Volte-Face for the Volta

A Challenge Program guides a basin board in analyzing stakeholder networks to help turn around governance of the Volta River basin.

Water management in the Volta River basin is beginning to improve, thanks to widespread commitment and action from stakeholders in the region. Integrated governance and modeling researchers from the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) of the CGIAR are making a timely contribution to these efforts by shaping processes that enhance good governance.

Following, the development of the Water Resources Commission (WRC) in 1998, Ghana seized the opportunity to decentralize water management and began to implement multi-stakeholder governance bodies in the form of basin boards. This was a valuable step forward for a country hindered by poverty, environmental degradation and unreliable rainfall.

Example of influence network mapping.

Eva Shiffer, Douglas Waale and a member of WVBB undertaking influence network mapping.

According to Dr. Liz Humphries, CPWF theme leader for crop water productivity improvement, basin boards are better able to directly and effectively manage such issues because catchment areas do not follow administrative boundaries.

"These boards are not tied to regional boundaries but integrate water governance on a river basin level," Humphries says.

When the time came to implement the second pilot basin board in the White Volta region, the CPWF sought to support the new White Volta Basin Board (WVBB) in its organizational development with research that analyzes and models integrated water-governance systems with multiple stakeholders. Known for promoting fair access to water resources, such systems can improve livelihoods and reduce poverty. At the onset, CPWF researchers, led in the field by Dr. Eva Schiffer of the International Food Policy Research Institute, began to build an effective partnership with the WVBB.

"We didn't realize how strong and mutual the collaboration with our local partner would turn out to be," says Schiffer. "We've developed a relationship with the basin board where we exchange knowledge and ideas on a day-to-day basis and have a great openness for the perception of research and research findings."

Strong collaboration by the CPWF, basin board and WRC meant the project was far more successful than originally expected. Schiffer and her team exceeded the original project proposal and began to implement new research. They used a method of analysis called influence network mapping, which helps gather information about governance networks, the goals of actors, and their relative power and influence on one another.

Influence network mapping was inspired by a CPWF workshop on impact pathway assessment held in January 2006. Schiffer modified the original methods for analyzing social networks using very simple equipment: board game pieces and markers. Participants use board game figures to represent the different actors and map their influences and networks. Stacks of checkers pieces represent the influence actors have on the decision-making process, and markers are used to show network linkages among the actors. WVBB members' responses were inspiring.

"I learned so much during the interview," reports board coordinator Aaron Aduna. "I've tried to list important actors on paper before, but I never would have come up with such a comprehensive list of actors. Throughout the discussion I remembered a lot of actors that at first slipped my mind."

A regional technical officer added: "For me the most interesting part was putting everyone in influence towers. It's so easy to get the full picture if you have everything in front of you like this."

Once the influence network mapping is complete, results can be analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively using network-analysis software to identify key actors and potential weaknesses in the networks. This information is fed back to the basin board, WRC and other stakeholders to assist them with developing a successful basin-wide water-management system.

"Throughout our activities in the field we make sure that we produce results and feed them back into the process on the way instead of just producing big final reports," says Schiffer. This allows feedback on modeling results for the researchers while at the same time helping the board bridge any networking or communication gaps between stakeholders.

According to Aduna, the board has "heart and soul, and is now getting arms and legs," making it ready to function. The next step for the project is to develop a common influence network map of the whole basin board and use it to assist the board in their strategic network planning.