FAO Statement at HLPF 2023 – SDGs in focus: SDG 6 and interlinkages with other SDGs - Clean water and sanitation

Integrated water resource management and inclusive water governance are critical priorities for transformative change towards sustainable agriculture. They are needed to address the impacts of water scarcity, droughts and floods and to enhance incomes, while protecting natural resources. They require political will, adaptive policymaking, and investment.

Meaningful engagement with farmers, pastoralists, foresters and smallholders, who are directly involved in the management and conservation of water in agricultural landscapes, is essential to promote adaption and the uptake of innovation.

With current trends in natural resource depletion indicating that production from rainfed and irrigated agriculture is operating at or over the limit of sustainability, urgent action is necessary.