CGIAR Challenge Program on Water & Food

P R E S S    R E L E A S E

Nairobi conference sets future path for the Challenge Program
on Water and Food

Nairobi, Nov 2003 - At a five day meeting the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (having completed its inception phase) gathered scientists, policy makers and interest groups from across the globe to debate water, food and environment challenges, and to set the Program's research agenda for the coming years.

Results of the one year inception phase of the Program were presented to the CGIAR family, the wider research community in the water-food-environment field, donors and international media. During the inception phase, workshops involving all stakeholders were held in all nine basins; basin profiles including trends of natural resources, crops, trees, livestock and fisheries production, key food-water-environment challenges and on-going initiatives to address the challenges were documented; data in each of the basins were identified, a state of the art web-based database system (IDIS) was developed to create a shared set of baseline data, indicators and, eventually, targets across the set of benchmark basins, and the first call for the competitive research fund was organized.

The Nairobi conference was launched by Ian Johnson, CGIAR Chairman, who pledged support to the program. Guest speakers from a range of organizations including the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), the world Conservation Union (IUCN) were invited to participate in two high level policy debates. The debates were; "Water and food security for all: The role of international trade in food and virtual water" and "Sustainable agriculture and wetlands: the new frontier in conservation". The next four days were devoted to scientific workshops which included enhancing basin level water productivity; managing water for food and environmental security; integration and scale issues; water resources for food production and security; indicator application for river basin assessment. The meeting also brought together the project leaders of the 50 approved projects to discuss their implementation.

Research projects are funded through a major competitive selection process that distributes approximately two-thirds of all CP funds. It is carried out annually with a view to opening up international agricultural research to new ideas and new partnerships. So far, 50 research projects have been approved for funding. These approved projects will contribute to achieving impact on the ground by focusing on the programs nine benchmark river basins where the CPWF will work closely with local water managers and farmers. 15 CGIAR centers, 162 NARES, 20 NGOs and 31 ARIs are participating in the 50 approved projects which are led by 13 different CGIAR centers, 9 NARES and 1 ARI. On average each approved project includes 7 institutions.

More than one third of the $100-120 million goal for the initial six year research phase has already been committed by donors - the World Bank, Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. A highlight at the conference was France's announcement to contribute 6 million Euros in addition to CGIAR funding.

During the conference a higher degree of awareness of water-food-environment issues was created and support mobilised; action-oriented recommendations on how to use existing knowledge in decision making and how to generate new information that will benefit the future direction of the program was discussed. Valuable experiences on the establishment of such global research programs was shared; The conference also provided the opportunity to build partnerships between international and national research institutes, NGO's, policy makers and donors.

In response to the worlds growing water crisis the Program aims to change the way we manage water to produce food. It is guided by five research themes that target different aspects of the water and food challenge. The research is largely put into action in selected river basins across the developing world. This approach ensures that regional priorities are addressed, that stakeholders are actively involved in the program, and that it has direct and measurable impacts on the quality of life in poor communities. The nine benchmark basins are: the Mekong, the Yellow River, the Indo-Gangetic, the Karkheh, the Nile, the Limpopo, the Volta, the Sao Francisco and the Andean System of basins.

The Baseline Conference gained extensive international and local media coverage during the conference; BBC, CNN, FT, Reuters and AFP among others.

Notes for editors:

  1. CGIAR - Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
  2. NARES - National Agricultural Research & Extension Systems
  3. ARI - Advanced Research Institutes
  4. For further information on the Challenge Program visit www.waterforfood.org
  5. The Challenge Program river basins include: the Nile, Limpopo, Volta, Sao Francisco, Karkheh, Indo-Gangetic, Mekong, Yellow, and a network of river basins in the Andes.