IWMI’s main functions in Africa aim at conducting research and cross-regional research on water and poverty alleviation through improved agricultural water management into three sub-regions; these are the Nile Basin and East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa. The research done in Africa follows the overall IWMI research organized around four key themes addressing issues critical to Africa's water and land future:

1. Basin Water Management,
2. Land, Water and Livelihood,
3. Agriculture, Water and Cities,
4. Water Management and Environment

In Africa, 28 IWMI researchers supported by seven research assistants and 20 administrative staff work on 34 projects (October 2006) mainly in the selected IWMI Benchmark Basins: the Nile, the Limpopo, and the Volta Basin.

IWMI’s research in Africa focuses on six priority areas for the medium term plan:

1. Water resources management in the Nile, Volta, Niger, Limpopo and Zambezi Basins;
2. Small scale land and water management interventions;
3. Improved irrigation management;
4. Multiple water use and development systems;
5. Achieving the MDGs on sanitation while making an asset out of wastewater; and
6. Sustainable use of wetlands for improved livelihoods.

In Africa, IWMI regularly organizes workshops and conferences, which range in size from village meetings to national stakeholder consultations or international symposia. IWMI's mandate includes capacity building.  IWMI offers PhD scholarships and has many PhD and MSc students every year.  Strengthening local partners and enriching IWMI's research through collaboration is a two-way approach to ensure the desired impact on the grass root level.