Home About Staff List Manuel Magombeyi

Manuel Magombeyi

Manuel Magombeyi

Regional Researcher

Pretoria - South Africa
Manuel Magombeyi

Expertise

Water resources management, hydrology-hydrogeology, agricultural water management, water quality, solar water pumping in irrigation, field instrumentation, monitoring

Before IWMI

Manuel has worked for the Association for Water and Rural Development, South Africa, where he applied systems thinking approaches in water management. In the past 15 years, he has primarily worked towards improving the sustainable use of groundwater and surface water for enhancing community livelihoods and protecting the environment in Southern and West Africa. He supervised several undergraduate and postgraduate students. Manuel has authored or co-authored nearly 40 articles, half of which were in peer-reviewed books and journals.

Languages

English, Shona, Ndebele

Current Projects
(109 ongoing projects listed)

Project

Contact

Nature Based Solutions to enhance water security in the Middle East
December 9, 2021 to December 6, 2026
Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territory
H2020: Hydropower For You - Central Asia
June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2026
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Built Water Storage in South Asia
September 15, 2022 to September 15, 2025
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan
Monitoring land and water productivity by Remote Sensing (WaPOR Phase 2)
December 8, 2021 to August 31, 2025
Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Mali, Sudan
 Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Ghana, India, Nepal
CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative - Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Benin, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Tanzania
National Policies and Strategies for Food, Land and Water Systems Transformation
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Colombia, Egypt, India, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Nigeria
Resilient Aquatic Food Systems for Healthy People and Planet
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Kenya, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malawi, Nigeria, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Zambia
 Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan
NEXUS Gains: Realizing Multiple Benefits Across Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystems (Forests, Biodiversity)
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, South Africa
Harnessing Gender and Social Equality for Resilience in Agrifood Systems
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Ethiopia, South Africa
Harnessing Digital Technologies for Timely Decision-Making Across Food, Water and Land Systems
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa
Transformational Agroecology Across Food, Land and Water Systems
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Burkina Faso, India, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Peru, Tunisia, Zimbabwe
Building Systemic Resilience Against Climate Variability and Extremes
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024
Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa
GCRF Water Security Hub
July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2024
Ethiopia
SHARE II
April 30, 2019 to April 29, 2024
Ethiopia
Climate Information System for Sri Lanka
May 18, 2022 to February 16, 2024
Sri Lanka
Solar irrigation for Agricultural Resilience
December 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan
TA-9803 NEP: IWRM Bagmati River Basin
October 15, 2021 to October 15, 2023
Nepal
Global Partnership for Sustainable Cooperation on Shared Waters
April 15, 2021 to September 30, 2023 (Extended to September 30, 2024)
Global, Myanmar, Uzbekistan
Improving and Strengthening Water Security and Watershed Management in Central Asia - Water Governance Specialists Component
September 26, 2022 to September 30, 2023
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Increasing the resilience of biodiversity and livelihoods in Colombo’s wetlands
September 1, 2020 to July 31, 2023 (Extended to January 31, 2024)
Sri Lanka
Water Management for Enhanced Productivity
July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2023
Pakistan
Virtual Irrigation Academy Business Models - Pakistan
September 29, 2022 to June 30, 2023
Pakistan
Towards Brown Gold? Reimagining off grid sanitation in rapidly urbanising areas in Asia and Africa
April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2023 (Extended to September 1, 2023)
Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Nepal
Scaling up digital water data in Africa
February 1, 2020 to January 31, 2023
Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Zambia
https://www.digitalearthafrica.org/
KAZA-GROW
January 18, 2021 to December 31, 2022 (Extended to February 15, 2023)
South Africa
SUMERNET Hydrorights
April 9, 2020 to December 31, 2022
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Increasing water use efficiency in the Aral Sea region
July 15, 2021 to December 31, 2022
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
ICAR Program Support 2022
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022
India
Doing Science with Society (DSWS) (Year 2)
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022
India, Sri Lanka
ADB: Yellow River Enviro Law Project
April 23, 2021 to November 30, 2022 (Extended to February 28, 2023)
South Africa
GCRF Equitable resilience
November 1, 2019 to October 31, 2022 (Extended to February 28, 2023)
South Africa
Sri Lanka Climate Change Assignment
March 25, 2022 to October 31, 2022 (Extended to November 30, 2022)
Sri Lanka
INDIA RESILIENCE Programme
October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2022 (Extended to September 30, 2023)
India
Fish for Livelihoods
October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022
Myanmar
FAO-AU Scoping Irrigation Study for Africa
January 13, 2022 to July 30, 2022
Burundi, Burkina Faso, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia
SUMERNET 4 Collaborative Research Grant on Groundwater in the Mekong
April 20, 2020 to June 30, 2022 (Extended to April 30, 2023)
Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic
Opportunities for brackish and saline aquaculture in Pakistan
June 15, 2021 to June 30, 2022 (Extended to January 31, 2023)
Pakistan
Incentivizing Water Use Efficiency in Export Crops in Jordan
November 15, 2021 to May 15, 2022 (Extended to November 30, 2022)
Egypt, Jordan
Future Leaders – FLAIR Fellowships 2020
May 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022 (Extended to December 31, 2022)
Ethiopia
WWF Global Aquatic Ecosystem Health
July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 (Extended to June 30, 2022)
Global
ReWater MENA: more and safer water reuse in Middle East and North Africa
April 10, 2018 to March 30, 2022 (Extended to September 30, 2022)
Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon
http://rewater-mena.iwmi.org/
AGRUMIG
February 1, 2019 to January 30, 2022 (Extended to January 30, 2023)
Ethiopia, Kyrgyz Republic, Morocco, Moldova, Nepal, Thailand, Tajikistan
http://agrumig.iwmi.org/
Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa ZAMBIA
February 4, 2021 to December 31, 2021 (Extended to December 31, 2022)
South Africa
Water and land management trajectories
July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021
Global
AWP Water Accounting in Practice
November 19, 2019 to December 6, 2021 (Extended to March 26, 2024)
India, Sri Lanka
MENAdrought – empowering and enhancing drought management systems in the Middle East North Africa (MENA)
August 15, 2018 to September 30, 2021 (Extended to September 30, 2022)
Jordan, Jordan, Lebanon, Lebanon, Morocco, Morocco
https://menadrought.iwmi.org/
MCC Irrigated Ag Sector Support
September 19, 2019 to September 19, 2021 (Extended to June 30, 2022)
Niger, Tunisia
Raising the WLE profile through strategic outputs
June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2021 (Extended to December 31, 2021)
Sri Lanka
RRR Capacity development and Outreach
January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020 (Extended to December 31, 2021)
Global
Scaling small scale irrigation solutions to support farmer-led irrigation development
December 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019 (Extended to August 10, 2023)
Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania
Africa rising phase II ethiopia
June 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019 (Extended to September 30, 2022)
East Africa
RUL Flagship Fund
January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 (Extended to December 31, 2021)
Global
Agricultural Water Management for Intensive Crop-Livestock Production in Ghana
April 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016 (Extended to February 28, 2023)
Ghana
Recent Publications
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Economics and equity

