The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Asia-Pacific Water Scarcity Program (WSP) to help countries across the region address the increasing challenges of water scarcity. The program aims to promote sustainable water use and support economic productivity despite growing water constraints.

Mongolia’s inclusion in the WSP presents a valuable opportunity to strengthen its water management capabilities. By applying proven methodologies and resources, the program will enhance the capacity of Mongolia’s Water Resource Ministries and River Basin Organizations (RBOs) to tackle the country’s unique water challenges effectively.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of Water Accounting for improved water management under a changing climate, FutureWater, with FAO’s support, is conducting a Water Accounting assessment for Mongolia’s two key river basins—the Tuul and Orkhon. Using cutting-edge techniques and tools, this initiative will provide critical insights to support sustainable water allocation and long-term resilience.

Het BUCRA-project (Building Unity for Climate Resilient Agriculture) richt zich op het versterken van de landbouwresistentie in Qahbunah, een landbouwgemeenschap in de Nijldelta van Egypte. Lokale boeren worden geconfronteerd met uitdagingen zoals waterschaarste, klimaatverandering en versnippering van landbouwgrond, en hebben innovatieve benaderingen nodig om hun levensonderhoud te behouden.

Centraal in BUCRA staan twee geavanceerde tools ontwikkeld door FutureWater: Croptimal en SOSIA, die geavanceerde technologie combineren met lokale kennis om traditionele landbouwpraktijken te transformeren.

Croptimal is een analyse-instrument voor klimaatgevoeligheid dat klimaatprojecties, geospatiale gegevens en landbouwinzichten benut om de geschiktheid van verschillende gewassen te beoordelen onder huidige en toekomstige klimaatscenario’s. Door gebieden en gewassen te identificeren die het meest bestand zijn tegen klimaatstressfactoren zoals hitte, zoutgehalte en waterschaarste, biedt Croptimal boeren datagestuurde aanbevelingen om hun gewaskeuze en plantstrategieën te optimaliseren. Deze tool levert zeer gedetailleerde kaarten en bruikbare adviezen, waardoor boeren hun praktijken kunnen aanpassen aan de uitdagingen van klimaatverandering en tegelijkertijd hun productiviteit kunnen verhogen.

SOSIA (Satellite-based Open-Source Irrigation Advisory) is een irrigatiebeheertool die is ontworpen om de efficiëntie van watergebruik te verbeteren. De tool maakt gebruik van open-source satellietgegevens, realtime weersinformatie en lokale bodemomstandigheden om nauwkeurige dagelijkse irrigatie-adviezen te geven. Boeren ontvangen via WhatsApp aanbevelingen over hoe lang zij hun gewassen dagelijks moeten irrigeren, waardoor de dienst zowel toegankelijk als kosteneffectief is. Deze innovatieve aanpak vermindert niet alleen het waterverbruik, maar verhoogt ook de gewasopbrengsten en energie-efficiëntie, en speelt zo in op de toenemende druk op watervoorraden in de Nijldelta.

Naast deze tools bevat BUCRA demonstratiepercelen waar klimaatslimme technieken worden getoond, zoals efficiënte irrigatie, bodembeheer en gewasrotatie. Boeren zullen ook deelnemen aan een blended leerprogramma dat veldgerichte training combineert met gebruiksvriendelijke digitale toepassingen om hun technische vaardigheden en kennis te verbeteren.

BUCRA legt sterke nadruk op het empoweren van jongeren en vrouwen in de landbouw, het versterken van marktverbindingen en het bevorderen van duurzame landgebruikspraktijken. Door Nederlandse expertise af te stemmen op lokale behoeften, streeft het project ernaar de productiviteit te verhogen, inkomens te stabiliseren en een duurzame agrarische toekomst op te bouwen in Qahbunah.

De langetermijnvisie is om bredere adoptie van deze tools en praktijken te inspireren, waardoor voedsel- en waterveiligheid in de regio wordt gegarandeerd en de uitdagingen van klimaatverandering effectief worden aangepakt.

To help transition from reactive to proactive drought management, and in the absence of a cross-sectoral coordinating mechanism around drought investment prioritization, the World Bank has put together a process for developing a Drought Risk and Resilience Assessment (DRRA). The DRRA methodology includes reference to Nature-based Solutions (NBS) as an option to make countries more resilient to droughts. However, how these types of interventions can increase efficiency of World Bank projects, how they can be identified, how impacts can be assessed, and which challenges need to be addressed to implement NBS is not yet addressed sufficiently. This knowledge gap will be addressed by (i) Development of factsheets of existing NBS interventions to reduce drought risks for water services for drink water supply, for agriculture, for energy or other economic sectors that depend on water, and (ii) Developing an inventory of existing tools to identify effective NBS for drought resilience and assess their potential impact.

The WEAP model simulates water availability, supply, and demand on a small scale for over 40 irrigation, domestic, and industrial sites, running on a daily timestep to include detailed reservoir operations and water use abstractions. The updated WEAP model was co-designed together with ARA-Sul, the regional water authorities of southern Mozambique. Monthly meetings were held to support information sharing and co-ownership throughout the project.

The model will aid ARA-Sul in water accounting and the licensing of water users served by the Pequenos Libombos Reservoir. The Pequenos Libombos Reservoir, with a storage capacity of 350 MCM, is the main water supplier to the Maputo Metropolitan Area inhabited by over 3 million people. In June 2024 sessions were held in The Netherlands were ARA-Sul was trained in the usage of the model.

