Water

Institutions to support intensification, integrated decision making and inclusiveness in agriculture in the East Gangetic Plain (EGP)

Overview

This project aimed to develop capacity within district, state and national agencies in the EGP to identify and consistently promote institutions that foster intensification, integration and inclusiveness.

By having agencies select better performing institutions farmers will receive clearer signals about profitable and sustainable agriculture; water resources will be used in ways that give account to its value and sustainable use across the region; and farmers will employ strategies that reduce vulnerability to market and climate risks.

The attention to inclusiveness will specifically benefit marginalized groups, such as women and girls in agriculture. Knowledge transfer approaches will be used that are sensitive to the needs of this cohort; there will be an improved understanding of how water institutions can be changed to make them more amenable to the needs of women; and risk management approaches will take account of the distinctive requirements of women and girls. 

This project is part of the DFAT/ACIAR-funded Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio (SDIP) program.

Project outcomes

  • Created an understanding within agencies of the existing institutions that influence farm-level choices across local and district scales against specific national objectives.
  • Empirically evaluated the performance of different institutional designs across three domains, using economic efficiency, equity and environmental sustainability as yardsticks. 
  • Fostered collaboration with and within state, district and national authorities by developing an agreed evidence-based framework for shaping institutions that promotes intensification, integration and inclusiveness.
  • Created institutional ‘field sites’ where the benefits of institutional change can be showcased and monitored beyond the life of this project.
     

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