IWMI in Nepal

“IWMI has worked in Nepal since 1986 to develop solutions that respond to national water challenges and priorities. We produce evidence-based knowledge and analysis to help shape government plans, policies and strategies alongside our partners, which include the federal and subnational governments, research institutes, universities, the private sector, development organizations, nongovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, and networks. IWMI’s strategy is centered around three strategic programs – Water, Food and Ecosystems; Water, Climate Change and Resilience; and Water, Growth and Inclusion – each supported by high-quality science and digital innovation. Over time, IWMI has made major contributions to Nepal’s strategies and plans, particularly around participatory irrigation management.”Dr. Manohara Khadka, Country Representative, IWMI, Nepal

  • Collecting drinking water thanks to a solar lift water system in rural Nepal
    Collecting drinking water thanks to a solar lift water system in rural Nepal
  • Harvesting tomatoes in Nepal
    Harvesting tomatoes in Nepal
  • Use of a greenhouse with a drip irrigation system to grow vegetables in rural Nepal
    Use of a greenhouse with a drip irrigation system to grow vegetables in rural Nepal
  • IWMI_Western Nepal-24
    IWMI_Western Nepal-24
  • Farmers weeding a paddy field in Nepal
    Farmers weeding a paddy field in Nepal
  • Rainwater harvesting system in rural Nepal
    Rainwater harvesting system in rural Nepal
  • Drinking water from artesian water source that is installed on Fish ponds at Modern Karnali Agro in Nepal
    Drinking water from artesian water source that is installed on Fish ponds at Modern Karnali Agro in Nepal
  • Use of a greenhouse with a drip irrigation system to grow vegetables in rural Nepal
    Use of a greenhouse with a drip irrigation system to grow vegetables in rural Nepal
  • Solar-powered irrigation in Dharam Pokhara Village in Gurans Rural Municipality in Dailekh district of Nepal.
    Solar-powered irrigation in Dharam Pokhara Village in Gurans Rural Municipality in Dailekh district of Nepal.
  • Water use for household work in rural Nepal
    Water use for household work in rural Nepal
BackgroundWater, Food and EcosystemsWater, Climate Change and ResilienceWater, Growth and Inclusion
Nepal is endowed with abundant water resources. However, much of the population struggles to access safe and reliable water for drinking, sanitation and agriculture. Population growth, land degradation, inequitable landownership and weak institutional capacity are major challenges for water resources management, as are the norms surrounding gender, ethnicity, caste, class, region, and disability. Nepal has a cultivated area of 2,642,000 ha (18% of its land area), of which two-thirds (1,766,000 ha) is potentially irrigable. At present, 42% of the cultivated area has irrigation of some sort, but only 17% of the cultivated area has year-round irrigation. An estimate shows that less than 8% of the country’s water potential is used for irrigation. Nepal is extremely vulnerable to climate change, and this has radically changed seasonal water availability, causing droughts during the dry season and increased flooding during the monsoon season. The migration of men and youth from rural areas in search of better employment has had a drastic effect on rural livelihood systems as farmlands are left fallow. It has, however, created an opportunity for women to engage in climate-resilient agriculture, and empower them as role model agro-entrepreneurs and farm managers, promoting their role in sustainable food systems and irrigated agricultural value chains.   

In 2015, Nepal became a Federal Democratic Republic, ceding significant powers to 753 local governments, including exclusive and concurrent rights to develop, manage and use water resources and watersheds within their jurisdiction. The government aims to triple per capita income to USD 12,000 by 2044. Achieving this will require a substantial improvement to management and governance of water resources.

IWMI uses interdisciplinary research to study the connections between food systems and water management in the context of rural transformation, including the growing involvement of women in agriculture. Currently, we are investigating whether solar-powered irrigation can be beneficial to smallholder farmers, including women farmers, through a project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) that also has activities in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Nepal has already installed around 1,600 solar-powered pumps, many of which were provided by the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), a government agency. AEPC is working with IWMI to analyze the impact of the subsidized pumps on farmer livelihoods. In addition to the overall economic and technical efficiency of the solar irrigation program, we are particularly interested in identifying how it affects gender equity and inclusion. The project is also piloting the potential additional benefits to farmers when connecting their solar-powered pumps to the national grid. The outcome will be a series of policy options for sustainable solar irrigation.

