Research Program 2. Integrated Water and Land Management (IWL)

Rationale
A number of converging trends, including water scarcity, land degradation, population growth and climate change, exacerbate the challenges of the dry areas. These trends all add to the increasing uncertainty for the rural poor who depend largely on the fragile natural resource base. Further, climate change models predict that the northern and southern Africa and West Asia regions will become hotter and drier with changes in seasonal and spatial distribution of precipitation and increasing incidence and magnitude of extreme weather events such as drought.

At least 15 non-tropical countries have the lowest per capita water supplies. The problem is further compounded by the fact that the share of water allocated to agriculture (currently over 75%) is likely to decrease with increased competition from the expanding domestic and industrial sectors. This trend will result in increasing volumes of wastewater that will be used for crop production in treated, untreated, or partly treated forms.

Uncontrolled exploitation of groundwater has led to falling water tables, abandoned wells, dried-up springs and qanats, and salt-water intrusion. Opportunities for expanding cultivated lands are, therefore, minimal. Sustainable increases in food supplies must come from increased productivity of both rainfed and irrigated agriculture, i.e. producing "more crop per drop". The need to improve water use in agriculture is not only vital for agricultural productivity but also for ecosystem health in dry areas, some of which also include important wetland biodiversity reserves.

Given the complexity of causal factors of land degradation, an integrated approach including broad stakeholder participation is essential if the livelihoods-and security needs-of the people inhabiting dry lands are to be improved without further degrading their environments. Technological, institutional and policy options are required to prevent further land degradation and build viable livelihoods.

	Theme 2.1. Water
	Sustainable, equitable, efficient and economic use of scarce water resources in agricultural production and within rural communities, with due concern for watershed management and wider environmental and social downstream implications Sub-Themes 2.1.1. Assessment of available water resources, including precipitation, surface water, groundwater and marginal water, and the productivity, benefits and costs of their use at different scales in agriculture (plant, field, farm, watershed, basin) 2.1.2. Options and strategies for sustainable use and improved water productivity of rain, irrigation, shallow water aquifers, and marginal-quality waters in rainfed and irrigated systems through water harvesting, supplemental irrigation, agro-management, improved germplasm, and integrated agricultural production systems 2.1.3. Methods, options and strategies for drought characterization, preparedness and mitigation 2.1.4. Policy and institutional options
	Theme 2.2. Land
	Combating land degradation and contributing to mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change through sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, including soil, in cropland and rangelands
	Sub-Themes
	2.2.1. Development of a holistic approach to improved land management to combat desertification (loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, salinization, alkalinization, waterlogging) 2.2.2. Development of multi-scale tools and methods to assess land degradation (location, extent, driving forces, causes, impacts and consequences of desertification in dry areas) 2.2.3. 'Best-bet' technologies and practices developed for sustainable management of land, biodiversity and rangeland resources, including community-based land management practices 2.2.4. Improved policy and institutional options

Targets
Higher water productivity and incomes as well as more sustainable and judicious use of the various water resources by resource-poor farming communities from technical, institutional and policy options, methodologies, approaches, and toolkits.

Desertification halted/ameliorated with enabling policy environment mainstreamed and promoted to achieve more equitable and sustainable use of natural resources by poor farming communities in the dry areas through technical, institutional, and policy options, methodologies, and approaches.

Coping with climate variability and change through adaptation to, and mitigation of drought and high temperatures.