Water is an essential resource for all life, but is extremely difficult to manage productively, sustainably and equitably. Good water governance has been a major theme of multiple international conferences for at least two decades (Woodhouse and Muller 2017). Without good governance, we cannot achieve poverty reduction, food security, environmental sustainability, equity and other global development goals or respond effectively to the ravages of climate change. Achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends on the availability of water to users.

Since 2019, when WLE/IWMI reported on the impact of its research on groundwater knowledge generation and management in Laos, policies and investment programs have evolved that are benefitting groundwater-dependent communities. There is now greater recognition of the strategic importance of groundwater, and more emphasis placed on the systematic management of groundwater by responsible government agencies and in development projects.

The WLE/Sustainable Land Use Systems project coordinates government-led agreement on zero deforestation in the dairy value chain. In 2021 it engaged new partners and contributed to national livestock actor dialogues.

Since 2013, the Government of South Africa, WLE/PIM/IFPRI and research partners have collaborated to assess the role of water infrastructure in adapting to potential climate change impacts. This has helped policymakers prioritize building resilience into infrastructure investments and implement climate sensitive development programs. The findings and recommendations of this research have been built into major policy and investment plans, including Operation Vulindlela, highlighted in the President’s 2022 State of the Nation Address as one of five key sectors.

The Makueni Resource Hub was co-developed with stakeholders from the Makueni county government and officially launched at the Kenya Devolution Conference in November 2021. It has been embedded into county decision-making processes across multiple departments (agriculture, environment, planning, education and health).

A research-based strategy to reduce food waste and recycle it is adopted by the government.

Inclusive land restoration is increasingly considered to be a critical sustainable pathway to the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in developing countries. The literature suggests that good governance practices support successful sustainable natural resource management. The study assesses the role of landscape governance in a long-term thriving forest and landscape restoration project in Shinyanga.

This paper examines the governance and implementation of land compensation for the Laos-China Railway (LCR). It brings to light the central government’s strategy to use compensation rules and procedures as its means to extend its spatial power across the provinces, districts, and villages that are affected by the railway construction. We examine both the manifestations and effects of state power through the formulation and implementation of land compensation procedures.

Understanding the different perceptions of the local community regarding the use and management of common pool resources, such as exclosures, could better support targeted interventions by government and development partners.

The CCAFS Scenarios Project worked closely together with FAO (the SAMIS project and the Flexible Multi-Partner project) to support the government of Lao PDR (Ministry of Agriculture) in the use of scenario-based land use mapping for policy guidance, in a systemic manner focused on internal capacity for applying this scenario-based approach to multiple policies. The Lao PDR Agricultural Development Strategy 2021 to 2030 is being supported by this process.

Land-use planning is an important policy instrument for governing landscapes to achieve multifunctionality in rural areas. This paper presents a case study conducted in Na Nhan commune in the northwest montane region of Vietnam to assess land-use strategies toward multiple ecosystem services, through integrated land-use planning.

In South Asia, the CGIAR-led innovation of bundled agricultural technologies (including index-based flood insurance, climate resilient seeds and agroclimatic services), relying on advanced tools and modeling including satellite data, speeded payouts to over 15,000 flood-affected farm households, indirectly benefitting another 125,000 farmers who learned from participating neighbors. Governments and insurance companies are beginning to scale out these new products to farmers, including women, in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.