The Outcomes of the First WASAG International Forum held in Praia, Cabo Verde, 19-22 March 2019
Stockholm, 27 August 2019
Ruhiza Jean Boroto WASAG Team Leader Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) WASAG Partners (61 Partners from more than 22 countries) Five Groups of WASAG partners (from the TORs) ▪ Group 1: United Nations agencies and other United Nations bodies. ▪ Group 2: Other intergovernmental organizations and State actors (including governments, public and governmental agencies). ▪ Group 3: Academia and Research institutions. ▪ Group 4: Civil society organizations, including Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs). ▪ Group 5: Private sector organizations and trade associations. WASAG Key Steps
19/20 April 2017 October 2016 The First meeting of Partners Endorsed by the Summit adopts the Rome Statement of Water Ministers at the and establishes an Interim Second World Irrigation Steering Committee Forum in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
January 2017 March 2019 Endorsed by 83 Ministers September 2017 First WASAG November 2016 of Agriculture during the October 2018 Endorsed by the UNCCD International 9th Berlin Agriculture Supported by the The Global Framework on COP 13 as a knowledge- Forum Ministers’ Conference at Committee on Water Scarcity was sharing partnership to help Praia, Cabo Verde officially launched during the Global Forum for Food Agriculture (COAG) countries develop their with the adoption the UNCCC COP22 in and Agriculture (GFFA), drought preparedness Rome, Italy of the Praia Marrakesh, Morocco. and the G20 Ministers of plans in Ordos, China Agriculture Commitments
27 August 2018 An elected new Steering Committee is established
4 WASAG umbrella programme: ▪ Impact: By 2030, agricultural production and productivity will be enhanced by reducing the impact of water scarcity and drought in agriculture.
▪ Outcome 1: Water productivity is increased to ensure nutritious and sustainable food production for all
▪ Outcome 2: Lessen the impact of droughts and the risk posed by extreme weather events
▪ Outcome 3: Enhance women's access to adequate resources to raise agricultural production and productivity WASAG umbrella programme focus on SDGs: Partners leading the working groups
Six working groups established since August 2017 with the aim to focus the work of WASAG on emerging issues (also for quick wins):
▪ Water and Migration (GWP, IWMI)
▪ Drought Preparedness ( UNCCD, DWFI, WMO, GWP)
▪ Financing Mechanisms (World Bank, Climate KIC, IFAD)
▪ Water and Nutrition (IFPRI, SIWI, IFAD)
▪ Sustainable Agriculture Water Use (IWMI, IFPRI, ICID, IFAD)
▪ Saline Agriculture (ICBA, Iran)
(*) Leaders and Co-Leaders of the working groups
7 Some activities of the working groups • Water and Migration - finding water - related solutions to provide alternatives to (rural) migration and increase resilience to water stress. • Drought Preparedness - (1) harmonized toolbox, (2) repository of international experts available to countries • Financing Mechanisms - a financing framework to facilitate access to innovative financing • Sustainable Agriculture Water Use - guidelines for pressurised irrigation; harmonisation of glossary • Water and Nutrition - guidelines on nutrition sensitive water management in agriculture • Saline Agriculture - sustainable food production systems in saline soil and water environments WASAG Working Groups
Drought Preparedness Water & Migration
Sustainable Agricultural Water Use Water & Nutrition
Communication Financing Mechanisms 9 Countries support to WASAG
▪ Canada/ Quebec - internship programme
▪ Cape Verde – hosted the first WASAG forum
▪ Italy – established a chapter of WASAG with a structure mirroring the WASAG working groups – co organized the forum/ leading guidelines for pressurized irrigation in agriculture
▪ Spain – training in irrigation technologies for West African countries/ Symposium on unconventional sources of water (November 2019)
▪ Switzerland (FOAG)- support to the WASAG umbrella programme 10 > 300 participants >30% of women 48 countries Day One field trip - more than 120 participants Days 2 & 3: opening and technical sessions
300 delegates 48 countries 30% women Praia Commitments
14 From Praia Commitments to Projects Example of the Saline Agriculture WG 13. Propose ways to live with salinity, particularly in SIDS - Contribute in the production of the Global Soil Salinity Map led by Global Soil Partnership (GSP) - Raise awareness on biosaline agriculture in the affected countries involving governments and policy makers
14. Integrate climate-smart agriculture and innovative practices including drought/salt tolerant crops. - Develop a Quinoa Project Proposal -under way - Develop a crop drought/salt tolerance database to be shared with all the affected countries - Cabo Verde Climate Smart Agriculture proposal development with field mission From the Praia Commitments to Projects • Innovative and new solutions, rather than traditional • Support to stakeholder (mainly country) activities on the ground • Pilot project • New methodologies, concepts, guidelines and tools (as ‘public good’) • Technology development • Training and capacity building material • Conference, HL-Panel etc. (advocacy, political will) • Other From the Praia Commitments to Projects
• Relevance to WASAG mission: water scarcity in agriculture in a changing climate
• Readiness for implementation (actionable, funding availability)
• More than one WASAG partner involved (partnerships)
• Budget assured
• Actual deliverables within 2 years
• Potential for upscaling or replication Participants views about the forum
Greece, 1 Ethiopia, 1 Canada, 1 Kenya, 1
Jordan, 1 Bangladesh, 1 Cameroon, 1 Burkina Faso, 1
Caribean, 1 Cabo Verde , 12
Trinidad WI, 1
DR of Congo, 1
Barbados, 1
Togo, 1 Mexico, 1
The Netherlands, 2 Italy, 5
Portugal , 2
Nigeria, 3 Spain, 2
India, 2 USA, 3 Senegal, 2 France , 2 Tunisia, 3 Strenghts of the Forum
• Knowledge sharing with different country experts
• High political representation from Cabo Verde and Focus on concrete examples
• Networking, field trip and diverse participation
• Themes diversity, plurality of speakers and views Weaknesses of the Forum
• Dense agenda, more days would have been useful
• Lack of time for presentations and interactions between participants and panels
• Needed higher representation of farmers and of local experiences/ other SIDS Field trip
• 95% of respondents agree the field trip added great value to the Forum
• Participants witnessed the challenges of water scarcity in the field and interacted with others
• Althought it took the first full day, participants would have liked more time to interact with locals, visit irrigation installation and salt affected areas Technical sessions
• Respondents agreed they gained useful technical information from the main technical sessions and that these sessions achieved their expected outputs (scores from 7.5/10 to 8.9/10)
• The technical session on saline agriculture received the highest scores from respondents (clear expected outputs, adequate and sufficient time allocated to the session and for each speaker, etc.) Market Place and Networking Area
• Respondents found the Market Place interesting, lively and educational, had a good diversity of stands and was and opportunity to socialize
• 90% of respondents said they liked the Networking Area Future Forum
• 76% of respondents agreed the Forum should take place every three years • Some respondents called for more frequent forums or smaller meetings/ technical sessions during the interval • Respondents were happy with the location of the venue. 42% of respondents agreed Cabo Verde is the preferred venue for all future forums. Others suggested to change the venue for each forum, suggesting Sahelian countries, for example. The 1st WASAG International Forum on Water Scarcity in Agriculture was a success!
Now there is a pressing need to translate the adopted Praia Commitments into actions and report back on progress at the next edition of the Forum
THANK YOU!
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