The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is a non-profit, scientific research organization focusing on the sustainable use of water and land resources in developing countries. It is headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with regional offices across Asia and Africa. IWMI works in partnership with governments, civil society and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water management solutions that have a real impact on poverty reduction, food security and ecosystem health. IWMI is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

IWMI’s Mission is to provide evidence-based solutions to sustainably manage water and land resources for food security, people’s livelihoods and the environment.

The objectives of IWMI's work:

• Identify the larger issues related to water management and food security that need to be understood and addressed by governments and policymakers.
• Develop, test and promote management practices and tools that can be used by governments and institutions to manage water and land resources more effectively, and address water scarcity issues.
• Clarify the link between poverty and access to water and to help governments and the research community better understand the specific water-related problems of poor people.
• Help developing countries build their research capacities to deal with water scarcity and related food security issues.

IWMI’s Vision, as reflected in the Strategy 2014-2018, is ‘a water-secure world’. IWMI targets water and land management challenges faced by poor communities in the developing countries, and through this contributes towards the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of reducing poverty and hunger, and maintaining a sustainable environment. These are also the goals of CGIAR.

IWMI works through collaborative research with many partners in the North and South, and targets policymakers, development agencies, individual farmers and private sector organizations.

Research

IWMI’s research focuses on the key water challenges poor communities face-issues that affect people’s livelihoods and health, as well as the integrity of the environmental services on which they depend. Research thus examines the “water-food-environment nexus”, adopting a multi-disciplinary approach and balancing efficiency and productivity objectives with equity and sustainability concerns.

Seven key Research Themes help IWMI to more effectively produce impact for the benefit of poor farmers, whose livelihoods depend on agriculture and for whom access to water for productive purposes is a key constraint. IWMI recognizes the scope for a more proactive role in knowledge application to increase impact-particularly by interacting closely with other research institutes, policymakers, donors, partners and user communities.

Impact assessment measures have been adopted to systematically evaluate the extent to which IWMI is meeting its goals. They help monitor impact in the context of specific projects, engender an impact culture within the institute, ensure accountability to donors and funding agencies, and align the research agenda with policy changes and stakeholder needs and feedback.

IWMI leads the CGIAR Research Programme on Water Land and Ecosystems.

Research Themes

• Ecosystem Services
• Governance, Gender and Poverty
• Resource, Recovery, Water Quality and Health
• Revitalized Irrigation Systems
• Sustainable Agriculture Management
• Water Availability Risk and Resilience
• Water Futures