Nile+4+meeting+Jan+04+2011


 * MINUTES OF N4 MEETING **

**Date:** January 04, 2011

**Participants:** Charlotte Macalister Kinde Getnet Kees Swaans Ranjitha Puskur Nancy Jhonson Don Peden Tseday Ayalew

**Venue:** IWMI Meeting Room

The meeting started with a brief Charlotte gave on the general situation of the project. She mentioned that
 * Dr. Seleshi who originally wrote the project handed it over to her upon his departure from IWMI
 * Not much of a progress is made on the economic and social perspective so far
 * There is a need to figure out who should be doing what interms of Institutions and persons as well
 * It is important to clearly identify on the inputs from ILRI
 * The aim is to produce a work plan for 2011/12 as a way forward

Discussion was held referring to the existing Gantt chart on the tasks listed. Accordingly regarding to the task on 1.3 agreement was reached easily that Ranjitha will take the lead with support from Don. She will have 75 days allocated while Don will have 10days/year for the support role.

Next was the task on 2.2/2.3. The chart indicates that the task is assigned to ILRI, which was probably because IWMI does not have the needed expertise on livelihood analysis. Allocation for a post-doc is also implied which the team could not exactly pin point as to whom the responsible person could be. Ideal situation is said to be if this person indicated would be Dr.Kindie Getnet who is already doing the job and which will give the opportunity to create the link on the subject with N2. In such a case Kindie, who is now doing some background research to link with N2 and dealing with 2.3, may take the lead but needs a support from someone with a strong livelihood background. Kindie explained that while he is efforting on the linking and livelihood perspectives, he suggested to use the Cost-benefit analysis approach for 2.3. He put the chain as intervention-crop/hydrology-livelihood-cost benefit. Ranjitha indicated that there was a process to recruit a Post Doctoral Fellow, who is intended to be on board as of May 2011. Drs. Alan and Tilahun are said to know more on this.

In the mean time it was noted that the link between N2 & N4 on livelihood is very important. Kindie is trying to sort it out with Dr. Katherine Snyder who is leading the same component with N2. She is also coordinating the subject as a cross cutting issue across Nile. However the livelihood component is targeted differently in N4 than that of N2 and is said to be not clearly defined. Therefore Kees is assigned to take up the lead in initiating discussion with Kindie and Katherine to try and see what can be conceived from the available project material on the idea of the task in 2.2/2.3. Then the understanding will be articulated in a one pager to be sent to Ranjitha and Nancy for further cooperation in defining what should come out of the task and how it should be handled. ILRI may either look and find the required expertise internally or go for other solutions like hiring a consultant. Nancy and Kees may give some backstopping as well.

The other point raised was the issue of days & time allocation. It was stated that time constraint is clearly observed with most of the assignees. One example was Amare who was given only 20days over the three years period. The time allocation for the potential post-doc or research assistant is also a bit confusing. An understanding that the time of the research assistant will be shared across Nile projects was also reflected though couldn't be verified. Likewise a problem is anticipated in allocating time for Kees and Nancy if they are deemed to contribute to the job. At the moment MoUs are signed and funds are to be distributed. Therefore it must be seen if there would be a room to go back and make adjustments to tasks and thereby the budget as well.

General comments
 * The project is to be predictive in both the hydrology and livelihood aspect as no major change is expected to happen in the lifetime of the project.
 * The balance between poverty impact analysis and livelihood impact analysis in the project was also questioned as both are huge research topics. Kindie indicated that for the time being he is working on a suggestion to combine both but he is not certain if the suggested methodology is workable. A paper will be presented on this subject in few months time.
 * ILRI in general is said to work on Policy & institution, Livelihood & poverty and Water Management.

Action Points
 * Ranjitha will lead tasks on 1.3 with supporting role from Don
 * Kees will be leading the effort to understand on what is intended with 2.2/2.3 by discussing it with Kindie and Katherine. The result of the discussion will be sent to Nancy and Ranjitha who will engage further to define the component plus design how to handle the work.
 * Charlotte will talk to Shirley on the flexibility of the contract agreements on task and budget shifting. This discussion will be kept on hold until there is a concrete plan at hand and also until the potential Post Doc Fellow is identified.
 * Charlotte is going to minimize the large number of people listed to be involved on the chart and keep it to Drs. Kindie, Solomon, Teklu and herself.