Blue Gold Portal Draft

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Blue Gold Program
BGP emblem
Blue Gold Program emblem
Summary
Program duration2013-2021
Program areaDistricts of Patuakhali, Khulna and Satkhira
Partners
DonorGovernment of the Netherlands (GoN)
ImplementationMinistry of Water Resources, through Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE)
Technical consultantsEuroconsult Mott MacDonald (lead)

FEMconsult Socioconsult

BETS Consulting; IDE

Welcome to Blue Gold wiki portal! This wiki accumulates information collected over the 7 years of Blue Gold program. The Blue Gold Program is a development project implemented by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) over the seven year period from 2013 to 2021. Blue Gold has rehabilitated and improved the main water infrastructure in 22 coastal polders in south-west Bangladesh and built the capacity of Water Management Groups (WMGs) and Water Management Associations (WMAs) to be the drivers of economic development in the polders – through organisational management, adoption of modern crop technologies and the importance of crop selection, collective purchase of inputs and sales of produce to maximise profitability.

Program summary

[Replace with executive summary] Bangladesh, the largest river delta in the world, depends for its economic growth largely on integrated and sustainable water resources management. The three major river systems of the country mark its physiography and life of its people. Its waters – its “blue gold” – have fundamentally shaped Bangladesh culture. Efficient management of this immense natural resource remains a continuing challenge and offers at the same time tremendous opportunities. Starting from the 1960s, low lying tracts of land in the south-western coastal zone were enclosed by earthen embankments to create polders which protect coastal communities from tidal floods and surges – there are now 139 polders enclosed by embankments of an overall length of nearly 6,000 km.

About 38% of the population in the coastal regions of Bangladesh live below the poverty line and face high vulnerabilities in terms of insecurity of food, income, water and health. However, there are ample opportunities to harness the resources of the coastal areas that can lift the population from poverty, create a sustainable environment and provide security and quality of life to present and future generations.

In addition to suffering from the effects of tidal floods and surges, the people in the coastal polders are vulnerable to the intrusion of saline water, shortage of fresh water in the dry season and the impact of extreme events such as cyclones. In the south-western coastal zone, river siltation hinders drainage and causes prolonged water logging in the polder after monsoon rains, which can persist for extended periods of up to six months. This in turn results in loss of crops and income, reduced food security and explains in part the higher than average poverty levels in the coastal belt. Climate change will only increase the threats posed to coastal livelihoods.

To address this situation, the Governments of Bangladesh and The Netherlands agreed to support the development of the region through participatory water management and agricultural production with a business-orientation.

A number of government agencies implement the program. The Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) is the lead agency, responsible inter alia for protecting the communities from flooding and surges by ensuring the integrity of the embankments and associated structures, and for forming and registering water management organisations (WMOs). The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) works alongside farmers to encourage the selection and cultivation of crops and varieties that are well-suited to the coastal environment and which, as part of an interlinked annual cropping system, form the basis for profitable business. In addition, the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and Department of Fisheries (DoF) provide specialist advice for the development of training modules to farmer field schools, and contribute to other project interventions. Local government institutions (LGIs), especially Union Parishads (UPs), are partners in polder development planning, coordination and maintenance.

Navigate through this wiki

For easier navigation through the information, this wiki have been organised into multiple parts, chapters, sections and subsections. Also there is a file library to look into the supplementary files. Below you will see multiple navigation boxes, divided and organised for easier use - so that you can browse through the wiki and find meaningful and organised information.

Part A

Background and context

Part B

BGP Interventions: Water Infrastructure

Part C

BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management


Summary

1. Introduction

2. Institutional Setting

3. Social, Physical and Environmental Context

4. Timeline of Key Events

5. Project design


Summary

6. Introduction

7. Overall targets

8. Blue Gold investments

9. Preparatory works

10. Construction

11. Reimbursement process


Summary

12. Introduction

13. Water management organisations

14. WMO capacity building

15. Operation and Maintenance

16. In-Polder Water Management

17. Consolidating PWM Interventions

18. Maps

Part D

BGP Interventions: Production Shift

Part E

BGP Interventions: Reinforcing Inclusiveness

Part F

Development Outcomes


Summary

19. Introduction

20. Commercialising Farmers


Summary

21. Introduction

22. Women empowerment

23. Poverty focus


Summary

24. Overview M&E

25. Outcomes

Part G

Project Management

Part H

Innovation Fund

Files and others


Summary

26. Project Management Arrangements

27. Technical Assistance

28. Organisational development

29. Training

30. Horizontal Learning

31. Communications

32. Monitoring and evaluation

33. Project database


Summary

34. Introduction

35. Projects overview

36. Lesson learnt

37. Appendices



Part A - Background and context



1. Introduction 2. Institutional Setting 3. Social, Physical and Environmental Context
  1. Project headlines
  2. Purpose of report
  3. Water management for development
  4. Structure of report
  1. Donors/sponsors
  2. Executing organisations and management arrangements
  3. Local Government Institutions
  4. Private Sector
  1. Geography of the coastal zone
  2. History of polders
  3. Social – population segmentation, hard core poor
  4. Status of polder physical infrastructure
  5. Environmental – water flows, water quality (salinity), sedimentation
4. Timeline of Key Events 5. Project Design
  1. Policy environment
  2. Previous history
  3. Project definition
  4. Investments
  5. Polder selection
  6. Environmental impact assessments


