One of the greatest challenges of our time is to provide food and maintain environmental security. A vital step towards reaching this goal is to increase the productivity of water used for agriculture, leaving more water for other users and the environment—getting more crop per drop. The CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food approaches this challenge from a research perspective.
The programme will create research-based knowledge and methods for growing more food with less water, and develop a transparent framework for setting targets and monitoring progress.
Five interrelated research themes have been defined to ensure that the key research topics are being addressed in all locations. The themes will serve as the focal point for synthesising results from the various countries and regions, and bring out generic conclusions from the overall research programme. Benchmark basins provide a geographical focus and the river basin is where the water problems and issues converge, especially in the developing world and this is where the CP will carry out its research.
For details, go to: www.waterforfood.org
