PROJECT SUMMARY

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

In Ethiopia, the vast natural resources are underutilized and poorly allocated to the appropriate development sectors. Moreover, with the emergence of rapid population expansion, the problem becomes ever more pressing following the sharp increase in public demand for means of production and existence, not to mention the adverse increase in vulnerable areas to natural disasters, further aggravating the livelihoods of the population.

To help solve such problems, the first step is to bring multidisciplinary scientific knowledge and data into a viable working model that can alter the vicious cycle of poverty due to poor productivity. Natural resources are generally non-renewable and finite, requiring complex optimization and quantification for adequate utilization. One of the root causes of poverty in agrarian economic countries such as Ethiopia is dependence on traditional farming of centuries-old principles that do not match the exponential growth of demand along with technology and population growth. At the root of this backward farming system is dependence on rained agriculture, which is unpredictable and unstable, and increasingly so given the effects of climate change. Finding optimal ways to utilize an alternative source of dependable water resources will go a long way toward solving this generational problem of subsistence farming practices. Small-scale farming families make up 72% of the total population and 74% of Ethiopia’s farmers, but 67% of them live below the national poverty line.

This project proposes aspects of bringing pertinent data and developing a versatile tool for visualization, planning, and assessment groundwater resources for decision- makers and development workers. This would be especially useful for workers developing shallow irrigation which has the potential to double crop yields and improve the year-on-year consistency of yields for small-scale farmers.

While this project builds on the previous projects involving the compilation of various geoscientific maps for large areas in southern Ethiopia, the aim is to evaluate optimal shallow aquifers (water-bearing horizons) for use as shallow groundwater reserves for irrigation and drinking. The project, hence, aims to use the existing hydrogeological and hydrochemical maps at various scales and generate quantitative models in a selected watershed system.

The project will be implemented through the long-standing cooperation of the promoting institutes, the Czech Geological Survey (CGS) and SG Geotechnical a.s., together with partner institutes from abroad, including the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (CRSC) of George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA and Global MapAid, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. Local institutes from Ethiopia include the Arba Minch University, Water Technology Institute and the Ministry of Water and Energy of Ethiopia. Regional authorities will also be part of the important partners in the project, including the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) and the Sidama Regions Water, Mines, and Energy Development Bureaus all located in Hawassa.

The overall cost of the project is estimated to be ca. $ 1,820,000 USD, where 75% is to be covered through a grant from the Czech Development Agency (CzDA) while the remaining 25% is covered by the government of Ethiopia in the form of in-kind contributions through the local partner institutes, such as the provision of available data, arrangement of logistics and office space, partial provision of available field vehicles, salary of participating counter-part experts as well as local administrative supports.