GINCHI BENCHMARK SITE, ETHIOPIA
Extreme degradation of domestic water supply was found to be the number one priority in all benchmark sites. Spring development was used in several sites as an "entry point" to catalyze more long-term investments by farmers in land management innovations that would increase both agricultural productivity and spring recharge.
The strong emphasis placed on the alleviation of farm-level productivity constraints by agricultural research and development organizations has led to a strong focus on farm-level biophysical processes. Yet integrated natural resource management (NRM) requires attention to broader units of analysis and intervention such as the community or watershed. Watershed management has emerged as an organizing principle for moving beyond the farm level, yet remains poorly operationalized in many places where it is being applied. Since 2003, AHI has been working to operationalize a watershed management approach that is both participatory and integrated. A description of the diverse stages and dimensions of watershed management as operationalized within AHI follows. Lessons learning is ongoing, with methods derived through an action research mode in which working approaches are identified and scrutinized in practice.
