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Water Issue Brief | Managing water for rainfed agriculture

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Publication date
16/06/2010
Number of Pages
4
Language:
English
Type of Publication:
Working Papers & Briefs
Focus Region:
Asia and the Pacific
Focus Topic:
Land / Water / Resource Management
Type of Risk:
Biological & environmental
Type of Risk Managment Option:
Risk coping
Commodity:
Crops
Author
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
Organization
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Most poor communities around the world rely on rainfed agriculture for their food, where yields are often much lower than they could be, partly due to inadequate or ineffective water management practices. Farmers, people in rural communities, policymakers, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must work together to disseminate better methods of boosting yields from rainfed systems, reducing hunger and increasing wealth.

Key messages

  • Improving agricultural productivity in areas dependent on rainfall has the greatest potential to reduce poverty.
  • Managing rainwater and soil moisture more effectively and using supplemental and small-scale irrigation hold the key to helping the greatest number of poor people.
  • Agricultural water management solutions are an entry point for improving ecosystem functions in agroecosystems of the semiarid tropics.