Colombo, December 10, 2013. At the request of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), in collaboration with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), organized a stakeholder meeting to discuss improvements that can be made to the management of municipal waste in the City of Colombo. The meeting was held at the headquarters of IWMI in Pelawatte, Battaramulla, and was a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between CEA and IWMI on July 19, 2013.
This meeting was held under the patronage of Hon. Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Environment and Renewable Energy, with the participation of several people from his ministry as well as others from the ministries of Defence and Urban Development, Agriculture, and Local Government and Provincial Councils, and the CMC and other stakeholder institutions, such as the Waste Management Authority of the Western Province. The Municipal Commissioner, Mrs. Bhadrani Jayawardhana, and several engineers attended the meeting on behalf of the CMC.
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