Synthesis of Existing Knowledge and Experience on the Provision of ...

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4.3 Conclusion, ways forward <strong>and</strong> recommendationsThis report provides an overview <strong>of</strong> water development in Ethiopia’s rangel<strong>and</strong>s in order to inform<strong>and</strong> improve the partners’ work <strong>and</strong> encourage dialogue <strong>and</strong> debate around water developmentissues specific to pastoral regions. It provides an examination <strong>and</strong> discussion <strong>of</strong> current actors,practice <strong>and</strong> policies in the water development arena, <strong>and</strong> also puts forward poor <strong>and</strong> bad practiceas identified by major stakeholders.Findings indicate that to improve water development, local contexts need to be understood <strong>and</strong>considered, l<strong>and</strong> users involved to guide <strong>and</strong> inform what is <strong>and</strong> isn’t appropriate, <strong>and</strong> existingcustomary l<strong>and</strong> management strategies built upon (see table 7). The government’s WSDP highlightsthat “the most important policy <strong>and</strong> regulatory interventions in terms <strong>of</strong> their negative impacts onthe environment were those impositions which increasingly <strong>and</strong> cumulatively eroded the rights <strong>of</strong>individuals <strong>and</strong> communities to use <strong>and</strong> manage their own resources” (MoWR, 2002: 122).Grassroots participation is clearly enshrined in Ethiopia’s Constitution, <strong>and</strong> in order to effectivelyaddress inappropriate water development in the rangel<strong>and</strong>s, it is sensible to take the best that thetechnical <strong>and</strong> scientific community has to <strong>of</strong>fer <strong>and</strong> combine this with customary knowledge systems.Table 7: Reflections on participationChanges1991sinceWhere observed Challenges* RecommendationsMore emphasis onparticipationWater policies, strategies <strong>and</strong>programs emphasise communityparticipation in waterdevelopment.i. The term community is <strong>of</strong>tenill-defined or not defined at all.This makes selectingcommunity members who aretruly representative <strong>of</strong> thewider set <strong>of</strong> stakeholders achallenge.a. Define 'community',underst<strong>and</strong> the social,economic <strong>and</strong> politicalfactors at play locally, selectrepresentative communitymembers, <strong>and</strong> select thescale <strong>of</strong> interventioncommensurate with theappropriate livelihood zone.Community membersengaged should representthe different social,livelihood, wealth, age,religious <strong>and</strong> gender groups.ii. No common underst<strong>and</strong>ing<strong>of</strong> the term participation <strong>and</strong>no common approach topromoting it. Ambiguity inwhat is meant by the term seesmultiple approaches toensuring participation in therangel<strong>and</strong>s, running the gamutfrom token to effectiveparticipation.b. Define 'participation' <strong>and</strong>how 'community' (above)will be involved. Alsopromote dialogue betweenpractitioners <strong>and</strong>pastoralists to shareexperience on what does<strong>and</strong> doesn't work indifferent pastoral contexts.iii. Weak focus on buildingcapacity <strong>of</strong> communities(Water User Associations orother committees/groupsacting on behalf <strong>of</strong> thecommunity) to plan, manage,operate <strong>and</strong> maintain waterpoints. This weakens thecapacity to participate in aswell as 'own' projects.c. Increase focus on the's<strong>of</strong>tware' component <strong>of</strong>projects <strong>and</strong> put in placeindicators at the outset <strong>of</strong>interventions which wouldhelp measure capacity built<strong>and</strong> livelihoods improved,not just physicalinterventions completed.80
iv. More emphasis on involvingcommunities in management<strong>and</strong> maintenance <strong>and</strong> less inplanning. This may compromisebuy-in to schemes if planned inisolation from community. Thisalso makes practitionersvulnerable to establishing waterpoints that may disrupt social<strong>and</strong> ecological patterns.d. Ensure participation in allstages <strong>of</strong> waterdevelopment, whichimportantly includesplanning.* There are also notable overarching challenges including an unfavourable pastoral policy environment, extremely ambitiousnational water development targets which may undermine quality in favour <strong>of</strong> quantity, <strong>and</strong> a dearth <strong>of</strong> skilled manpower inpastoral regions.Currently in Ethiopia, approaches to water development <strong>and</strong> community participation are disjointedbetween different projects <strong>and</strong> programs, <strong>and</strong> also between different actors <strong>and</strong> sectors. In general,approaches range from highly technocratic, with generic methods <strong>of</strong> promoting participation (<strong>of</strong>tentokenistic), to highly participatory approaches which are confined to specific spatial <strong>and</strong> sociopoliticalsettings. There is little coordination <strong>and</strong> knowledge sharing between different groups <strong>of</strong>actors. No common guidelines exist for the development <strong>of</strong> water for productive use in the pastoralcontext, <strong>and</strong> there is also a need to strengthen linkages <strong>and</strong> improve complementarities betweenhumanitarian <strong>and</strong> development approaches <strong>and</strong> activities. Furthermore, most water developmentoccurs in isolation from broader natural resource management, even though water is recognized asa key resource. Water is also <strong>of</strong>ten developed without due attention to other critical developmentneeds such as access to markets, health services for people <strong>and</strong> livestock, <strong>and</strong> education.Further complicating matters is the dichotomy in macro-level thinking. On the one h<strong>and</strong>, the policyenvironment in Ethiopia favours the settlement <strong>of</strong> pastoralists in the long term <strong>and</strong> the promotion <strong>of</strong>irrigation expansion, seen by government as the only practical responses to the challenges facingpastoralists in the rangel<strong>and</strong>s, on the other h<strong>and</strong>, donors, some government programmes <strong>and</strong> a fewdevelopment organizations favour supporting mobility as an essential pastoral coping strategy <strong>and</strong>promote the livelihood as a vehicle for economic growth <strong>and</strong> development.Some shifts in water development thinking have been observed. Practitioners increasingly recognizethat:• Disjointed approaches to water development are an impediment to sustainable development inthe rangel<strong>and</strong>s;• The lowl<strong>and</strong>s require a different approach to water development than the country’s agriculturalareas where rainfall is less spatially <strong>and</strong> temporally variable;• Mobility is an important means for pastoralists to respond <strong>and</strong> adapt to variable environments;• Pastoral livelihoods are influenced by social, cultural <strong>and</strong> political aspects which differ within <strong>and</strong>between regions <strong>and</strong> must be properly understood;• Water points function within the broader l<strong>and</strong>scape <strong>and</strong> can alter patterns <strong>of</strong> resource use,underscoring the importance <strong>of</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing the existing natural resources in a location (water<strong>and</strong> pasture) <strong>and</strong> the way people use these resources;• The s<strong>of</strong>tware component <strong>of</strong> water development requires much more focus if waterdevelopments are to be appropriate <strong>and</strong> sustainable, which means improving effectiveparticipation in planning <strong>and</strong> implementation <strong>and</strong> embedding the capacity at the local level tooperate, manage <strong>and</strong> maintain water points81
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Synthesis
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TABLE OF CONTENTSLIST OF ACRONYMS..
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI would like to exte
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LIST OF ACRONYMSACDI/VOCAACFAFDCDDC
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYWater development
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understanding <str
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Agreed upon guidelines for water de
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• Make better use of</str
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to inform their own work an
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Within pastoral areas, it is recogn
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Section 2. Overview of</str
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Dohrn, 2006). Spatially variable ra
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The following broad overview touche
Page 29 and 30: In areas of adequa
Page 31 and 32: observed response was for individua
Page 33 and 34: Specific to water development, seve
Page 35 and 36: Section 3. Water development todayT
Page 37 and 38: Eliciting payments for water from l
Page 39 and 40: ureaus 25 . The ministry’s interv
Page 41 and 42: National policy paints a conflictin
Page 43 and 44: will be given to pastoralists to en
Page 45 and 46: Water supplyGovernance and<
Page 47 and 48: vulnerable to conversion for other
Page 49 and 50: • Agro-pastoralists’ priorities
Page 51 and 52: Although the WSDP principles are se
Page 53 and 54: The Universal Access ProgramThe Uni
Page 55 and 56: • Help ensure that public works d
Page 57 and 58: However, the development model for
Page 59 and 60: Figure 4: Proposed pilot la
Page 61 and 62: Many international and</str
Page 63 and 64: Furthermore, attention is given to
Page 65 and 66: CARE International, under the GWI,
Page 67: and traditional me
Page 70 and 71: • Understand exi
Page 72 and 73: 4.2 Key observations in the water d
Page 74 and 75: epresent a firm attempt to preserve
Page 76 and 77: learning from NGO experiences in Bo
Page 78 and 79: However, there are currently no spe
Page 82 and 83: In sum, pastoralism as a livelihood
Page 84 and 85: • Water interventions selected sh
Page 86 and 87: • Promote effective participation
Page 88 and 89: Gebre-Mariam, A. (1982). Organizati
Page 90: Schimann P. and Ph
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