By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Deputy Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Beth Bechdol, has called on governments to ensure that agriculture is placed at the center of water policy and governance.
According to her, water security and food security are inseparable, and for that reason, agriculture must be at the center of solutions.
“As we move toward the 2026 UN Water Conference, agriculture must remain firmly anchored in the global water agenda — with concrete action that improves water access, governance, and resilience for farmers and rural communities.”
Driving political momentum on water and agrifood systems
Agriculture ministers from more than 60 countries meeting at the 2026 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) agreed that addressing water scarcity and competing uses requires placing agriculture at the core of water policy and governance.
In the final ministerial communiqué, adopted at the Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference, ministers recognized the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for its leadership in supporting countries to translate global water and food security commitments into coordinated, on-the-ground action.
The ministers affirmed that, as population growth drives rising food demand while water resources continue to decline, effective water governance has never been more essential for the human rights to water and food.
“This communiqué sends a clear message:
FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022–31 positions water governance as a cornerstone for food security, rural livelihoods, and environmental sustainability, calling for more integrated approaches that link water, land, and agrifood systems through sound policies and inclusive institutions.
Turning competing water demands into solutions for food security
Balancing competing uses for water took centre stage at the FAO-organized GFFA High-Level Ministerial Panel “Finding Constructive Solutions to Competing Uses,” held on 16 January 2026.
With agriculture accounting for more than 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals, panelists called for moving decisively beyond siloed approaches towards integrated management of water, land, and soil, backed by coherent governance frameworks, innovation, and cross-sectorial cooperation.
FAO also identified priorities to enhance coherence between water governance and agrifood systems, in preparation for this year’s UN Water Conference.
The blue economy was another focus, with FAO contributing to discussions on blue foods, aquatic food systems, and aquaculture as drivers of nutrition, resilience, and sustainability, while stressing responsible development in line with FAO’s Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture.
FAO experts, including Beth Bechdol, Viorel Gutu, Manuel Barange, Lifeng Li, and Kazuki Kitaoka, contributed across the programme. FAO also engaged partners at the Cooperation Market, showcasing initiatives that turn policy into impact.
The GFFA is an annual high-level global platform where agriculture and food policy priorities are shaped. The 2026 edition (14–17 January), organized by the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity, focused on the theme “Water. Harvests. Our Future.”
At GFFA 2026, FAO brought evidence, country experiences, and policy solutions into ministerial and technical discussions. These exchanges demonstrated the importance of sustainable water use in agriculture, integrated land and water management, and inclusive governance to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
