Using water productively for agriculture is key, especially in the arid parts of our world. A new study shows that combining water and land interventions is the best way forward.
The Niger River Basin in arid West and Central Africa, home to more than 130 million people across nine countries, is in a buzz of development activity.
Will restoring or attempting to recreate the 'natural' flows of rivers downstream of large dams for the benefit of ecosystems actually help or hinder local communities?
The WLE Focal Regions (2014-2016) were an ambitious attempt to apply the fundamental underpinnings of WLE at scale: sustainable intensification of agriculture and substantive investment in gender.
People in poor, rural communities in the Sahel often have to make difficult decisions about how they use their limited land, financial and natural resources. Perhaps there is a better way to sustainably source livestock fodder from resilient ecosystems.
In rural settings, women are not typically seen as political activists or public figures involved in front-line negotiations. Yet, a new CGIAR study shows they help resolve potential conflicts around land and water use.
The average farmer has forty years' worth of planting seasons: forty chances to improve on his or her last harvest. If farmers cannot access the finance necessary to purchase irrigation systems, that number begins to shrink.
Debates on the best way to sustainably intensify agriculture have thus far focused on the constraints to adopting new farming technologies. Refocusing research on the actions of farmers could provide a clearer picture of the complex, context-dependent preconditions for sustainable intensification in specific places.
In Northern Ghana, through a series of field visits and focus group discussions, we spoke with local community members about small reservoirs and how they affect both genders differently. Here are three interesting lessons that we learned.