At IWMI, researching underlying economic and social trends helps us understand why people migrate. They also explain the impact of remittances and loss of agricultural labor, as well as consequences of migration on gender roles and food and water security. For instance, communities with higher levels of income inequality, or relative deprivation, may experience greater levels of out-migration compared to consistently low-income communities. In addition, migration changes intra-household gender-labor composition, which can change the access of smallholders to water resources, affecting the functioning of community-based institutions and consequently household and local food security. IWMI also focuses on circular economy, a strategy to recover and reuse waste, to boost food security and understand how interventions can encourage refugee and host communities to retain scarce resources.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Nutrition, health and food security Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion

Urban & rural transformation

As agricultural opportunities fluctuate in rural areas, migration, particularly to urban areas, is an adaptation technique to secure incomes and alternative livelihoods. Income generated by migrants is often sent back to family as remittances to support communities at home. At IWMI, we assess linkages between rural and urban areas, as well as the role of agricultural knowledge systems and food and water security. We recognize there are complex push and pull factors such as individual aspirations, economic opportunity, social norms, climate variability and government policies which drive migration and affect rural communities, particularly youth. Our work follows a ‘positive migration’ philosophy, framing migration as an adaptation technique and socio-economic choice (in many cases) rather than a problem to be solved, and focuses on establishing safer, more regular migration by supporting changes to migration governance in sending regions.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Nutrition, health and food security Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion Climate adaptation and mitigation

Covid-19 disruption & adaptation

Covid-19 has caused a rupture in migration logistics and exposed inequities in the migration system, yet drivers of movement remain. Government lockdowns and closed borders due to the pandemic curtailed movement for migrants, posing complex problems for migrant hosting and origin countries. There have been significant economic shocks, with a sharp decline in unemployment for migrants and an inability to send money home through remittances to support family. Some migrants face social stigma for returning home without an income, particularly if families relied on loans to support their journeys. Consequences have been severe for informal migrants who lack government protection in their host countries. Migrants, particularly those living in crowded, lower-income neighborhoods, have been experiencing stigmatization related to the spread of Covid-19. We look at the impacts of Covid-19 on migration governance and rural areas across seven countries, development planning in Ghana, migration challenges in Southeast Asia, and community-based disaster management and resilience building in South Africa.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Nutrition, health and food security Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion

Water, climate change and agrarian stress

Migration, water and climate stress are inextricably linked to rural development. Water stress and climate variability can act as a driver of fragility, intensifying pre-existing political, social, economic and environmental challenges. Initiatives designed to address migration-related challenges must tackle inequalities and the exclusion of women, youth and marginalized groups; governance opportunities to better manage water and natural resources and technology and innovations to help communities escape socio-ecological precarity and thrive despite climate challenges. IWMI intends to build climate resilience by implementing projects which tackle gender-power inequalities in the face of dynamic, economic-social-ecological challenges. Our work brings together affected communities, institutional stakeholders and social actors to manage water in response to climate variability and agrarian stress, striving to address complex physical and social variables.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Nutrition, health and food security Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion Climate adaptation and mitigation

Gender, intersectionality and social inclusion

It is critical to center gender and intersectional identities when unpacking migration phenomena. Gender as a social construct guides social norms and relations, including the decision-making processes and mechanisms leading to migration. We recognize that the intersections between race, age, class, sex, caste and region shape the migrant experience.

