Background

The 2030 Water Resources Group is a public, private, civil society partnership hosted by the World Bank Group. The partnership supports country-level collaboration designed to unite diverse groups with a common interest in the sustainable management of water resources, with the aim of helping countries close the gap between water demand and supply by 2030.

2030 WRG brings a depth of expertise in improving water-use efficiency and, by implication, other resource efficiencies within an enterprise or value chain. To this end, transforming value chains is a strategic priority for 2030 WRG, which has a strong focus on developing multi-stakeholder partnerships to enhance the productive use of agricultural water, reduce runoff pollution, and increase farm productivity and income. To date, the value chain interventions supported by 2030 WRG’s Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) in eleven countries/states cover approximately 2.8 million hectares and impact about 150,000 farmers by improving water-use efficiency and creating market opportunities for farmers.

About the Session

On 23 November 2020, 2030 WRG organized a session that discussed leveraging an MSP-based approach to achieve the dual objectives of water savings through farmer-led irrigation development (FLID) and food security. The focus on water savings is not limited to only the improvement of water-use efficiency, but also includes the reduction of “food wastage and the resultant net virtual water losses” during post-harvest breakdowns. Transforming global value chains as such will generate additionalities and co-benefits in the form of enterprise infrastructure, access to credit, as well as storage and processing solutions, which will impact real and virtual water losses in the value chains. This necessitates that government, private sector, and civil society work together. Accelerating access to affordable technology innovations and alternative financing will increase FLID and integrate smallholders into global value chains, a key pre-requisite for recovering from COVID-19 and building long-term resilience.

This session aimed to:
(i) bring to the forefront FLID as a continuum in action and scalable game-changer in strategic value chains; and
(ii) highlight the importance and duality of water savings and its linkages to food security, reducing supply chain risks, strengthening recovery from COVID-19, and building long-term resilience.

The session was tailored to governments; multi-national corporations in agricultural value chains; development partners; and providers of technology, financing, and start-up solutions.

Event Information

November 23, 2020

8:30 – 10 AM Central European Time

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For additional information, please contact Alida Pham.

A session hosted by 2030 WRG as part of Bold Actions for Food as a Force for Good

2030 WRG hosted this session as part of a virtual pre-event ahead of the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021. Co-hosted by 13 organizations, this event is called Bold Actions for Food as a Force for Good (23 – 24 November 2020).

This session fell under the program element Bold Actions for Change, consisting of sessions deep diving into existing and new solutions and issues, taking a thematic, solution-based and/or regional lens. The event was open for stakeholders to participate in over 40 various virtual sessions.