Ethiopia is often highlighted as a country in which a lot of foreign land acquisition is occurring. The extent to which these investments also constitute significant acquisitions of water is the subject of this paper. It is apparent that water availability is a strong driver of the recent surge of investments in agricultural land globally, and in general the investments occur in countries with significant 'untapped' water resources. Ethiopia is no exception.

This paper examines the water dimensions of recent large-scale land acquisitions for biofuel production in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Northern regions of Ghana. Using secondary sources of data complemented by individual and group interviews, the paper reveals an almost universal lack of consideration of the implications of large-scale land deals for crop water requirements, the ecological functions of freshwater ecosystems and water rights of local smallholder farmers and other users.

As we enter an era of increasing water scarcity, there is a growing interest to find ways to capture and put water to more productive uses. Substantial increases in the productivity of water in agriculture are needed to meet the demands for food and ensure environmental security, and to satisfy the demands for non-agricultural uses. However, increasing water productivity in rice-dominated agriculture is a function of the irrigation infrastructure, advances in rice-plant breeding, and the physical, institutional and socioeconomic environments.

Availability of rainfall time-series is limited in many parts of the World, and the continuity of such records is variable. This research endeavors to extend actual daily rainfall observations to ungauged areas, taking into account events of rainfall as well as cumulative total daily rainfall, over a period of 11 years. Results show that rainfall events histograms can be reconstructed, and that total cumulative rainfall is estimated with 85% accuracy, using a surrounding network of rain gauges at 30-50 Km of distance from the point of study.

Wetlands occur extensively across the Nile Basin and support the livelihoods ofmillions of people. Despite their importance, there are big gaps in the knowledge about the current status of these ecosystems, and how populations in the Nile use them. A better understanding is needed on the ecosystem services provided by the difl:erent types of wetlands in the Nile, and how these contribute to local livelihoods.

This study employs a contingent valuation method to estimate willingness to pay for improved rural water supply. It provides information on the demand for improved services and the potential for them to be sustainable. The analysis was based on data collected from 132 households using rural water utilities for at least three years. Both binary and ordered probit models were used to examine the determinants of willingness to pay. The estimated mean and median willingness to pay was found to be Birr 6.83 and 5.87 per household per month.

One of the measures that can help developing countries in meeting Target 10 of the Millennium Development Goals – halving the number of people without access to water and adequate sanitation by 2015 – is through a water sector reform. In this research the Malaysian water sector reform is assessed by answering the following questions: • How can we understand and explain the policy process of the reform? • To what extent have the outputs of the reform contributed to the realization of the reform’s objectives?

Desire for Greener Land compiles options for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in drylands. It is a result of the integrated research project DESIRE (Desertification Mitigation and Remediation of Land - A Global Approach for Local Solutions). Lasting five years (2007–2012) and funded within the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme, DESIRE brought together the expertise of 26 international research institutes and non-governmental organisations.

В настоящем отчете представлены результаты последнего исследования, проведенного в шести странах региона Центральной Азии, и анализируются изменения, произошедшие в течение 10 лет после первого исследования. Следуя методике АКВАСТАТ, исследование в максимальной возможной степени руководствовалось страновыми статистическими данными информацией. Отчёт состоит из трех разделов. Раздел I детально описывает использованную методику и содержит глоссарий использованных терминов.