Part B - BGP Interventions: Water infrastructure



6. Introduction 7. Overall targets 8. Blue Gold investments
  1. History of infrastructure in 22 polders
  2. Achievements against overarching objectives
  1. DPP and RDPP
  2. Costs of infrastructure investments
9. Preparatory Works 10. Construction 11. Reimbursement process
  1. Survey and Design Data Collection
  2. Design
  3. Estimations
  1. Contracting modalities
  2. Terminated contracts
  3. Construction quality
  4. Maps and statistics


Part C - BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management



12. Introduction 13. Water management organisations 14. WMO capacity building
  1. History
  2. Unified approach to PWM
  3. WMG and WMAs
  4. Role of LGIs
  5. Support organisations
  1. From training to evolving & adaptive
  2. WMGscollective actions and networking
  3. WMAs
  4. O&M Sub-committees
  5. Women Economic Empowerment
  6. Participatory monitoring
15. Operation and Maintenance 16. In-Polder Water Management 17. Consolidating PWM interventions
  1. Operating infrastructure
  2. Maintaining infrastructure
  1. Institutional capacity
  2. Evolution
  3. CAWMSSWMI
  4. Horizontal learning
  5. Catchment planning
  1. National Conference
18. Maps


Part D - BGP Interventions: Production Shift



19. Introduction 20. Commercialising Farmers
  1. Original approach
  2. Farmer Field Schools
  3. Demonstrations
  4. Horizontal Learning
  5. Farmer Organisation
  6. Market Systems Development
  7. Capacity building


Part E - BGP Interventions: Reinforcing Inclusiveness



21. Introduction 22. Women empowerment 23. Poverty focus
  1. GLD capacity development
  2. Feminisation of agriculture
  3. BWDB Gender Action Plan
  1. FFS - Food Security
  2. LCSs


Part F - Development Outcomes



24. Overview M&E 25. Outcomes
  1. PM results
  2. Tracker results
  1. Agricultural production changes
  2. Homestead FFS
  3. Fisheries – CFWM/CLF
  4. Socio Economic

Part G - Project Management



26. Project Management Arrangements 27. Technical Assistance 28. Organisational development
  1. Implementing modalities
  2. PSCs/PMCs
  3. MoWR/MoA collaboration
  4. Review Missions
  5. EKN/BWDB/DAE/TA Coordination Meetings
  6. Progress reporting
  7. Annual Work Plans
  8. Polder Development Plans
  1. Team
  2. TA Services
  1. Drafting ToC
  2. Decentralisation
  3. Exit strategy
29. Training 30. Horizontal Learning 31. Communications
  1. Large-scale training
  2. Customised training
  1. Methodology and approach
  2. Evaluation by Access Agriculture
  3. Evolution of strategy
  1. Communications
32. Monitoring and evaluation 33. Project database 34. Environmental Impact Assessments
  1. Data sources
  2. Polder dashboard and health checks
  3. Trend watcher
  1. WMG tracker
  2. Trend Watcher
  1. Overview and issues
  2. Modalities


Part H - Innovation Fund



Innovation fund

The Blue Gold Innovation Fund (BGIF) aimed to contribute to the objectives of the Blue Gold Program in terms of more equitable water management and strengthened value chains. Between 2013 and 2020, the fund went through several phases where the approach went from a needs-based approach to a supply driven approach, and back. With EUR 2.45 million the BGIF funded 42 projects, averaging EUR 48 thousand on average per project. The first few years saw mostly small feasibility studies funded, as well as pilot projects. Especially from 2017 onwards, integrated projects as well as pilot projects were mostly funded.


35. Introduction 36. Project Overview 37. Lessons learnt
  1. Evolution of the Blue Gold Innovation Fund
  1. Project types and the innovation tunnel
  2. Projects in the Water Management Fund and Productive Sector Fund
  3. Fairs by GoB departments
  1. Fund management & procurement
  2. Interphases BGIF with BGP and local stakeholders
38. Appendices
  1. List of BGIF projects
  2. List of rejected project concepts and proposals
  3. FS, Pilot and Integrated projects by sector
  4. Call for Proposals evaluation
  5. BGIF procedure manual
  6. Format and Criteria for Short-listing of Training Service Providers
  7. BGIF project locations
  8. BGIF project locations (Pilot and Integrated)


Files and others



File library Glossary
Acronyms Key Stakeholders