Harnessing capacities and formulating policies for climate-smart water and agriculture resource management

Organizer: WWF-Pakistan, Soni Jawari Center for Public Policy, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

Objectives

• Share knowledge on integrated water resource management technologies with key stakeholders
• Enhance partnerships and synergies to scale investments and innovative solutions
• Engage policy partners to discuss integrated policy formulation and measures for agriculture, food, and nutrition security in Gilgit-Baltistan
• Disseminate lessons and best practices of the water resource management pilot interventions with wider stakeholders

Expected participants

The workshop will be attended by relevant government departments, potential development partners, community-based organisations, and funding agencies who could potentially invest to scale out the approach.

Background

The agriculture sector in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region significantly contributes to the regional economy. However, the sector is characterised by limited arable land and human capacity, dwindling irrigation water and other input supplies, inefficient irrigation methods, and poor market linkages. Glacier-fed water irrigates about 90% of the cultivated farms. Glacier lowering and GLOF incidences have been dismantling irrigation channels, thereby leading to reduced irrigation water supplies to fields. Furthermore, 50% of cultivable wasteland is located much above the river and lacks access to irrigation water. In such situations, river water lifting becomes inevitable to ensure continuous irrigation water supply to already- cultivated areas as well as cultivable wastelands.

ICIMOD through a consortium of partners led by WWF-Pakistan piloted climate-smart water management techniques to address some of these challenges. We introduced two different water management packages, including solar pump-assisted river water lifting and hydraulic ram pump-assisted river water lifting, both integrated with drip irrigation. We piloted both packages to support high-value agricultural interventions. The success of the piloted packages has attracted investments both from the public and private sectors and scaling up efforts are ongoing. In addition, ICIMOD through its Hindu Kush Karakoram Pamir Landscape (HKPL) Initiative has been working with SJCPP on promoting organic agriculture and on the formulation of agriculture, food, and nutrition policies for Gilgit-Baltistan.

Agenda