Participatory analysis of sustainable land and water management practices for integrated rural development in Myanmar

Besides providing reliable water resources for agricultural production, rural development efforts in Myanmar should target rural water security in terms of safe water supply and sanitation, and by mitigating water-related hazards. However, very few studies are available over the status of waterrelated development in rural areas of the country, and consequently on suitable practical solutions. The present paper describes a participatory workshop undertaken involving 45 rural development officers of the Department of Rural Development (DRD) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI), aimed at identifying suitable sustainable land and water management (SLWM) practices to be developed in rural areas of the country. Adoption of water safety plans (WSP), water harvesting, and soil and water bioengineering were strongly supported, while the need for improving water sanitation, especially in the poorest areas, was made evident. Insights of the participatory process confirmed that the poorest regions of Myanmar have also the worst water management structures. The results of the present work can represent baseline information and a needs assessment for future development projects in the country. However, there is a strong need for more studies and reports targeting marginalized rural contexts of Myanmar, to support equitable development.

Along with freshwater management issues, erosion and land degradation represent a major threat to rural livelihoods in the country, also considering that Myanmar has the highest erosion hazard of South Asia (Htwe et al. ).
In the framework of water resources development, especially within international cooperation projects and in rural development actions localized in small areas, the involvement of local stakeholders has proven to be fundamental to ensure good project outcomes, for the implementation of  (Table 1) Table 1.

Participatory selection of best SLWM practices
The participatory selection of best SLWM practices took place in the last 2 days of the course, in two sessions of 2 hours each. To have a better geographic representation of the techniques to be considered, participants were divided in six groups of almost equal numerosity, based on their region of provenance (Figure 1).
Participants were asked to indicate the practices already applied in their respective regions, and SLWM techniques that could be put in place or that can respond to actual needs in their geographic area. For these latter ones, DRD officers were asked to identify the first, second, and third ones in order of priority, and to indicate which techniques could be implemented in the short term.
Participants were then asked to present their findings by the means of a poster, that was presented and discussed with all courses' attendants and with the authors of the present paper.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The practices selected with the participatory process are presented in Figure 2. The process made evident both the most urgent actions to be put in place and those at a piloting stage. A detailed description is provided in the following sub-sections.

Water safety plans and monitoring of water resources
Water safety plans represent community-based management strategies to ensure the safety of drinking water through the use of a risk assessment and management framework (WHO ). Plans can be implemented with a six-step iterative methodology, including: (1) the engagement of the community and the creation of a 'Water Safety Plan team'; (2) the description of the community water supply; (3)  Regarding the quality of basic water supply, groundwater, and in particular, well water has to be monitored. Some measures are in place, but the participatory workshop highlighted that common guidelines and procedures for wells' registering and monitoring are needed and should be implemented in all rural contexts of the country. The need is further justified given the fact that the quality of groundwater supply for drinking purposes is still uncertain in many regions (IWMI ).

Sanitation and wastewater treatments
To the best of our knowledge, accurate data regarding water sanitation systems in rural areas are lacking for Myanmar.
According to UNICEF (), despite a good coverage of basic sanitation systems, rural and the poorest households are facing some issues and may lack adequate sanitation systems. The urgency of working on improved sanitation facilities emerged for groups 1 and 4, and in particular, in the second one, including Chin, Kachin, and Rakhine States. It should be noted group 4 includes the two poorest areas of the country, since in Chin State almost six out of ten people are poor, while in Rakhine State about four out of ten are poor (World Bank b). Here, a linkage between poverty conditions and the level of water management in rural areas is evident. It will, therefore, be crucial to invest in WASH planning for this latter area.

Water harvesting
Water harvesting techniques, namely, techniques that allow 'the process of concentrating precipitation through runoff and storing it for beneficial use' (Oweis & Hachum ) received great attention during the participatory process.
The main interest of DRD officers was for rooftop water harvesting systems (Thomas & Martinson ), sand dams (Maddrell & Neal ), as well as small ponds (FAO ). Rooftop water harvesting was recognized as a key measure for securing water supply in rural areas. According to the Myanmar IWRM study (van Meel et al. ), in many

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The present paper describes the findings of a participatory process undertaken involving Myanmar DRD officers, in order to analyze and present SLWM practices to improve water and wastewater management in rural areas of the country. These areas, that will be key for an equitable development of the country after the end of the 30-year military government, have so far received little attention at the research level.
Key findings of the study were: • WSP can represent a win-win measure to both improve the safety of rural water supply and to establish a ground-level monitoring network to check the status of water supply systems in the country. DRD has to be involved in their adoption, which should comply with WHO guidelines in every regional state.
• Detailed analysis and a national monitoring system may be needed with reference to the quality of groundwater sources, especially for wells. Well registering platforms should be extended to all rural areas in the country, as well as long-term groundwater quality monitoring.
• Information about the level of wastewater technologies present in rural areas should be gathered and systematized, while special attention should be given to retrieve funding for improving these infrastructures in the poorest areas, and for awareness-raising on water quality-related issues among rural communities.
• Water harvesting has the potential to supply part of the poor rural population with at least a stable source of water for domestic uses. Its application, however, should be further implemented with a national strategy.
• Soil and water bioengineering has the potential to be applied for erosion and landslide control measure, but further assessment on its suitability in the country are needed. The application of this latter technology may go beyond DRD's own task and will need to be planned also involving other departments of MOALI.
Despite the limited timeframe (2-day workshop) and the link with the technologies presented in the course, the present study represents a first structured attempt to highlight problems and potential solutions related to water supply, wastewater management, and water-related hazards in rural areas of Myanmar. The present findings can represent an initial step for future water development projects, both for international cooperation agencies and for national initiatives.
However, for any further initiative, we also recommend the full integration of forthcoming project efforts with actions and strategies already put in place by the Myanmar government, such as the recent Rural Development Law.
Results also highlighted some evident nexus between rural poverty conditions and weak water systems management, that should be further investigated to highlight the multiple interlinkages between water and poverty in the country. Finally, the good participation of DRD staff and the outcomes of the process demonstrated that the proposed methodology can provide meaningful information and could, therefore, be upscaled and implemented in other contexts.