IWMI requires a highly competent and motivated individual for the position of ‘Irrigation Specialist’ to spearhead its work on “revitalizing irrigation”, to assist in tackling the world’s food and water crises. The successful applicant will be based in Pakistan, Central Asia or Sri Lanka and will report to the Leader of our Productive Water Use theme. The performance of irrigation is stagnating and declining in a number of systems across Asia, and irrigation performance has been disappointingly low in sub-Saharan Africa. But irrigation will continue to be called on to deliver agricultural production, better livelihood support, and do so in a manner that causes less environmental degradation. And it will be called on to do so with less water, as competition from cities and the environment increases. Root causes of under performance are inappropriate policies and institutions governing irrigation and poor maintenance and operation of irrigation facilities.
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Source: http://www.iwmi.org/
Population pressure and increasing water competition in a changing climate require us to take stock of the availability and use of water across scales. Water availability not only influences farmers’ commercial prospects but also irrigation-related enterprises and agri-businesses. Greater water scarcity could jeopardize irrigation and agricultural markets while excessive water use can lead to declining ecosystems, water quality and soil health. IWMI advises development partners and the public and private sectors on all aspects of water resource availability and use through a variety of advanced modeling and remote-sensing products and tools, including 
The ability of farmers to engage in or expand irrigation depends on the prevailing socioeconomic, ecological and political contexts, which are often complex, non-linear and changeable. Overcoming systemic barriers to farmer-led irrigation development while taking advantage of existing opportunities 
A lack of affordable credit, particularly for women and resource-poor farmers, is one of the main barriers to expanding farmer-led irrigation in low- and middle-income countries. But 
Scaling farmer-led irrigation requires strengthening human capacity and knowledge exchange among all actors and stakeholders involved. IWMI takes an action research approach, working with national and international research institutions, governments, extension agents and public and private organizations to co-develop the scaling ecosystem and strengthen capacity to drive scaling networks and collective action. We support the