In the seasonally dry tropics, water stored in reservoirs, co-managed by communities and state water management agencies, can transform local livelihoods. In areas of persistent poverty, this water can represent the key to dry season income and food security through fishing, herding, and crop production. Yet the inequitable distribution of water and other agricultural resources leads to stark inequalities in costs and benefits of reservoirs among households and communities. Effective community-based management of common pool resources (CPR) in contexts facing environmental degradation and social conflict is urgently required to sustainably enhance local well being, as sought in the Sustainable Development Goals.

This POP-BF project will convene a range of stakeholders who use and manage two reservoirs in Burkina Faso's province of Boulgou through 'Innovation Platforms' (IPs) that provide spaces for face-to-face learning, exchange and negotiation. Through the IPs, differentiated stakeholders--some of whom experience conflicts of interests related to reservoirs--will identify, prioritize and implement community-driven innovations to make the management of land and water and associated benefits more equitable and sustainable. In collaboration with local communities and water management institutes, the project will co-design and test locally relevant indicators and novel data collection techniques to establish a reliable, locally owned reservoir resource monitoring system. Students, extension workers and government technicians will gain capacities using automatic weather stations, mobile phone based surveys, and easily measured indicators of soil and water quality. The project will fill gaps in knowledge regarding factors and approaches that enable the resolution of conflicts related to the management of CPRs and the development of participatory monitoring systems.