Irrigated agriculture plays a central role in global food production as it provides resilience to rainfall variability, increased productivity and production security. However, it has also gone hand in hand with serious socio-environmental challenges. Large-scale irrigated agricultural production, which depends on both surface and groundwater resources, has encountered several technical and managerial challenges. It has led to widespread environmental deterioration through drying and polluting rivers, lakes, wetlands, and aquifers. At the same time, irrigated agricultural production has been increasingly commodified, specialized and globalized through large commercial farming enterprises, contract farming and international agro-export chains. This has led to widespread processes of land and water accumulation and related socio-environmental inequities in many regions of the world. In contraposition to this tendency peasant irrigated production plays a key role in producing for local and regional fresh food markets. In this context, we explore a few innovative and promising grassroots initiatives that spring from peasant agriculture. These are agro-ecology, farmer-led irrigation development and peri-urban agriculture, all initiatives that rest on the creation of local food production and marketing networks. Finally, this book chapter closes by setting out critical questions about policies and the political implications of food consumption patterns.

This brochure has been developed for the Water for Food and Ecosystems programme on behalf of the 3rd World Water Forum

Research into the potential of valuing water for food security policies. The Food and Water Valuation Framework (FWVF) has been developed to combine the valuing water concept with the food system approach. This framework is applied in four case studies to assess its advantage over existing concepts. | Onderzoek naar de mogelijkheden van het waarderen van water voor voedselzekerheidsbeleid. Het Food and Water Valuation Framework (FWVF) is ontwikkeld om het waterwaarderingsconcept te combineren met de voedselsysteembenadering. Dit kader wordt toegepast in vier casestudies om het voordeel ervan ten opzichte van bestaande concepten te beoordelen.

To meet the food demand of a growing global population, agricultural production will have to more than double in this century. Agricultural land expansion combined with yield increases will therefore be required. This thesis investigates whether enough water resources will be available to sustain the future food production. Using a global scale hydrology and crop growth model, the combined effect of climate change and socio economic changes on water scarcity and food production were quantified. The first thing to explore was where water for agriculture is currently extracted. Reservoirs behind large dams are found to be very important for agriculture and contribute around 18% of the total irrigation water today. It is shown however that with current reservoir capacities and irrigation efficiencies, not enough water can be supplied to sustain an increased food production. Irrigation water shortage can lead to a loss of 20% of the irrigated crop production globally, but with important regional differences. Regions particularly at risk include basins in Southern Africa and South Asia, where production losses on irrigated cropland can become over 50%. This means that unless major investments are made towards improving irrigation efficiency and increasing storage capacity, water shortage will put a serious constraint on future food production.

To meet the food demand of a growing global population, agricultural production will have to more than double in this century. Agricultural land expansion combined with yield increases will therefore be required. This thesis investigates whether enough water resources will be available to sustain the future food production. Using a global scale hydrology and crop growth model, the combined effect of climate change and socio economic changes on water scarcity and food production were quantified. The first thing to explore was where water for agriculture is currently extracted. Reservoirs behind large dams are found to be very important for agriculture and contribute around 18% of the total irrigation water today. It is shown however that with current reservoir capacities and irrigation efficiencies, not enough water can be supplied to sustain an increased food production. Irrigation water shortage can lead to a loss of 20% of the irrigated crop production globally, but with important regional differences. Regions particularly at risk include basins in Southern Africa and South Asia, where production losses on irrigated cropland can become over 50%. This means that unless major investments are made towards improving irrigation efficiency and increasing storage capacity, water shortage will put a serious constraint on future food production.

Agricultural water demand management is at the core of the "water for food programme" launched as a result of a pledge by the Netherlands' Minister for agriculture at the 2nd world water forum. This article highlights the contribution of Wageningen URwithin the concept

In the last years, Singapore has set clear targets to transition towards a circular economy. To advance on those targets, the country has introduced policies and strategies to encourage businesses and society to adopt sustainable practices. In 2019, Singapore launched a Zero Waste Master Plan, which lays out strategies for waste and resource management within the context of the circular economy. With this plan, Singapore aims to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills by 30% by 2030. And it targets food, electronics, and packaging, including plastics, as priority waste streams. This report provides an overview of Singapore’s food waste management with special emphasis on food waste valorization strategies. Through an exploratory study and conducting interviews with different stakeholders, i.e., individuals, government, businesses, research institutes, key drivers and constraints to increasing food waste valorization were identified. The report also includes the view of food waste experts on valorization strategies that can be applied in the Singaporean context.