This issue of Baobab focuses on access to water for sustainable agriculture and livelihoods, its management and policies, or lack of them, which can regulate its effective and efficient use. In a region that highly relies on rainfall for food production, a lot needs to be done in agricultural water management if food security is to be achieved. Internationally, there is a growing understanding that water rights are important and that lack of effective water rights systems creates major problems. Over 70 percent of the water in the world is used in agriculture, most of it for irrigation. Policies on water use and especially for irrigation must aim at developing water management practices that raise productivity, promote equitable access to water and conserve this precious natural resource. Malawi has proved that African countries can be self-sufficient and food secure as is reported in the Theme Overview and on The Subject Of columns of this issue. The country went from food deficiency to supplying the rest of Africa with its surplus as a result of effective water policies. We also highlight what communities in the East African region are doing to counter the shortage of water in areas that receive little rainfall. The Mapela Women Group success story in the Project Focus gives useful insights in rainwater harvesting. The article reports on the pioneering work of this women’s group in Western Kenya in constructing their own water storage tanks using locally available materials.