MP5overview

= **MP5: Durable Solutions for Water Scarcity and Land Degradation** =



This MP addresses three challenges fundamental to poverty reduction, food security and environmental sustainability: i) water scarcity, ii) land degradation and iii) loss of ecosystem services. It brings together CGIAR Centers with extensive networks of partners to deliver natural resource management outcomes that will benefit and sustain the livelihoods and food security of poor people on three continents.

The overall objective is to sustainably improve livelihoods, reduce poverty, and ensure food security using research-based solutions to water scarcity, land degradation, and loss of ecosystem services. The MP aims to move research into impact via delivering greater water and land productivity in rainfed and irrigated systems for crops, fisheries and aquaculture, livestock, and agroforestry to cope with water scarcity and land degradation; enhancing and safeguarding land and water access for the poor to sustainably benefit from resource utilization; improving land and soil health and water quality to reverse widespread degradation of agricultural production systems; enhancing ecosystem services and building resilience by enhancing the ability of people to manage water and land to sustain ecosystem services within and beyond agro-ecosystems as influenced by agricultural practices.

The MP focuses on geographically defined best bet options to reduce poverty and vulnerability, raise productivity and address tradeoffs with other ecosystems that will reach 500 million people over 20 years. These include policy, institutional and technical options for integrated soil fertility and water management in rainfed areas; revitalizing underperforming irrigation; safe wastewater use; water allocation and land management in stressed agricultural river basins; sustainable groundwater management; improved land and water management in pastoral livestock systems; information systems on global soils, water and ecosystems; and increased agricultural biodiversity within production systems to improve ecosystem resilience.

This MP presents a new way for the CGIAR to take research into action. It allows the CGIAR and partners to address major global problems in a coherent manner by jointly setting research agendas, and delivering results. It integrates across disciplines, scales, and partners to generate innovative solutions to new sets of problems arising from increasing water scarcity, land degradation and loss of ecosystem services. It actively moves research into results by adopting innovative and participatory approaches, engaging in policy, working with practitioners, facilitating capacity building and giving special attention to the role of women and youth.

The annual budget requested is US$ 63 million, and is expected to increase by on average 4% annually over 3 years. An increasing proportion of additional funding is expected to contribute to non-CGIAR institutes to facilitate partnerships for outreach and impact.