International Water Management Institute
IWMI-Southeast Asia Regional Office
Bangkok, Thailand

April 2002

Objective

• Develop sustainable and acceptable communitybased land management options with a catchment framwork
• Quantify and evaluate the biophysical, environmental and socioeconomic on- and off-site impacts of soil erosion
• Generate reliable information and scientifically-based guidelines for the improvement of catchment management policies
• Enhance capacity of NARES in research on integrated catchment management and soil erosion control
  

Expected Outputs

• Decision support tools and guidelines based on a better understanding of the on- and off-site effects of soil erosion
• Alternative technologies and land management systems that are socially, and institutionally acceptable to the communities in the catchment areas
• Methodology for assessment of impacts and obtaining participation of farmers and other stakeholders in the management of catchments which includes policies that will improve the management of catchments by the local government and communities
• Information and communication strategies to effectively disseminate the results of the research to the farmers and other users
• Enhanced NARES capacity in integrated catchment management research
• Improved program management for catchment management research.

MSEC Activities

MSEC focuses on three major areas: Catchment research, information sharing and dissemination, and capacity building and institution development. The research activities are:

• Assessment of resources including indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) and needs with key stakeholders
• Evaluation of policy and institutions, and assessment of impact
• Participatory activity identification and implementation
• Calibration of water and nutrient balances (concentration, vertical and horizontal fluxes), and erosion rate

• Analysis of changes in the soil and water conditions (quantity and quality), both on and
• Identification and implementation with stakeholders of appropriate techniques and tools for information exchange and sharing, evaluation of environmental, economic and social trade-offs and/or policy implications
• Reliance on both indigenous and scientific knowledge
• Linking increased production to natural resource conservation in the development of land use systems
  

Partners of MSEC

There are now eight partner countries in MSEC and at least 10 IARCs and ARIs and some NGOs. Discussions are being held with other interested parties.

• NARES:
  Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Center for Soil and Agroclimate Research (CSAR, Indonesia), Soil Survey and Land Classification Center (SSLCC, Lao PDR), Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), Department of Land Development and Royal Forest Department (DLD and RFD, Thailand), National Institute for Soils and Fertilizers (NISF, Vietnam)
• IARCs/ARIs:
  ICRISAT (India), ICRAF (Indonesia), IRRI (Philippines), IFPRI (USA), IRD (formerly ORSTOM, France), CIRAD (France), SEARCA (Philippines), University of Bayreuth (Gerrmany)
• NGOs/others:
  BAIF (India), SANREM-CRSP (Philippines)
  

A model catchment: the unit of study in MSEC to capture both the on-site and off-site effects of soil erosion

Support for MSEC

The MSEC is currently supported by a technical assistance grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and contributions from the governments of Japan, France, Norway, Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines, through the CGIAR

Who Benefits?

Farmers and land users, together with urban and rural consumers, will gain from more efficient agricultural production. Future generations will benefit from an improved natural resource base

What is Next?

Envisioned to be a longer term project, a second phase proposal was prepared and submitted to donors for funding consideration. The second phase aims to develop, adapt and disseminate appropriate tools and methodologies on how to scale up the application of research results and technology options in MSEC 1 catchments (about 100 ha) to a size (5-100 km2) that will more reliably capture the interactions and linkages among the on-site and off-site users of land and water resources.