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2016 Water for Food Global Conference wrap-up
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Thank you for joining us in person and via live-stream for the
2016 Water for Food Global Conference April 24-26. This year, more than 350 participants came together at Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln for the first time to discuss, "Catalytic Collaborations: Building Public-Private Partnerships for Water and Food Security." We were fortunate to have more than 60 speakers from around the world share their expert perspectives. Together, we are taking the conversation to the next level in regards to leveraging public-private partnerships for improved water and food security in the 21st century. Thank you to all the speakers, participants, sponsors, organizers and partners for helping to make the conference a truly catalytic event.
Conference proceedings will be mailed and available on our website later this year. In the meantime, let's keep the conversation going. Please download our
social media toolkit to help us continue to engage with you online. Other online resources are also available:
Watch conference videos
View photos
Read blogs
Media mentions
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Water for Food Global Conference speakers emphasize partnership roles, responsibilities to make lasting impact
Read blog.
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Irrigation offers huge potential to transform sub-Saharan Africa
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Is groundwater the key to increasing food security in Sub-Saharan Africa?
By Karen G. Villholth, principal researcher and Yvan Altchenko, senior researcher - hydrogeologist; International Water Management Institute; Pretoria, South Africa
Read blog.
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Building a holistic team - partnerships to mitigate the impact of climate change on water and food security and health
By Elizabeth VanWormer, Water for Food Institute Faculty Fellow and UNL assistant professor of practice
Read blog.
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Water-smart investment benefits ripple beyond food security
By Meredith Giordano, International Water Management Institute and CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems; Washington, D.C.
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We received conference poster submissions from more than 30 students and a dozen university faculty and partners. The poster session and competition have been an integral part of the past six Water for Food Conferences. As in years past, we held a pre-conference online competition, to which 35 students submitted posters. Prizes for the top three finishers included free conference registration and $1,000, $750 and $500 cash for first, second and third place, respectively. Learn more about the
poster competition and view
photos.
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First Place, 2016 Water for Food Global Conference On-Site Poster Competition:
Yulie Meneses Gonzalez, UNL Department of Food Science & Technology
Poster: "Feasibility, Safety, Economic and Environmental Implications of Whey-Recovered Water for Cleaning-In Place Systems: A Case Study on Water Conservation for the Dairy Industry"
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First Place, 2016 Water for Food Global Conference Poster Online Competition:
Mesay Alene Eyassu, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
Poster: "The Tradeoff between Integrated Watershed Management and Flood-based Farming System at Raya Watershed in Northern Ethiopia"
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WFI's first-ever global photography contest was held in conjunction with the conference. We received 37 photographs from Nebraska to India that depicted what 'water for food' means in today's world. A panel of professional photographers selected the top three images. Learn more about the
contest, including all the winners, and view all the submitted
photos on Facebook.
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First place winner:
Sudipto Das, Kolkata, India
"Fishing in Shilabati River"
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Water and natural resources tour - limited spots remaining
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Registration is open now for the annual water and natural resources tour, hosted by the University of Nebraska's Nebraska Water Center and the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District June 14-16. Tour participants will travel through Colorado's central Front Range area and into the interior of the Rocky Mountains. A stop in the Denver area will center on growing urban water demands stemming from rapidly expanding population, industry and recreation.
Single occupancy registration is $665, double occupancy is $565 and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. To make a reservation, contact Holly Rahmann at
[email protected] or (+1) 308.995.3560.
Learn more.
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Water for Food Institute Research Forum held May 12
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Rachindra Mawalegedara, postdoctoral fellow, UNL Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
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The Water for Food Institute's second annual
Research Forum was held May 12 at the UNL East Campus Union. Students, postdocs and faculty gave brief presentations highlighting their research projects over the past year.
The students are part of WFI's student support program, which awards one-year grants to the institute's interdisciplinary Faculty Fellows to help enrich the education of students who will one day lead the effort to feed the world's growing population. Photos and a video of the forum will be available soon.
