Home > Research
Themes > Comprehensive
Assessment
The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management
in Agriculture (CA) is a multi-institute process synthesizing existing
knowledge to guide investment and management decisions to help
achieve the Millennium Development Goals of enhancing food and
environmental security. The CA critically evaluates the benefits,
costs, and impacts of the past 50 years of water development, today's
challenges, and solutions people have developed. It aims to contribute
to better investment and management decisions in water and agriculture
in the near future and over the next 50 years.
The CA addresses the dual challenge
of developing and managing water resources to end poverty and hunger,
while reversing ecosystem degradation trends. It recognizes the
need for a shift in thinking and actions to meet this challenge.
A diverse group of over 700 people from around the world have participated
in the Assessment. Co-sponsors are the Convention on Biological
Diversity, CGIAR, FAO, and the Ramsar Convention.
The Comprehensive
Assessment has been learning process, engaging networks of stakeholders
to produce knowledge synthesis and methodologies, and to promote
capacity building. Many of IWMI’s projects
contribute to, and in some cases receive support from, the Comprehensive
Assessment. This includes research on water productivity, integrated
water resources management, rainfed agriculture, land and water
degradation, groundwater governance, irrigation impacts, and sustainable
wetland management.
In the first three years (2001-2004), the CA conducted literature
reviews, identified imporant gaps in the water-food-environment
knowledge basin, and carried out research to fill these gaps. In
2005, multi-disciplinary, international research teams began synthesizing
the results into the final Assessment report which will have 15
chapters, including eight thematic chapters on Rainfed Agriculture,
Groundwater, Low Quality Water, Fish, Rice, Land, Basins and four
cross cutting chapters addressing water productivity, policies
and ecosystems, institutions and poverty. In addition, it will
include a section on future scenarios and a summary for policymakers.
The Report will be launched in 2006.
For further information on the CA and the Assessment Report, visit:
http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment/
Back to top
Home > Research
Themes > Comprehensive
Assessment
|
