The Board of Governors are delighted to announce that Jeremy Bird started his tenure as the new Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
(Colombo, 8 October) The Board of Governors are delighted to announce that Jeremy Bird started his tenure as the new Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) today.
Originally from the UK, Jeremy has worked extensively across a number of regions in natural resource research, policy and strategy development, and project assessment. Following research assignments with HR Wallingford, he worked for the Asian Development Bank, the World Commission on Dams, the United Nations Environment Programme and, until 2011, was the CEO of the Mekong River Commission Secretariat.
Jeremy has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degrees in irrigation engineering, as well as a master’s degree in water law with a specialization in shared river basins.
He places a strong emphasis on increasing our understanding of the complex and multi-dimensional processes that shape water management.
“Past research has demonstrated its effectiveness in shaping policy, improving natural resources management and raising production of agricultural systems,” says Jeremy. “I am committed to getting research results into the public domain as the basis for generating integrated and effective solutions.”
Jeremy has contributed to several international processes on water resources management. He was recently appointed as an ‘outcome ambassador’ of the Bonn2011 Initiative on the Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for UNEP’s water programme.
He aims to build on the outstanding foundation of research excellence and relevance that the former Director General, Dr. Colin Chartres and his team have built up at IWMI.
Source: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.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