and a way of living.

The preparatory work of this event has been challenging, fun and rewarding. We've learnt a lot, connected with people, established and strengthened our networks. Over the last months I've been reflecting on the "gender dimension of KM". I've been asking myself why is that women are better at knowledge sharing and embracing KM fundamentals. I do not know the answer. I would like to be challenged on this point and if someone out there has done studied the gender dimension of KM I ask them to Share it at the Fair.

Hope to see you all tomorrow and I hope you will enjoy yourselves. Remember the Fair's mantra:
Get out of the Fair your Share of Knowledge

Watch "blip" video