Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes
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Publication
Embedding Climate Resilience into Ecosystem and Water Projects
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-05)This note summarizes lessons and practices deployed in embedding climate resilience into the design of projects that received catalytic funds from The Africa Climate Resilience Investment Facility (AFRI-RES). It draws from application of the Resilience Booster Tool to specific projects, as relevant, Compendium Volume on Climate Resilient Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank (2023a) and Guidance, Standards, and Good Practice Notes developed under the program. -
Publication
Hydropower and Dams (H&D): Strengthening Climate-Informed Project Design
(Washington, DC, 2022-10)This learning note is the second of a 4-note-series developed by the Water Global Practice (GP) Climate Change Team to highlight successful examples of water operations that support climate change–related activities and provide useful lessons and recommendations for project design. -
Publication
Irrigation and Drainage (I and D): Strengthening Climate-Informed Project Design
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-02)To ensure food security and other social needs, support profitable farms that create jobs, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and bolster resilience to climate extremes and other shocks, agriculture must become more productive, resource efficient, and environmentally sustainable. This requires improvements in water service provision and soil water management. Sustaining agricultural water resources, enhancing resilience for farmers, and improving the quality of water service provision all require: institutional strengthening by supporting reforms that increase accountability; modernizing infrastructure and promoting innovation; and encouraging data-based and participatory decision making by all stakeholders. -
Publication
Water Resources Management (WRM): Strengthening Climate-Informed Project Design
(Washington, DC, 2022-02)As climate shocks increasingly impact the water dependent sectors, it is vital that countries embrace integrated, cross-sectoral policies and programs. Water projects improve chances to attain positive climate-related and overall results by adopting an integrated and climate-informed approach to water resources management (WRM), carefully managing climate-related environmental and social safeguards and establishing effective coordination mechanisms based on incentives with all relevant stakeholders. -
Publication
Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS): Strengthening Climate-Informed Project Design
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-02)Climate-informed projects aimed at boosting water utilities’ performance are likely to succeed in achieving intended results by investing in energy efficiency, nonrevenue water (NRW) reduction, climate resilience, and demand-side water use efficiency. Extending water supply and sanitation (WSS) services, especially to unserved or underserved segments in areas with high climate risks, requires managing water resources efficiently and taking into account climate change–related factors. -
Publication
Scaling Up Disability Inclusion in Water Projects: Case Study of PAMSIMAS
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-09-01)More than 1 billion people worldwide, or 15 percent of the global population, have some form of disability, with higher rates in low-income countries. This number is expected to rise significantly due to factors such as aging populations, conflict, and the impacts of climate change. For these reasons, disability-inclusive development is of interest to the Water Global Practice of the World Bank, to the World Bank’s twin goals of reducing extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity, and to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 (to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all). SDG 6 relates not only to water and sanitation access by persons with disabilities, but also to their engagement in the management of water and sanitation. The new Environmental and Social Framework requires borrowers to look specifically at persons with disabilities as part of any social assessments, and the proposed International Development Association (IDA) 19 policy ensures disability inclusion in projects. -
Publication
A Data-Driven Framework to Address Gender Issues in Managing Flood Risks: Flood Risk Management Support Project for the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-08-13)This study contributes to the broader literature demonstrating the devastating impact of floods on the poor, particularly women, making it very difficult to move out of poverty. Research on flood impacts in low-income communities in Buenos Aires found that most first responders to floods are women and it is them who assume leadership roles in high-risk situations, despite the serious gender gaps in education and economic opportunities they face. They are also affected differently and more adversely than their male peers, bearing primary responsibility for restoring their family’s housing and livelihoods after the flood, and for household chores and care duties for children and older adults. The results of this analysis can help decision makers design gender-inclusive approaches for flood risk management, promoting and empowering women as positive agents of change. Gender gap analysis is essential to prevent existing inequalities from being maintained or accentuated as a part of the recovery process. -
Publication
Adaptive Safety Nets for Rural Africa: Drought-Sensitive Targeting with Sparse Data
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-07)This paper combines remote-sensed data and individual child, mother, and household-level data from the Demographic and Health Surveys for 5 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to design a prototype drought-contingent targeting framework for use in scarce-data contexts. To accomplish this, the paper: (i) develops simple and easy-to-communicate measures of drought shocks; (ii) shows that droughts have a large impact on child stunting in these five countries, comparable, in size, to the effects of mother’s illiteracy or a fall to a lower wealth quintile; and (iii) shows that, in this context, decision trees and regressions predict stunting as accurately as complex machine learning methods that are not interpretable.2 Taken together, the analysis lends support to the idea that a data-driven approach may contribute to the design of a transparent and easy-to-use drought-contingent targeting framework -
Publication
Learning from Japan's Experience in Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management: A Series of Knowledge Notes
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-02)Globally, floods are the most frequent and damaging natural hazard. This poses a serious development challenge to many countries and their efforts to reduce poverty and increase shared prosperity. To help manage the impact of floods on people and economies, the World Bank provides technical assistance, advisory services, and financial support to a range of countries and cities around the world. Facing different types and combinations of flood risk, Japan’s rich history, range of investments and approaches taken offers a unique knowledge opportunity for other countries seeking to adopt and advance integrated urban flood risk management (IUFRM). This series of knowledge notes compiles many of the key lessons learned from Japan’s IUFRM efforts. While any strategy to reduce disaster risk must be developed based on a close understanding of local contexts, the aim of this series is to help members of the international community improve their own approaches to managing urban floods. These notes are not intended to provide a comprehensive analysis but rather a snapshot highlighting key aspects, practice and lessons learnt from Japanese practice. The four knowledge notes in this series cover urban floods from assessment and planning through to implementation and maintenance. -
Publication
Groundwater Governance and Adoption of Solar-Powered Irrigation Pumps: Experiences from the Eastern Gangetic Plains
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-01)Solar-powered irrigation pumps (SPIPs) have been promoted in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) in recent decades, but rates of adoption are low. This case study assesses the evidence from several solar pump business models being adopted in parts of the EGP, particularly eastern Nepal and northern India, and explores how different models perform in various contexts. It documents lessons for increasing farmers’ resilience to droughts through better groundwater use by promotion of SPIPs. Groundwater access for agriculture in the past was dependent on diesel and electric pumps, respectively constrained by costs and reliability of energy. Both government and nongovernment agencies have promoted SPIPs in the Ganges basin for irrigation and drinking purposes. SPIPs receive different levels of subsidies across countries and states in the region to facilitate adoption and ensure continuous and timely irrigation, which particularly benefits small and marginal farmers. Because the EGP faces variability in water availability, the SPIPs could help in building drought resilience. However, because low operating costs for SPIPs does little to incentivize farmers to use water efficiently, one critical question is how to balance equitable access to SPIPs while ensuring groundwater overdraft is not perpetuated. Farmers’ awareness of efficient water management options is crucial to avoid overextraction of groundwater.