This document outlines a global research partnership called CRP5 that focuses on sustainable intensification of agriculture. It aims to intensify farming while protecting natural resources and ecosystems. Its research will focus on water scarcity, land degradation, and ecosystem services. It will take a landscape approach across several river basins in different regions. The research involves partnerships across countries to improve agricultural productivity, livelihoods, and the environment for over 100 million people dependent on agriculture in river basins.

1. A global NRM
partnership

2. The Challenge – sustainable
intensification
• To learn how to intensify farming
activities, expand agricultural areas and
restore degraded lands, while using natural
resources wisely and minimizing harmful
impacts on supporting ecosystems.

3. Focus
• Water scarcity
• Land degradation and soil health
• Ecosystem services

4. The Conceptual Framework
CRP5 focuses on external and internal drivers of change in agriculture, how these
affect water, landscapes and ecosystem services and how policy and
management changes can be used to adapt production systems in a sustainable
manner

5. Five Strategic Research Portfolios
1. Irrigated Systems
2. Rainfed Systems
3. Resource Reuse and Recovery
4. River Basins, and
5. Information Systems

6. Two cross-cutting themes
1) Ecosystem Services, and
2) Institutions and Governance
Gender and equity issues are also mainstreamed

7. Where we will work
Southeast Asia Mekong
South Asia Indus and Ganges
Central Asia Amu Darya and Syr Darya
Middle East Tigris and Euphrates
West Africa Volta and Niger
East Africa Nile
Southern Africa Limpopo and Zambezi
Latin America Andes basins

8. Examples of problem sets for each Strategic
Research Portfolio
Irrigated Systems SRP
• Finally unlocking Africa’s irrigation promise
• Revitalizing public irrigation systems in Asia
• Managing groundwater overexploitation in India through the energy–irrigation
nexus
• Revving up the ‘Ganges Water Machine’ through intensive groundwater use for
livelihoods and environmental benefits
• Managing salt–water balance in Indus and Central Asian irrigation systems
Rainfed Systems SRP
• Recapitalizing African soils and reducing land degradation
• Revitalizing productivity on responsive soils
• Using agro-biodiversity to sustain agricultural production
• Reducing risk by ensuring water access for pastoralists
• Reducing risk by providing farmers with supplemental irrigation
Resource Recovery and Reuse SRP
• Creating wealth from waste
• A grey revolution in wastewater management

9. Problem sets (cont.)
Basins SRP
• Payment for Environmental Services (PES) as a water management tool:
Andes group of basins
• Water storage to reduce regional drought risk: Volta–Niger
• Integrating environmental water allocations and climate change impacts
with water resources development: Ganges–Indus
• Harmonizing the water–energy–environment nexus in the Mekong Basin
• Managing water resources to reduce poverty and improve wetland
management in the upstream Nile
• Solutions for transboundary water management hotspots in transition
economies: Aral Sea basins
Information Systems SRP
• Monitoring longer-term spatial and temporal change in agroecosystems
• Harnessing water and land information to improve management

10. Problem definition
Issues motivating CRP5 research
• Most of the poor live in rural areas (except in Egypt)
and most make their living in agriculture.
• Egypt and Ethiopia have large populations and are
growing at notable rates. Ethiopia’s plans to develop
hydropower and irrigation tend to meet resistance
from Egypt.
• Unsustainable agricultural practices have inflicted
upon Ethiopia some of the most severe land
degradation problems in the world.
• Accelerated soil erosion from agricultural land poses
a threat to the health of Lake Victoria. There is
substantial poverty in Sudan, despite notable
agricultural potential, particularly in the Gezira
region. There is very little information on the current
state of land resources to guide development in
South Sudan.

11. CRP5 Research Activities in the Nile Basin
• Examine opportunities for improving agricultural productivity in irrigated areas of
the Nile Valley and Delta, given the likelihood of increasing pressure on water
supplies in the region.
• Develop recommendations for investing in new irrigation schemes in Ethiopia and
Sudan, while cognizant of international discourse regarding new water
development in the Nile Basin.
• Develop strong technical capacity in the Nile countries in surface and groundwater
resources assessment and management.
• Develop options for recovering water and nutrients from marginal quality water
and other waste resources for agriculture and aquaculture.
• Establish a basin-wide land health surveillance system to provide a baseline on
ecosystem services, a basis for prioritizing interventions, and mechanism for
monitoring impacts. Ground sampling through sentinel sites will be a high priority
in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Potential impacts
Basin population:
200 million
Rural population:
128 million
Agricultural population:
102 million
We expect to improve the livelihoods of 60% of the agricultural population.

