“Investing in Agricultural Science: The Best Bet for the Future”, is the theme of this year’s Annual General Meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in Maputo, Mozambique, from 1-5 December. This year, participants are looking at how agricultural research, science and technology, and food policy initiatives can better improve the lives and livelihoods of poor people.
Maputo, Mozambique : December 1- 5, 2008
Investing in Agricultural Science: The Best Bet for the Future
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is currently having its Annual General Meeting (AGM08) in Maputo, Mozambique, from December 1 to 5, 2008. IWMI is actively participating in this event which is an opportunity for over 700 of the world’s leading food and environmental scientists and civil society to meet and strengthen partnerships that stimulate economic growth in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This year, participants are looking at how agricultural research, science and technology, and food policy initiatives can better improve the lives and livelihoods of poor people. They hope to launch new initiatives that bring the benefits of modern science more speedily to poor farmers.
CGIAR AGM08 is taking place at the Joaquim Chissano Conference Center in Maputo. The Stakeholder meetings held on December 1 and 2 will be followed by a field visit day to the International Institute of Agricultural Research (IIAM) and the Umbeluze Research Station where participants will have an opportunity o review field trials currently being undertaken by CG Centers in Mozambique. Following the field visits. the CGIAR Business Meetings will be held on December 4 and 5.
In addition, this year The CGIAR and the Reuters Foundation are conducting a three-day training workshop in Portuguese for journalists from Mozambique and Angola to strengthen their news reporting skills. The media workshop is also being held in Maputo with the GCIAR AGM, giving participating journalists a unique opportunity to interact with top agricultural researchers from all over the world.
Joint IWMI-WorldFish booth at AGM 2008
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[/box2]CGIAR “King Baudouin Science Award for Outstanding Partnership”
The team supporting the Program for Sustainable Agricultural Production in Central Asia and Caucasus (CAC) located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, received the “CGIAR Science Award for an Outstanding Scientific Support Team”. IWMI was one of the partners in this program.
Source: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/News_Room/Archives/AGM20
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