Groundwater Futures in Sub-Saharan Africa

Lead Research Organisation: Institute of Development Studies
Department Name: Research Department

Abstract

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Planned Impact

GroFutures will benefit: (1) poor water users (women and men, rural and urban) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through increased knowledge and evidence of sustainable groundwater use to alleviate poverty through improved resource management and enhanced health and livelihoods; (2) water planners and policy makers in SSA through the development of new evidence and methodologies to enable equitable and sustainable management of groundwater resources; and (3) research communities in SSA and beyond through creating improved new tools, methods and datasets for interdisciplinary analysis of groundwater resources and their management, as well as scholarly information exchanges and networking activities that will strengthen a growing Community of Practice involving Anglophone and Francophone scientists.

The primary pathway by which GroFutures will generate impacts for poor people is through the development of new evidence and tools which water managers in the focal countries and across SSA can use to: (1) target groundwater development where it can most effectively reduce poverty; and (2) ensure equitable and sustainable development of groundwater resources.

GroFutures will contribute to unlocking the poverty-reducing potential of groundwater in SSA by:
1) Establishing a unique Network of African Groundwater Observatories (NAGO) that will generate new evidence on groundwater availability and demand, including insights into how these are likely to change over the next two to three decades giving planners at basin, national and regional levels the information they need to plan for an equitable and sustainable allocation of groundwater for multiple users and uses;
2) Identifying locations in which groundwater development (for domestic supply or irrigation) is a technically appropriate and politically feasible strategy to reduce poverty;
3) Identifying locations at risk of future depletion due to likely demand/supply imbalances enabling appropriate management responses to be developed on a preventive rather than curative basis;
4) Providing specific information on variations in groundwater availability and demand which can carry high costs for economies and for the livelihoods of poor people and make planning and management difficult;
5) Strengthening the capacity of water planners, researchers and their institutions through the co-production of knowledge and collaborative, demand-led research and stakeholder engagement;
6) Identifying governance arrangements for pro-poor, sustainable groundwater management, in collaboration with water managers and other key stakeholders; and
7) Disseminating new evidence and knowledge on the positive outcomes of groundwater development for health and livelihoods enabling poverty alleviation.

The GroFutures team will engage staff of national, regional and local water bureaux in Ethiopia, Niger and Tanzania, as well as basin authorities (Great Ruaha, Niger) as project partners from the start in the research planning, data analysis and tool/metric development and piloting. They will also embed new scientific knowledge, models and methods for managing groundwater for poverty alleviation within water ministries to inform decision-making and initiate discussions about equity in groundwater development among relevant stakeholders.

Production and dissemination of high quality, open-source publications - in the form of academic outputs in high impact journals, as well as targeted policy briefs and other bespoke communications materials suited to different audiences - will be a central aim of the project. These will involve all members of the team and will be published in English, as well as French, Amharic, Hausa and Kiswahili, where appropriate. All materials and information will be accessible via a dedicated, bilingual website (grofutures.org) that is linked to institutional websites of the project team (AAU, BGS, IDS-STEPS, IGRAC, IRD, IWMI, SUA, UAM, UCL, UoS) and the UPGro Knowledge Broker.

Publications

10 25 50

 
Description As major socio-economic and biophysical changes take place across Sub-Saharan Africa, local communities and national governments are confronted with critical decisions of how to develop their groundwater resources in order to increase access to safe water and expand irrigated agriculture. Governance arrangements for making such decisions are susceptible to the influence of powerful actors and interests, and often lack a credible scientific basis. Here, we present the outcomes of a transdisciplinary study of 'Groundwater Development Pathways' (GDPs) analysed with multiple stakeholders at a range of overlapping (polycentric) scales in three basin observatories, primarily featuring agrarian communities in Ethiopia, Niger and Tanzania. Multicriteria Mapping (MCM) was employed and involved three phases. First, a set of six plausible, quantitative GDPs was constructed through a deliberative multi-stakeholder 'Pathways Approach' involving key informant and focus group interviews with water-user associations, technical experts and policy makers, taking care to avoid manipulation by individual actors and be informed by expert knowledge of hydrogeologic and socio-economic contexts. Second, the viability and sustainability of constructed GDPs were 'stress-tested' using groundwater-flow models in MODFLOW that integrate a physical understanding of the groundwater commons informed by local, field-based observations. Third, stakeholders evaluated the outcomes of the stress-tested GDPs using criteria set by themselves, with the support of the GroFutures team. These engagements found that while there was a diversity of stakeholder perspectives on the potential of the different pathways, there was also clear preference for those pathways that were more integrated and multi-purpose in scope.
Exploitation Route Insights from the GroFutures work has informed national level decision-making in the three focal countries on groundwater development issues. Basin authorities have taken on board lessons about pursuing a multi-scale, integrated, multi-purpose approach to groundwater development. Furthermore, GroFutures findings contributed to a set of outputs and engagements led by the Programme Coordination Team (PCG) of the NERC-ESRC-DFID supported Unlocking the Potential of Groundwater for the Poor (UPGro) Programme which influenced the strategic aims and activities of the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW). This resulted in AMCOW placing greater emphasis on developing and sustaining groundwater resources to support broad-based development and growth across the region.
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

