A series of five issue briefs based on CPWF research on agricultural and aquacultural production and food security in the Ganges coastal zone. The brief topics are: water smart communities; agricultural production and drainage; governance by small water management units; community approach to water management; and improved agriculture and aquaculture cropping systems.

The Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) was a 10-year (January 1, 2004–December 31, 2013) investment by the CGIAR, conducted over two phases and aimed at an overarching goal of raising water productivity and improving food security while helping alleviate poverty, improve health, and attain environmental security. This review, undertaken between November 2013 and March 2014, was commissioned by CPWF to assess CPWF’s achievements, but also to identify lessons to take forward by CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) and other research and development stakeholders.

The First International Forum on Water and Food of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) was held in Vientiane, Laos from November 12 to 17, 2006. The Forum had two overarching objectives:

• to link people together to discover what they are doing within the CPWF and in the world of water and food beyond the Program;

• to articulate the links between research, policy and practice.

Food and Water Security under Global Change: Developing Adaptive Capacity

with a Focus on Rural Africa

The project “Food and Water Security under Global Change: Developing Adaptive

Capacity with a Focus on Rural Africa” aimed to provide farmers, policymakers,

and other stakeholders in Ethiopia and South Africa with tools to make better

adaptive decisions in the face of climate-related risk. The project combined

household surveys and stakeholder forums, which examined local perceptions of

The Coordination and Change Enabling Project (G5) worked in providing an enabling environment that promote connectivity of project research across topics and scales, from household agriculture- aquaculture farming systems to community polder water management through broader land use planning. The project also served as an interface between the programme and a variety of existing and potential stakeholders and worked towards scaling out research results to multiple stakeholders with common interest in achieving the goals for the CPWF for the Ganges coastal zone.

This study of the evolution of AWM in the Volta Basin yielded key recommendations for research-for-development interventions and new concepts for research on water management. When promoting AWM strategies, projects should carefully study the available information on factors triggering adoption,

and play on these to ensure sustainable uptake of the technology. Local capacities and agendas should be better accounted for when promoting AWM strategies or low-cost irrigation technologies. Participatory