1. The Working Group Water and Agriculture (WGWA) – in a nutshell
Update on the WGWA for SAI Platform Executive Committee Meeting nb 37, Rome, June

2. Water management work axes
Topics chosen by the WGWA for (in red) as a part of the water management issues identified by the FAO:
Raising water productivity in agriculture
Improving water use efficiency
Boosting rainfed agriculture
Exploring the potential of biotechnology
Studying Virtual water and food trade
Improving irrigation
Reforming irrigation management
Modernizing large irrigation systems
Financing irrigation
Moving towards more precision agriculture

3. Global Outlook WGWA Activities
Research & Development
Services
Education & Training
Practices Library
Establishing an on-line repository of water-related sustainable agricultural practices DONE Linking these best practices to case studies and practical tools ON-GOING
Collection of case studies on rainwater harvesting
Collecting existing case studies on water harvesting systems ON-GOING
Pilot projects
Exploring key water-related issues in various countries and crop production systems – see next slide ON-GOING
Research on Water Footprint
Participation in the WFP Network Writing of a Position Paper on WFP ON-GOING
Presentations at WGWA meetings
On member companies’ activities to sustainable water management, findings of recent desk studies on WFP etc
Seminar on Water and Agriculture
Involving IWMI and the International WF Network. Organisation ON-GOING. Seminar to be held in October 2009 at Unilever headquarters in Rotterdam.
11/10/2018

4. WGWA activities on Water Footprint
What is the Water Footprint (WF)?
The WF of consumers (individual, family, province) or businesses is the volume of freshwater used to produce a specific good or group of goods.
The WF is a indicator which :
- shows the volume and type of water use.
- quantifies the volume of polluted water.
- gives the location.
The WF is becoming a componant of water management to increase water use efficiency and sustainability.
WGWA’s activities on WF:
Participation in the International Water Footprint Network (WFN)
Common agreement on a Position Paper on the WF
Web-based collection of documents related to WF
Decision to be made by the WGWA on further involvement in the WFN and other actions (awareness raising etc)
11/10/2018

5. WGWA-related Pilot Projects
Potato production in the State of Gujarat, India
Developing eco friendly irrigation practices, minimizing ground water contamination, managing fertilizer programs & irrigation scheduling based on crop water requirement
Production of lettuce, potatoes, wheat & livestock in Europe
Development of performance indicators against which other farms can be measured, including water management
Tomato production in Italy (next meeting field visit)
Crop Sense Soil Moisture Monitoring
6 other Nestle water-related pilots associated with coffee and dairy
3 projects for tomato production in India, Brazil and the USA