Education

Environment

Government

Democracy and Justice

Other

URL https://upgro.org/consortium/grofutures2/
 
Description GroFutures research derived from inter-disciplinary research in three basins in each of Tanzania, Ethiopia and Niger found: (1) substantial increases in urban and irrigated-land areas have occurred at the expense of natural land cover; (2) access to groundwater for productive purposes is associated with improved agricultural production, reduced agricultural risk, and increased household income; and (3) stakeholders expressed a strong preference for small to medium-scale, multi-purpose groundwater development pathways that are managed municipally and a strong aversion to large-scale groundwater development pathways due largely to concerns of environmental impact and equity. GroFutures also led a pan-African analysis of long-term piezometric records under conditions of varying aridity across 9 countries in tropical Africa that revealed a bias in groundwater replenishment to heavy rainfalls that is most pronounced in drylands and is often predictable, associated with large-scale controls on climate variability such as El Niño. Further the research highlighted the importance of focused recharge pathways in replenishing aquifers in drylands, a process that is not represented in hydrological models estimating recharge and the impacts of climate change on groundwater recharge. Detailed field research in a semi-arid environment, the Makutapora Wellfield supplying Tanzania's capital city, Dodoma, shows that groundwater replenishment is episodic, occurring primarily during heavy rain events associated with El Nino; this replenishment results primarily via leakage from ephemeral stream discharge. URL: http://www.grofutures.org Research under GroFutures at the Makutapora Wellfield supplying Tanzania's capital city, Dodoma, shows that groundwater replenishment is episodic and occurs primarily during heavy rain events associated with El Niño events. Further, field research also shows that it occurs primarily via leakage from ephemeral stream discharge associated with heavy rainfall events. As a consequence of this research, the Government of Tanzania with support from The World Bank has issued a tender for the development plans to explore the feasibility of enhancing wellfield replenishment through Managed Aquifer Recharge in order to improve the capacity and resilience of Dodoma's water supply. In 2022, members of the GroFutures team, together with new colleagues in India, prepared an application to the Canadian IDRC-UK FCDO supported Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) project to deepen and extend the methodological innovations pioneered under our original UPGro-supported project. The aim is to develop a new, multi-sited, collaborative research project, 'CLimate Adaptation and Resilience In Tropical drYlands' (CLARITY), to address the critical need to identify equitable, sustainable and climate-resilient development pathways in tropical drylands. This Global South-led project will result in the creation of long term assets (data, tools) and capacities to achieve transformational change. Tropical drylands are home to some of the poorest and most marginalized communities and are highly vulnerable to climate change. In these regions, groundwater (GW) plays a vital role, sustaining water supplies and livelihoods due to its ability to buffer against climate variability. GW development offers opportunities for both sustainable development and climate resilience. But if poorly managed, there are risks of depletion, inequitable access and unsustainable development pathways. The application was formally approved in January 2023 and the 3.5 year, CAN$8 million project will begin in May. In CLARITY, we will focus on three 'Transformational Labs' (T-Labs) in India, Niger-Nigeria and Tanzania, which span a range of dryland settings and capture the complex challenges of rural/urban water resilience under rapid development. The T-Labs are collaborative spaces where people take an active role in co-developing sustainable, equitable pathways. Our approach is solutions-focused, transdisciplinary and novel in three ways: 1. Co-construct narratives of water management with marginalized groups based on video diaries and interviews and train 'para-hydrogeologists' in the community and analyse to collect data for local action. 2. Use the narratives and data to build models that generate disaggregated, technically and socially 'plausible' pathways. 3. Engage with key change makers to ensure the research gets embedded in wider policy processes and communities of practice by sharing tools, training materials, interactive reports and 'serious games'.
First Year Of Impact 2022
Sector Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other
Impact Types Policy & public services

 
Description Field Guide on Participatory Research for Identifying and Analysing Groundwater Development Pathways
Geographic Reach Africa 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
 
Description Banking the Rain: enhancing the resilience of water supplies in dryland Africa
Amount £92,000 (GBP)
Funding ID 172313 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2016 
End 03/2017
 
Description Danida (ESGUSA Project)
Amount 870,000 kr. (DKK)
Funding ID 17-M10-KU 
Organisation University of Copenhagen 
Sector Academic/University
Country Denmark
Start 03/2018 
End 09/2020
 
Description Enhancing Sustainable Groundwater Use in Africa - Phase 2
Amount 90,000 kr. (DKK)
Organisation University of Copenhagen 
Sector Academic/University
Country Denmark
Start 03/2022 
End 02/2025
 
Description Grant for groundwater survey in the Nigerian part of the Iullemmeden Basin for students of UNIMAID
Amount € 1,500 (EUR)
Organisation Institute of Development Research (IRD) 
Sector Academic/University
Country France
Start 03/2017 
End 06/2017
 
Description Royal Society - Leverhulme Trust Senior Fellowship
Amount £51,000 (GBP)
Funding ID LT170004 
Organisation The Royal Society 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2017 
End 09/2018
 
Description Scholarship (GroFutures Research Assistantship)
Amount £1,200,000 (XOF)
Organisation Abdou Moumouni University 
Sector Academic/University
Country Niger
Start 08/2017 
End 09/2019
 
Description UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund
Amount £88,500 (GBP)
Funding ID GCRF UCL QR 
Organisation University College London 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2018 
End 06/2019
 
Description UN SDGs: Pathways to Achievement scheme, 2021-22 - Advancing and sustaining progress towards UN SDGs in African drylands - crossing disciplinary and international boundaries
Amount £10,000 (GBP)
Funding ID 556298 
Organisation University College London 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2022 
End 07/2022
 
Description USAID (GRECHLIM Project)
Amount $90,000 (USD)
Funding ID AID-OAA-A-11-00012 / 2000006305 
Organisation International Water Management Institute (IWMI) 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country Sri Lanka
Start 01/2016 
End 12/2018
 
Title A Field Guide on Participatory Research for Identifying and Analysing Groundwater Development Pathways 
Description A detailed (102 page) field guide was prepared for GroFutures social scientists to support community-level research on groundwater use and management problems and opportunities. It focuses particularly on qualitative data collection obtained through the use of Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods. The aim is to provide sufficient information to ensure that a standard set of information would be collected across all local partners and in all the focal communities in the three 'Basin Observatories'. Although clearly designed to meet the specific research objectives of the GroFutures project, we believe the integrated approach and novel set of methods presented here will also be of interest to other researchers working on agriculture, water and natural resource governance and management issues. 
Type Of Material Physiological assessment or outcome measure 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The country research teams are now intending to combine qualitative research methods based on the Field Guide with a targeted household survey in selected field sites. This quant-qual approach will yield insights on changes in groundwater availability, access and use in the study communities and inform the development of the GroFutures 'Pathways Approach'. 
URL http://grofutures.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GroFutures-Field-Guide-on-Participatory-Research-No...
 
