What does gender have to do with agricultural water management? This International Women’s Day, IWMI looks at how multiple-use water services in Nepal are helping women to become decision makers and agents of change in their communities, as well as their challenges and obstacles as we all strive toward achieving sustainable development goals and parity for the genders.
“Considering multiple uses when designing a water systems allows better responding to the diversity of needs of both men and women. The MUS approach has emerged as a promising way to enhance the social and gender equity and productivity of water systems.”
— Dr. Floriane Clement, Sub-Theme Leader (Gender and Poverty), IWMI
Photos: Shaoyu Liu
For more on MUS:
- MUS Issues Page
- van Koppen, Barbara; Smits, Stef; Rumbaitis del Rio, Cristina;Thomas, John B. Scaling up Multiple Use Water Services: Accountability in the water sector.
- Clement, Floriane; Pokhrel, Paras; Sherpa, Tashi Yang Chung. 2015. Sustainability and replicability of multiple-use water systems (MUS).
Thanks to Kalika Lumle 5 User Group, Nagdanda Gravity MUS, The Farmer Managed Irrigation System Promotion Trust (FMIST), International Development Enterprises (iDE), the global MUS Group, and the International Workshop on Multiple Use Water Systems for Climate Resilience.
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
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