Water at a glance - Managing water

If water is a key to food security and poverty reduction, then managing it wisely is essential. Improving the management of water resources is a question of getting more "crop for the drop". These improvements hinge largely on raising the water productivity of rainfed and irrigation systems.

There are two main ingredients to maximizing agricultural production from a given volume of water: people and technology. One can not go without the other. The best and most innovative technology in the world is of no use if people themselves cannot afford it, see no advantage to it, or do not understand it.

Using and managing the world's water efficiently is everybody's business, from government officials to small-scale farmers. There is no room in an efficient water management scheme for elitist roles for the wealthy or socially distinguished. Often, the people who most need a say in how water is managed - and who know how it should be managed - are the farmers themselves. Enabling individuals and communities to understand their options for managing water, to choose from these options, and to take responsibility for their choices could radically alter the way the world uses its limited water resources.

Did you know...

In sub-Saharan Africa, only 4 percent of cropland is irrigated, even though parts of the region have largely unexploited surface water and groundwater.
In Latin America, less than 2 percent of the renewable water resources are withdrawn.
In the Near East and North Africa, the water withdrawn for agriculture exceeds 50 percent of the renewable water resources.

Fresh water available for irrigation in the fields near Bogra, Bangladesh.

Farmers connecting pipes of a small irrigation system in a banana plantation near Redençao, Brazil.

Installation of an irrigation network in Yemen.