A Global Agricultural Research Partnership

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is a non-profit, scientific research organization focusing on the sustainable use of water and land resources in developing countries.

It is headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with regional offices across Asia and Africa.

IWMI works in partnership with governments, civil society and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water management solutions that have a real impact on poverty reduction, food security and ecosystem health. www.iwmi.org

 

Contacts

Address of headquarters, general contact information and media inquiry contact

International Water Management Institute, Pelawatte, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Mailing address: PO Box 2075, Colombo Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 (0) 11 288 0000
Fax: +94 (0) 11 278 6854
Email: iwmiATcgiar.org
www.iwmi.org

Media inquiries:
James Clarke, Director of Communication and Marketing
j.clarkeATcgiar.org

News

Pond, tank or well?

People not just places determine the right choice for agricultural water storage in Africa. The Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW) convened by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and hosted by the Government of Ghana is taking plac…

Providing evidence-based findings in the Dry Zone of Myanmar

The Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) is developing a program for the Dry Zone that will be implemented from 2013 to 2016. As water-related concerns are known to have a strong bearing on food insecurity and low incomes in the Dry Zone, LI…

Publications

Slides

Press Clippings

TheFinancial: No food without water

Discussions centered on the question of how agricultural production can be increased by 40 to 50 per cent over the next 30 years in order to provide food security for a growing global population – even though there is not more water available. As…

Videos

Voices from women and men farmers in Nepal

This film was shot and roughly edited by a group of Nepali women from the Terai region as part of a participatory video project conducted by IWMI in 2013. It presents women’s points of view on how male migration overseas has been affecting their …

The great water footprint conundra: Is a smaller foot print really better than a large one?

Water footprints measure the amount of water consumed or applied in the production of a good or service. A single cup of coffee, for example, has a water foot print of 140 liters of water. The concept is widely publicized and is now beginning to influence government policy. But according Dennis Wichelns, professor at the Institute of Water Policy National University of Singapore, that is a mistake. The problem, he argues, is that this measure looks only at the water input for particular products, and takes no account of other factors that may be more relevant to sustainable resource use. [...]

Water Productivity : Are we really sure about this? – Dennis Wichelns

Water productivity – the amount of a crop produced per unit water – is a much used measurement. A quick search for the phrase on Google Scholar yields nearly 18,000 citations. So it is popular, but is it of any use? Former IWMI Deputy Director General, Dennis Wichelns, thinks it may not be. He believes that to distil crop production down to merely the amount of water used leaves a lot of important information out of the picture. Fertilizer, seeds, plant intakes, labor and unpredictable influences like the weather all play their part, but are ignored by such a simplistic [...]