ABSTRACT
The Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) was conceived as a response by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) to a perceived global crisis: the threat posed by water scarcity to food security, livelihoods and the environment, and the urgent need to use increasingly scarce water resources more efficiently. With the passage of time, the CPWF has broadened its agenda to focus on a range of development challenges in basins that relate to water. The CPWF came to see that water provides a useful entry point for addressing many development challenges, including those related to sustainable intensification of agricultural systems and preservation of ecosystem services. Addressing water scarcity is a means to a broader end as well as an end in itself.