Title Water-Table Fluctuation Method 
Description Analytical tool for groundwater-level time series data analysis 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The analytical tool for groundwater-level time series data analysis is currently available to GroFutures project members and researchers who received training on the research tool in February 2017 in a training workshop organised by GroFutures. 
 
Title Integrated surface water - groundwater model of the Makutapora Basin, Tanzania 
Description The development model in MIKE-SHE has been calibrated with observational records and applied to test scenarios of groundwater withdrawals for the city of Dodoma, Tanzania. 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact The model outcomes have been shared with the Tanzanian government. These outcomes are of utmost importance as they show that increased pumpage from the wellfield supplying the capital of Tanzania, Dodoma, is unsustainable. 
 
Title Long-term groundwater-level anomalies across Sub-Saharan Africa 
Description Multi-decadal time series of groundwater levels were compiled by the authors from records of observation wells initiated and maintained by government departments and research institutions in nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The pan-African collation of these hydrographs was initiated at the 41st Congress of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) in Marrakech (Morocco) on 14th September 2014. All records were subjected to a rigorous review by the authors during which the integrity, continuity, duration and interpretability of records were evaluated. This process included dedicated workshops in Benin, Tanzania, and Uganda, and records failing these tests were discarded from the analysis. Procedures included taking of the first time derivative to identify anomalous spikes in records commonly associated with errors of data-entry. Where multiple records in same geographic and climate zone were available (e.g. Benin, South Africa) we prioritized records remote from potential areas of intensive abstraction. Statistical clustering of records was also used in the Limpopo Basin of South Africa to identify the representativity of employed records at Modderfontein and Sterkloop. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The development of this research database is allowing, for the first time, a continent-wide analysis of the impacts of groundwater use, climate variability and change, and land-use change on groundwater storage across Africa. 
URL http://www.un-igrac.org/special-project/chronicles-consortium
 
Title MIKE-SHE hydrological model of the Upper Awash Basin, Ethiopia 
Description A basin-scale hydrological model in MIKE-SHE has been calibrated to observations and run with a range of climate projections to evaluate climate change impacts on the hydrology of this basin. 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact The calibrated MIKE-SHE model highlights the magnitude of uncertainty associated with climate change impacts on terrestrial hydrology as well as the intensification of rainfall as a result of global warming on river discharge. 
 
Title Questionnaires from 400 households on groundwater use in each of Ethiopia, Niger and Tanzania 
Description Database comprises 400 respondents to questionnaires on groundwater use in groundwater observatories in Ethiopia, Niger and Tanzania 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2018 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Analyses of questionnaire data are on-going in 2019. 
 
Description African Groundwater Atlas - Phase II - Institute of Development Studies Support to the Social Science Component of the African Water Atlas in Partnership with the British Geological Survey 
Organisation British Geological Survey
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Developed 20 social science case studies of groundwater development in Africa. These have now been added to the AGWA website.
Collaborator Contribution Sharing contacts, refining content and promoting the African Groundwater Atlas.
Impact The social science case studies were added to the AGWA website to provide real-world examples of groundwater development and use in different contexts to complement the mainly physical science material on the site.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Banking the rain: Understanding episodic groundwater recharge from 2015-16 El Nino rains in semi-arid Tanzania, for sustainable water supplies 
Organisation University of Sussex
Department Department of Geography
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution My research team and I prepared a proposal to NERC for funding under the programme, "Understanding the Impacts of the Current El Nino Event".
Collaborator Contribution My partners contributed to the preparation of a proposal to NERC for funding under the programme, "Understanding the Impacts of the Current El Nino Event".
Impact A proposal was submitted to NERC through JeS and we are awaiting the outcomes of this evaluation.
Start Year 2016
 
Description GRECHLIM: Groundwater Recharge in the Limpopo Basin 
Organisation US Geological Survey
Country United States 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution GroFutures research team members, Karen Villholth and Tamiru Abiye, have developed this partnership funded by USAID and involving the US Geological Survey allied to GroFutures research in the Limpopo Basin of South Africa.
Collaborator Contribution The GRECHLIM Project collaborate with the following main partners: Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), South Africa, Department of Water Affairs (DWA), Botswana, Limpopo Watercourse Commission (LIMCOM), Water Research Commission (WRC), South Africa, Southern African Development Community (SADC), and University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Impact The project has so far supported field work for three MSc students from the University of Witwatersrand. Two of these students have submitted their theses for examination at the end of February 2017, while the third student has started field work in March 2017. We are expecting more MSc students to join the project team during the course of the year. Furthermore, the project also provided training for PhD and MSc student from both South Africa and Botswana on groundwater recharge estimation techniques on 11-12 October 2016 at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Groundwater model for Dendron/ Hout catchment has been developed to understand the groundwater use and recharge dynamics. Furthermore, independent groundwater recharge estimation using geochemical and stable isotope techniques is in progress. Therefore, we believe that these information could contribute for the development of better groundwater management plan in the basin.
Start Year 2015
 
