Tapping Water for Food Globally

Whether through clean-water policies or climate impacts on availability, the role of water in global food security is complex, but full of collaborative potential, as the Water for Food Global Forum seeks to demonstrate again this year.

The Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska is holding its 2021 Water for Food Global Forum throughout October with a series of virtual events. The official event in 2020 was canceled, but the institute held a series of virtual events last year that demonstrated a broader audience for the conference's themes.

"Some things we found out last year is we had people participating that wouldn't normally be participating around the world," said Peters McCornick, the Daugherty Institute's executive director. "And so we wanted to build on that, but also be a bit more strategic about what we're focusing on."

GLOBALLY ENGAGED ON WATER ROLE

Nebraska's status as an irrigation capital was one of the main reasons the institute was formed and located at the University of Nebraska. When formed, though, the institute's staff was challenged to be engaged globally on the role of water in agricultural production. During the past five years, the institute has begun to engage more with economists and analysts at the World Bank. That included inviting World Bank staff to the institute's conference, but also to tour irrigation facilities in Nebraska.

"The World Bank, they were very cynical when they first came because there's this narrative around groundwater that if you introduce agriculture to groundwater, then the groundwater disappears," McCornick said. "Nebraska is pretty unique, and they weren't convinced at first."

That engagement has led World Bank officials to consider how strategic investments in groundwater usage can improve food security in developing countries. The institute has become involved in World Bank workshops in the Middle East and the water institute has even held an event at the World Bank offices in Washington, D.C., McCornick said. That has become an engagement success story for the institute.

"Our board and leadership want us to explain where we are having an impact and they are always challenging us on that," McCornick said. "We can't just keep having conferences for the conferences' sake. We have got to be thinking about reaching people and developing new ideas and always asking, are we actually changing the direction of water and agricultural management?"

WORK WITH SMALL-SCALE FARMERS

The institute has been working with small-scale farmers in Rwanda. Farmers in that country have experimented with rainwater harvesting, pedal pumps and even center pivots to increase productivity. Irrigation there focuses on a lot of high-value crops such as fruits and vegetables. Traditionally, the country has produced a lot of bananas, so water management for those banana trees is important.

"They've seen the failures; they've seen the successes. So, one of the things the team has been doing there is looking at what's worked and what hasn't worked. What are the businesses that are businesses there that are being successful? We're basically looking at more than irrigation, but water management and other inputs in the value chain and the markets associated with that."

Source: Progressive Farmer