SSI Research Projects

The integrated SSI research programme is structured upon 6 research projects that cover different disciplines and different scales of research. They are designed to yield integrated research outputs, which can guide sustainable upgrading of rainfed smallholder farming within the context of watershed and river basin management.

Each SSI project consists of PhD/Post-Doc research projects, where certain projects (1-4) include two individual researchers/projects in order to cover both SSI pilot basins, while two projects (5 and 6) involved only one PhD researcher each, who cover both basins.

Program Objectives

The general development objective of the SSI program is:

To contribute with knowledge, planning tools and institutional capacity to enable a sustainable upgrading of rainfed agriculture through adaptation and adoption of water system innovations at watershed and river basin scale in drought prone tropical and sub-tropical agro-ecosystems.

Upgrading of rainfed agriculture will contribute to poverty alleviation and improvement of rural livelihoods. The focus of the programme on water productivity improvements and sustainable land use practices will provide development tools to balance the use of scarce freshwater resources between humans and nature, and assist in reducing land degradation in vulnerable savannah agro-ecosystems.

Immediate Project Objectives:

• To analyze the hydrological, environmental and socio-economic consequences of upscaling water system innovations in small-holder, predominantly rainfed agriculture at watershed scale,
• To develop methodologies and decision support tools for improved rainwater management and equitable sharing of water between upstream and downstream users and uses in nature and society.
• To translate knowledge on the links between intensification of agriculture through water system innovations, and its impacts on water, food and ecosystems at watershed and river basin scale, into useable tools for planning and policy.
• To contribute to human capacity building on integrated water resources management with specific focus on balancing water for food and nature, in Southern Africa through PhD, MSc training, and workshops.

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Program Outputs

The SSI programme will generate three distinct categories of outputs:

• Knowledge generation and advancement of science.
• Human capacity building in IWRM.
• Support to institutional, planning and policy development in IWRM.
The specific outputs under each category are outlined in the following.
• Knowledge generation and advancement of science
• The generation of new knowledge of water flow requirements to sustain food production and ecosystem services at watershed and river basin scale
• Comprehensive analyses and syntheses of conditions for upscaling of water system innovations and their implications on the environment at different scales.
• Adaptive and participatory identification, development and assessment of system innovations in rainfed farming systems.
• The generation of knowledge on institutional and policy requirements to balance water for food and environmental security at watershed and river basin scale.
• Human capacity building in IWRM
• Eight PhD students, 2 Post-Docs, and 10 MSc students trained.
• Research findings used in curriculum development within the WaterNet IWRM Masters Programme.
• Workshops and short courses carried out together with partners in the region.
• Support to institutional, planning and policy development in IWRM
• Decision support and institutional arrangements developed and shared with partners on sustainable adoption of water system innovations at watershed and river basin scale.
• Identification of capacity building requirements for sustainable sharing of water for food and ecosystems at watershed scale.
• Policy briefs and stakeholder workshops held on upstream downstream sharing of freshwater resources at watershed scale

It should be emphasised that the research thrust in the programme is applied and highly development oriented. Participatory research based on approaches of adaptive management will be carried out on the most promising water system innovations (e.g., water harvesting for supplemental irrigation, drip irrigation, conservation farming etc.). This applied research will be carried out in close collaboration with development agents in the region. It will then be linked with more theoretical research – such as watershed modelling – in order to answer yet unanswered questions regarding the challenges facing rural communities in drought prone watershed with regards to securing water for food and nature.

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Key Program Activities

(1) Knowledge building and advancement of science

• Carry out annual SSI scientific workshops
• Establish collaboration with local institutions
• Establish collaborative links with WaterNet and Warfsa
• Establish collaborative links with RELMA/Sida
• Start the research work on the 6 programme projects:

Project 1: Adaptive development of system innovations
Project 2: Upgrading rainfed agriculture through system innovations
Project 3: Building resilience of the eco-hydrological landscape : Dynamics of ecosystems and farming systems under intensification of rainfed agriculture
Project 4: Balancing water for food and ecosystems at watershed and river basin scale: Integrated hydrological and remote sensing modelling
Project 5: Watershed planning of system innovations: Spatial mapping of environmental and hydrological determinants
Project 6: Enabling environment for innovation adoption – Institutions, economics and policy

• Publish research results in scientific journals
• Sharing of knowledge:

i. Knowledge Base of the Global Dialogue
ii. Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture
iii. Policy development at the Sida Regional Land Management Unit

• Publish a book on the research programme
• Hold 2 workshops on water for food and nature in the region

(2) Human capacity building in IWRM

• Establish strong sandwich programmes for regional students (North-South collaboration)
• Host a minimum of 2 MSc student per year in the study basins
• Curriculum development and teaching within the WaterNet Master Programme.
• Participate at the annual WaterNet/Warfsa Symposia

(3) Support to institutional, planning and policy development in IWRM

• Facilitate Dialogues between stakeholder on sharing of water between food and nature (Together with the Global Dialogue on Water for Food and Environmental Security)
• Host workshops with water managers and watersheds councils sharing outcome of the programme research
• Develop and document institutional arrangements and policy advice on adoption of water system innovations and sustainable watershed management

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Outreach and Learning

The SSI program has an especially designed outreach component to address three important contemporary concerns when conducting applied research in the context of water, food and the environment.