Description GroFutures: Groundwater Futures in Sub-Saharan Africa 
Organisation Addis Ababa University
Country Ethiopia 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution NERC/ESRC/DFID Grants (Ref. NE/L002043/1; NE/M008932/1), GroFutures: Groundwater Futures in Sub-Saharan Africa, has been awarded as a result of a consortium developed under the project.
Collaborator Contribution Partners contributed to the development of the successful NERC/ESRC/DFID Catalyst and Programme Grant Proposals.
Impact NERC/ESRC/DFID Grants (Ref. NE/L002043/1; NE/M008932/1), GroFutures: Groundwater Futures in Sub-Saharan Africa, has been awarded as a result of a consortium developed under the project.
Start Year 2013
 
Description GroFutures: Groundwater Futures in Sub-Saharan Africa 
Organisation Sokoine University of Agriculture
Country Tanzania, United Republic of 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution NERC/ESRC/DFID Grants (Ref. NE/L002043/1; NE/M008932/1), GroFutures: Groundwater Futures in Sub-Saharan Africa, has been awarded as a result of a consortium developed under the project.
Collaborator Contribution Partners contributed to the development of the successful NERC/ESRC/DFID Catalyst and Programme Grant Proposals.
Impact NERC/ESRC/DFID Grants (Ref. NE/L002043/1; NE/M008932/1), GroFutures: Groundwater Futures in Sub-Saharan Africa, has been awarded as a result of a consortium developed under the project.
Start Year 2013
 
Description Groundwater Game Development and Prototyping 
Organisation United Nations (UN)
Department International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC)
Country Netherlands 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution IDS - technical lead on design and programming of User Interface and Game Manager improvements; UCL - support on testing and application
Collaborator Contribution IGRAC - coordination of game planning, website and materials, Euros 10,000;
Impact 1. Supported the Game Manager role by automating data entry processes, providing notifications and monitoring, and incorporating a Game Manager help function. 2. Extended and added functionality to game to accelerate game flow and provide more in-game tracking of players. 3. Prototyped User Interface designs for the various Game Management screens required to support the above functionality.
Start Year 2019
 
Description Groundwater Game Development and Prototyping 
Organisation University College London
Department Department of Geography
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution IDS - technical lead on design and programming of User Interface and Game Manager improvements; UCL - support on testing and application
Collaborator Contribution IGRAC - coordination of game planning, website and materials, Euros 10,000;
Impact 1. Supported the Game Manager role by automating data entry processes, providing notifications and monitoring, and incorporating a Game Manager help function. 2. Extended and added functionality to game to accelerate game flow and provide more in-game tracking of players. 3. Prototyped User Interface designs for the various Game Management screens required to support the above functionality.
Start Year 2019
 
Description Groundwater Game Development and Prototyping 
Organisation University of Sussex
Department Department of International Development Studies
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution IDS - technical lead on design and programming of User Interface and Game Manager improvements; UCL - support on testing and application
Collaborator Contribution IGRAC - coordination of game planning, website and materials, Euros 10,000;
Impact 1. Supported the Game Manager role by automating data entry processes, providing notifications and monitoring, and incorporating a Game Manager help function. 2. Extended and added functionality to game to accelerate game flow and provide more in-game tracking of players. 3. Prototyped User Interface designs for the various Game Management screens required to support the above functionality.
Start Year 2019
 
Description Sustaining groundwater use in the Hout Catchment in the Limpopo Basin of South Africa 
Organisation University of Copenhagen
Department Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management
Country Denmark 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution GroFutures is actively collaborating with the University of Copenhagen and the University of Western Cape (South Africa) in an analysis of the sustainability of groundwater use in the Hout Catchment, part of the Limpopo Basin in South Africa. GroFutures has provided a detailed analysis including a basin model of the hydrology and hydrogeology of this catchment and is contributing to the analysis of extreme weather events and their relation to groundwater recharge as well as engaging with stakeholders in workshops to better understand groundwater use and opportunities for community monitoring of water resources (i.e. Citizen Science).
Collaborator Contribution University of Western Cape is providing inputs to stakeholder engagement processes including Citizen Science as well as the understanding of the hydrogeology of the Hout Catchment. University of Copenhagen is providing inputs around numerical modelling.
Impact Outcomes include a paper in an international, peer-reviewed journal and active participation in stakeholder engagement meetings.
Start Year 2018
 
Description The Chronicles Consortium 
Organisation Institute of Development Research (IRD)
Country France 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The Chronicles Consortium is an international consortium of scientists from (currently) 12 countries across Africa and beyond collating and analysing multi-decadal records of groundwater levels, representing long-term aquifer dynamics, in order to assess the impacts of groundwater use, climate variability and change, and land-use change on groundwater storage across Africa. It is a joint initiative of the African Groundwater Network (AGW-Net), IAH Commission on Groundwater and Climate Change, and UNESCO-IHP GRAPHIC programme that is supported by the UPGro (Unlocking the Potential of Groundwater for the Poor) programme of the UK government (DFID, NERC, ESRC) and the French government (IRD).
Collaborator Contribution The consortium was established at the 41st Congress of the IAH (International Association of Hydrogeologists) in Marrakech, Morocco on 14 September 2014 and is led by Guillaume Favreau (IRD, France), and Richard Taylor (University College London, UK).
Impact Collation and analysis of multi-decadal groundwater-level records from 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa; special sessions at the 41st, 42nd and 43rd Congresses of the IAH; a training and knowledge co-production workshop (http://grofutures.org/article/pan-african-groundwater-level-analysis-and-training-workshop/) leading to high-profile research papers (in review at Nature) and special section of a international peer-reviewed journal, HydrogeologyJournal (https://link.springer.com/journal/10040/topicalCollection/AC_e3c0faa5b3f6346668bc822aa431123d).
Start Year 2015
 
