Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security
Research and Innovation for Development
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Book Description
This volume reviews the evolution of ten years’ learning and discovery about water scarcity, livelihoods, and food security within the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food. It draws on the experiences of over 100 projects conducted in ten river basins in the developing world.
The book describes how the program’s design evolved from an emphasis on water scarcity, water productivity, and water access to an emphasis on using water innovations to improve livelihoods and address development challenges in specific river basins. It shows how the research was used to foster change in stakeholder behavior, linking it to improved knowledge, attitudes, and skills, which were fostered by stakeholder participation, innovation, dialogue, and negotiation.
The authors describe development challenges, their drivers and their political context, how to address them through technical, institutional, and policy innovations; and the consequences of change at different scales, time frames on equity, resilience, and ecosystem services. Overall, the work represents a major synthesis and landmark publication for all concerned with water resource management and sustainable development.
Table of Contents
1. The Challenge Program on Water and Food: A New Paradigm for research in the CGIAR
Myles Fisher, Amanda Harding and Eric Kemp-Bennedict
2. Water Scarcity and Abundance, Water Productivity and their Relation to Poverty
Alain Vidal, Larry Harrington and Myles Fisher
3. Harnessing Research for Development to Tackle "Wicked Problems"
Michael Victor, Boru Douthwaite, Tonya Schuetz, Amanda Harding, Larry Harrington and Olufunke Cofie
4. The Institutional History of the Challenge Program on Water and Food
Ilse Pukinskis
5. Innovating in a Dynamic Technical Context
Larry Harrington and Martin van Brakel
6. Research on Institutions for Agricultural Water Management under the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food
Nancy Johnson, Brent Swallow and Ruth Meinzen-Dick
7. Partnerships, Platforms and Power
Amy Sullivan, Terry Clayton, Amanda Harding and Larry Harrington
8. From Research Outputs to Development Outcomes: Selected Stories
Terry Clayton and Michael Victor
9. Messages and Meaning
Larry Harrington and Alain Vidal
Editor(s)
Biography
Larry Harrington is Research Director, Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), based at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Myles Fisher is Emeritus Scientist, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
Reviews
"From a water scarcity and productivity programme to one of development challenges, this book presents the commendable work of the CPWF in very diverse basins all over the world. The processes implemented built on participation, innovation, dialogue and negotiation among the locals, ultimate users of the resource, will ensure the positive legacy of the programme. Since lessons learnt will stay with the locals, and will not leave with the donors, the initial expectations of research for development may even be surpassed. Certainly a lesson for many donors." – Cecilia Tortajada, President, Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico.