AWSAMe initiative: Addressing Water Scarcity in Agriculture and the Environment
The escalating impacts of climate change, including increasing water scarcity, pose a critical threat to agricultural sustainability and agrifood systems. In response, FAO has established the Value-Added Impact Area (VAIA), Addressing Water Scarcity in Agriculture and the environment (AWSAMe) initiative, which contributes uniquely to the package of solutions for reducing water-related risks and strengthening resilience in water-scarce contexts.
The initiative contributes primarily to a better environment, one of the four betters of the FAO Strategic Framework 2022–2031. It promotes resilient agrifood systems through interventions that increase water productivity despite limited water resources and improve agriculture yields in marginal environments.
The AWSAMe initiative integrates innovation and science with conventional and indigenous practices at the field level, and seeks to translate the emerging evidence into policy to support the upscaling of these solutions from local to national and regional scales.
In particular, AWSAMe collaborates with countries where the following solutions can offer the potential to build resilient agrifood systems:
- promoting the adoption of underutilized indigenous and opportunity crops that are drought-resilient and nutritious with the potential to improve biodiversity, create jobs for women and youth and generate income; and
- the development and application of saline agriculture practices such as the adoption of salt tolerant crops in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), coastal areas and other affected inland areas.