Strengthening Water Resources Management of Banana Communities: Greater Resilience to Climate Variability.

Agriculture uses about 70% of available water, which can generate conflicts with other users if availability is limited and seasonal. The consortium formed by UNAN-León Nicaragua, IDIAF of the Dominican Republic, banana and coffee producers, Bioversity International, the CGIAR Humidtropics Program and the French consultancy Lisode (Lien Social et Décision), convened farmers and other actors into a process based on ComMod (Companion Modeling) to reflect on the improvement of water management in banana producing areas. The process included information gathering, participatory diagnoses, the identification of interactions between water, climate, agriculture and other users, and the validation of a territorial dialogue platform that uses role play to coordinate the social system and identify water problems under different climatic scenarios. The 378 participants understood the problems of water use and the needs of others in the four work zones, based on conceptual models. Dialogue platforms identified 109 technological and institutional proposals of which 29 were included in action plans to improve knowledge about water resources, formalize the rules for access and use of water, innovate agricultural practices to reduce pressure on water resources and vulnerability of farms, and raise public awareness about water problems.