The document discusses three gaps that provide opportunities for convergence between water and food security: 1) There is a weakness in scaling up successful case studies due to a proliferation of pilots and technologies that do not contribute impact at scale. Scaling up requires factors beyond just technology. 2) Most incentives and disincentives for water inefficiency lie outside the water domain, requiring a multi-disciplinary approach that has not been fully mobilized. Non-water policies impact water use efficiency. 3) There is an absence of explicit food security strategies to guide water interventions, given different pathways countries can take to ensure food security. Water strategies need alignment with food security goals.

1. Expert Consultation
ICARDA, Cairo, Egypt
25th June, 2013
FAO Regional Initiative
Dr. Andy Bullock, FAO Consultant

2. High value in convergence at the interface between water and food security –
unifying towards a common agenda
Evidence reveals three principal gaps. These each provide opportunity for
convergence:
Gap 1: There is a general weakness in scaling-up from many successful case studies
Gap 2: Most of the (dis)incentives to water inefficiency lie outside of the water
domain. The necessary multi-disciplinarity has not yet been mobilised
Gap 3: There is an absence of explicit food security strategies, for now and the
future, to guide water interventions. In light of different (blend of) pathways
available to countries

3. Gap 1: There is a general weakness in scaling-up from many
successful case studies

4. Many examples of successful case studies …
System feasibility, design, technology, management and operations
• Irrigation modernization and rehabilitation, Groundwater , Drainage water re-
use, Wastewater re-use
Water in crop production systems
• On-farm water use and productivity, Rainwater harvesting,, Conservation
agriculture
Water and environmental issues
• Forestry/watershed management, Pollution from agriculture, Water and Food
Safety
Fisheries and aquaculture
Water and livestock

5. Despite positive experiences, scaling up of impact remains elusive
Numerous ‘technical’ lessons learned …. But
proliferation of atomised pilots
also, proliferation of technology options
that collectively are not contributing impact at scale
Overall: there are new technology opportunities but the core
constraint on impact is not technological. Scaling-up, impact and
delivery require other factors beyond technologies.

6. Scaling up ‘spaces’ – shifting from pilots to impact at scale
Fiscal/financial
Natural resource/environmental
Policy
Institutional/organizational capacity
others including political, cultural, partnership, learning
Different factors have relevance at different levels of uptake …
Scaling-up from 100 ha to 1,000 within a scheme invokes one set of
factors
Scaling-up from 1,000 ha to 10,000 across schemes invokes a
different set, etc

7. Overall
performance rating
Performance characteristics % of PCR Projects
Global (MENA)
A >70% of water infrastructure targets
On time, or with extension of up to 2-3 years
Within x2 budget
Attributable support to higher-level goals
40 (30)
B 30-70% of water infrastructure targets
On time, or with extension of up to 5-7 years
Within x 4 budget
Some project restructuring at MTR
Some connection to higher-level goals
40 (30)
C 0- <30% of water infrastructure targets
On time, or with extension of up to 5-7 years
Within x 4 budget
Can include major project restructuring
No connection to higher level goals
20 (40)
Initial attempts at scaling-up (by doing more of the same) have not worked

8. Multiplicity of
different water
interventions
Food security
A
B
AWM
Business
Lines

10. Economic and social outcomes
(Vision, Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategies, Medium-Term Framework etc)
Annual growth in
agricultural GDP
Increased export
earnings;
Value addition and
rural development
National Food self
sufficiency
Job creation,
Incomes growth
Significant
reduction of
poverty; Household
food security
Economic
Social
Values and benefits of agricultural water management
Business Lines 1. Large-scale
market-
oriented
irrigation on a
PPP basis or
purely private
basis
2.
Modernization
and expansion
of existing
large-scale
irrigation
3. Individual
micro- and
small-scale
irrigation for
high value
crops
4. Small-scale
community-
managed
irrigation
5. Enhanced
water
management
in rainfed
agriculture
(Agriculture Policy) physical infrastructure and beneficiary targets

11. Multiplicity
of different
water
interventions
Food security
Policy
coherence (eg)
Risk reduction and
disaster
management
Climate change
adaptation
IWRM
Catchment
management
Water stewardship
Stronger policy
coherence
Not end-points in
themselves
Diverse actors and
institutional agenda
Policy alignments