12. How CRP5 will improve natural resource management and
the environment
• Involving, from the outset, key stakeholders via participation in research and
development
• Achieving critical mass among the CGIAR and its partners to solve key problems
• Integrating biophysical solutions and socioeconomic drivers to develop a holistic
view of possible beneficial changes
• Taking an evidence-based approach based on a logical pathway via hypotheses and
methodologies to develop solutions and catalyze change at policy level
• Adopting an integrated landscape/basin approach, as opposed to focusing on
single issues
• Viewing agriculture as part of the solution not the cause of the problem
• Harnessing the private sector and NGOs to help deliver solutions
• Using information systems and technology to ensure the message gets to farmers
and land and water managers
• Being clear about the development outcomes we wish to achieve and using
adaptive management approaches to achieve them
• Developing appropriate partnerships at science, policy and implementation levels,
and clearly defining responsibilities and accountabilities

13. Gender and Equity
CRP5’s gender and poverty strategy will ensure that its outcomes target not only to the poor in general,
but also women farmers.
The specific objectives are to:
• ensure that all research and associated work undertaken in CRP5 is pro-poor and benefits both men
and women
• ensure that, where appropriate, all data are sex-disaggregated and analyzed from the perspective
of gender and other factors that relate to equity issues
• examine the extent to which male and female farmers have different adoption rates and identify
gender-specific barriers that may work against adoption
• identify gender bias in agricultural policy and in extension systems
• improve women’s access to and involvement in the management of major resources, including
land, water, infrastructure and other public services
• develop gender-sensitive policies for land and water management.
A conference on gender will be held in the inception phase to ensure that projects will incorporate key
local and regional gender issues.

14. Governance and Management

15. Budget
Global Other Regions
4% 0%
South East
Information, Asia
31,244 7%
Latin America
15%
CWANA
Rainfed, South Asia 10%
River Basin, 93,525 19%
58,711
Sub Saharan
Resource Africa
Recover & Irrigation, 45%
Reuse, 5,432 44,023
Annual budget 2011 $76m (46% restricted funding, 54% requested from CG)
2012 $83m
2013 $87m

16. M&E
• The starting point for CRP5 support strategies, including
ME&L, are the theories of change developed at different
levels in CRP5.

17. Partnership
Partnership objective Type of partners Area of collaboration Examples of partners
Core Research
Hypothesis testing ARIs Remote sensing analytical University departments;
Methodology development National universities solutions, improving hydrological CSIRO Australia;
Private companies measurement and modeling, ITC Delft; IRD and CIRAD;
economic modeling, etc. Water Watch
On-ground research NARES Studies of nature and extent of ICAR (India)
Regional research nutrient decline and land and NAFRI (Laos)
organizations, e.g. CONDESAN, water degradation, field trials CSIR (Ghana)
ASARECA, APAARI
Implementation
Changing on-ground management NARES; private sector; FAO Jain Irrigation; Nestle; R. Tata
practices Foundation; WWF
Changing policy at government level Ministries of Water, Natural Developing policy options All major countries in which
Resources, and Agriculture we are operating
Changing river basin policy and River basin organizations Water accounting, allocation, Mekong River Commission
management biodiversity and environmental Volta Basin Authority
flow assessment, water economics Nile Basin Authority
SIC (Uzbekistan)
Up-scaling management practices NARES; NGOs; FAO; private sector; Roll-out of new technology and ISRIC; FAO;
World Bank; innovation IDE International; Care
Asian Development Bank; African
Development Bank; Islamic Bank
Influence and Outreach
International treaties and International conventions International public goods RAMSAR; UNCBD; UNCCD;
conventions FAO relating to wetland and FAO; UNESCO; IMAWESA
Global and regional networks Transboundary water habitat protection
agreements Regional synthesis and map