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...

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...

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...

Improved water management practices and trade in "virtual water" can help alleviate water scarcity, release water for more efficient uses, increase productivity, and ultimately reduce food prices for consumers. Investments in these areas can therefore drive growth and poverty reduction, both...

Conjunctive water use refers to simultaneous use of surface water and groundwater to meet crop demand. This Note concludes that to optimize conjunctive use of water, the best way forward is to concentrate on capacity building of irrigation system managers to improve system management and reshape...

Governments and developing agencies promote participatory approaches in solving common pool resource problems, such as in the water sector. Two main participatory approaches have been applied separately, namely negotiation and mediation. In this paper the authors apply the Role-Playing Game that...

Irrigation has been vital to agricultural gains in the last half century. But demand for food continues to rise as the world's population increases and economic progress allows more people to eat better. Demand for irrigation grows apace with the demand for food. But in recent years the pace of...

"Shared water resources in Israel and Palestine are often the site of political, economic, historical, legal and ethical contestation. In this, the first of two volumes on the subject, the authors look beyond the political tensions of the region, to argue for the need for shared water security...