FAO Water invited more than 30 experts from different countries, institutions and professional background, to assist in an improved design of a water scarcity programme.

The FAO water group prepared a document presenting its views on how its water scarcity programme should be designed; the document was then circulated to the participants before the meeting.

The consultation was designed to address a specific set of technical and policy questions that ensured a great focus during the 3-day meeting. The experts were asked to provide recommendations on the range of technical and policy options that FAO should promote as an agriculture response to water scarcity in member countries. From an agreed concept of water scarcity to a way to conceptualize it in a manner that would be meaningful for decision making and policy development, from criteria to establish priorities for action in response to water scarcity in agriculture to the technical response options that are available, the experts went through these issues both in plenary sections as well in highly dynamic working groups.

The outcomes from the successful meeting will fit in a comprehensive framework for agricultural response to water scarcity that FAO Water is developing within the long-term partnership with the Italian Government