1. Project: Giving ‘latecomers’ a head start: Reorienting irrigation investments in the White Volta Basin to improve ecosystem services and the livelihoods of women and youth
Asare Mintah, Director Planning & Coordination, Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA)

2. Participating Institutions
Focal Person
Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA)
Dr. Ben Vas Nyamadi
University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale
Prof. Saa Dittoh
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
Dr. Pamela Katic
Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD) Directorate , MoFA
Dr. Mary Opoku-Asiama

3. Order of Presentation Introduction Problem Statement Project Purpose
Methodology
Preliminary Findings
Some Achievements so Far
Conclusion

4. Introduction
The project has northern Ghana as its focus, specifically Bawku West, Nabdam and Kassena -Nankana Districts in Upper East region and Kumbungu District in the Northern region.
The project is being implemented in 2 communities in each of the 4 districts.
The project has already started with numerous consultations at the district and community levels.

5. Introduction
Among key activities implemented by the project are the following:
Focus group discussions
Key informant interviews
Household surveys
Gender needs assessment & validation
Biophysical measurements
Ranking of ecosystem services

6. The Problem
Though the direct effects of irrigation on productivity, employment and incomes are well documented, there is overall paucity of information for decision-makers, farmers, public agencies, development partners and other investors to make informed and evidence-based irrigation investment decisions at different scales in the Volta Basin. The main problem the study tries to address is the poor development outcomes of irrigation investments in the northern Ghana portion of the White Volta Basin.

7. The root causes and drivers of the problem are of multiple interrelated dimensions: (i) institutional, such as inadequate investments on physical infrastructure; limited active involvement of beneficiaries in design, implementation and management of schemes; inadequate systems for providing extension and technical support; over-emphasis of research and development projects on increased crop production (rather than on whole value chains);

8. (ii) economic, such as poorly functioning markets; (iii) social, such as underdeveloped local management and leadership capacity; lack of collective organization and trust; (iv) environmental, such as degraded landscapes. Given the potentially high rewards, but also high possibility of failure, the assessment of irrigation investments must go beyond scale to integrate concerns regarding ecosystem services, livelihood impacts, and youth and women’s empowerment. There is need to generate new knowledge on feedback mechanisms and indirect effects that link irrigation, livelihoods and ecosystem services, as well as the effects on gender and generational equity.

9. Purpose
The project aims at evaluating the impacts of selected irrigation systems on the White Volta Basin in northern Ghana at three scales (small, medium and large) to:
Examine the contribution of each irrigation system to enhanced rural livelihoods and gender and generational equity; each system will be assessed to determine its economic, social and environmental impacts.
Examine how ecosystem services underpin this development and are affected by it.

10. Undertake a comparative analysis of systems at the three scales in order to explain relative differences in their contributions to livelihoods, equity and healthy ecosystems.
Examine the potential for up- and out-scaling of irrigation investments that give women and youth a ‘head start’ and the changes in policy and skills needed to provide them with positive incentives for the sustainable management of ecosystems and their services.

11. Method
The project is divided into three work packages (WPs): (i) WP 1: Analysis of processes of irrigation impacts on livelihoods, gender & generational equity and how these processes are underpinned by ecosystem services. Primary data collected from men and women within the same households and non-experimental impact evaluation methods are being analyzed to ascertain the impacts of irrigation systems at the three scales on livelihoods.

12. (ii) WP 2: Identify policy and institutional changes and develop women and youth’s capacities to improve irrigation design and implementation to maximize gender, livelihood and ecosystem outcomes. Institutional, policy and cultural frameworks are being appraised to determine the feasibility of alternative policy options and investments. The policies, regulations and informal rules that affect farmers’ multiple use and management of ecosystems in irrigation schemes are being analyzed. (iii) WP 3: Examine opportunities for out-scaling promising irrigation investments to other areas in northern Ghana.

13. Preliminary Findings
Stakeholder consultations and interactions as well as analysis of FGDs and key informant interviews from the sites indicate some preliminary findings:
Women’s participation in irrigation across all the sites is very low and the main reason given was that irrigation activities are too labour intensive. Issues of land ownership and inadequate access to productive resources are also other reasons.

14. There is high involvement of the youth in irrigated agriculture in all the project and other sites
Farmers and other community members are aware of the many economic, social and environmental benefits of irrigated agriculture but it has also resulted in severe negative consequences especially with regard to environmental degradation and the destruction of diverse ecosystem services

15. The unavailability of water for irrigation during 2014/15 irrigation season in many parts of the UER has affected livelihoods very negatively.

16. Some Achievements so Far
Irrigation innovative platforms used to sensitize female/young irrigators on how to derive full benefits of irrigation and participate in new value chains.
Ecosystem services assessment and ranking used to educate female, young irrigators on innovative technologies and strategies to be used for supporting conservation of critical ecosystem services in the project area.

17. Some Project Achievements so Far
Training needs assessment done, validated and training material being developed in response to identified needs
Project communities have assessed relative importance of ecosystem services and have been sensitized to the relationships between ecosystem services and their livelihoods
Knowledge and understanding of some NGOs in project area in irrigation, ecosystems and ecosystem services have been enhanced

18. Some Project Achievements so Far
Draft policy brief as evidence-based decision-making tool to help GIDA and others to incorporate ecosystem concerns in their policies and plans.
Draft investment brief identifying promising irrigation technologies and practices suitable for women and youth needs catered to farmers and development partners
Conceptual framework on the complex relationships among irrigation, livelihoods and ecosystems services has been developed to give guidance to policy makers and implementers such as GIDA on how to incorporate ecosystem concerns in policies and plans

19. Conclusions
There is clear evidence from the stakeholder consultations, FGDs and other interactions with community leaders and members of the need for the research. The potential of irrigated agriculture to improve livelihoods and ecosystem services and resilience is high. There are however seemingly unsurmountable obstacles to the realization of the potential. They included infrastructural problems, limited irrigated scientific knowledge especially with regards to groundwater irrigation, land tenure, “unfriendly” ecosystem practices and ineffective policies and implementation difficulties. It is the hope of community members that the research will assist to overcome some of these obstacles.