Cambodia has abundant water resources in general, but it has a little water in the dry season. The increased dry season rice farming in many provinces, following the increased rice export policy in Cambodia and the spill-over effects of rice trade in Vietnam has led to high demands for water for dry season rice farming. These have led to water shortage and conflicts over water among farmers in the farming provinces, and between sectors, for instance, fishery and rice farming.

The African Water Facility, together with the Water Research Commission, South Africa, as its implementing agent, supported the demonstration project Operationalizing community-led Multiple Use water Services (MUS) in South Africa.

This report underscores the escalating threat of climate disasters to global populations, emphasizing the heightened vulnerability of Sri Lanka, an island nation susceptible to diverse climate-related hazards. With floods, landslides, droughts, cyclones, and other extreme events on the rise due to climate change, the inevitability of future disasters looms large. Urgent proactive measures are imperative to address this pressing issue, as the population is ill-prepared to handle severe consequences without comprehensive and anticipatory strategies.

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.

Water is central for a variety of livelihoods, development, economic growth, and food production. It is also very important in the large deltas of South and Southeast Asia. Yet, water is turning into a scare resource and global climate change is making its availability more unpredictable. Commercial interests and infrastructure development are also competing for water resources, sometimes at the expense of local smallholders.

Adaptation to climate change is a vital response to enhance the resilience of these smallholder agricultural livelihoods, more so because of their adverse effect on the food security of the nation. Lack of education and technical skills, poverty, and risks inherent to agricultural investments as well as little access to financial capital are the main reasons for low investments in adaptive capacity enhancements.

The International Conference on Eco-Health Nexus (ICEN 2023) aimed to promote interdisciplinary dialogues and solutions surrounding cascade ecology and human well-being. Cascade ecology refers to the study of ecological interactions in connected networks of tanks, streams and wetlands that exchange water, nutrients, and organisms.

Within Nepal, water, energy, food, and ecosystems (WEFE) are vital resources not merely for the current generation, but also for future ones, especially to satisfy the demands of a growing population and to respond to socio-economic changes. The WEFE nexus approach realizes that the management of water, energy, food, and ecosystems must be undertaken in a holistic way. Nevertheless, governments, investors, and other stakeholders face challenges in the management of WEFE resources, particularly in the face of climate change.

With decreasing aquifer levels, increasing groundwater pollution, inequitable access, and generally poor management outcomes, better groundwater governance has been put forward as a recipe to address these challenges worldwide. Existing recommendations focus on improved legal frameworks, monitoring and control of access and abstraction through permits or formal rights. In addition, decentralized water management, enforcement of regulations, and supply-side technological solutions are seen as cornerstone components of good groundwater governance systems.

This article investigates water security in Nepal from the perspective of the water-energy-agriculture (food) nexus, focusing on pathways to water security that originate in actions and policies related to other sectors. It identifies promoting development of Nepal’s hydropower potential to provide energy for pumping as way to improve water security in agriculture.

Led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), WLE is a collaboration between CGIAR Research Centers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the RUAF Foundation, and several national, regional and international partners. Through these partners, we provide evidence and solutions on natural resource management to influence key decision makers, including governments, international development organizations and financiers.