Description UPGro Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and British Geological Survey (BGS) Collaboration 
Organisation British Geological Survey
Department Geomagnetism Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution New partnership between the British Geological Survey (BGS) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), which is a co-PI on Groundwater Futures in Sub-Saharan Africa (GroFutures) has formed to provide key social science elements to the further development of the African Groundwater Atlas (https://upgro.org/africa-groundwater-atlas/), with support from NERC-ESRC-DFID through the 'Unlocking the Potential of Groundwater for the Poor' (UPGro) programme. GroFutures will provide key social science information to this newly established collaboration.
Collaborator Contribution British Geological Survey (BGS) has already developed the African Groundwater Atlas that is publicly available (https://www.bgs.ac.uk/africagroundwateratlas/) and provides a summary of geological and hydrogeological environments of 51 African countries in Africa. The newly established collaboration will further enrich the African Groundwater Atlas by including critical social science elements for sustainable groundwater development in Sub-Saharan Africa
Impact No outputs or outcomes have yet resulted from this collaboration.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Water stressed cities: individual choice, access to water and pathways to resilience in sub-Saharan Africa 
Organisation Cardiff University
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Collaboration between Professor Japhet Kashaigili (GroFutures co-PI @ Sokoine University of Agriculture) and Dr. Adrian Healey at Cardiff for a project titled: Water stressed cities: individual choice, access to water and pathways to resilience in sub-Saharan Africa funded by UKRI (2021-2023).
Collaborator Contribution Collaboration between Professor Japhet Kashaigili (GroFutures co-PI @ Sokoine University of Agriculture) and Dr. Adrian Healey at Cardiff for a project titled: Water stressed cities: individual choice, access to water and pathways to resilience in sub-Saharan Africa funded by UKRI (2021-2023).
Impact Multi-disciplinary collaboration (hydrogeology and behavioural science) between Professor Japhet Kashaigili (GroFutures co-PI @ Sokoine University of Agriculture) and Dr. Adrian Healey at Cardiff for a project titled: Water stressed cities: individual choice, access to water and pathways to resilience in sub-Saharan Africa funded by UKRI (2021-2023).
Start Year 2020
 
Description 1st Multi-Stakeholder Workshop in the Hout Catchment of South Africa: establishing Citizen Science 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact GroFutures contributed to the 1st Multi-Stakeholder Workshop in the Hout Catchment of the Limpopo Basin South Africa in an effort to establish Citizen Science activities, primarily monitoring water resources. 48 people from government, community organisations, farmers, consultants and researchers participated in a two-day meeting evaluating the sustainability of groundwater use in the Hout Catchment including the dependency upon groundwater and opportunities for improving monitoring through Citizen Science.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description African Ministerial Council on Water - Africa Water and Sanitation Week 2021 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact GroFutures led and presented in three conference sessions at the AMCOW Africa Water and Sanitation Week 2021

Under what conditions are groundwater resources resilient to climate change? (PI Taylor)
• Groundwater replenishment from flood discharges in central Tanzania: sustaining Dodoma's water supply (co-PI Kashaigili)
• Sustaining groundwater withdrawals in SE Niger from episodic flows of the transboundary River Goulbi de Maradi (co-PI Nazoumou)
• Groundwater recharge from heavy rainfall in the southwestern Lake Chad Basin: evidence from isotopic observations (co-I Goni)
Putting Groundwater on the pan-African Agenda for Resilience and Sustainable Socioeconomic Transformation (co-PIs Villholth, MacDonald)
Managed Aquifer Recharge and its role in climate change resilience in Africa (co-PI Villholth)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://amcow-online.org/events/join-amcow-at-the-world-water-week-2021
 
Description GROFUTURES INCEPTION WORKSHOP IN ADDIS ABABA 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Some 25 social and physical scientists from 12 participating organisations in 11 different countries met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to kick-off the GroFutures project. The GroFutures team began the workshop with a field trip to the Upper Awash Basin to assess changing patterns of groundwater management and use. Team members then worked together to review integrated physical and social science research plans in the 3 focal 'Basin Observatories' comprising the Upper Awash (Ethiopia), Great Ruaha (Tanzania), and Iullemmeden (Niger/Nigeria).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
URL http://grofutures.org/article/grofutures-launched-at-inception-workshop-in-addis-ababa/
 
Description GroFutures Great Ruaha Basin Stakeholder Inception Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Sokoine University of Agriculture of Tanzania hosted the GroFutures Great Ruaha Basin Inception Workshop in Iringa on March 31st 2016. It was opened by the District Commissioner for Iringa, Hon. Richard Kasesela, and was attended by national, basin-level and local stakeholders (listed below) who discussed current groundwater use and management in the Great Ruaha Sub-Catchment of the Rufiji Basin and as well as both proposed and potential groundwater development pathways that might best reduce poverty. The event was featured on national television news in Tanzania (see clip here) and leading newspapers (The Guardian, Mwananchi).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://grofutures.org/article/grofutures-launch-in-tanzania/
 
