CIRAD is implementing a joint research program on inland valleys with IER (Mali) and SARI (Northern Ghana). This program is based on the fact that water control is the central issue governing intensification possibilities in inland valleys in WestAfrica. For this reason, the work was oriented toward the development of low cost water management systems. Such systems shall: - stabilize the natural hydrological system, - be adapted to the natural topography, - be adapted to the local capacity for building and maintaining the system, - be sustainable and take into account impact for other users. In order to allow local contractors and designers to build suitable water management systems, CIRAD and its partners developed a decision support system called "DIARPA " (rapid diagnosis for land development). Mainly developed in Southem Mali and Northern Ghana, DIARPA needs now to be tested in différent agro-ecologies, in order to adapt the values of key parameters to différent agro-ecological conditions. For this validation, and for other studies, the Consortium framework will be more and more used in the future.