FAO.org

Opening remarks by Sasha Koo-Oshima, Deputy Director, Land and Water Division, FAO

Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m delighted to welcome you to the FAO-OECD Co-Convened Roundtable on Financing Agriculture Water.

It’s exciting to be with so many distinguished speakers and participants. For this virtual RT, provides me with a unique opportunity to thank the people working across the spectrum of water, agriculture, finance, academia, development aid, and others to come together for these two days. It’s pivotal.

FAO and our partner - the OECD - have worked jointly on a number of action plans on water and policy-driven issues to enhance governance, trade and agri-environment policy coherence, and common goals and actions in water, agriculture, and environment.

FAO’strategy has been calling on all of us to work closely together towards “a path that leads us to a better tomorrow, through better production, better nutrition and better environment for a better life.” To transform our food systems that encompass the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, addressing climate change, biodiversity, natural resource management and healthier diets, where water is a transversal element.

Together with the OECD and our member countries and through UN-Water, we are moving forward on the action pillars of the Sustainable Development Goal 6.  And this Roundtable is the first of the OECD’s Water Financing Roundtables focusing on the thematic of agriculture water with the FAO globally (from HQ in Rome to regional and country offices). FAO must leverage all of our partners and relevant stakeholders towards the attainment of SDG Goal 2 (on hunger alleviation) and Goal 6 by accelerating investment pathways.

Agricultural activities are intrinsically dependent on water and are accountable for around 70% of the freshwater withdrawals in the world today.

Water scarcity is one of the leading challenges for sustainable development, and climate change and drought are already altering hydrological regimes everywhere.

Reliable water supply is a major factor in ensuring both healthy nutrition and sufficient and constant food production.

The world population is expected to grow to more than 9 billion people by 2050. FAO estimates 50% more food will be needed by 2050.

This will put more pressure on vulnerable water resources, as well as on the competition between water-usage sectors, such as agriculture, energy, industrial production and household needs.

If that wasn’t enough, this meeting is also held at a very important time, as we are seeing that agriculture and food systems are straining during the pandemic.

It’s important that water management accommodates shifting needs and resource constraints as well as health imperatives.

Achieving world food security into the future while using water resources sustainably will be a major challenge for us all.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the utmost importance of promoting sustainable water management, water and sanitation, availability and quality.

FAO is committed to accelerating actions in catalysing water investments, data and information, capacity development, innovation, and governance.

Together - such actions are key to addressing the triple challenges of sustainable water use, climate change resilience, and food security. Delivering on these three fronts requires policy coherence and institutional coordination and investment.

There is a need to consider the synergies and trade-offs between social protection, trade and agricultural water policy to better align incentives and behaviors towards more sustainable management of the scarce land and water resources.

This Roundtable provides the global public-private platform with aim to facilitate and understand the flow of financing and investments that contribute to sustainable development, water and food security and sustainable growth for all.

I very much look forward to the discussion, thoughtful interventions that will be offered.

One conclusion that we can be sure to draw from this meeting is the centrality of water to agriculture and global food security.

It is time to act. Water is an essential element for every form of life, as well as for every aspect of development. And that action starts here.