Harewelle Archive

DEW Point attends APPG on Food security

Prof. Richard Carter and Cara Flowers from DEW Point attended a presentation on Tuesday, 2nd June 2009 at Westminister on the issues around Water and Agriculture for Food Security. The presentation was to the new All Party Parlimentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development (APPG), who are currently conducting an inquiry into the UK's role in tackling the challenge of Global Food Security up until 2050. 

Richard presented alongside Colin Chatres, Director General of the International Water Management Institute. Both presentations highlighted the need for consistent policies and investment supporting water for agricultural development and the need to learn from past mistakes in irrigation development.  As Sub-Saharan Africa contains one third of the global chronically hungry this is a priority area for attention.  It was suggested that key elements of a next generation of irrigation development should include:

• Investment at appropriate scales e.g support for improved rain-fed agriculture, farmer managed irrigation and large formal schemes.
• Awareness of existing farming strategies and the place of water management within these.
• Building on what already exists. e.g new is not always best.
• Recognition of the reasons why yields, production and incomes are low.
• Support for context specific, farmer managed solutions.

Both Richard and Colin's presentations can be accessed on the following web page: http://www.agricultureandfoodfordevelopment.org/preevents.html