The Eastern Gangetic Plains connecting Nepal’s Terai, eastern India and Bangladesh, a region known as south Asia’s poverty square, is home to around 600 million of the world’s poorest. Research conducted by the International Water Management Institute shows that poverty here is accentuated by equalities by caste, ethnicity and gender.
Nepalese landless tenant farmer Janaki Devi Chaudary struggled to get by growing staple crops on rented land in the monsoon season. Half of her harvest went to the landlord, giving her little reason or money to improve production by investing in better seeds, fertilizer and irrigation equipment. Many men from her community have left to find work in cities, leaving Janaki and others to farm on their own.
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