AgWA uses the definition provided by the CAADP, that understands Agriculture Water Management (AWM) as the continuum from rainfall management through to irrigation for food production. It includes field water conservation practices, water harvesting, supplemental irrigation, ground water irrigation, surface water irrigation and drainage. It also considers both development and management of water for food.

AWM interventions can be physical and nonphysical, while both elements usually take place in a single functional structure (adapted from FAO, 2006)*:

Physical interventions can be classified in four categories, each with its own implications:

1) Rehabilitation of infrastructure.

2) Upgrading of infrastructure.

3) Construction of new infrastructure.

Non–physical interventions can also be categorized in four:

1) Raising public awareness.

2) Policy approaches.

3) Legal frameworks.

4) Institutions and service delivery.

*FAO 2006. Demand for products of irrigated agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. FAO Water Reports No. 31. Rome, Italy. ftp://ftp.fao.org/agl/aglw/docs/wr31e.pdf

The Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) has four pillars or focus areas for agricultural improvement and investment. These are:

1. Sustainable Land and Water Management;
2. Market Access;
3. Food Supply and Hunger; and
4. Agricultural Research.

AWM falls under Pillar 1, where NEPAD coordinates, aligns and manages knowledge initiatives across the continent on water and irrigation.

The idea for creating AgWA emerged in part from a collaborative program implemented jointly by AfDB, FAO, IFAD, IWMI and the World Bank in 2007. The partners shared a concern that Africa was under-investing in AWM. Shortly after its initiation, NEPAD and its then new Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) began attracting attention, and NEPAD-CAADP was invited to participate in the Collaborative Program.

The CAADP is now central to AgWA’s work. The programme has four pillars or focus areas for agricultural improvement and investment. These are:

1. Sustainable Land and Water Management;
2. Market Access;
3. Food Supply and Hunger; and
4. Agricultural Research.

AWM falls under Pillar 1, and as such AgWA is intended to provide direct support to the implementation of this Pillar.

Some may be familiar with TerrAfrica, which is an initiative already in place to support sustainable land management; AgWA would complement TerrAfrica by supporting AWM within the context of the new Pillar 1 framework.

AgWA is to play the role of an expert pool to CAADP, i.e., a selective hub of African professionals that can be mobilized to support work in specific countries.

Agricultural water management (AWM) for food production refers to all aspects of managing water for agriculture and is a continuum from rainfall through to irrigation. It includes both the development and management of water for food. 

Commonly, there is a division between irrigation (blue water) and rainfed farming (green water). But this is no longer adequate as the boundaries between them blur. Rainfall already contributes to irrigated agricultural production and rainfed farming is often enhanced with supplementary irrigation to bridge dry spells. So both rainfed farming and irrigation take advantage of both blue and green water but in different ways to meet crop water requirements. To deal with this water resources management is shifting from a focus on runoff (blue water) to rainwater management (blue and green water) – this is now commonly referred to as agricultural water management (AWM).

AgWA is a Partnership of African countries, development partners, international, regional and national organisations from the public and private sectors and civil society who have a common interest and important capacities to support investment in Agricultural Water Management (AWM) in Africa.

Developing water for agriculture has always been a challenging task across the developing world and no more so than in Africa. But new regional strategies for AWM are now in place and there is renewed interest among donors. The next step, however – turning strategies and plans into reality in countries and among rural communities to increase food production, improve economic growth and reduce poverty – is the most challenging. The reasons for this are many but together they provide the rationale for the AgWA partnership:

• Food and agriculture are not seen as major water issues on the world’s agenda outside of the agricultural community in spite of the fact that most of the world’s available water resources are consumed by food and fibre crops. The case for AWM is a strong one but it needs a much higher international profile if it is to attract funding and resources for implementation.
• AWM does not have a clear MDG like water for domestic supply and sanitation. It is ‘hidden’ within MDG 1 and so it does not receive the same attention.
• AWM has many stakeholders and bringing them all together for successful development is not easy. It is not just about infrastructure to deliver water but also about a wide range of products and services – fertilizer, seeds, farm power, micro-credit, good roads, post harvest infrastructure, access to markets, and conducive institutions that support AWM for farmers and empower them to take responsibility for their livelihoods.
• Most countries lack capacity for AWM. Both farmers and professionals lack strong AWM skills, there are few institutional structures that support them, and the broad socio-economic environment in which these individuals and their institutions work is not always conducive to strong market-led agricultural development.
• AWM is not well recognized as a consumer of water. The bridges between the Ministry of Agriculture that usually deals with AWM and those of the ministries of water and finance need strengthening to give more priority to AWM.
• AWM does not feature in country PRSPs. Most countries lack a cohesive AWM strategy and so investment efforts are at best fragmented and at worst duplicated. Countries often lack the capacity to prepare national AWM strategies and sound project proposals that will attract finance.
• Donors often pursue their own specific AWM agendas with water management, agriculture development, or community organization as the entry point and so their efforts are fragmented and in some cases duplicated.
• There is no regionally accepted evidence base to measure and demonstrate success in AWM within countries and across the region. 
• To meet these challenges AWM needs a well coordinated effort by African countries, international and regional organisations, and donors to provide advocacy for AWM, mobilize resources – money, people, and political will – share knowledge, and harmonize donor programmes – capture synergies, avoid fragmented efforts, and enhance impact and sustainable investments. This is the role for the AgWA Partnership.

Although AgWA was originally set up by NEPAD with the support of lending institutions – AfDB, FAO, and the World Bank – it is important that all stakeholders in water for agriculture are involved in this Partnership and this includes civil society as well as government and funding agencies.

The idea for creating AgWA emerged in part from a collaborative program implemented jointly by AfDB, FAO, IFAD, IWMI and the World Bank in 2007. The partners shared a concern that Africa was under-investing in AWM. Shortly after its initiation, NEPAD and its then new Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) began attracting attention, and NEPAD-CAADP was invited to participate in the Collaborative Program.

The CAADP is now central to AgWA’s work. The programme has four pillars or focus areas for agricultural improvement and investment. These are:

1. Sustainable Land and Water Management;
2. Market Access;
3. Food Supply and Hunger; and
4. Agricultural Research.

AWM falls under Pillar 1, and as such AgWA is intended to provide direct support to the implementation of this Pillar.

Some may be familiar with TerrAfrica, which is an initiative already in place to support sustainable land management; AgWA would complement TerrAfrica by supporting AWM within the context of the new Pillar 1 framework.

AgWA is to play the role of an expert pool to CAADP, i.e., a selective hub of African professionals that can be mobilized to support work in specific countries.