Solution Sessions

TBD Morning/Early Afternoon.

Location: The National Press Club
529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20045

Please note space at these sessions is limited.

Main Symposium Report Release

Location: Ronald Reagan Building
1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20004
 

7:30 a.m.

Registration Open and Networking Session

8:30 a.m.

Welcome

10:35 a.m.

Mid-morning Networking Coffee Break

12 noon

Networking Lunch

4:00 p.m.

Symposium Adjourns and Networking Reception Begins

5:00 p.m.

Networking Reception Adjournment

Report Presentation and Reflections

We’re at a critical point in history given growing populations, growing demand for food, and an increasingly more variable climate. Water touches every corner of our lives: food, health, environment, consumer goods, and leisure. How do we protect this essential and shared resource, while nourishing a global population?
 

Water Stewardship in the Agrifood System

Everyone is complicit in the necessary act of water consumption by virtue of the food and water we drink each day. However, attention is often placed on the farm sector and global supply chains where concentrated and large-scale water use occurs. How are farmers and food companies responding to the challenge of rising water scarcity and how are nonprofits and academics working with them to preserve this precious resource for the future?

Connecting the Dots: Agriculture, Climate Resilience and the Private Sector

Agriculture production and profit are heavily dependent on climate. Climate change is projected to impact water and temperature, therefore reducing food production and slowing food security progress. The economic impact of this will be immense with projected price increases ranging from 10 to 30 percent, hunger rate projected increases rates of about 10 to 20 percent by 2050. Extreme climate events, such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, are also expected to increase, damaging crops, hurting livelihoods, threatening public health, and hindering economic growth. How deeply are agriculture and climate change interconnected? How is the private sector mobilizing to create resilience and sustainable access to water?

Shared Interest, Shared Responsibility: Building WASH and Agriculture Collaboration

Growing water scarcity, increasing environmental degradation, and water quality constraints impose major threats to future WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) initiatives as well as food security. While water is essential to both sectors’ objectives, intensifying sectoral competition could create problems in achieving them. Are there new ways to think about both agricultural water and sanitation systems where both encourage health, good nutrition, and well-being? What are the innovations already being considered and how can we continue to build trust and collaboration for the decades ahead?

Dietary Diversity and Nutritious Foods

Growing global populations, rising incomes, and rapid rates of urbanization are causing massive shifts in dietary diversity and nutrition. More people are consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, and meat than ever before, changing demands for water in the agricultural sector. Can we afford the diet we want, and do we have the water and natural resources to produce it?

Way Forward

Water impacts all of us—farmers, scientists, advocates, architects, businesspeople, emergency responders, policy-makers—because water is for all of us. In order to protect this essential and shared resource, we must implement collaborative, proactive approaches to improve water quality, reduce water scarcity, and create more resilient and efficient food systems through new technologies and innovations as well as through transformative new policies. How can everyone play a part in protecting water in a way that ensures benefits across sectors?