This report synthesizes the proceedings of the one-day workshop "Capacity building in irrigation, drainage and flood control" held on 16 September 2003 alongside the congress of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) in Montpellier. It was organized by the ICID Working Group on Capacity Building, Training and Education, in association with FAO, Alterra-ILRI and other supporting agencies, and sponsored by the FAO Land and Water Development Division.
Its goal was to highlight the important role of capacity development in the irrigation and drainage sector by presenting the current "state of the art", the issues and challenges this raises, the approaches currently being taken and those needed in the future, and the facilitating role that agencies such as the ICID, FAO and Alterra-ILRI can play.
There is a consensus among policy-makers in the developing world and aid agencies that a lack of capacity is constraining the development of irrigated agriculture as a means of reducing poverty, increasing food security and improving livelihoods among both rural and urban populations.
Although this concern is not new, it is now receiving a great deal of attention in the irrigation and drainage world where it is becoming an issue in its own right rather than being embedded in infrastructure investment projects. However, there is considerable confusion and vagueness over what capacity development means, and it is wrapped up in a host of concepts such as participation, empowerment, technical assistance and organizational development. Policy-makers and professionals are more concerned with infrastructure and usually interpret capacity development as educating and training irrigators, technicians and professionals. Aid donors have tended to reinforce this thinking.
From the workshop, a clearer picture of capacity development
for irrigated agriculture emerged. It is centred on the individual, which is why
education and training tends to be the main focus of attention when the issue of
capacity development is discussed. However, it goes well beyond this to
encompass the wider issues of organizations (which includes institutions
-
the rules, regulations and values of organizations) within which the individuals
work and the social and economic environment within which organizations and
individuals function. This must be enabling in order for the development of
organizations and individuals to be effective.
To understand capacity development is to understand that it is as much a process as an end product. It is an approach to development, not something separate from it and not a discrete or prepackaged technical intervention intended to bring about a predefined outcome. It is the reason why most people have adopted the term capacity development rather than capacity building. It transfers the emphasis from the end product to the process of achieving it.
Capacity development is a more appropriate term than capacity building.
It transfers the emphasis from the end product to the process of achieving it.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has produced a definition of capacity development that emphasizes the need for local ownership and the empowerment of people to solve their own problems. It is applicable to irrigated agriculture and provides a sound basis on which to build. However, much more detail needs to be added if its sentiments are to be applied in practice.
The workshop produced a matrix that maps out the landscape for capacity development for irrigated agriculture. It is a convenient starting-point for questions and discussion both at a local and national level. In addition, the matrix can be helpful in talks with donors, ensuring clarity of purpose on areas of constraint and priorities.
A framework was also proposed that demonstrates how individuals, organizations and the socio-economic environment are linked. It is also a platform for the activities that need to be undertaken in order to meet the desired performance of individuals and organizations.
The case studies provided many valuable insights into capacity development. First, they demonstrated how complex and unique each case study was in terms of its technical and socio-economic environment. However, they all had issues in common that provide experiences from which others might benefit.
In many of the case studies, capacity development was not initially the main issue. Projects set out with other objectives but these changed as they developed. If capacity development is the real priority, then more thought is required in order to define the true objectives at the outset rather than relying on a change in direction at some later stage. This would not be an easy task in a typical situation where both government and donors are focusing on infrastructure, rather than people, as the main target for investment.
Many of the cases presented were largely descriptive and lacked critical analysis and synthesis in terms of drawing out the lessons for others to use. This highlights the lack of a useful conceptual approach to capacity development, how it is planned and implemented, and in particular how it is evaluated. This is an issue that needs addressing if others are to benefit from the case study approach.
The long lead time needed for change was also discussed (ten years and more) as was the unpredictability of the outcomes over such a long period and the importance of serendipity in those outcomes. This contrasts with the current highly-structured nature of the short-term project approach that many agencies favour.
The keynote papers, the case studies and the subsequent discussions also raised a number of broader issues that are integral to the success of capacity development. These included:
a strategic planning approach to capacity development that includes diagnosis, identification of the gaps, definition of the goals, means and monitoring of performance;
lessons for strategy development in the areas of policy development, organizations, individuals and education and research;
the role of capacity development projects - and whether they are compatible with a process approach;
the importance of partnerships and the balance between internal forces and external support and aid;
networking and its role at all levels of capacity development;
diagnosis and monitoring for evaluating the success of interventions and providing guidance for future investment;
costs of capacity development - the cost of capacity development is one of the first issues that prospective donors raise, and as yet there are few satisfactory answers.
The workshop confirmed the growing consensus that a lack of capacity is constraining irrigation development in many developing countries. Capacity development rather than infrastructure should be the central focus of future irrigation development strategies - infrastructure is only one component of capacity, it should not lead the development debate but follow as a consequence of a much wider capacity development strategy.
Many countries are beginning to recognize the importance of capacity development in its wider context. However, there is currently no guidance available on how to achieve this. Thus, guidelines are needed in order to illustrate current good practice on planning a capacity development strategy.
In order to support the development of guidelines, the irrigation community should organize and support a series of workshops on capacity development similar to this one. The annual ICID international meeting provides an ideal opportunity for such events. Workshops could focus on specific topics such as:
assessing capacity needs;
the relationship between capacity development and formal education and training and projects the sustainability issue;
developing effective organizations;
monitoring and evaluating capacity development;
costs and values of capacity development programmes,
approaches to capacity development the "big bang" approach or the "step by step" approach.
Case studies can be an important source of information and experience for capacity development. However, there is a need for sagacity and critical review in their development in order for them to be useful for others. They could form part of a "knowledge base" for capacity development to accompany guidelines.