The cover picture was taken by David Mucambe (ARA-Sul).

The project prepares robust climate mitigation and adaptation pipelines aligned with the Paris Agreement and responsive to DMCs climate change priorities. The TA will support interventions on departmental, sectoral and country levels with key activities including development of a regional strategy, upstream climate assessments, climate pipeline development, government dialogues and capacity building. As part of this project, FutureWater conducts a regional climate risk assessment for ten countries. This includes an assessment of baseline and future climate hazards, exposure and vulnerability and addressing sectoral impacts and adaptation options for a wide range of sectors. In addition country profiles summarizing climate risks for the ten countries are generated. The reginal climate risk assessment feeds into the climate strategy.

Southern Spain is a highly productive agricultural region, but with huge challenges around water scarcity and environmental sustainability. There is a demand in the agricultural sector to work towards water stewardship in Spain. The Alliance for Water Stewardship has developed a Standard which helps retailers and their suppliers to cause change at scale. This approach recognizes that there are common challenges that could be more easily overcome through a collective, place-based approach.

In the Doñana region, berry farms and groundwater usage are causing a conflict with the unique ecosystems in the National Park. A catchment assessment and active stakeholder engagement is needed as a first step in this region to work towards water stewardship. The catchment assessment will provide information on the catchment context, in line with the requirements of the Standard. The purpose of the assessment is to reduce the burden on agricultural sites by providing them with a common set of information which they and others can use to inform responses to their shared water challenges.

FutureWater will develop a high-level climate change and adaptation assessment for Turkmenistan to strengthen the water and agriculture sector’s resilience against climate change. The work involves a detailed hazard mapping exercise, employing observational and satellite-based information, to identify climate-related risks such as droughts, water scarcity, heat, salinity, erosion, and floods. These mapped hazards will be synthesized at the administrative level, presenting a comprehensive visual representation through figures and tables.

Key exposure and vulnerability datasets will be mapped, and pertinent sources for subsequent collection and analysis will be identified, setting the stage for a detailed risk assessment beyond the scope of work. The key output of this effort is the assembly of an inventory of climate adaptation measures gleaned from existing reports and official documents, contextualized to Turkmenistan’s unique circumstances, and an initial gap and opportunity assessment based on this inventory.

Based on the assessment, the adaptation options will be categorized and an initial prioritization will take place based on each option’s potential to mitigate risks across various hazards, its capacity for impactful outcomes beyond local scales, and a relative indication of expected cost-effectiveness. The outcome should provide a foundation for an integrated climate adaptation project. Concurrently, FutureWater will engage in country consultations, collaborating with stakeholders to confirm or refine identified adaptation options. These consultations will also explore potential synergies with ongoing and planned projects initiated by both the government and development partners.

As part of the FAO’s Asia-Pacific Water Scarcity Programme (WSP), FutureWater conducts a scoping study to identify opportunities to improve sustainable water resources management in the country. Following this scoping assessment, FutureWater develops bankable investment concept notes for activities to strengthen national capacities to implement policy actions that prepare Mongolia for a water scarce future. As part of the project, a high level stakeholder consultation forum with key government stakeholders and development partners is organized to validate the findings of the assessment and prioritize the investment concepts.

Mongolia has a strong commitment to IWRM, as defined in the 2012 Water Law, and good progress has been made. This includes the establishment of river basin organizations (RBOs) to manage the 29 river basins in the country. Currently, there are 21 operational RBOs. However, these bodies lack the experience needed for implementation of their tasks. Training and professional development of employees of the water basin authorities are of the utmost importance, to enable them to implement the assigned tasks and be better positioned for advancing implementation of Target 6.5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

 

Om de doelstellingen te bereiken, heeft het project een technische component en een component voor betrokkenheid van belanghebbenden. Aan de technische kant zullen hydrologische modellen worden bijgewerkt en gevalideerd. Klimaatveranderingsscenario’s zullen worden gebruikt als input voor het testen van adaptatiestrategieën binnen het Limpopo-bekken. De adaptatiestrategieën omvatten traditionele grijze infrastructuur en daarnaast op de natuur gebaseerde oplossingen. De batenanalyse van de adaptatiemaatregelen zal zowel macro- als micro-sociaal-economische voordelen omvatten.

De resultaten van deze studie zullen vervolgens worden gebruikt om de ontwikkeling van een eerste generatie Grensoverschrijdende Diagnostische Analyse (TDA) voor het Limpopo-rivierbekken (LRB) te ondersteunen. Hierdoor zullen de afzonderlijke landen in het stroomgebied het eens worden over een reeks grensoverschrijdende ontwikkelingsprioriteiten voor het bekken. Deze prioriteiten zullen toekomstige grensoverschrijdende en nationale investeringen sturen via een Strategisch Actieplan (SAP) en Nationale Actieplannen (NAP’s).

Within the project we cooperate with the hydrologists of ARA-Norte to discuss and establish the baseline for a water system analysis in the Monapo Catchment. Following discussion and mapping sessions, FutureWater is developing a Water Allocation Model in WEAP that includes climate change scenarios and mitigation and adaptation measures to asses the water availability of the catchment. Part of the assignment includes continuous training to local professional, to ensure the application of the developed model in the analysis of the system and elaborating specific proposal for implementation in the region.