This Note outlines a larger report describing the changing context of demand and supply for agricultural water. It identifies the policy, institutional, and incentive reform options that will accelerate improvements in productivity and pro-poor growth in this sector. It articulates priorities...

This Note is based on the report, "Shaping the Future of Water for Agriculture: A Sourcebook for Investment in Agricultural Water Management," which presents a range of solutions and good practices from World Bank and worldwide experience are documented to meet the challenges of agricultural...

Reliable supplies of water for agriculture have helped meet rapidly rising demand for food in developing countries, making farms more profitable, reducing poverty, and helping vast regions of the world develop more dynamic and diversified economies. Can these successes be sustained with demand...

A watershed is an area that supplies water by surface or subsurface flow to a drainage system or body of water. Watersheds vary from a few hectares to thousands of square kilometers. Watershed management (WSM) is the integrated use of land, vegetation, and water in a specific drainage area with...

Agricultural water has been seen as a prime mechanism for fostering rural economic growth and reducing rural poverty. But agricultural water has encountered problems of performance, profitability and sustainability. This resulted in a reduction in investments from governments and lending from...

The report begins with definitions of watersheds and watershed management, a characterization of the problem of watershed degradation, and a short history of watershed management operations and policies (Chapter 1). The following four chapters discuss the findings from experience with...

Smallholder irrigated horticulture has proven to be a viable and attractive option for poor farmers in developing countries. This paper relates two important lessons learned: low-cost productive technologies must be available to smallholders in terms of both location and price and must...

Of the projected 1 billion growth in global population by 2015, 88 percent will take place in cities, nearly all of it in developing countries. Investments in urban water supply and sewerage coverage are rising. However, adequate treatment for agricultural reuse with acceptable risk mitigation...