Presented by IWMI's Amgad Elmahdi, Head of MENA Region, at Cairo Water Week 2018, on October 15, 2018.

1. IWMI in Action- Water Productivity
Dr Amgad Elmahdi
Head of MENA Region

2. Our Roles and Where
• Think tank conducting
research to generative
innovative solutions
• Provider of science-based
products and tools
• Facilitator of learning to
strengthen capacity and
achieve uptake of research
findings

3. Guide
strategies aimed at achieving
real
efficiency gains and water savings
• Output (kg/$/kcal) in relation to water consumed
• Multiple sources of water
• Multiple scales
• Multiple, sequential (re)use within a basin
Water Productivity

4. Builds on many years of water productivity research at IWMI
> 300 journal articles, reports and other documents on
water productivity:
methods, tools and applied research in diverse settings

5. • Seed
• Agro-chemicals
• Best management practices
• Information( Soil, Water, Weather, Technology etc)
INPUTS
• Timing
• Quantity
• Moisture retentionWATER
Improving Agricultural Water Productivity

6. • Field based
• System/Scheme
• Basin/National
• ICT based
 Different
complexity, functionality
and requirements
Water Solutions

7.  Increase the productivity per unit of water
consumed/withdrawn (e.g., change crop
varieties or type, improve timing/application of
water, non-water inputs)
 Reduce non-beneficial depletion (e.g., non-
beneficial evaporation, flows to sinks)
 Reallocate water among users (e.g., from lower
to higher value uses)
 Tap uncommitted flows (e.g., storage, water
reuse)
 Efficiency gains from water saving technologies
do not necessarily result in proportional
reductions in water use
 Policy change and donor investment ( e.g.
inform policy dialogue, investment decision,
water allocation, distribution)
Agricultural Water Productivity
Lessons learned from 20 years of applied research
WP interventions must consider
farmer adaptation strategies, their
impacts at basin scales, and
institutional arrangements to
address possible trade-offs.

8. Thank you
IWMI is a CGIAR center focused on research for development. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-
secure future. Its work is carried out by 15 research centers in collaboration with hundreds of partners across the
globe.
Dr Amgad Elmahdi
Head of MENA Region
A.Elmahdi@cigar.org

9. • Water productivity:
– Output (kg/$/kcal) in relation to water consumed
– Multiple sources of water
– Multiple scales
– Multiple, sequential (re)use within a basin
• Objectives:
– Meet rising demands for food from a growing, wealthier, and
increasingly urbanized population, in light of water scarcity
– Respond to pressures to re-allocate water from agriculture to
cities and ensure that water is available for environmental uses
– Contribute to poverty reduction and economic growth
Water productivity as an alternative measureAgricultural Water Productivity
Builds on many years of water productivity research at IWMI