IWMI strives to offer transformative approaches and solutions for women, youth and marginalized groups, regarding them as equal partners in our work rather than passive end-users.  For example, within communities that experience male out migration, socio-political systems are restructured to make women, youth and other groups active agents in their own agri-food transformation. Migration patterns contribute to the feminization of agriculture, and women may experience a greater burden of responsibility coupled with an increased ability to access and control resources and policies to build sustainable livelihoods. Acknowledging social complexities helps researchers and communities understand migration trends and address structural power imbalances to build a more equitable world.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Nutrition, health and food security Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion

Innovation bundles

Farmer-led irrigation development is about much more than installing a pump in a field. It requires access to financing, labor, energy, and input and output markets, so that investments in irrigation translate into sustainable returns. IWMI uses a systemic approach to understand the farming system as well as the factors in the enabling environment that prevent women, men and youth from engaging in and benefitting equitably from farmer-led irrigation. We partner with farmers and the public and private sectors to test contextually relevant innovation bundles that combine irrigation technology such as solar pumps with financing mechanisms like pay-as-you-own or pay-as-you-go, agricultural inputs and agronomic techniques. We also look at ways to improve on-farm water management and nutrient use efficiency and reduce evapotranspiration through digital advances and agricultural extension. We integrate the scaling of innovation bundles into agricultural value chains to enhance the impacts on farmers’ irrigation investments, incomes and livelihoods.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Nutrition, health and food security Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion Environmental health and biodiversity Climate adaptation and mitigation

Gender and social inclusion

The barriers facing women and men in accessing irrigation technologies are not the same. Neither are the benefits. Social, cultural and religious norms influence inter- and intra-household power relations. These, in turn, affect access to resources such as land, credit, information and training. IWMI carries out cross-dimensional analysis of gender and social inclusion in policy, financing, livelihood assets and access, institutional approaches and interventions as well as gender-based technology preferences. For example, we work with farmers, financial institutions and the private sector to address gender-based constraints in credit scoring and enhance women’s purchasing power. But benefitting from farmer-led irrigation does not stop at accessing and adopting technologies; enabling women and resource-poor farmers to participate in input and output markets is equally important to ensure that investments in irrigation result in improved nutrition and economic empowerment. Other ways we enhance gender and social inclusion include tackling agency issues around financial management and literacy, livelihood diversity and social capital as well as access to infrastructure, extension services and market linkages.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion

Environmental sustainability

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 Water Accounting+solar irrigation mapping and internet of things. These are complemented by multi-criteria analysis to evaluate the potential of irrigation expansion, taking into consideration environmental flows. With our private sector partners, we are leveraging converging technologies, such as sensors on solar pumps that capture usage data, to encourage better resource management and governance.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Environmental health and biodiversity Climate adaptation and mitigation

Adaptive scaling and partnerships

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 requires scaling processes to be adaptive. This means diverse actors feed off, adapt to, support, cooperate, compete and interact with each other, forming different multi-actor networks and engaging in collective action to undertake various functions in the scaling ecosystem. IWMI works with farmers and public and private sector partners to co-design and pilot contextually relevant innovation bundles and their scaling pathways or strategies, influence policies and accelerate the transition to scale of innovations with demonstrated early impact.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Nutrition, health and food security Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion Environmental health and biodiversity Climate adaptation and mitigation

Financing ecosystem

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 credit alone is not enough. Financing for irrigation equipment must be embedded in a wider financing ecosystem that bundles credit with inputs and services, market information and access, and technology such as digital payment. In several countries, irrigation equipment suppliers are stepping in to provide financing directly to farmers. In doing so, they increase their own risk. To address this issue, IWMI works with farmers, private companies, finance institutions and development partners such as the World Bank Group to analyze whether credit-scoring tools are inclusive. We also help to identify gaps in the financing ecosystem and de-risk the private sector from testing innovative end-user financing mechanisms that take into account farming system typologies, financial and social capital and crop seasonality.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion

Human capacity development and knowledge exchange

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 development of or reinforce national multi-stakeholder dialogues with the aim of sharing scaling experiences and realizing win-win collaboration, interactive learning and capacity development. Other modalities for capacity development include hackathons, innovation research grants for bachelor’s and master’s students, private sector scaling grants and innovation internships with private companies. These all serve to stimulate local and contextually relevant innovation, close the research-private sector divide and enhance job readiness among young professionals.

This focus area contributes to the following One CGIAR impact areas:

Nutrition, health and food security Poverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs Gender equality, youth and inclusion Environmental health and biodiversity Climate adaptation and mitigation

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