Description GroFutures Upper Awash Basin Stakeholder Inception Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact GroFutures Ethiopian team led by Prof. Tenalem Ayenew hosted an inception workshop held at Addis Ababa on July 9, 2016. The workshop was attended by national and local level stakeholders from ministries (Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources) zonal and wereda-level water, mineral, agriculture offices, Awash River basin and oromia irrigation development authorities, and zonal and wereda level administrations.
Richard Taylor, lead principal investigator of the groundwater futures project, opened the workshop pointing out the importance of understanding and managing the available groundwater for drinking and especially, sustainable irrigated agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. He added, grofutures project is seeking to improve the understanding and management of groundwater resources under the changing climate and development practices through answering questions regarding how much groundwater is available, how much water is accessible and how much is renewable. He also demonstrates, how important it would be to understand the tradeoffs and opportunities of intensive groundwater use and to answer critical questions including what role do the irrigation officers and local farmers get in the discussion of future groundwater development and use. He wrapped up the opening of the workshop by stating that grofutures is about knowledge generation to substantially improve understanding of replenishment of the groundwater resource and how it behaves in the future as a function of climate change, change in land use land cover and trends of groundwater use.
A number of discussion points both from the physical science grofutures team (Prof. Tenalem and Ato Behailu) and social science team (John Thompson, Moutuma and Birhanu) were presented and thoroughly discussed by the participants. The physical science team presented the physical environment of Upper Awash basin with particular emphasis to Becho and Koka plane, which are focal areas of the grofutures research in the Upper Awash basin. Methodology of groundwater assessment, data availability, preliminary results and next work plan have been presented. Water quality assessment, within the context of the grofutures objective were raised to be incorporated by the participants.
Besides, wereda level field survey on population growth, population density, irrigation area, land use and land cover, types, characteristics and ownership of shallow wells and water extraction technologies were presented by the social science team. After important reflections which will enrich the theme of the project were gathered from the participants, Prof. John Thompson, lead investigator of the social component of the groundwater futures project, concluded aspect of the social presentation by emphasizing the importance of identifying groundwater development pathways in the course of grofutures research period, which enable us move from narrow set of 'groundwater roads' to a wider set of possible groundwater futures that are more proper, sustainable and bring about large scale benefits to poverty reduction and improvements in wellbeing.
Group discussions on two key points: 1. the key opportunities (physical, socioeconomic and political) and threats to improving GW management in Upper Awash basin for alleviating poverty and improving livelihoods and 2. the current and projected uses of groundwater for agricultural water supplies (e.g. crops, livestock's) created a ground to exchange ideas among stake holders. Important thinking and finding generated from the group discussions were presented for the attendants.
Finally, as the nature of the project is multidisciplinary integrating social and natural science, the need to have a platform for the different stakeholders to exchange information were raised. The grofutures team and leaders of the project thank the participants for their insight during the discussions and willingness to cooperate in the future.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description GroFutures transboundary Iullemmeden Basin Stakeholder Inception Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact GroFutures Iullemmeden Basin Stakeholder Workshop was held at Abdou Moumouni University (UAM) of Niamey in Niger on 23rd August 2016. The workshop was opened by the Vice Chancellor, Hon. Professor Amadou Boureima, and welcomed by the Director General of Water Resources in the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation of Niger, Mr. Abdou Moumouni Moussa; Engineer Koné Soungalo representing the Niger Basin Authority; Dr. Oumarou Malam Issa, Country Representative of IRD in Niger; and the Deans of Faculties of Sciences and Agronomy (UAM). The workshop was hosted by the GroFutures team from UAM (Professor Yahaya Nazoumou, Dr. Ouassa Tiekoura), the University of Maiduguri in Nigeria (Professor Ibrahim Baba Goni, Dr. Shettima Abba Gana), and IRD (Dr. Guillaume Favreau). Over 40 participants participated and included representatives from agricultural cooperatives (Coopérative périmètre irrigué in Maradi, Coopérative agricole in Gaya), regional (Maradi, Dosso) and national offices of the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation, and local universities (Mardi, Diffa).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://grofutures.org/article/grofutures-launch-in-transboundary-iullemmeden-basin/
 
Description Groundwater Futures Multistakeholder Engagement for the Iullemmeden Basin, Niger 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact In July 2019, Groundwater Futures colleagues from Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the ESRC STEPS Centre and University College London (UCL), in collaboration with partners at Universite Abdou Moumouni de Niamey (UAMN), hosted the third and final multi-stakeholder engagement at which a set of Groundwater Development Pathways (GDP) were assessed using Multicriteria Mapping (MCM). Unlike the first two MCM events in Tanzania and Ethiopia, which involved a workshop format where the stakeholders and researchers met in a single room and analysed the GDPs in parallel, because of security and logistical reasons, separate interactions were arranged with individuals and small groups of stakeholders to take them through the MCM process and the assessment of the pathways. This required several days of intensive discussions and meant a final feedback session with all stakeholders did not take place. These engagements were held at the Niamey offices of the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), France.

This set of engagements focused on analysing the GDPs for the Iullemmeden Basin using MCM, a multi-stage interview and engagement approach which helps stakeholders to explain their views and priorities in a structured and systematic way without necessarily identifying a single 'best' decision but to highlight underlying criteria that influence people's perceptions of different options or pathways. The GroFutures team used MCM software developed by the University of Sussex and STEPS Centre with stakeholders representing a range of actor groups from local to basin to national levels with knowledge and interest in groundwater development and management. The GroFutures team trained a group of Research Assistants recruited through SUA to serve as MCM facilitators in the workshops. The invited participants represented a range of stakeholder groups - e.g. local irrigators; district water officials; NGO representatives; national agriculture and water officials; and private sector representatives. This allowed the team to cluster them into specific interest groups. A team of IDS and UAMN facilitators supported the stakeholders to assess the six 'stress-tested' pathways against a core set of criteria provided by the GroFutures Team - i.e. equitable access; environmental sustainability; and ease of operation and maintenance - as well as their own specific criteria. The facilitators encouraged the participants to explain why they used each criterion and scored each pathway as they did. This information was captured in the MCM software so that we had a clear description of the decision-making behind the scoring. After they completed the scoring, participants were invited to weight their criteria from most to least important, to add further insights into their preferences. As in the Great Ruaha and Upper Awash Basins (see separate entries), the GroFutures team found that despite the diversity of stakeholders and their varying professional and personal priorities, a clear consensus emerged over their preferred GDPs. This was a preference for more multi-purpose groundwater pathways to support integrated development for both small and medium-scale (but not large-scale) water users. This led to significant discussion about future policy priorities in the basin and how this form of groundwater development could be achieved.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Groundwater Futures Multistakeholder Workshop for the Great Ruaha Basin, Tanzania 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact In June 2019, Groundwater Futures colleagues from Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the ESRC STEPS Centre, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and University College London (UCL), in collaboration with partners at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), hosted the first of three multi-stakeholder engagements at which a set of Groundwater Development Pathways (GDP) were assessed using Multicriteria Mapping (MCM). This first event was held in Iringa, Tanzania, and focused on the Great Ruaha Basin.

