Increasing water availability and security for Indian smallholder farmers
The Australian Water Partnership (AWP) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) are supporting a group of Australian experts to collaborate with counterparts in India to increase the availability and security of water for India’s smallholder farmers. Smallholders operating in rainfed agricultural systems in India are highly vulnerable to rainfall variability, with water […]
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Outcomes from International Women’s Day and World Water Day 2021
International Women’s Day (8 March) and World Water Day (22 March) provided an important opportunity to promote Australia’s development support for women and water, and their invaluable contribution to climate-resilient communities. Women, water and climate change are inextricably linked. Clean, safe and accessible water for everyone in the community plays a critical role in addressing […]
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How women like Janaki are improving water use for dry season agriculture
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has been investing in research aiming to improve the livelihood of marginal and tenant farmers in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP), particularly women, through innovations in land and labour management and improved water use. The ACIAR ‘Dry Season Irrigation for Marginal and Tenant Farmers’ (DSI4MTF) project worked […]
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How women like Sulochana are playing a greater role in sustainable farming
The value of women is infinite. Women bear the brunt of problems—ranging from poverty to climate change—but they also possess the capabilities, knowledge and talents to solve these problems. That is why gender and social inclusion is embedded across Australia’s development programs. Through the Australian Government-funded Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio (SDIP), the Australian Centre for […]
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Addressing water scarcity in Indian villages through local groundwater champions
Since 2019, the Australian Water Partnership has been supporting the rollout of Managing Aquifer Recharge and Sustaining Groundwater Use through Village-level Intervention (MARVI) in 20,000 villages across seven Indian states. The activity is being implemented as part the Government of India’s Atal Bhujal Yojana / Atal Groundwater Program national project. Groundwater is an important source […]
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Modern irrigation pilot to benefit Vietnam’s drought affected provinces
The Water Efficiency Improvement in Drought Affected Provinces (WEIDAP) project—an Asian Development Bank and Government of Vietnam project also supported by the Australian Water Partnership (AWP)—has been going strong for the past four years, including throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Developed in coordination and consultation with the Government of Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development […]
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Australia and Thailand collaborate on irrigation water sharing to manage water scarcity
At the start of 2020, Thailand was in the midst of its worst drought in the last four decades. About half of the major reservoirs in the country were below 50 per cent of capacity, and low river levels meant saltwater intrusion affected drinking water supplies and farming. There has also been insufficient water to […]
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Partnering to support water sector reforms and applying Australian expertise in Central Asia
Uzbekistan is undergoing an economic and social transformation. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is prosecuting an aspirational reform agenda spanning numerous sectors of the country’s economy. Reflecting the optimism of many observers, The Economist declared Uzbekistan its 2019 ‘country of the year’, an award that ‘celebrates improvement’. In 2020, it is the turn of Uzbekistan’s agricultural water […]
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Empowering village communities for a sustainable water future: $1B project launched to improve groundwater management in India
The Government of India’s National Groundwater Management Improvement Program, known as Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL), took effect on 1 April and will run for five years, having been officially launched on 25 December 2019 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The program is being established by the Government of India (GoI) with […]
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