المعرفة

There is a recognized need in the water sector for more accurate data on access to water in terms of the distance travelled and the time needed to collect water to meet all household needs, and who or what combination of people are involved in water collection.

The following study was designed by IFAD in order to contribute to the knowledge about the relationship between gender, water investment and time saving. It is also intended to contribute to gender mainstreaming in IFAD’s water projects. The focus of the study is to see how much time women and men gain when they have improved access to sources of water and to establish what individuals, particularly women, do with the time they save by not having to walk long distances in search of water. The study further aims to discover to what extent the projects/investments contribute to reducing drudgery and to achieving equitable workloads between men and women. The survey targeted ongoing projects from the five regions in which IFAD operates that were either in their second phase or a mature stage of operation. In each project, one community was covered and 24 households were targeted. The survey successfully covered seven communities and 140 households and was mainly conducted through project officers facilitated by country programme managers or country programme officers.

Water lies at the heart of sustainable development and is essential for economic growth, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. It is the basis of human and environmental health, energy security, sustainable urbanization and the ability of rural women and men in developing countries to pursue productive activities. 

But one billion people still lack access to safe water and even more lack access to basic sanitation. Around three quarters of the world’s poorest and hungriest people live in rural areas, often forgotten and bypassed by economic growth and development programmes. The majority of rural people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, but face numerous barriers in accessing services and securing vital resources, including water.

Dans le cadre du Programme de développement durable des oasis (PDDO), le Gouvernement mauritanien, le Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA) et le Fonds pour l’environnement mondial (FEM) ont introduit et testé le pompage à énergie solaire de l’eau à usage agricole dans les oasis. 

يعتبر الماء ذو أهمية أساسية للتنمية البشرية والبيئة والاقتصاد. الوصول إلى الماء والأمن المائي أمر بالغ الأهمية لتحسين الأمن الغذائي ودخل وسبل عيش المجتمعات الريفية. لا يزال الوصول الموثوق إلى المياه يشكل عقبة رئيسية أمام ملايين المزارعين الفقراء، معظمهم من المزارعين في المناطق البعلية، ولكن أيضًا المشاركين في الزراعة المروية. يشكل تغير المناخ وأنماط هطول الأمطار المتغيرة الناتجة تهديدًا لكثير من المزارعين، الذين يخاطرون بفقدان الأمن المائي والانزلاق مرة أخرى إلى مصيدة الفقر.وبالتالي فمن الضروري تعزيز قدرة المجتمعات على تبني ونشر تقنيات إدارة المياه الزراعية. 

The primary objective of the project was to promote innovative approaches and ICT-based technologies for timely transfer of weather, water-and crop related information and advice to relevant end users in Africa for informed decision-making and enhanced negotiation capacity with water and farm-related service providers.

Between 2009 and 2012, the IFAD-supported Scaling up Micro-irrigation Systems (SCAMPIS) project developed a market approach for the dissemination of locally adapted drip irrigation kits. 

The approach identifies the technology that is best suited to the local context and appropriate for the most vulnerable rural inhabitants. It then builds a sustainable local supply chain for the irrigation equipment that makes the technology affordable and available, not just for the duration of the project but in the long term.

In just three years, the pilot project was able to dramatically change the lives of 30,000 farmers and their families (in total, around 150,000 poor rural people) on three continents.