Baghdad International Water Conference

 BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL WATER CONFERENCE

Speech by Dr QU Dongyu,
Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

13 March 2021

 

 

His Excellency the Prime Minister, Mr. Mustafa Al-Kazemi , Prince El Hassan BinTalal of Jordan

Honorable Ministers,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. First of all on behalf of FAO UN composed of 194 members, I congratulate the Government of Iraq for "1st Baghdad International Water Conference" under the slogan "Planning and rational management of water resources to achieve sustainability" under the auspices of the Prime Minister, highly relevant topic and its direct impact on food security and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, civilization and beyond.

2. Our virtual gathering today in the land of Euphrates and Tigris, a cradle, one of four great ancient civilizations with 5000 years record, where irrigation systems and important agricultural practices were born, is of historic significance.  

3. Coming from a Country with an ancient farming culture of thousands of years myself, I am convinced that the future is built on combining modern approaches with the traditional knowledge, experiences and heritage of the generations before us.

4. This leads me to three key aspects that I want to share with you today: Water Governance, Innovation and Capacity Building.

5. First: Water Governance.

6. The Near East and North Africa region, and others are witnessing the effects of water shortages, land degradation and food insecurity that are intensified by an increase in the demand for natural resources, triggered by population growth and urbanization.

7. This calls for solid water governance by policies, legislation and institutions, which affect the use, development and management of water resources at different levels of society.

8. Effective water governance needs transparency, meaningful participation from diverse stakeholders and robust accountability mechanisms in place.

9. Water governance frameworks need to build on policy coherence across sectors including agriculture, environment, health, tourism, energy, and industry.

10. Such frameworks help to manage trade-offs across different water users from rural to urban areas, assist in avoiding additional pressure on socio-economic conditions and decrease the risk of conflict.

11. Experience shows the usefulness of a high-level coordination mechanism such as an Ad-Hoc Water Group that reports directly to the national leadership. 

12. At the local level, a focused coordinating effort is also needed.

13. Mayors, Governors or other local decision-makers can introduce a holistic cross-sectoral package of policies that is inclusive, innovative and implementable.

14. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) continues to provide scientific and technical support to such efforts that are aimed at strengthening water governance frameworks.

15. FAO’s Regional Water Scarcity Initiative, for example, has built evidence and developed tools to address water scarcity, and promote the necessary cross-sectoral policy dialogue on water and food security.

16. But guidelines and tools are only as good as their implementation on the ground is!

17. This brings me to my second point: Implementing transformative and sustainable solutions requires harnessing the potential of Innovation.

18. Innovation is not only about new technologies, it is also about financing, networking and new business models to accelerate the transformation process.

19. It combines human creativity, technology, science and entrepreneurship by engaging all stakeholders, from national and regional authorities, civil society, academia and the private sector.

20. Innovation is also a change in mind sets: Here, a crucial starting point is to redefine what water is.

21. We need to move away from the classical perspective of water being an available natural resource and need to start considering it as a commodity, with an actual market value.

22. With this innovative perspective in mind, marketing and price mechanisms become game-changers!

23. Water that is saved through new measures, modern technologies and innovative approaches has a market value and potential income-generating effect for farmers, as they could sell part of their quota to other economic sectors.

24. This creates a monetary incentive to save water and ensures the most efficient use of this valuable commodity.

25. Water-saving crops, technologies that optimize water usage and renewable energy projects need to be combined.

26. This package of solutions leads to a new water-oriented green lifestyle, with positive socio-economic effects and a remarkable change for the better in the quality of life as a whole.

27. Here, I am sharing the experience I made over 8 years as a Governor and local leader in the Ningxia Region of China.

28. A desert region with similar scarce water resources to many parts of the Near East and even harsher environmental conditions.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,   

29. We, at the FAO strongly advocate for the adoption of science-based natural resource management practices that harness the power of innovation and digital technologies.

30. And we are well positioned to provide concrete tailor-made support to Members with our wide range of initiatives, knowledge platforms and tools. 

