Are you and your organization:
- Keen to contribute in a big way to more circular economies?
- Anxious to have a more reliable means of evaluating your work for accountability, prioritization and learning?
- Eager to be part of the solar revolution in smallholder irrigation?
- Concerned about having enough water locally to achieve sustainable development?
If you mentally answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, then you may want to get in touch with us at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to inquire about IWMI Advisory Services. Working with partners around the world, we deliver customized water solutions and unbiased, evidence-based advice, derived from decades of research.
Our Advisory Service offers an individualized mode of engagement with clients, drawing on our global network of experts from diverse disciplines and backgrounds. We can work directly with you to design solutions that are shaped to your specific needs and circumstances. We can respond to a wide range of demands through an integrated approach, encompassing technology development, socio-economic assessment, policy analysis, business model design, impact evaluation and other tasks, as required.
See below a sample of our core capabilities.
Resource recovery and reuse
IWMI has conceived and analyzed an ample portfolio of business models for safe management of fecal sludge, including options for agricultural reuse of by-products from waste treatment. Applying a systems perspective to the sanitation delivery chain, we have assessed dozens of case studies from 21 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, taking into account the whole range of factors that determine successful implementation. On this basis, IWMI is helping entrepreneurs, companies and government entities set up viable business models for resource recovery and reuse.
Impact evaluation
In the face of pressing social and environmental challenges, public and private sector actors need guidance in prioritizing the investment of limited resources. For this purpose, IWMI uses robust data and verifiable evidence to assess impacts and develop unbiased recommendations. Our experts in multiple disciplines carry out quantitative and qualitative analysis along the entire life cycle of a project – from the initial design and implementation plan to program outputs and communication with stakeholders.
Solar irrigation
Solar-powered irrigation offers a promising avenue for leveraging affordable, renewable energy to raise agricultural productivity and farmers’ incomes sustainably. Finding the right solution, however, requires integrated analysis, aimed at avoiding adverse effects on crops, soils and groundwater. Based on our multidisciplinary expertise, including unbiased socio-economic analysis, we have developed an innovative approach for devising solar irrigation business models. These offer farmers a means to boost and climate proof their incomes, based on stable water supplies, while also providing them with clear incentives to conserve resource water and energy. Find out more in IWMI’s capability statement on solar irrigation.
Water accounting
Based on decades of data collection and analysis (using global-scale datasets in the public domain), IWMI can provide independent estimates of water flows, fluxes, stocks, consumption and services. This enables us to provide advice for equitable and transparent water governance, taking into account all users to achieve a sustainable water balance.
Contact: IWMI-Advisory@cgiar.org
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