The Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) water and energy sectors are under increasing pressure due to population growth and agricultural and industrial development. Climate change is also negatively impacting on the region’s water and energy resources. As the majority of SADC’s population lives in poverty, regional development and integration are underpinned by water and energy security as the watercourses in the region are transboundary in nature. This paper reviews the region’s water and energy resources and recommends policies based on the water–energy nexus approach.

Access to input / technology, information / knowledge, credit / finance is very decisive for the development of a given society in general and irrigation based high value crop production in particular. The identification of the contribution of social networks in facilitating access to these resources and services and thereby influence crop choice among irrigation user farmers is vital to identify the important actors contributing in irrigation based vegetable production.

“The Strategic Analysis of India’s National River Linking Project”: In 2005, the

International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Challenge Program on Water

and Food (CPWF) started a three-year research study on “Strategic Analysis of India’s River Linking Project”. The primary focus of the IWMI-CPWF project is to provide the public and the policy planners with a balanced analysis of the social benefits and costs ofthe National River Linking Project (NRLP).

The project consists of research in three phases. Phase I analyzed India’s water future