10 Apr 2017 00:00 — 12 Apr 2017 00:00

Water-Food Nexus // Water for Food Security: From Local Lessons to Global Impacts

The three-day event will bring together experts from around the world to discuss, “Water for Food Security: From Local Lessons to Global Impacts,” addressing the common aspects of this global challenge in different contexts and scales. Together with our partners in academia, non-profit organizations, government agencies and private industry, we’ll share best practices, innovations and lessons learned that can help improve water and food productivity.

Conferences, Forums and Symposiums

Where and when

Nebraska Innovation Campus
Lincoln
Nebraska
USA 10-12 April 2017

Event Summary

Topics developed in collaboration with public and private partners include:

Closing water and agricultural productivity gaps
Improving groundwater governance and management for agricultural production, highlighting the great river basins of the world
Market-based approaches to drought management
Enhancing high productivity irrigated agriculture, highlighting the challenges and opportunities from the Great Plains to sub-Saharan Africa
Advancing drought management, including market-based approaches and water variability extremes in the Middle East and North Africa
Engaging stakeholders and future leaders through science literacy and citizen science
Protecting freshwater and agricultural ecosystems and public health
Transforming water policy to develop sustainable and equitable water management practices

Monday programming will feature a series of technical sessions and workshops for more in-depth learning and discussion. These session topics include: leveraging open-source software tools for water and food security; understanding the role of policy in Ethiopia’s drought-induced humanitarian crisis; public health challenges and the environment relevant to water and food security; plant phenotyping and innovation for water use efficiency and productivity; climate change impacts on water and agriculture in developing countries; health as a human right; and, lessons from Nebraska’s cover crop experience. International experts will share their perspectives, including a closing keynote and Heuermann Lecture by A. G. Kawamura, former California Secretary of Agriculture and farmer. The global conference will also feature various special events to facilitate networking and learning among participants, including a student poster competition; photography competition and exhibit; opening reception at the Sheldon Museum of Art featuring food from around the world and an interactive exhibit exploring the Dust Bowl; rustic BBQ dinner in the 100-year-old Creekside Barn in Roca; and closing reception with live music. Conference registration will be available in late January. Source: Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska website