FAO Concludes its Regional Conference on Improving Water Productivity in Agriculture Showcasing Innovation

Tunis/Cairo 10 December 2019

With innovative ideas from young Tunisians, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concluded in Tunisia the Regional Conference on Improving Water Productivity in Agriculture in the Near East and North Africa.

Rich in scientific discussion and specialized concurrent training sessions, the conference benefited from the expertise of participants from 23 countries and served as a platform for exchanging knowledge and best practices.

The Collaborative Platform on Water Productivity developed within the regional Initiative on Water Scarcity and other advanced products introduced by FAO and its partners at the market place allowed participants to have first-hand experience of these tools and their benefits.

Discussions and training

Supported by the FAO regional project “Implementing the 2030 Agenda on Water Efficiency, Productivity and Sustainability in the Near East and North Africa Countries,” funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), this conference allowed experts to debate how improvements in Water Productivity can reinforce agricultural sustainability, promote economic development, maintain social stability and protect the environment in rural areas and cities.

In order to maximize the impact on the participants, FAO organized a series of training sessions on the mapping of soil salinity, the Wapor application for monitoring water productivity and using satellite imagery and remote sensing, and on water accounting, which is an important component for water resource planning and management. There was also a high-level meeting of the Aquacore group to monitor this widely-used agricultural water productivity simulation tool.

The conference included a field visit to Kairouan, in Northern Tunisia, one of the pilot sites of the project funded by Sweden to support the implementation of a water accounting exercise, an evaluation of water productivity, and four farmer field schools around local olive production.

World Soil Day

On 5 December, the conference joined in celebrating World Soil Day with a combination of artistic expression and serious talk: Young Tunisian talents expressed their concerns and ambitions in a mime play and with thematic songs, echoed in the speech of Mr. Philippe Ankers, FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for North Africa, who emphasized the theme of this day: “Stop soil erosion to save our future.”

He recalled the multiple devastating effects of erosion, described in the Status of World Soil Resources report, as “the most serious global threat to proper soil management.”

Hackathon winners

The conference witnessed another stirring moment with the announcement of the winning groups of young Tunisian university students who participated in a “Hackathon” to develop innovative technological solutions to water productivity issues. The “Hackathon” was launched on 1 October 2019 at the Technopark of the University of Manouba in Tunis during a seminar on “Smart Irrigation” held there in partnership with FAO.

The “Hackathon” challenged the students to create innovative software solutions and applications to address any of these three challenges: improving agricultural production per volume of water, improving water use efficiency, and developing communication tools to improve water productivity.

Teams were selected from seven Tunisian institutes: The National Institute of Applied Science and Technology; the National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia; the High Institute of Informatics; the Institute of Statistics and Information Analysis; the National Institute of Computer Science; the Institute of Commerce of Tunis and the Institute of the Digital Economy.

Hackathon participants had the opportunity to develop their ideas at the co-working space Al-Gazala Incubator Park of the Manouba Technopark. The results of their efforts were judged by a jury of experts, including FAO officers and startup managers. The winning ideas included robots and applications, showcasing innovation and a sense of responsibility among the young Tunisians.

While the Scientific Committee of the conference is working on drafting the final recommendations and the associated action plans, this conference will have a positive impact on improving water productivity in the Near East and North Africa region. It will also benefit the Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity and help address the most urgent challenges: food security and water security for sustainable economic and social development in a context of water scarcity.