This is a new tool developed for helping assess the scope of new water technologies in better and lasting water management in the Volta and Limpopo river basins in West Africa. Called TAGMI (Targeting AGwater Management Interventions), the new tool is meant to explicitly help assess the likelihood that any new water management technology will still be in use two years after its introduction.

The IWMI World Water and Climate Atlas gives irrigation and agricultural planners rapid access to accurate data on climate and moisture availability for agriculture. The Atlas includes monthly and annual summaries for precipitation, temperature, humidity, hours of sunshine, evaporation estimates, wind speed, total number of days with and without rainfall, days without frost and Penman-Montieth reference evapotranspiration rates.

The present article documents increasing water abstraction and the difficulties in establishing limits for low flows such as the Q80 value (flow available on 80% of the days per year). The article also presents the role of water users" associations in mitigating water conflicts related to over-abstraction. Water users" associations are also involved in activities such as environmental education, awareness creation, improved irrigation practices, afforestation, and water regulation.

This study provides a cost-effectiveness analysis of four water-saving irrigation techniques that are widely implemented in China to address the impacts of climate change: sprinkler irrigation, micro-irrigation, low-pressure pipe irrigation and channel lining. Micro-irrigation has the highest incremental cost for adaptation followed by sprinkler irrigation and low-pressure pipe irrigation, but when considering the revenues from improved adaptation, all of the measures assessed are economically feasible.

According to this article, food policy should serve humanity by advancing the humane goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. However, these goals have recently been challenged by emerging forces, including climate change, water scarcity, the energy crisis and the credit crisis. This paper analyses the overall role of these forces and population growth in redefining global food security. Specifically, global water supply and demand as well as the linkages between water supply and food security are examined.

This paper assessed the economics of investing in suspended shade-cloth covers (SSCCs) in agricultural water reservoirs (AWRs) to reduce evaporation losses and save water for irrigation in arid and semi-arid areas. In particular, authors examine the use of SSCCs in the Segura River Basin (southeastern Spain). The decision to install a cover depends on the potential evaporation losses, reservoir characteristics, cover effectiveness, the value of water, filtration requirements, water salinity, government subsidies and the installation, operation and maintenance costs.

CROPWAT 8.0 for Windows is a computer program for the calculation of crop water requirements and irrigation requirements based on soil, climate and crop data. In addition, the program allows the development of irrigation schedules for different management conditions and the calculation of scheme water supply for varying crop patterns. CROPWAT 8.0 can also be used to evaluate farmers" irrigation practices and to estimate crop performance under both rain fed and irrigated conditions.

CROPWAT 8.0 for Windows is a computer program for the calculation of crop water requirements and irrigation requirements based on soil, climate and crop data. In addition, the program allows the development of irrigation schedules for different management conditions and the calculation of scheme water supply for varying crop patterns. CROPWAT 8.0 can also be used to evaluate farmers" irrigation practices and to estimate crop performance under both rain-fed and irrigated conditions.

Rural household economies dependent on rainfed agriculture are increasingly turning to irrigation technology solutions to reduce the effects of weather variability and guard against inconsistent and low crop output. Organisations are increasingly using market-based approaches to disseminate technologies to smallholder farmers; and, although women are among their targeted group, little is known of the extent to which these approaches are reaching and benefiting women.