Water is fundamental to the well being of women and men both in the household and productive activities and is key to poverty reduction and development. Water is also a strategic resource in that its control is a source of power. Interventions that change the control, use of and access to water resources inevitably raise gender issues and opportunities. This report provides key considerations and recommendations in this area drawing on lessons learnt from case studies in Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Sudan.

Over the past two decades, the NGO, Practical Action, has implemented a range of food and livelihoods projects with farmers in some of the most marginalised areas of Africa, Latin America and South Asia. A key component of these projects has been the development of local or community-based extension systems (CBES) to bring information, skills and services to farmers and livestock keepers who would otherwise have limited access to government or commercial extension services. This paper looks at policy-related issues surrounding these local extension systems.