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Conference on water security, Syrian refugee crisis
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WFI co-hosted a conference on "Water Scarcity, Human Security and Democratization: Aspects and Impacts of the Syrian Crisis" April 19 at Nebraska Innovation Campus. In case you missed it, several conference-related resources are online:
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WFI student interns discuss their study tour in Jordan this spring.
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Call for papers: ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meeting
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The American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America will host more than 4,000 scientists, professionals, educators and students at the 2016 International Annual Meeting, "Resilience Emerging from Scarcity and Abundance," Nov. 6-9 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
The early abstract deadline is May 24.
Learn more.
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Video: Seminar on California drought, impacts on irrigated ag
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A video of the March 31 seminar, "Drought in California: Impacts on Irrigated Agriculture" is available online. The talk was presented by by Richard L. Snyder (pictured), biometeorology specialist emeritus, Cooperative Extension System, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis.
Watch seminar.
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International Dialogue on Water in Agriculture | June 1-2
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The Ninth International Dialogue on Water in Agriculture, hosted by the German Development Institute and the International Fund for Agricultural Development will focus on "Public-Private Partnerships in Irrigation: Experiences, Benefits and Risks." The event aims to develop a framework for analyzing and assessing the sustainability of PPPs in irrigation, based on a critical review of experiences with PPPs regarding their benefits and risks related to their local socioeconomic and environmental impacts. Registration ends May 13.
Learn more.
June 1-2
German Development Institute (DIE)
Bonn, Germany
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Nebraska Water Center symposium and water law conference | Oct. 20-21
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The Nebraska Water Center¹s annual water symposium is Thursday, Oct. 20, followed by a jointly sponsored NWC/University of Nebraska College of Law water law conference on Friday, Oct. 21. Both events will be held at Nebraska Innovation Campus. Though planning is just beginning, the symposium will feature basin-level presentations and panel discussions centered on the Upper and Lower Platte River, Republican, Blue and Niobrara Rivers.
Learn more.
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Water for Food interns | graphic design and web development
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This spring, interns Sahil Katia and Rebecca Lang brought their respective skills in web development and graphic design to the Water for Food Institute. They helped create two websites, which are not yet live. The first one, Drops and Crops, will showcase social innovation programs and student activities supported by WFI and other partners. The second website will offer a user-driven platform for AquaCrop, a crop growth model developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Postdoctoral fellow Tim Foster is developing the open-source version of AquaCrop in partnership with colleagues at WFI and Imperial College London. Lang also helped design infographics and other material used to promote the recent Syrian conference. She graduated from UNL on May 7.
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Water funding opportunities
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NIFA AFRI Water For Agriculture Challenge Area - Request for applications
U.S. Department of Agriculture - National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Deadline: Aug. 4
Estimated total program funding: $10,700,000
This AFRI Challenge Area addresses critical water resources issues such as drought, excess soil moisture, flooding, quality and others in an agricultural context. Funding will be used to develop management practices, technologies, and tools for farmers, ranchers, forest owners and managers, public decision makers, public and private managers, and citizens to improve water resource quantity and quality. The long-term goal of the AFRI Water for Agriculture Challenge Area is to tackle critical water issues by developing both regional systems for the sustainable use and reuse, flow and management of water, and at the watershed and farm scales, water issues focused on production and environmental sustainability efforts. Project types supported within this Challenge area are multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects and Food and Agricultural Enhancement Grants.
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative: Water for Agriculture Challenge Area
U.S. Department of Agriculture - National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Deadline: July 7
Estimated Total Program Funding: $16,800,000
The AFRI Food Security Challenge Area focuses on the societal challenge to keep American agriculture competitive and end world hunger by ensuring the availability and accessibility of safe and nutritious food. The long-term goal of the AFRI Food Security Challenge Area is to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and the availability and accessibility of safe and nutritious food. Project types supported within this Challenge Area will propose multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects, Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement Grants, and conferences and/or workshops.
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The Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska was founded in 2010 by the Robert B. Daugherty Foundation to address the global challenge of achieving food security with less stress on water resources through improved water management in agricultural and food systems. We are committed to ensuring a water and food secure world while maintaining the use of water for other human and environmental needs.
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