Launch of new project: Groundwater governance - A global framework for country action
FAO, UNESCO, IAH and GEF now join forces to address groundwater governance in a crowded world.
The overall project objective is to increase the awareness on the paramount importance of a sound management of our groundwater resources in preventing and reversing the global water crisis. The project will develop a global "Framework of Action" (FA), consisting of a menu of best practices for the sustainable management of groundwater resources. The inception meeting of the project will take place at UNESCO Headquarters on 6-7 September 2011.
This publication contains a selection of articles derived from the Open Science Conference "Africa and Carbon Cycle", hosted in Ghana in 2008. The conference focused on Africa's contribution to the global carbon cycle and climate system through an overview of the carbon related studies in sub- Saharan Africa carried out both by the project CarboAfrica and other African and international initiatives.
World Water Week 2012 Side Event: SOLAW – The State of Land and Water resources
This side event at World Water Week 2012 in Stockholm presented the main findings and recommendations from FAO’s first global report on ‘The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture’ (SOLAW)’ to be officially released to the public in the fourth quarter of 2011. The SOLAW Report, which contains some 250 pages of text, diagrams and maps, was prepared on the basis of 17 technical papers on a range of land and water-related subjects.
Event: Water and Food Security: Call for Solutions
The World Water Day in 2012 is intended to draw the international attention on the relationships between water & food security.
On the 24th of August we hosted a Workshop at the World Water Week to address the status and prospects for food security and illustrate the water-related implications.
The September desktop calendar is now here! Download your calendar, selecting your screen size to open the calendar image in a new window then right click on the image and select 'Set as Desktop Item' form the menu that appears.
Water reports: Climate Change, water and food security
This report summarizes current knowledge of the anticipated impacts of climate change on water availability for agriculture and examines the implications for local and national food security. It analyses expected impact of climate change on a set of major agricultural systems at risk and makes the case for immediate implementation of 'no-regrets' strategies which have both positive development outcomes and make agricultural systems resilient. It is hoped that policy makers and planners can use this report to frame their adaptation responses when considering both the water variable in agriculture and the competing demands from other users.
Spate irrigation has evolved over the centuries and provided rural populations in arid and semi-arid regions with an ingenious way to manage their scarce water resources. It is different from conventional irrigation in many ways and therefore needs special skills and approaches that address the unpredictability and magnitude of spate floods, their high sediment load, and the associated water rights and management models.
The objective of this publication is to assist planners and practitioners in designing and managing spate irrigation projects looking at the hydrology, the engineering, the agronomy, local organizations and rules, wadi basin management and economics. It is designed to be both a practical guidance document and a source of information and examples, based extensively on experience from across the world in places where spate irrigation is practiced.
As food and water needs continue to rise, it is becoming increasingly difficult to supply more water to farmers. The supply of easily accessible freshwater resources is limited both locally and globally. In arid and semiarid regions, in densely populated countries and in most of the industrialized world, competition for water resources has set in. This volume discusses the drylands and their land uses, with an emphasis on cereal production. The volume touches on the roles of livestock, placing the various technologies and practises that enhance water availability to crops in drylands in their technical, agro-ecological and socio-economic perspective.
Land and Water
discussion paper 7 :
Coping with Water Scarcity: What Role for Biotechnologies?
Water
scarcity affects all social and economic sectors
and threatens the sustainability of the natural
resources base. Addressing water scarcity requires
an intersectoral and multidisciplinary approach
to managing water resources in order to maximize
economic and social welfare in an equitable manner
without compromising the sustainability of vital
ecosystems. Integration across sectors is needed.
This integration needs to take into account development,
supply, use and demand, and to place the emphasis
on people, their livelihood and the ecosystems
that sustain them.
A brief introduction
to some of the issues facing FAO Water including
the relationship between water, agriculture, food
security and poverty. The reader will also learn
about effective ways of managing agricultural water.
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