IPTRID’s strategy is focused on Capacity Development, conceived as the sum of the efforts needed to increase the skills and abilities of people and institutions to meet their goal of sustainable development.

IPTRID works with its Partners to support Capacity Development in agricultural water management, to promote irrigation technology transfer and adoption in its widest sense. It provides advisory services and technical assistance to countries and development agencies to help them:

	Formulating sustainable regional, national and sub-national agricultural water management programmes within their poverty reduction strategies, and
	Identifying, formulating and implementing capacity building programmes and projects that enable farmers, farmers’ associations, service providers and institutions to take full advantage of improved water management technologies and practices.

IPTRID concentrates initially on identifying agricultural water management problems in a specific country / region and proposes solutions at the strategic level. Making the right diagnosis, both technically and institutionally, is a key skill that IPTRID staff has acquired.

Full account is always taken of specific needs and priorities of each country or region. IPTRID’s approach is in fact demand driven through listening and reacting to the issues and priorities being raised by the developing countries.

The strategies and solutions implemented by IPTRID experts are a well-balanced combination of technological, educational and institutional development actions. The Programme has specific experience in implementing training activities, developing field guides and training material.

IPTRID also identifies research needs, assisting in the formulation of research programmes and supporting knowledge synthesis and information dissemination, always within the broader concept of Capacity Development.