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

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