To disseminate the use of AquaCrop, five workshops on “Capacity Development for Farm Management Strategies to Improve Crop-Water Productivity using AquaCrop” have been planned as a joint initiative of FAO and the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC), in collaboration with local partners.

Objective of the 5-day workshops is to train participants from various regions in Africa, Asia, and Middle East in the practical applications of AquaCrop, in order to improve their skills in strategic management toward increasing crop water productivity in rainfed and irrigated production systems.

A total of 498 applications were received for the AquaCrop training events. Typically applicants come from governmental and non-governmental agencies dealing with agricultural water resources management, from extension services formulating practical advices to farmers, or from a relevant research or higher education institution. They are project managers, researchers at relevant institutes, irrigation engineers, extension specialists, or teaching staff involved with the training of agricultural and/or water engineers.