12. Gap 2: Most of the (dis)incentives to water inefficiency lie outside of the
water domain. The necessary multi-disciplinarity has not yet been
mobilised
There are bottlenecks, drivers, incentives and disincentives that predominantly
lie outside of the ‘engineering’ and water management sub-sectors.
Different (political economy) narrative that means
different lessons,
different gaps and
different response options

14. Different demands on water - inter-related policies and
structural rigidities on food security (eg import substitution,
safety nets, self-sufficiency) mean large number of farmers are
using water inefficiently
Subsidies (credit, energy, etc) and price controls –
transferring water to less competitive, high water consumptive
crops
Water User Associations – small number of successful
experiences, but overall experience ‘far less positive’.

15. Demand management – shorter-term financial interests (eg deferring
investment decisions) have been overriding opportunities for
efficiency and equity
Water allocations – current allocations t0 agriculture deemed
unsustainable in light of resource depletion and env. integrity
PPP/Private sector engagement – real, practical opportunities (under
different models) if oriented to farmer needs
Public management and decentralised governance – Different
timelines between reform and political terms ‘Whole-of
Government’ approaches needed, not in
isolation

16. “Potential solutions to the region’s water problems are well known but have often
not been implemented because of constraints in the broader political economy”
(OECD)
“Non-water policies in particular create incentives for inefficient water use”.
“Water is not an isolated sector but an integral part of a wider economic system.”
“Any agenda for reform of water policy must respond to the realities of the political
economy.” …
“Actions outside the sector will be important”
“(Successful) Water reforms … often done so as part of broader economic and
structural changes” (World Bank)
“Due to distortions in water scarce countries, all of which encourage excess water
use for irrigation, water scarcity currently plays only a small role in determining
trade patterns.” (African Development Bank)

17. Balady bread – Egypt Wheat losses and waste = 43% of 9.8 MT.
Water use equivalent of 3.7 BCM

18. Water reformers have recognised the importance of
transboundary water management.
But, they need to go further, and look at regional and intra- and
inter-continental ‘political economies’.
‘Universality’ is part of post-2015 shift from ODA-based MDGs

19. Gap 3: There is an absence of explicit food security
strategies, for now and the future, to guide water
interventions in light of different (blend of) pathways
available to countries
In simple terms, if you don’t know where a country intends
to get its food from – now and in the future - it is very
difficult to achieve outcomes through water.
Political trade-offs among outcomes

20. Economic and social outcomes
(Vision, Medium-Term Framework etc)
Annual growth in
agricultural GDP
Increased export
earnings;
Value addition and
rural development
National Food self
sufficiency
Job creation,
Incomes growth
Significant
reduction of
poverty; Household
food security
Economic
Social
Values and benefits of agricultural water management
Business Lines 1. Large-scale
market-
oriented
irrigation on a
PPP basis or
purely private
basis
2.
Modernization
and expansion
of existing
large-scale
irrigation
3. Individual
micro- and
small-scale
irrigation for
high value
crops
4. Small-scale
community-
managed
irrigation
5. Enhanced
water
management
in rainfed
agriculture
(Agriculture Policy) physical infrastructure and beneficiary targets

22. Food imports Production Food Aid
Direct
sourcing
Export of high-
value
commodities.
Foreign
exchange
earnings.
Irrigation, fish,
tree-crops,
livestock
Self-
consumption
of grown food.
Value chains
into local
markets
Water implications in exporting
countries
Each pathways has different water implications for farmers

23. 2. Opening up to political economy challenges
‘Whole of Government’
Farmer behaviour (uptake, vested interests)
3. Response to more explicit agricultural outcomes
Food security strategies
Water strategies that will deliver outcomes
Benchmarking
1. Scaling of water’s potential contribution
• Business Lines and scaling-up spaces
• Water Policy coherence
Water
Food
security

24. 1. The need to better understand the potential of water in
contributing to food security in a cost effective way (evidence
based)
2. The need to address the root causes of low impact ‘at-scale’
and poor performances through political economy analyses
3. The need for better alignment of water and food security
strategies, in the framework of larger national goals, and the
need for improved national food security strategies.
4. The proposal to start measuring progress and performance
against some international benchmarks. (eg Mexico, Australia,
Indonesia?)