Assessing the potential for poverty reduction through investments in agricultural water management

The FAO has released a report titled "Assessing poverty reduction potential through investments in agricultural water management: a methodology for country level analysis." The report presents a methodology to analyze the opportunities, constraints and potential of small-scale Agricultural Water Management (AWM) interventions at pilot research sites. The methodology focuses on addressing the water needs of poor rural populations as opposed to developing suitable water resources. This approach is driven by demands for water investments and checks resource use against available supply. According to the report, such an approach results in demand driven investment that is more likely to result in development gains. FAO and its partners pilot-tested the methodology through livelihood zone mapping at the national level and by assessing AWM potential in varying agro-climatic, political and socio-economic contexts. Pilot test countries include Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Tanzania and Zambia.