Firstly, how to ensure that the research is integrated – both between scientific disciplines, between stakeholders and scales – and driven by real needs on the ground. This requires a participatory action research approach, where learning and reflection forms an integral part of the research. Secondly, to ensure that the results of the research are fed into policy and development, not only in the locations of study, but also to other locations and stakeholder arenas.

Thirdly, what is the approach to systematically learn from initiatives on the ground, such as the SSI program? These knowledge domains-action research and learning, dissemination and knowledge bridging- form part of a learning continuum within the SSI program.

The overall goal of the SSI Outreach and learning strategy is:

• To strengthen the SSI programme with an action research and outreach component that operationalises and contextualises lessons learned from the SSI research.
• To disseminate knowledge and research methodologies from SSI with other water initiatives in Southern Africa.
• To develop a framework for enhanced learning within SSI and for sharing lessons learnt from the SSI programme to contribute meaningfully to the global water, food and environment agenda.
• The SSI outreach and learning component contributes towards improving the integrated research output, ensure that there is a continuous reflection on the relevance and demand for SSI knowledge outputs, and give SSI a channel to share lessons learnt through other international forums.
• The outreach and learning component of SSI Program is coordinated by IWMI in collaboration with two field-based organisations- The Farmer Support Group (FSG) in South Africa, which is a designated SADC centre of excellence and SWMRG in Tanzania, which has vast experience in Participatory Action Research

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SSI Research Team

PhD Students:

• Kenneth Masuki - Project 1A
• Hodson Makurira - Project 2A
• Job Rotich - Project 2B
• Elin Enfors - Project 3B
• Marloes Mul - Project 4A
• Victor Kongo - Project 4B
• Jeniffer Kinoti - Project 5
• Claudious Chikozho - Project 6

Post Doctoral Fellows:

• Siza Tumbo - Project 1B
• Line Gordon - Project 3B

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Steering Committee

The SSI Steering Committee comprises of one representative from each of the SSI Partner Institutions:

• Hilmy Sally (IWMI), Chair
• Filbert Rwehumbiza (Sokoine University of Agriculture)
• Line Gordon (Stockholm University)
• Graham Jewitt (BEEH, University of Kwazulu Natal)
• Pieter Van der Zaag (UNESCO-IHE)

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Partner Institutions

• IWMI-University of KwaZulu Natal
• IWMI-UNESCO-IHE
• IWMI-Sokoine University of Agriculture
• IWMI-Stockholm University

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Sponsors

The SSI programme is financially supported by:

• Sida
• WOTRO
• DGIS
• IWMI
• UNESCO-IHE

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Contacts

PhD Students:

Kenneth Masuki ( kennymasuki@yahoo.co.uk )
SWMRG
Sokoine University of Agriculture
PO Box 3003, Morogoro, Tanzania

Hodson Makurira ( makurira@eng.uz.ac.zw )
University of Zimbabwe
Civil Engineering Department
P O Box MP167, Mt Pleasant
Harare, Zimbabwe

Job Rotich ( pess_k@yahoo.co.uk )
School of BEEH
University of KwaZulu Natal
PO Box X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Elin Enfors ( elin@ecology.su.se )
Department of Systems Ecology
Stockholm University
10691 Stockholm
Sweden

Marloes Mul ( mul@eng.uz.ac.zw )
UNESCO-IHE
PO Box 3015, 2601 DA Delft
The Netherlands

Victor Kongo ( 204512093@ukzn.ac.za )
School of BEEH
University of KwaZulu Natal
PO Box X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Jeniffer Kinoti ( j.kinoti@cgiar.org )
IWMI
Pvt Bag X813, Silverton 0127
Pretoria, South Africa

Claudious Chikozho ( c.chikozho@cgiar.org )
IWMI
Pvt Bag X813, Silverton 0127
Pretoria, South Africa
Post Doctoral Fellows

Siza Tumbo ( sdt116@suanet.ac.tz )
SWMRG
Sokoine University of Agriculture
PO Box 3003, Morogoro, Tanzania

Line Gordon ( line@system.ecology.su.se )
Department of Systems Ecology
Stockholm University
10691 Stockholm
Sweden

Steering Committee

Hilmy Sally ( h.sally@giar.org )
IWMI
Pvt Bag X813, Silverton 0127
Pretoria, South Africa

Filbert Rwehumbiza ( rmbiza@suanet.ac.tz )
SWMRG
Sokoine University of Agriculture
PO Box 3003, Morogoro, Tanzania

Line Gordon ( line@system.ecology.su.se )
Department of Systems Ecology
Stockholm University
10691 Stockholm, Sweden

Graham Jewitt ( jewittg@ukzn.ac.za)
School of BEEH
University of KwaZulu Natal
PO Box X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Pieter Van der Zaag ( p.vanderzaag@unesco-ihe.org )
UNESCO-IHE
PO Box 3015, 2601 DA Delft
The Netherlands

Outreach Coordinator

Yogesh Bhatt ( y.bhatt@cgiar.org )
IWMI South Africa
Pvt Bag X813, Silverton 0127
Pretoria, South Africa

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