Multiple Use Systems programme kicks off in South Africa
Multiple-use water supply systems that aim at providing families with between 50 - 200 litres per capita per day, provide important new opportunities for tackling poverty. Such systems recognise that water is not only about safe drinking water, but also has productive uses which can have a real impact on poverty and living standards.
An international five-year programme involving a wide range of partners has been launched with a long title - Models for Implementing Multiple-use Water Supply Systems for Enhanced Land and Water Productivity, Rural Livelihoods and Gender Equity. Fortunately it is also known as MUS for short.
Five river basins
The study will start shortly in five river basins: Limpopo, Nile, Indus-Ganges, Mekong, and the Andean "virtual basin". These are all basins where the Program of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), whose Challenge fund is supporting the project, already operates.
IRC staff Patrick Moriarty, Catarina Fonseca, and Stef Smits helped facilitate the inception meeting of the MUS project led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), from 27 January - 7 February 2004 in South Africa.
The goal is to improve poor people's food security and health, alleviate poverty and enhance gender equity through more productive use of water. Alliances of researchers, NGOs, private operators and governments will identify and scale up field-tested models and guidelines for self-financed, sustainable multiple-use water supply systems.
Partners
The majority, but not all, of the other partners in this US$ 1.5 million programme are from outside the domestic water sector: Natural Resources Institute (NRI), (UK), International Development Enterprise (IDE), (USA and India), Inetrnational Centre of Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) (Colombia), CINARA (Colombia), Mekkele University (Ethiopia) , Mvuramanzi Trust (Zimbabwe), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), (Kenya), Khon Kaen University (Thailand), and Population and Community Development Association (Thailand).
IRC partner CINARA contributed to the meeting and will coordinate the work in the Andean "virtual basin". Other IRC partners are also likely to be involved in various aspects of the work.
IRC leads dissemination and scaling-up
IRC's Patrick Moriarty will lead on disseminating information and preparation for scaling up successful lessons. He chairs the Steering Committee on this aspect, although all partners will be directly involved. As a co-convener of the global Thematic Group on Productive Uses of Water at the Household Level, he facilitates the contacts with this group. Other lead organisations will facilitate contacts between the project and partners and web sites they are already familiar with, leading to the formation of a global learning alliance.
IRC will support both national and global learning alliances through the design of platforms to share information about models and guidelines, using we bsites, publications, policy briefs and advocacy material in user-friendly format (text versions, CD, video, electronic). All the partners will use their own publicity channels for further dissemination.
Contact: Patrick Moriarty, moriarty@irc.nl
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