What you'll learn

• Explain the allocation, distribution, governance and use of water
• Apply the basic principles of estimating irrigation water requirements
• Explain relations between water management practices and local agricultural conditions
• Understand the relation between water technologies, management & governance
• Analyze the interrelations between institutional and infrastructural designs for sustainable water management in agriculture

About this program

Worldwide, a variety of processes puts more pressure on water resources every day. Global climate change causes temperatures to rise and precipitation patterns to change. A growing degree of urbanization causes people to move from the countryside to the cities. This results in increased competition over water resources, like rivers and groundwater, between
cities and their surrounding areas. Furthermore, population growth and rising global welfare create an increased demand for food.
The growing demand for food must be obtained using existing agricultural land, since we are already dealing with scarcity of new farmland. Yet, the potential of increased production in the existing rain-fed agricultural areas is low.

Sustainable water management; various perspectives to consider:
The combination of the processes described above create an urgent need for improved agricultural water management, with agriculture being the dominant water user worldwide. In our search for sustainable solutions the management and governance regarding irrigation and drainage should take a number of water related aspects into account. These include:
• The different perspectives of involved uses and users
• Spatial levels, from farm, to scheme, to river basin
• Effects on both upstream and downstream water users

Putting theory into practice
In this MOOC, we will focus on the role agricultural water management plays in this global context of sustainable water and food supplies. The online course consists of several learning modules, combined with a case study.
We start by taking a deep dive into practical and technical aspects, from crop characteristics and irrigation water requirements to actual field practices. Subsequently, we explore the institutional perspective, from models of rural development to water management demands. The case study videos and interviews from Morocco create the opportunity for you to directly apply your newly acquired knowledge in a real-life situation.

Who is this course for?

This MOOC is for anyone with basic knowledge of social and biophysical sciences, ready to contribute to improving agricultural water management from where they are. Are you ready? Enrol today!