This paper will concentrate on the hypothesis that the resource ‘water’ can be developed on many homesteads by construction of farm ponds; this can support more sustainable production systems, higher productivity and income, and greater well-being of the farm families. There are four approaches to address this hypothesis: (i) ask the people concerned for their views, (ii) ask the national and international experts for their views, (iii) carry out and interpret a field survey, and (iv) use a model to simulate scenarios of water supply and water use. For this study we made use of all four: by listening to the Farmer Wisdom Network, by participating in an international project on multiple uses of water (Van Koppen et al. 2009), by carrying out a survey and by initiating a simulation model. It will be demonstrated that homesteads can benefit from more water and also that there is a gap in practical knowledge on how to achieve that with farm ponds.