MCM is multi-stage interview and engagement approach which helps stakeholders to explain their views and priorities in a structured and systematic way without necessarily identifying a single 'best' decision but to highlight underlying criteria that influence people's perceptions of different options or pathways. The GroFutures team used MCM software developed by the University of Sussex and STEPS Centre with stakeholders representing a range of actor groups from local to basin to national levels with knowledge and interest in groundwater development and management.

The GroFutures team trained a group of Research Assistants recruited through SUA to serve as MCM facilitators in the workshops. The invited participants represented a range of stakeholder groups - e.g. local domestic water users; local irrigators; district agricultural and water officials; NGO representatives; national agriculture and water officials; private sector representatives; and livestock sector representatives. This allowed the team to cluster them into specific interest groups. Each group was assigned one facilitator to assist them in reviewing the six 'stress-tested' pathways and analysing them against a core set of criteria provided by the GroFutures Team - i.e. equitable access; environmental sustainability; and ease of operation and maintenance - as well as their own specific criteria.

The groups spent the afternoon of the first day of the workshop defining their criteria and then used the morning of the second day to scoring the pathways against the core criteria and their own additions. For each criterion and pathway, an 'optimistic' and 'pessimistic' score was given on a scale of 0 (low) to 100 (high). The facilitators encouraged the participants to explain why they used each criterion and scored each pathway as they did. This information was captured in the MCM software so that we had a clear description of the decision-making behind the scoring. After they completed the scoring, participants were invited to weight their criteria from most to least important, to add further insights into their preferences. After all participants have done this, the researchers can combine the data from each participant and analyse the whole data set to understand similarities and differences between groups.

Despite the diversity of stakeholders and their varying professional and personal priorities, a clear consensus emerged over their preferred GDPs. This was a preference for more imulti-purpose groundwater pathways to support integrated development for both small and medium-scale (but not large-scale) water users. This led to significant discussion about future policy priorities in the basin and how this form of groundwater development could be achieved. Similar preferences were expressed by stakeholders in our Ethiopia and Niger basins (see separate entries).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://steps-centre.org/blog/six-pathways-identified-for-sustainable-groundwater-futures-in-africa/
 
Description Groundwater Futures Multistakeholder Workshop for the Upper Awash Basin 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact In July 2019, Groundwater Futures colleagues from Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the ESRC STEPS Centre, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and University College London (UCL), in collaboration with partners at Addis Ababa University (AAU), hosted the second of three multi-stakeholder engagements at which a set of Groundwater Development Pathways (GDP) were assessed using Multicriteria Mapping (MCM). This event was hosted jointly by AAU and IWMI, and focused on the Upper Awash Basin.

MCM is multi-stage interview and engagement approach which helps stakeholders to explain their views and priorities in a structured and systematic way without necessarily identifying a single 'best' decision but to highlight underlying criteria that influence people's perceptions of different options or pathways. The GroFutures team used MCM software developed by the University of Sussex and STEPS Centre with stakeholders representing a range of actor groups from local to basin to national levels with knowledge and interest in groundwater development and management.

The GroFutures team trained a group of Research Assistants recruited through SUA to serve as MCM facilitators in the workshops. The invited participants represented a range of stakeholder groups - e.g. local domestic water users; local irrigators; district agricultural and water officials; NGO representatives; national agriculture and water officials; and private sector representatives. This allowed the team to cluster them into specific interest groups. Each group was assigned one facilitator to assist them in reviewing the six 'stress-tested' pathways and analysing them against a core set of criteria provided by the GroFutures Team - i.e. equitable access; environmental sustainability; and ease of operation and maintenance - as well as their own specific criteria.

The groups spent the afternoon of the first day of the workshop defining their criteria and then used the morning of the second day to scoring the pathways against the core criteria and their own additions. For each criterion and pathway, an 'optimistic' and 'pessimistic' score was given on a scale of 0 (low) to 100 (high). The facilitators encouraged the participants to explain why they used each criterion and scored each pathway as they did. This information was captured in the MCM software so that we had a clear description of the decision-making behind the scoring. After they completed the scoring, participants were invited to weight their criteria from most to least important, to add further insights into their preferences. After all participants have done this, the researchers can combine the data from each participant and analyse the whole data set to understand similarities and differences between groups.

