We successfully organized a tailor-made training on Green Roads for Water in Sudan in collaboration with the Hydraulic Research Center (HRC). The training objective was to familiarize technical, management, and field staff from water and road sectors with Road Water Management approaches, technologies and governance.
The training consisted of three main activity blogs (see picture below):
- The first activity block consisted of two main activities. Its objective was to collect relevant information on the issues and opportunities for Green Roads for Water in Sudan and tailor the training to the Sudan context.
- The second activity block consisted of one main activity, a 5-days tailor-made training on GR4W covering the modules below:
- Module 1: Road Water Management
- Module 2: Technical know-how and skills on low-cost, high-impact solutions
- Module 3: Field visit along the pilot road (Pilot Road: Wad Madani – Managil).
- Module 4: Governance of GR4W and group work exercises
- Module 5: Group work exercise to develop an implementation strategy at a national level and planning for the GR4W interventions for the different agro-ecological zones of Sudan
- The third activity block consisted of one main activity and its objective was to present the outcomes of the training to key decision-makers from the water, road, agriculture, and environment sectors and discuss the way forward.
The 5-days training took place at Wad Madani and was attended by an enthusiastic group of 15 participants from five different institutions (Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Urban Development Roads and Bridges, NGOs and Universities. The first two days of the training were dedicated to explaining the GR4W concept, sharing GR4W experiences from other countries, discussing the issues and opportunities for GR4W in Sudan and the available techniques and required governance. One day for field visits to showcase good and bad examples of road water management along the Wad Madani – Managil road, and the last days for group exercises and preparation of multi-sectoral strategies for implementing GR4W in different agroecological zones of Sudan. The participants found the GR4W concept very relevant to their work and expressed the huge need for developing synergies among the relevant sectors and jointly implementing GR4W in Sudan.
The Stakeholder workshop took Place in Khartoum and was attended by a total of 31 participants from 12 different institutes. The governor of Geziera scheme, the undersecretary of the National high way authority, the director general of the Railway, one representative of the minister of agriculture and forest, one representative of FAO, the Secretary General of the HCENR organization and engineers from different institutes were some of the stakeholders who attended the workshop. During the workshop, the training participants from the three key sectors (roads, transport and water) presented the challenges for their sectors, the need for GR4W and some proposed interventions for each different agroecological zone of Sudan, including roles and responsibilities of all relevant actors. After this, HRC presented a holistic strategy indicating concrete steps to implement GR4W in Sudan.
The stakeholders showed great interest in the GR4W approach and the training outcomes. The action points that were agreed upon during the stakeholder workshop are summarized below:
- Form a Committee consisting of representatives from all relevant sectors to institutionalize GR4W in Sudan (prepare MoUs between sectors, explore relevant programs of each sector where GR4W can be incorporated, draft GR4W guidelines tailored for Sudan, etc.)
- Explore possibilities for piloting GR4W (two pilot cases have been proposed and discussed during the stakeholders workshop)
- Include the GR4W concept in the university curriculums (organize lectures, seminars and courses)
- Explore opportunities for a follow-up intensive technical training course on GR4W and the use of remote sensing for calculating runoff
- The director of planning from the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources to include GR4W in Next Year’s Plan.
All the training material can be found here:
Training Day 1: Road Water Management
- Introduction to the GR4W concept
- GR4W global experiences and lessons learned – including case studies from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Yemen, Zambia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Rwanda and Somaliland
- GR4W regional experiences from the Horn of Africa
- Overview of the existing Road Water Management and challenges in Sudan
Training Day 2: Technical know-how and skills in low-cost, high-impact solutions
- Erosion Protection and Water Guiding
- Surface drains and cross-drainage measures
- GR4W strategies and techniques
- Results from the rapid road assessment in Sudan: Road & Water issues in Sudan
Training Day 3: Field visit along the pilot road (Pilot Road: Wad Madani – Managil).
Training Day 4: Governance of GR4W and group work exercises
- Remote sensing Applications for GR4W
- Runoff analysis method (JICA project)
- Stakeholder Cooperation for GR4W
- Community engagement for GR4W
- Group work exercise
Training Day 5: Group work exercise to develop an implementation strategy at a national level and planning for the GR4W interventions for the different agro-ecological zones of Sudan
Stakeholder Workshop presentations:
- Introduction to GR4W and its relevance for Sudan
- Implementation of GR4W_Transport Sector
- Implementation of GR4W_Water Sector
- Implementation of GR4W_Road Sector
- Challenges and Way forward
Selected photos from the different training activities are presented below:
