Context
Due to decreasing aquifer water level (280 million m3 per year), Veolia Water Technologies (Veolia) partnered with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and local municipality to propose the establishment of a water fund to finance changes to local water-catchment and uses.
As a result, Livelihoods Funds created a project to support vulnerable farmers in Aguascalientes to invest in drip irrigation equipment to enhance farm resilience.
Changing to a drip irrigation system showed a 50% - 70% decrease in water consumption by farmers. If the 5,000 local family farmers in the water catchment area adopted this system through the new fund, this results in approximately 65% reduction of the annual aquifer deficit.
Stakeholders involved
- Veolia Water Technologies (Veolia)
- Danone Waters
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
- Livelihoods Funds for Family Farming (L3F)
- Local municipality and State Government
- FIRA (Mexican agency for Rural Development)
- SEDRAE (Agricultural Authority of the State of Aguascalientes)
Problem
- Aguascalientes is a semi-arid state experiencing a decreasing trend in the aquifer (mostly due to intensive agriculture and population growth), which poses a significant challenge for the future of the city.
- Reducing water levels has forced Veolia to source water from deeper underground each year. However this has adverse impacts on the water quality and the environment.
Innovation
- L3F provides upfront financing to project implementers to enable the deployment large-scale sustainable agriculture projects using a landscape approach with rural farming communities.
- In Aguascalientes, the Livelihoods 3F linked farmers to public authorities to provide the required information and financing to access drip irrigation in order to reduce water consumption
- The project also included a 2.5 year training program to maximise the social, economic and environmental benefits of the system.
- Unlike public schemes that are limited to 1-year duration, this fund provides a 6-year programme to build a long-term relationship with farmers and maximise impact.
Timeline
Results and impact
- In 2017, Veolia in partnership with TNC conducted a technical and scientific study to develop a better understanding of the water situation in Aguascalientes and identify actions to be undertaken to address concerns.
- At the commencement of the project, about a third of Family farmers in Aguascalientes confirmed engagement in the project.
- Veolia and TNC are also collaborating with the City and the State to develop a single structure to address and manage concerns related to the aquifer level.
- Family Farmers involved in the project are provided with training, equipment and technical assistance: The project involves a 2.5 year training program that includes classroom and in-field training to enhance the fertility soil using conservation agriculture techniques and weekly on-farm
visit from a project coordinator during the first year. Farmers will also be trained on farm management such as accounting, investments to increase revenues on the long-term, etc. In addition the project also drives awareness among farmers on the importance of growing less water-intensive crops and practising crop diversification to improve the farm resilience.
Key lessons learnt
- Establishing a project involving public, private, NGO entities was challenging and securing blended finance through private-public funders for the farmers has been fundamental to success.