IWMI is supporting selected municipal composting plants in Sri Lanka to improve their business plans and linking up with customers. Many plants have been supported by the Pilisaru project, a government initiative aiming to reduce the waste burden by composting the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. With the production set up, the marketing of compost to farmers remains largely underexplored.
Katharina Felgenhauer, public-private partnerships expert at IWMI West Africa, and Ganesha Madurangi, Research Consultant at IWMI HQ, visited three composting sites at Balangoda, Batticaloa and Kurunegala. They gathered on-site information to assess the institutional environment for the compost value chains and identify gaps, e.g. in market linkages. The team interviewed various stakeholders, including local government, plant managers and waste management professionals, farmers, private sector, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Environment Authority.
Initial ideas to improve business for these compost plants include full cost-benefit analysis of composting operations, targeted product marketing, improved quality management and control, and innovative incentive structures for actors along the value chain. Opportunities and limitations of private sector involvement for increased market-orientation and efficiency of operations will be assessed. IWMI will continue to work in these areas during the upcoming months under the BMZ-funded project: Research and capacity building for inter-sectoral private sector engagement for soil rehabilitation.
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