Currently, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and as part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), IWMI is leading Work Package I of the Nepal Covid-19 Response and Resilience Activity being implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). We are analyzing water resources and systemic barriers, and opportunities influencing the scaling of farmer-led irrigation development in the Western Plains of Nepal. We are also analyzing water access, policy, governance, institutional arrangements, gender equality and social inclusion, agricultural value chains and irrigation supply chains that influence the scaling of farmer-led irrigation development in Nepal. Using these hydrological and social research findings, along with groundwater monitoring and integrated decision support system modelling carried out by other partners, the aim is to develop a framework on sustainable and inclusive irrigation development in Nepal in multi-stakeholder dialogue processes for long-term investment. 

A recent project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, aimed to enhance watershed resilience in the face of climate change. An early phase of the project mapped 135 small upland watersheds and found them to be extremely vulnerable. Subsequently, IWMI researchers identified sources of spring water in mountain ecosystems, and delineated potential areas for interventions to augment spring recharge and increase the availability of water. Likely interventions include afforestation, small ponds and reservoirs, and various land conservation practices.

A project titled Digo Jal Bikas analyzed the trade-offs between water and development in a future governed by climate change. The project, funded by USAID, started by building an extensive knowledge base on water demands and risks in the river basins of western Nepal. Hydro-economic modelling helped us to explore water allocations and the trade-offs that might be needed under future climate scenarios. The knowledge, tools and models designed for the project were incorporated into policy and management guidelines, which were co-developed with government and community stakeholders. This project, which concluded recently, has already had an impact: its modelling data were used by the government to prepare the national irrigation master plan.

IWMI is supporting another project by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, through examining the natural drivers of water-related disasters, and providing technical support to the analysis of gender and social inclusion. Other project partners – Nepal Water Conservation Foundation and Policy Entrepreneurs, Inc. – are analyzing the social and development drivers of water-related disasters. Past actions by the government have focused mainly on rescue and relief efforts rather than disaster preparedness and planning. Working closely with the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, IWMI is helping to develop strategies for increasing the resilience of local communities, especially those left behind and vulnerable groups, to water-related disasters, thereby reducing the loss of life and damage caused to property.

Nepal’s federal governance system provides important opportunities for gender and socially inclusive development. IWMI is committed to supporting the Government of Nepal, particularly by building capacity in data acquisition, evidence-based planning and policy making. A project supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) facilitated access to technologies and inputs that improve dry-season farming for agricultural collectives of women, and tenant and marginal farmers. The group farming approach has been found to increase the bargaining power of women and poor farmers, and hence their access to key agricultural inputs, including irrigation equipment. It also facilitates income-generating opportunities in the context of deeply embedded unequal power relations. Another project is working in countries across Asia, including Nepal, to determine why so many men and youth are leaving the rural areas, and how this mass migration is transforming the social, political and cultural landscapes in these areas. Our aim is to learn how to harness this transformation to stimulate more sustainable, inclusive and equitable rural growth. The project identifies strategies that use a ‘positive’ approach to migration to bring about more balanced agrarian change, as well as to make migration more empowering. This will require tackling structural constraints and impediments to economic development, such as gender inequity and the exclusion of youth from decision-making processes.

IWMI researchers are also examining the links between power relations and the functionality of rural water supply systems. Populations with different social identities, especially the poor, people with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities, Dalits, and rural women and girls, are disproportionately impacted by poorly–managed systems, while those with social power and men make most of the decisions. Nepal’s constitution calls for proportionate representation of women and marginalized groups in all state bodies. National sectoral policies also have affirmative action policies, which state that at least 33% of members in community institutions, including local water user committees, should be women. Nevertheless, due to systemic barriers and unequal gender and social power relations at all levels, the participation of women and other marginalized groups in community water management processes remains mostly tokenistic. Traditional mindsets also block women’s meaningful participation in water governance, but that may be changing as a new, more empowered generation of women comes of age. Through a project supported by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), IWMI hopes to influence policy makers to ensure inclusive and equitable access to safe water, and to support the meaningful involvement of women and men with different social identities in rural water supply systems.

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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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