The institutional history of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food - Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security - page 89

Table 4.2 The CPWF BDCs.

River Basin Basin Development Challenge

Andes System To increase water productivity and reduce water-related

of Basins conflict through the establishment of equitable benefit-sharing

mechanisms

Ganges To reduce poverty and strengthen livelihood resilience through

improved water governance and management in coastal areas of
the Ganges Basin

Limpopo To improve smallholder productivity and livelihoods and reduce

livelihood risk through integrated water resource management

Mekong To reduce poverty and foster development by optimizing the use

of water in reservoirs

Nile To strengthen rural livelihoods and their resilience through a

landscape approach to rainwater management

Volta To strengthen integrated management of rainwater and small

reservoirs so that they can be used equitably and for multiple
purposes

Source: Author.

qualities. Their ability to guide their research program toward a cohesive
solution to their BDC was key to the CPWF's ability to achieve outcomes.
The CPWF added Topic Working Groups (TWGs) to Phase 2. TWGs were
communities of practice to facilitate cross-basin learning and train basin teams
through sharing experiences and mentoring (CPWF, 2011a). As world leaders
in their fields, TWG leaders would feed cutting-edge thinking and methods
into the TWG communities. Four TWGs were selected: resilience; global
drivers of change; learning to innovate; and modeling and spatial analysis. The
CPWF's researchers were encouraged to form TWGs around shared interests
as Phase 2 research developed, strengthening the quality of research on that
particular topic. Membership in TWGs would emerge from project team
members working on elements of the topic focus (CPWF, 2009d, p. 4).

Phase 2
Phase 2 of the CPWF started in November 2008 as the second International
Forum on Water and Food in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia marked the end of Phase
1. With the inception of Phase 2, a new set of challenges to the operation of
a coherent R4D program became evident.
The CPWF adapted its management and governance structures for Phase 2.
In keeping with its decentralized approach, it promoted a horizontal structure.
The CPWF program team was made up of a number of interlinked teams:
the MT, administration and finance, knowledge management and research