Watershed Associations (WSA) and Natural Resource Management Committees (NRMC)
Type: Approaches
Creation: 2016-08-15 15:06 Updated: 2021-11-01 12:54
Compilers: Bettina Wolfgramm
Reviewers: William Critchley
Country/ region/ locations where the Approach has been applied
- Country: Afghanistan
- Region/ State/ Province: Tahor Province, Rustaq districts
- Further specification of location (e.g. municipality, town, etc.), if relevant: Dashti Mirzai, Javaz Khana and Sari Joy villages
- Map: View Map
Description of the SLM Approach
Short description of the Approach
Two Watershed Associations (WSA), in Chaker and Nahristan watershed areas respectively, are registered at the national level with the Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) and at the regional level with the Department of Agriculture. Both associations are strong, active, dynamic, and have the capacity to coordinate and support the Natural Resource Management Committees (NRMC) at village level.
Detailed description of the Approach
Terre des Hommes (Tdh) has been implementing the Livelihood project (LIPT) in Rustaq district in northern Afghanistan since 2007. The overall aim of the project is to offer the rural population new and improved livelihood options, with capacity building of the rural population, to design and implement their own sustainable development options, and to enhance their resilience to cope with natural and conflict-related stress. For this purpose, capacity of supporting stakeholder institutions is strengthened (LIPT’s boundary partners) to ensure that good development is on-going. Boundary partners are trained and equipped in relevant techniques regarding sustainable natural resource management.
Two Watershed Associations (WSA) and 20 Natural Resources Management Committees (NRMC) were founded through LIPT. Two WSAs, in Chaker and Nahristan watershed areas, are registered at national level within the Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), and at the regional level with the Department of Agriculture. Both associations are strong, active, dynamic, and have the capacity to coordinate and support the NRMCs at village level. Out of their newly established and registered regional offices, the WSAs coordinate the NRMCs, take over responsibilities from Tdh (e.g. the 2014 reforestation campaign) and are getting more involved in planning and monitoring of LIPT’s activities. The 20 NRMCs have "hands and eyes" on all LIPT activities implemented in their communities, and their trained extension workers render valuable services to the farmers in their villages.
Methods: Today, all NRMCs have a strong institutional set-up. Their extension workers have been trained and equipped. Members of NRMCs and WSAs have been trained on group management, planning, documentations, record keeping, IPM, reforestation management, soil protection, mulching, hedgerows and terracing, making fermenters, pruning and budding. WSAs and NRMCs gained further organizational, technical and management capacity building in both watershed areas. As one of biggest challenge at watershed level is soil erosion within hillside agriculture, LIPT III trained the NRMCs and WSAs on terracing and hedgerows to protect the soil from erosion. Furthermore, NRMCs were trained in sustainable irrigation water management, gully treatment, and surface water harvesting. There were also training courses conducted on leadership, finance, proposal writing, documentation, procurement and operations management.
Both WSAs and NRMCs started to get a real understanding of environmental issues and were then able to motivate their communities. WSAs coordinated the NRM intervention with NRMCs including reforestation, soil protection hedgerows, contour lines, terracing, establishment of public nurseries (to produce trees and be an income source for WSAs), establishment of centralized community bakeries (to reduce the demand for firewood and decrease the women’s workload in the watershed areas), irrigation infrastructure, bio-engineering and gully control (to reduce the progression of gullies on both ploughed lands and pastures), livestock value chains at regional (watershed) level, etc., while NRMCs are looking after these interventions and the mobilization of the community at the village level. Farmers and communities have adopted natural resource management practices to maintain/increase soil fertility, rangeland, water resources and forest coverage.