We aim at increasing the impact of poverty-reduction strategies on poor smallholder farmers through investments in water, by recognizing the diversity and complexity of their conditions and tailoring interventions accordingly.

This paper discusses – at the sub-basin level – the regional differences and comparative advantages for agricultural development and water resources utilization in the Nile Basin. It looks at options for development, projected in the regional context, and the importance of agricultural water use for social and food security in the different parts of the basin.

The continuing and rapid degradation of rural watersheds has been a major concern for governments and civil society in Asia and the Pacific region. A root cause is the segmented management of land and water resources. This has been exacerbated by the cumulative and linked effects of an increase in demand for food, fuel and water due to population growth, competition for scarce land resources from biofuel production and a shift in preference for protein-rich diets. The expected adverse impact of climate change in the coming decades will most likely worsen the situation.

The Agricultural Water Solutions Project aims to unlock the potential of smallholder farming by identifying, evaluating and recommending a variety of agricultural water management (AWM) solutions - including technologies as well as the necessary supporting policies, institutions, financing arrangements and associated business models. This is being achieved through a series of interlinked activities in the seven project sites in Africa (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia) and in India (Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal).

حمّل التقرير الحفظ والتوسع من الناحية العملية: الذرة والأرز والقمح .متوفر باللغة الإنكليزية فقط.

Este mes, la celebración anual del Día Mundial del Agua tendrá lugar el 22 de marzo. El tema del Día de este año es Agua para las ciudades: respondiendo al desafío urbano. En el presente número examinamos algunos de los retos planteados por los recursos hídricos a causa de la rapidez de las migraciones, y estudiamos una posible solución para intensificar el aprovechamiento de dichos recursos.

This issue of Unasylva contains, as promised in the previous edition, additional articles on sustainable mountain development. These articles help to complete the focus on the topic and should also help to promote interest in the recently declared International Year of the Mountain (2000) for which FAO has been designated lead agency status within the United Nations system.

Les principales recommandations que l’on peut formuler suite à cette étude s’articulent autour des axes suivants: (i) r enforcer la coordination entre les organismes de développement et les services statistiques nationaux afin de valoriser au maximum les données et les informations disponibles sur la relation genre et eau et de favoriser la production de nouvelles données ; (ii) s ystématiser la désagrégation selon le genre dans le traitement des données d’enquêtes nationales ; (iii) i ntégrer davantage les données relatives aux dimensions

This paper is based on the outcomes of a training workshop on modernization of irrigation management organized in 2007 for 25 participants with a focus on the Gandorinala and Bennithora projects.

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Session: Sess. 3