Climbing the water ladder: multiple-use water services for poverty reduction
This book is the result of joint efforts by all partners in the action research ‘Models for implementing multiple-use water supply systems for enhanced land and water productivity, rural livelihoods and gender equity’ and outlines the outcome of this study undertaken over a period of five years in 30 study areas in eight countries.
Both ENDS Working Paper Series – November 2006
Effective gender mainstreaming in water management for sustainable livelihoods: From guidelines to practice
This Working Paper presents the main findings of a joint project of the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA), the Comprehensive Assessment of water management in agriculture (CA) and Both ENDS (BE), in which they set out to analyze why it proves so difficult to mainstream gender in water management, and to develop a minimum agenda that provides practical and realistic recommendations to practitioners, policy makers, researchers and gender specialists working in the field of water and agriculture to genuinely and effectively address gender differences and inequities in policy, research and in the field.
Enhancing capacity for system transformation
Strengthening and sustaining the enabling environment
Enabling gender and youth inclusion
Brokering knowledge for sustainability
Cultivating scaling preparedness
Fostering scaling partnerships
Co-developing innovation bundles
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 
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 
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 
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 
