Project Overview

Smallholder farming can and should be an engine for economic growth, poverty reduction and food security. In many areas, reliable access to water is what’s missing from the equation. Of course other factors play a critical role, including access to inputs, markets, and knowledge. But without the means to control and effectively manage water, poor farmers are unable to turn agriculture from a subsistence activity into an income-generating enterprise.

AgWater Solutions, a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is helping to unlock the potential of smallholder farming by focusing on agricultural water management (AWM) solutions—not just technologies, such as water harvesting and drip irrigation, but also the necessary supporting policies, institutions and business models. The project is a collaboration among researchers, policymakers, investors and implementers at international, national and regional levels.

The major output of the project will be a set of science-backed tools and recommendations that can be used by:  

  • Policymakers to formulate and revise policies and institutions that will encourage public and private investments in agricultural water management to reduce poverty, hunger, and vulnerability to climate change;
  • Donors and investors to better target support;
  • Government agencies and NGOs working in agriculture, water and rural development to design and implement more effective and sustainable programs; and
  • Rural communities and smallholder farmers, women and men, to select and adopt the most suitable agricultural water management technologies and practices.

Making smarter investments in agricultural water management

The AgWater Solutions project is providing insights into the factors that influence adoption and successful outscaling of AWM technologies—from the natural resource base to credit and land tenure systems, markets, communication networks, stakeholder interaction and the broader policy environment. 

Specifically, the project is contributing by: 

  • Improving understanding of AWM solutions, their impacts and potential to improve livelihoods, at the farm, community, national and regional scales;
  • Communicating successful AWM technologies and related business models and approaches to outscaling;
  • Providing tools to select AWM technologies that best suit the local environment and address the needs of poor farmers, especially women; and
  • Making linkages with local, national and regional agricultural and water initiatives for maximum impact.

Project outputs

  • Platforms for policy dialogue and investment briefs to inform AWM decision-making.
  • Tools to craft sustainable AWM solutions and evaluate the economic, social and environmental impacts.
  • Business models to support the spread of AWM technologies and effective implementation approaches to ensure maximum impact from AWM investments.
  • Methods for selecting and applying appropriate AWM technologies.

Project impacts

  • Within 5 years of completion, the project will have helped 1 million smallholder farmers to increase their incomes and food security.
  • Within 15 years, the project’s tools and findings will have benefited 65 million smallholder farmers

What will it take to reach 65 million?

Achieving the desired impact will require new ways of doing things, for example the approaches that are better able to reach women and address the constraints that hold poor farmers back. It will also require strategic partnerships and effective outreach and communications strategies.  

AgWater Solutions will ensure impact through: 

  • Closely collaborating with a range of local and regional partners who will be able to use AgWater Solution outputs in different ways to achieve impact; and linking to other projects and initiatives with similar objectives that can immediately use project findings.
  • Taking a participatory approach to planning, research and monitoring evaluation, thus making certain that the end users of tools and recommendations are involved every step of the way. This on-going involvement ensures that the project delivers on its promises and produces outputs that can be readily put into use.
  • Including staff and partners with expertise in implementation and outreach, along with a dedicated outreach strategy and budget.
  • Incorporating monitoring and evaluation that won’t end with the project; an ex-post external impact assessment is planned 3-5 years after project completion.
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