IWMI in the news
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to guide our progress towards a more sustainable future. At the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, Dr Chris Dickens is working to identify the shortcomings of the SDGs in terms of protecting natural resources. Of 231 unique indicators, just 18 directly monitor the natural resources provided by land, water, air, and biodiversity. While moderately comprehensive, these indicators lack holistic approaches to monitoring ecosystems and biodiversity. Moreover, they suffer from a lack of country-level data. A pragmatic future approach would be the forging of bridges between the SDGs and other global programmes.
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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 theÂ