Re-thinking water storage for climate change adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa

Keywords	socio-political assessment, small dam, large dam, wells, ponds, river diversion, soil and water conservation
Countries	Ghana, Ethiopia
Objectives	The research project aims at increasing resilience of the rural poor who are vulnerable to climate change related risks in sub-Saharan Africa, through better water storage mechanisms, improved investment strategies and institutional support. It examined the need for various storage options, their technical and economic effectiveness, and social-economic suitability in various physiographic and sociopolitical conditions, their distributional outcomes and impact on local livelihoods, environmental consequences, adoption potential and resilience under different climate change scenarios. The case studies were carried out in three watersheds each of the Volta River basin in Ghana and the Blue Nile River basin in Ethiopia, as these two countries are predicted to be affected differently by climate change.
Methodology	ethnographic field work (ZEF) socio-economic surveys (IWMI, ISSER) development of score-based evaluation metrics to support decision-makers in Ghana and Ethiopia

Team Members	ZEF coordinator Dr. Irit Eguavoen
Project output	Abwoyo, C. 2011. Access to land and water in Guder Indris irrigation Scheme; Oromia Region-Ethiopia. MA thesis, CEA, University of Cologne. Adol, B.O. 2011. Access, aquisition and usage of shallow wells and ponds in Kuhar michael Kebele, Abay River basin, Ethiopia. MA thesis, CEA, University of Cologne. Baumgärtner, U. 2011. Access to land and water in Vea irrigation scheme, Northern Ghana. Diploma thesis, University of Bonn. Billa, S.S. 2011. Gender aspects in the use of land and water resoruces (The case of Shina community in Ethiopia). MA thesis, CEA, University of Cologne. Eguavoen, I. 2011. Pro-active farmers and supportive municipalities in Ethiopian dam projects. ZEF Policy Brief No. 9, Bonn. » Download Eguavoen, I. and W. Tesfai. 2011. Rebuilding livelihoods after dam-induced relocation in Koga, Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. ZEF Working Paper 83, Bonn. » Download Eguavoen, I., Derib, S.D., Teklewold, T., McCartney, M., Adol, B.O. and S.S. Billa. Digging, damming or diverting? Small-scale irrigation in the Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. ZEF Working Paper 84, Bonn. » Download Eguavoen, I. and F. zur Heide. Klimawandel und Anpassungsforschung in Äthiopien. (Forthcoming in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie) Eguavoen, I. and C. Abwoyo 2011. Certificates and contestation. Land tenure security of female farmers in the Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. Poster and conference paper, AAA Montreal. Eguavoen, I. and A. Leidreiter. 2010. Diskurse um Klimawandel und Anpassungsstrategien am Blauen Nil in Äthiopien. Präsentation auf der VAD Tagung in Mainz. » Download Johnston, R. and M. McCartney. 2010. Inventory of Water Storage Types in the Blue Nile and Volta River basins. IWMI Working Paper 140, Colombo, Sri Lanka. » Download Laube, W. 2011. Changing Environments, Challenging Markets: Pitfalls of local adaptation to environmental change in Northern Ghana. Conference paper, ICARUS II in Michigan. Laube, W. 2011. Local Institutions and Adaptive Capacity: Evidence from Northern Ghana. Conference paper, ICARUS II in Michigan. Leidreiter, A. 2010. Community participation in common Natural Resource Management in the Lake Tana watershed, Ethiopia. MA thesis, Universiteit van Amsterdam. » Download Marx, S. 2011. The political ecology of irrigation management in Koga, the Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. MA thesis, University of Cologne. » Download McCartney, M. and I. Eguavoen. 2010. Rethinking water storage for agricultural adaptation to climate change in Sub-Sahara Africa. Presentation at Tropentag in Zürich. » Download
Partner Institutions	International Water Management Institute (IWMI) EEA -Ethiopian Economic Association / Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Arba Minch University / Institute of Water Technology in Arba Minch (Ethiopia) Water Research Institute in Accra (Ghana) Institute for Statistical Economic and Social Research of the University of Ghana Volta Basin Authority in Burkina Faso Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) (Germany)
Funding Organizations	German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Duration of the Project	April 2008 - December 2011
Contact	Dr. Irit Eguavoen

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