Despite the diversity of stakeholders and their varying professional and personal priorities, a clear consensus emerged over their preferred GDPs. This was a preference for more imulti-purpose groundwater pathways to support integrated development for both small and medium-scale (but not large-scale) water users. This led to significant discussion about future policy priorities in the basin and how this form of groundwater development could be achieved. Similar preferences were expressed by stakeholders in our Tanzania and Niger basins (see separate entries).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL http://grofutures.org/papers/
 
Description Household questionnaires on groundwater use in Ethiopia, Niger and Tanzania 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact GroFutures researchers have engaged with groundwater users in Ethiopia, Niger and Tanzania in 2017 and 2018 through the implementation a common survey instrument. In the Iullemmeden Basin in Nigeria and Niger, the Upper Awash Basin in Ethiopia, and the Great Ruaha Sub-Catchment in southern Tanzania, GroFutures researchers have been polling groundwater users' views on small-scale, household-level use of groundwater for irrigation, the status of groundwater governance, and their experiences of different irrigation, pump, conveyance and application technologies. This research activity addresses a critical lack of detailed information regarding not only groundwater use and dependence but also governance arrangements as experienced at the household level. In the Upper Awash Basin, the GroFutures team working alongside the Oromia Irrigation Development Authority has recently completed a survey of 400 households, representing 30% of the population from predominantly agricultural communities within the Becho and Koka Plains at Alango Tulu and Dungigi-Bekele. In the Great Ruaha Sub-Catchment, the survey has been trialled with user communities in Chimala and Mbarali as well as the Maradi and Gaya areas of Niger. Results from the surveys will inform scenarios being co-created by GroFutures researchers, groundwater users and other stakeholders to inform an inclusive an participatory Pathways Approach in which groundwater users and other stakeholders will develop their own criteria for evaluating different groundwater development pathways for which the physical sustainability is determined by models developed using evidence from local observatories recently established under GroFutures.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017,2018
 
Description ISARM (International Shared Aquifer Resources Management) 2nd Conference - UNESCO-IHP (France) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact At the ISARM 2nd Conference, presentations were given by GroFutures Research Assistant Boukari (Niger): "Transboundary groundwater recharge in a dryland environment: evidence from the River Goulbi de Maradi Basin in Niger and Nigeria" (Boukari) and GroFutures Research Assistant Rabilou (Niger): "Groundwater discharge to the River Niger from a large paleochannel estimated from surface geophysics in the Iullemmeden Basin of Niger and Nigeria" as well as GroFutures co-PI Villholth: "Transboundary Aquifer Governance in the Context of Transfrontier Conservation Areas - An opportunity for synergy in the Southern African Development Community"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.isarm2021.org/
 
Description International Conference on Lake Chad 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact The international conference on environmental challenges faced by the Lake Chad Basin in West Africa. The conference was attended by politicians, and the head of states from Niger, Nigeria, Gabon, Central African Republic and Chad.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://lcbconference2017.ng/english/index.php
 
Description Multi Sectoral Forum for Water Resources Management 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Discussed future planning for sustainable groundwater governance in Tanzania
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Nigerian Association of Hydrogeologists Annual Meeting 2021 - Katsina, Nigeria 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentations delivered by GroFutures Research Assistant Rabilou (Niger): "Groundwater discharge to the Niger River from a large Quaternary valley estimated from subsurface geophysics in the Iullemmeden Basin" and GroFutures Research Assistant Boukari (Niger): "Groundwater/Surface water relationship in the transboundary basin Goulbi de Maradi: evidence from well hydrographs, and MRS and TDEM Soundings"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://nah-nigeria.org/#/event-details/NAH-32nd-Annual-Conference-2021
 
Description Pan-African Groundwater-level (Chronicles) Training Workshop in Morogoro,Tanzania 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The UPGro programme, supported by AfriWatSan & ESPRC, conducted a pan-African capacity-strengthening and knowledge co-production workshop at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania from the 10th to 12th of February, 2017. 40 participants from 12 countries in Africa took part and analysed multi-decadal, groundwater-level data ("chronicles") from 9 countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Sénégal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Participants comprised PhD students and more experienced researchers (mentors & supervisors) as well as representatives from government ministries and the private sector, and included team members from all 5 UPGro consortium projects GroFutures, BRAVE, Hidden Crisis, GroForGood, and T-Group. Training focused on the application of the water table fluctuation method for analysing groundwater-level records and was led by GroFutures and The Chronicles Consortium, an international consortium of scientists from across Africa and beyond collating and analysing multi-decadal records of groundwater levels in order to assess the impacts of groundwater use, climate variability and change, and land-use change on groundwater storage across Africa. In addition to addressing key capacity-strengthening goals, the workshop provided a platform for the co-production of knowledge. As a result, a collaborative, pan-African analysis of multi-decadal groundwater-level records is in preparation and a number of participants is expected to contribute their national-scale analyses to an upcoming special section of Hydrogeology Journal.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://grofutures.org/article/pan-african-groundwater-level-analysis-and-training-workshop/
 
Description Stakeholders Consultation Engagement 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The group discussed issues around groundwater use, quality and governance.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Sustainability of the water supply to Dodoma, Tanzania 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact GroFutures continues to work closely with the WamiRuvu Basin Water Board in Tanzania and DUWASA (Dodoma Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Authority) to assess the sustainability of the Makutapora Wellfield which is the sole, perennial source of safe water to the nation's rapidly growing capital, Dodoma. In strategic planning and policy meeting with DUWASA (Dodoma Urban Water Supply and Sewage Authority) and Ministry of Water & Irrigation held in Morogoro, Tanzania in May 2018 and February 2019, GroFutures has outlined a new monitoring strategy including the construction of new monitoring wells to clarify whether current and projected abstraction are sustainable and options for enhancing wellfield replenishment through Managed Aquifer Recharge.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018,2019
 
Description Tanzania 2nd SUA (Sokoine University of Agriculture) Scientific Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation by PI Taylor delivered to policymakers and practitioners: Focused groundwater recharge to the Makutapora Wellfield of central semi-arid Tanzania: empirical evidence to inform Managed Aquifer Recharge
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.sua.ac.tz/events/2nd-sua-scientific-conference-25th-26th-may-2021
 
Description Unleashing Agricultural Potential, SAGCOT Annual Forum 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact A decision was made collectively on the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater as a solution to declining surface water availability
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description VPO Task Force on Restoration of Great Ruaha Flows 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Recognised the role of groundwater water in augmenting surface water supply
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017