IWMI is part of the 5th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, October 17-19, 2016.
This forum is the flagship event of the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN). It brings together policy makers, scientists, donors, youth and representative from around the world. The theme for 2016, “Adapting and living below 2°C: Bridging gaps in policy and practice”, explores platforms and concrete pathways for even greater partnerships by governments, civil society and business. This year’s forum was attended by participants from over 50 countries and representatives from 25 governments and over 120 NGOs. The Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment of Sri Lanka was the Forum host for the year 2016. The 5th APAN forum also functioned as the key stone event of Sri Lanka NEXT: A Blue-Green Era programme.
IWMI DG Jeremy Bird was a speaker at three of of the panel discussions at the forum: i) Experiences in adapting to climate change in South Asia and ii) Resilience Infrastructure and iii) Climate Resilient Development. IWMI also had a publications booth at the forum.
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