31. With the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which is evidence-based, country-led and country-owned and aims to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to end poverty, hunger and all forms of malnutrition.

32. With the Geospatial Data Platform and the complementary Earth Map developed with Google that provide Members with valuable real-time data to support strategic decision-making.

33. The recently launched FAO Climate Change Knowledge Hub helps Members adapt to the impact of climate change in agriculture.

34. We established the Office of Innovation and appointed a Chief Scientist, a first in FAO’s history. (Ismahane, who is from your region, is also attending this meeting today). 

35. Innovative Remote Sensing techniques monitor water use and biomass production in rain-fed and irrigated agriculture and help improve water use policies and be better prepared for droughts.

36. That is why FAO provides the WaPOR portal to monitor Water Productivity, our database with Near Real Time remote sensing data to monitor land and water productivity in Africa and the Near East.

37. Combining technologies and innovative approaches resulted in the FAO Green Cities Initiative.

38. The aim is to improve people’s wellbeing through increased availability of and access to green products and services provided by green spaces, green industries, green economy and a green way of lifestyle - including integration of urban and peri-urban forestry, fisheries, horticulture and agriculture - and through sustainable agri-food systems.

39. It is holistic in its vision, bringing together the goals of the urban food agenda with the socioeconomic-environmental-spiritual nexus.

40. And we provide our support by being close to our Members working with them on the ground. In Iraq, for instance:

• FAO is leading the rehabilitation of the northern Al-Jazeera irrigation in liberated areas by building bridges, rehabilitating wells and providing water pumping units powered by solar energy.
• We support the Government of Iraq in strengthening water accounting, producing a water use-and-demand baseline in agriculture, environmental, industrial, and other sectors.
• We are assisting in preparing for a water productivity assessment at national and local levels.
• We are supporting Iraq in building national level capacities to strategically assess land degradation threats, support the implementation of globally proven best practices, and monitor progress to inform policy-makers.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

41. Digital technologies like Blockchain, E-commerce platforms for farmers to market their products and mobile phone applications that connect rural populations to price and weather information, and gives them access to insurance, education and financing are just some of the amazing opportunities of modern agriculture.

42. But to ensure maximum benefit for all from these innovative approaches, digital gaps need to be addressed.

43. The digital divide is nowhere more evident than in agriculture and remains highly relevant across countries, regions and populations

44. This leads me to my third point: the importance of CapacityBuilding.

45. The most advanced technology and the best digital tools are only effective in the hands of a trained user, along with improvement of infrastructure, stability and market access.

46. Building human capital and strengthening institutional capacity boosts food production, creates new job opportunities, mitigates eventual risks of conflict, and fosters a post-crisis reconstruction process.

47. A comprehensive and well-coordinated capacity-building project is thus instrumental to prepare future generations for the digital world, address the knowledge gaps in natural resource management and, ultimately, promoting food security and safety.

48. This is particularly relevant in Iraq, where education and capacity building were hampered for many years in the recent past.

49. In that context, I commend current efforts to introduce an initiative for Entrepreneurship Training and Capacity Building for Youth Employment in Iraq.

50. FAO is ready to collaborate with relevant national authorities, the UN agencies, the private sector and academia on this important project. 

51. My motto has always been to design big and do concrete: I therefore propose to start, in collaboration with the Iraqi Government, with one capacity development project of this initiative in southern Iraq and another one in the north, with the aim to scale-up these efforts across the country.

 

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

52. The transformation of agri-food systems is at the heart of FAO’s mandate to provide safer, more affordable and healthier diets for the world’s rapidly growing population

53. Water is the essence of life and at the core of the agri-food systems.

54. The challenges ahead of us are immense, but so is humankind’s thrive to survive, adapt and prosper.

55. Our future needs to be one with much closer cooperation and deeper integration based on support, solidarity, and active engagement.

56. FAO will continue being your trusted partner in our holistic, historic and collective work for better production, better nutrition, better environment and a better life.

57. I wish the Baghdad International Water Conference all the success!

58. Thank you.