Poverty continues to be a major concern in Asia despite the region’s high economic growth and rapid rural transformation. Most of the poor live in areas where natural resource conditions are suboptimal and water-related constraints are the root cause of low production and increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and climate variability.

The FAO has released a report titled "Assessing poverty reduction potential through investments in agricultural water management: a methodology for country level analysis." The report presents a methodology to analyze the opportunities, constraints and potential of small-scale Agricultural Water Management (AWM) interventions at pilot research

This publication is the result of a joint effort by the FAO and the IFAD to address the linkage between water and rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. It takes stock of past experiences and demonstrates that there are many opportunities to invest in water in support of rural livelihoods. Its aim is to help decision-makers make informed choices on where and how to invest.

This publication is the result of a joint effort by the FAO and the IFAD to address the linkage between water and rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. It takes stock of past experiences and demonstrates that there are many opportunities to invest in water in support of rural livelihoods. Its aim is to help decision-makers make informed choices on where and how to invest. It emphasizes the need for an approach where investments in infrastructure are matched with interventions in institutions, knowledge and finance in ways that yield optimal returns in terms of poverty reduction.