From assessing the evolution of water justice to understanding how solar pumps helped Nepali farmers weather COVID-19 disruptions, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) researchers have contributed to diverse global studies published in January and February 2026. The following is a selection of their open-access work; click the links to access the full articles.
Systems-oriented innovation towards sustainable smallholder mixed farming
Mixed farming systems where crops, livestock, trees and sometimes aquatic species are integrated within the same farm are central to smallholder livelihoods across the Global South. Their strength lies in the co-benefits components offer, which can improve soil health, nutrient cycling and resource-use efficiency while supporting diverse food and income sources. Yet innovation efforts often fall short because they target individual farm components or technologies without accounting for system interactions or farmers’ realities.
In a new perspective, IWMI researcher Nirman Shrestha and colleagues identify three key enablers for more effective innovation in mixed farming systems: systems thinking, participatory processes and attention to local context. Together, these approaches help capture the complexity of farm systems and ensure innovations align with the ecological and socioeconomic conditions shaping smallholder agriculture.
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Systems-oriented innovation towards sustainable smallholder mixed farming
Climate-smart agricultural assets and household coping strategies in times of upheaval
Transferring agricultural assets can improve welfare for smallholders, but their role in strengthening resilience to major shocks is less understood. IWMI’s Marie-Charlotte Buisson and colleague examine whether climate-smart agricultural assets can help farmers cope with unexpected disruptions by studying the distribution of solar-powered irrigation pumps in Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic. They find that small-scale producers who received pumps were better able to manage pandemic-related restrictions than those who did not. While the allocation of pumps was not random, the findings add to emerging evidence that programs providing climate-smart agricultural assets may help smallholders better withstand large economic shocks.
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Climate-smart agricultural assets and household coping strategies in times of upheaval
Beyond a decade of water justice: Review, directions, and pathways to achieve “water for all”
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 focuses on ensuring universal access to safe water and sanitation, and water justice is at the center of achieving this. IWMI researcher Safa Fanaian and co-authors reviewed 470 peer-reviewed studies between 2012 and 2023 to understand the evolution of water justice over time in relation to the SDG goals. Finding persistent barriers to water justice through unbalanced power, institutional capture and policy misalignment, they recommend water governance approaches increase awareness of structural inequalities. Water justice must address institutional injustices to ensure safe water and sanitation for all.
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Beyond a decade of water justice: Review, directions, and pathways to achieve “Water for All”
Agricultural water management for adaptation and mitigation: Tension or co-benefits in achieving global good?
Climate change is causing crop loss across the globe, interfering with farmers’ efforts to feed burgeoning populations. To guarantee food security, adaptation measures in water management and irrigation have been the focus for farms, enabling more year-round production despite climate-driven water stress. However, the increased water usage and greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural adaptation practices are in direct competition with climate change mitigation and overburdened hydrological cycles. In response, IWMI researcher Petra Schmitter and co-author discuss how decisionmakers can focus on both adaptation and mitigation, creating policy that considers local, short-term agricultural adaptation efforts alongside long-term global mitigation and water security goals.
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Is global human well-being peaking?
Since the 1950s, human well-being has substantially improved around the world. Well-being captures the self-perceived sense of a person’s health and happiness, typically assessed through per capita gross domestic product, life expectancy at birth and life satisfaction indices. However, this upward trend is not infinite. IWMI’s Safa Fanain and co-authors found that for two-thirds of the world’s population, their well-being will peak by 2050, meaning progress will plateau or decline. Most of the countries reaching peak well-being prior to 2050 are low-income countries, and a major factor hindering their health and happiness are economic damages from climate change, which are worse in proportion to high-income countries despite low-income countries having contributed only 10% of historical carbon emissions. The authors recommend mitigation of global environmental threats and cross-country financial transfers, such as the Loss and Damage Fund, to uplift countries most at risk of well-being stagnation.
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