Netherlands Food Partnership and Netherlands Water Partnership announce the development of a Global Campaign on Salinisation
During the UN 2023 Water Conference side event: ‘Make Water Pivotal in Food Systems’ organised by Wageningen University and Research, Nicole Hellwig, Head of Communications and Events at NWP, on behalf of Netherlands Water Partnership and Netherlands Food Partnership, announced the ambition to develop the Global Campaign on Salinisation. The campaign is incorporated as a commitment in the Water Action Agenda. The scope and shape of the global campaign is currently being developed.
Salinisation is rapidly becoming one of the biggest challenges for food production worldwide. It severely impacts crop development and growth, threatening food security, biodiversity and the livelihoods of millions of people in various parts of the world. It can only be addressed successfully by an integrated approach, considering both water and food systems. NFP and NWP have been actively working together during the past 1,5 years to address the issue of salinisation.
In 2021, NWP and NFP convened the Saline Water & Food Systems Partnership: a network of NGOs, ministries, private sector and research institutes in the Netherlands working together to address the issue of salinity in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). In terms of activities, the Partnership co-organized with Wageningen University & Research an online knowledge sharing session, as part of the FAO Science & Innovation Forum in 2022, and now supports knowledge sharing and scoping initiatives of partners working together with local stakeholders in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
One of the ideas that arose from the Partnership was the ambition to develop a Global Campaign on Salinisation. The objectives of this Campaign are 1) to increase awareness about the issue of salinisation amongst policy makers, researchers and practitioners in the global water and food sectors, and 2) drive a collective follow-up agenda.
“This agenda could include developing integrated policies, the launch of new research and innovation programmes, and the exchange of lessons learned at project implementation level.” Said Nicole Hellwig during the side event. “Of course this is very ambitious. But, as we have heard throughout the conference, any water-related challenge needs an ambitious response.”
Several organisations have expressed their interest to collaborate with this ambition: members of the Saline Water & Food Systems Partnership, the FAO (WASAG/INSAS), ICBA, the Global Water Partnership, and IWMI. Everyone who is interested and willing to contribute, can do so and is invited to get in touch with NWP or NFP. Working together, we can implement an impactful Campaign.
More information:
NFP & NWP collaboration
NFP and NWP continued their cooperation by signing a Partnership Agreement for 2023 to implement activities in support of the Saline Water & Food Systems (SW&FS) Partnership. The initiative aims to bring together Dutch expertise on the topic, in order to accelerate impact in LMICs in tackling salinisation.
