This one-pager provides details on the LAND-at-scale project in Egypt. This project is implemented by GIZ Egypt, and financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via the Netherlands Enterprise & Development Agency (RVO). 

Pakistan is highly dependent on irrigated agriculture for employment, income generation and food security—around 90 percent of all food production relies on either surface or groundwater irrigation. The growing dependence of agriculture but also industries and the drinking water sector on groundwater has led to the overexploitation of groundwater resources and, in some areas, to the deterioration of groundwater quality. Fiscal incentives for solarization of irrigation/drinking water pumps are likely to further increase water withdrawals and make water governance more complex.

The source of data used to estimate the e-flow requirement in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 6.4.2 (level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources) is the Global Environmental Flow Information System (GEFIS), an online tool produced and managed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Solar-powered groundwater irrigation is expanding exponentially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), creating opportunities and risks. In South Asia, more than 500,000 small stand-alone pumps have already been installed (see the figure). In Sub-Saharan Africa, solar pumps are gaining traction to expand food production and alleviate poverty.

In the UN many countries committed themselves to reduce FLW towards 20301. So-called national pathways are developed, written by governments, elaborating on how this will be established. In order to support and validate these efforts, FLW monitoring2 is required on national level. This is a complex task for LMIC, since it is difficult to get data from rural and remote areas. In addition, the variety in products, supply chain links (SCLs), climatic conditions (weather, water, soil) increases the workload of any monitoring approach dramatically.

A proliferation of irrigation infrastructure throughout the Mekong River has impacted the ability of certain fish species to migrate to fulfil their lifecycle. In response, fishways, a type of fish-friendly irrigation structure, have been developed to provide passage for these fish. In recent years, several guidelines documents providing guidance on fish-friendly irrigation structures and their construction have been published. The development process from guideline inception to publication is unclear, while their purpose, audience, and contribution to fishway practice are vague.

Overcoming future sustainable development challenges will require significant transformations in food, land, and water systems. However, the challenges faced by countries are varied and complex. Produced by IWMI, the Policy Pathways podcast will examine the policy coherence of food, land, and water systems in six of the CGIAR’s National Policies and Strategies Initiative countries.

Agriculture consumes the largest share of freshwater globally; therefore, distinguishing between rainfed and irrigated croplands is essential for agricultural water management and food security. In this study, a framework incorporating the Budyko model was used to differentiate between rainfed and irrigated cropland areas in Africa for eight remote sensing landcover products and a high-confidence cropland map (HCCM). The HCCM was generated for calibration and validation of the crop partitioning framework as an alternative to individual cropland masks which exhibit high disagreement.

Confronting sustainable development challenges requires system transformation in Food, Land, and Water! Policy Pathways invites policymakers and sustainable development stakeholders to share their expertise on the policy solutions that can advance system transformation across the globe. CGIAR Research Initiative on National Policies and Strategies has produced a series of policy coherence reports focused on India, Colombia, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and Laos.

Egypt’s quota of Nile River water has been constant since the 1950s, despite the continual agricultural land expansion. To facilitate land reclamation, Egypt has reallocated Nile water from downstream users, mostly smallholders in the ‘old lands’ of the Delta. As water demands have grown, more attention has gone to the reuse of waste/drainage water as a reliable source for irrigated agriculture in the “old lands”.

Soil and water conservation have been traditionally part of farming practices for thousands of years. Despite massive efforts to implement modern soil and water conservation practices (SWCPs) in the Ethiopian Highlands, soil erosion increased after the 1970s when social and political events led to a remarkable change in land use. This review aims to critically analyze the impact of conservation practices on soil loss and crop yield and highlight research and modeling gaps.