Roberto Lenton

Director General, IIMI (1987-1994)

 

Largely as a result of high quality publications and effective outreach, IWMI has now become the most authoritative source of research-based information on the management of water for agriculture, and increasingly, on the management of water more generally. IWMI’s work is quoted regularly, not only in scientific circles but also in broader publications with significant influence.

 

IWMI's research over the last two decades has played a major role in making the case, especially to the traditional water engineering community, that the management of water, especially for agriculture, is as important as its development. While few people would dispute this today, in the 1980s this was not at all the conventional wisdom.

 

IWMI's admission to the CGIAR system and its increasing prominence and respectability within the group and beyond (including through the Challenge Programs) has helped make the case to the agricultural research community that research on the management of water for agriculture is not only a vital part of agricultural research, but it also provides new methodological approaches and insights that have helped advance agricultural research more generally.