Main approach and action areas (water)

Inclusive and integrative approaches are critical to simultaneously reach multiple objectives, essentially: i) increasing the production of nutritious and healthy food while preserving ecosystems, ii) fairly sharing water resources with other water users, and iii) building the resilience of food systems to climate change and water-related risks.

System approach to integrated water and food systems

We recommend a system approach to integrated water and food systems, that considers: i) the range of available water resources and their respective cycles within suitable hydrological boundaries; ii) the multiple uses of water, not only locally, but also at watershed, basin and/or global level; iii) the concerned food systems; and iv) the major interconnections of water and food systems across the relevant spatial and temporal scales, and institutional levels.

This approach aims at supporting change towards water-sensitive food systems, contributing to resilient food systems.

• Proposed steps to implement the water and food system approach

  • Define the focus of your project or programme intervention (e.g. increased rice productivity)
  • Define the system boundaries and boundary partners of the food system concerned by your intervention (e.g. rice value chain), project or programme (e.g. enhanced food and nutrition security in Ethiopia) and conduct a context analysis. The defined system should be at the same time, holistic enough not to omit any key driver of change or dimension of sustainability and resilience, and precise enough to identify practical domains of intervention
  • Assess climate-related hazards and risks for the defined system. Evaluate the vulnerability of the food system to these hazards and risks, and preliminary identify mitigation measures
  • Assess availability and accessibility of all types of water resources and their uses, at the relevant hydrological scales considering the current and projected effects of climate change and expected hazards.
  • Identify the food system’s impacts on water and vulnerability to water-related risks, and assess their respective intensity
  • Identify water- or food-related constraints and leverage points that negatively or positively affect change towards water-sensitive food systems
  • Design the project interventions according to the above assessments
  • Monitor implementation, considering the spatial and temporal variability of water and food systems.
  • Adapt and learn, notably to deal with uncertainties that may be significant for a range of reasons, including the lack of reliable data, modelling assumptions, highly dynamic systems, conflicts between stakeholders, and/or an unstable political environment.

The following tools and methods are recommended (see definitions in the Glossary), possibly used in combination:

• IWRM and the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus
• Water stewardship, especially in the agri-food business and industry
• (Agro)ecosystem-based approaches, including Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES)
• Water valuation and the principles of water effectiveness (add link), notably to support decision-making on suitable production sites for different food crops
• True Cost Accounting to internalise the environmental and social costs of food supply chains

Action areas for water-sensitive food systems

Managing water for agroecosystems and food security

• Take an ecosystem approach to water management in agroecosystems to sustain or increase food production while maintaining the functions and services of ecosystems, including their water-related services. This aims at maintaining the long-term productivity and stability of agriculture through a portfolio of water management measures that enhance agro-ecosystem services.
• Including consideration of i) the whole range of food producing activities including livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, ii) green water in soils, plants, and forests; and iii) terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem health.

Effective and equitable use of water by food systems

• The use of water in food systems not only has to be efficient, productive and brought within the limits of sustainability, it also needs to internalise the hidden costs, in particular the negative social and environmental impacts.
• Since water risks fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable, the social, ethical and justice-related costs must be considered to achieve more inclusive and equitable share of water resources.
• This calls for an effective use of water considering the value of water resources for people, society, the economy and the environment.

Promote water-sensitive food systems that ensure water security

• Manage over several time scales, addressing short-term and sometimes urgent issues (e.g. floods and mudflows) while at the same time building water resilience in a context where availability, variability and access to water are becoming less predictable or even unpredictable
• Connect the relevant spatial scales, overlaying hydrological boundaries with jurisdictional, political and landscape boundaries for real water use. Beyond physical sites, do not forget to consider the use of virtual water in the value chain.
• Manage across all sectors using water, to ensure fair allocation and reallocation of water between users across various water-using sectors and the environment.

Multi-sectoral and multi-level management and governance

• Support the above management through integrated, or at least coordinated and harmonised management and governance across water and food related sectors and levels, while ensuring a fair distribution of benefits. This involves collaboration with a wider set of actors, as well as strengthening inclusion for women, youth and marginalised people.
• To enable adaptable, rapid, and inclusive responses to local water issues (e.g. floods damaging rice crops, escalating food insecurity and global rice market price), foster polycentric governance with multiple interacting centers of decision-making under an overarching set of rules and policies.
• Promote and develop water stewardship behaviour among all water users, with a focus on food systems.
• Establish innovative platforms to enhance multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnerships. In transboundary river basins, water diplomacy contributes to building water cooperation and peace.

Policy recommendations

• Use a range of policy instruments within a coherent policy framework to reach multiple objectives and address multiple issues, e.g. water allocation, land rights, regulation of pollution, and incentives for changes in consumption patterns.
• Carefully design the policy mix to reduce the risk of unintended consequences in different parts of the food systems. For example, water taxation to reduce the water footprint in arid areas may reduce nutrition and food availability in vulnerable communities; or policies securing land tenure of poor farmers may allow establishment of PES mechanisms for sustainable use of land and water resources.
• While policymaking will become more complex, water and food interconnections will have to be negotiated with all relevant stakeholders, involving value judgment, power dynamics and necessary societal and political choices.