Climate change makes sustainable water management vital

In the mountainous Kahmard District in Afghanistan the predominantly rural population (8’000 families) sustains on very limited irrigated land on the bottom of the valleys. An uncontrolled use of the natural resources on less fertile land in high altitude rangeland is leading not only to more floods in the valleys and decreasing soil fertility but also to reduced income for farmers. The degradation in the watersheds responsible for the floods which threaten houses, agricultural land and infrastructure in the villages of Kahmard district must be reduced. The problem can only be solved in the long term by an improved management of the areas where runoff and erosion originate. This is why Helvetas is in the process of launching a community-based watershed management project focusing on short- and long-term solutions.

Improving livelihoods through holistic watershed management
The purpose of the project is to help improve the livelihoods of the rural population in the Kahmard district by reducing flood damage and increasing long-term land productivity through holistic watershed management. More specifically, the project aims at reducing the threat of devastating flash floods and re-establishing the production potential of three watersheds through a combination of structural measures in the critical water courses, providing quick solutions, and re-vegetation in the watersheds, offering mid- to long-term improvements.
Helvetas, supported by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, is in the process of launching a community-based watershed management project focusing on both short- and long-term solutions. Emphasis will be placed on measures for sustainable watershed management to prevent the risk of floods from increasing. If land degradation is allowed to continue, the reservoirs created by the planned dams will soon become silted. Effective management may also help to re-establish productivity on degraded land in the watersheds and thus contribute to solving other major issues in the region.

Organic farming and fair trade are increasingly recognized as an efficient way to improve incomes and livelihoods of smallholders in developing and middle income countries. The number of projects to develop organic and/or fairtrade value chains (OFTVCs) is constantly increasing. However, experience shows that successful and efficient implementation of these projects is in many cases limited by the capacities of implementing agencies and farmer organisations in developing this particular type of value chains. OFTVCs require specific know-how and skills for designing the production system and the supply chain, organizing extension and certification, building viable institutional structures and business plans, developing commercial partnerships, etc. All over the world, organisations involved in OFTVC projects generated valuable know-how and lessons learnt in many of these aspects. Hence a large potential for further improvement lies in mutually exchanging and consolidating this knowledge.

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