From Monday, July 26th to Wednesday, July 28th, the Pre-Summit of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) took place online. The Pre-Summit welcomed delegates from more than 100 countries, engaged in more than 1000 dialogues on global food systems around the world, and energized attendees for this coming fall.
WE4F had the chance to co-host one of those dialogues on Monday, July 26th. Together with the World Bank, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Food Programme (WPP), WE4F held a session on “Strengthening Water-Energy-Food Nexus to expand small-scale farmer-led irrigation solutions for climate-friendly and more resilient food systems”.
In this session, individual stakeholders from the agriculture sector, the private and finance sector, research institutions, and politics confirmed through their contributions that technologies like solar-powered irrigation systems, institutional structures and innovative financial models are key for climate-resilient smallholder agriculture and global sustainable food systems.
WE4F and all of the session’s partners agreed on water- and energy-efficient, climate-friendly innovations in the water-energy-food nexus being true game changers in light of climate change, particularly solar-powered irrigation systems (SPIS).
Besides highlighting innovative climate-friendly solutions that are water- and energy-efficient, the session also tackled the importance of partnerships at the international level. WE4F shared how linking different sectors in the WEF nexus through international partnerships can help innovative solutions be better disseminated and more accessible to smallholder farmers. This is particularly important for developing new and innovative financial models that improve accessibility and affordability. In the end, strengthening the local private and financial sectors plays an important role in disseminating innovations and producing more food with less resources.
The session was a great success and set an international milestone for combating world hunger and poverty by producing more food in a resource-efficient way. If you missed the session, check it out below.
