Nepal has vast water resources and approximately 67% of its cultivated land can be irrigated. Out of the 1.7 million ha of Nepal’s irrigable land, 78% has been provided with some irrigation infrastructure. Irrigation is vital to Nepal, especially as the country is facing climate change impacts such as rise in temperature and more erratic rainfall patterns, which is creating prolonged periods of droughts and jeopardising the agricultural production nationwide. As the supply of water for agriculture becomes more variable, water resource competition and water conflicts across the country are equally becoming increasingly visible. The Bajrabarahi Village Municipality is one of those rural communities where water conflicts have been clearly on the rise over the last decade.
The GWP Technical Committee, in collaboration with the International Land Coalition (ILC) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), organized a workshop on the “Global Food Security Challenge through Coordinated Land and Water Governance”. The event took place 15-16 June in Pretoria, South Africa.
Preparations for GWP’s participation in Stockholm World Water Week 2015 have been going on for several months and everything is now ready. The network is organising a number of events and GWP representatives will participate in many sessions throughout the week of 23-28 August.