Sustainable Water use in Agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

As water scarcity increases, one of the major global challenges today is finding a way to sustainably use this vital resource, particularly in agriculture. Seventy percent of the fresh water used worldwide is used for the production of agricultural commodities.

In order to ensure that water remains accessible to agriculture and to guarantee food supplies for the growing world population, there is a need for targeted measures towards maintaining water quality and ensuring efficient water supply in agriculture. The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), held during the International Green Week in Berlin from 19 to 20 January 2017, will address these issues.

The conference will serve as a platform for academic exchange between key figures from politics, economics, science and civil society and is intended to generate new ideas for future developments in the area of “Agriculture and Water” on an international level.

In cooperation with the German Agribusiness Alliance of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations (OA), IAMO will organize an expert panel under the title “Everything flows? Water as decisive factor for agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia” on 19 January 2017.

The invited panelists will discuss key issues involved in maintaining a sustainable supply of water to agriculturally used land in the region. Technical solutions and political requirements will be taken into account during discussions on various approaches towards an efficient use of water as well as the development and intensification of agricultural economics in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

IAMO director, Professor Alfons Balmann, and State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), Hermann Onko Aeikens, will launch the panel discussion. Dieter Gerten, Professor for Global Change Climatology and Hydrology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Coordinator Earth Modelling at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), will begin with a keynote speech on the fundamental questions surrounding future water supply.

In the subsequent panel discussion, Dr. Olga Trofimzewa, Vice Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food in Ukraine, and Askar M. Nametov, Chairman of board of the National Agricultural Research & Education Center Kazakhstan, will present the prospects for sustainable water use in their respective countries. Professor Hans-Georg Frede, former chair of the Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resources Management at the University of Gießen and expert on water use at the German Agricultural Society (DLG), will discuss technical solutions for improved water supply in agriculture. The event will be hosted by Torsten Spill, co-chair of the task force Agricultural Economy of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations (OA).

Further information on the expert panel can be found here: www.iamo.de/en/events/current-events

About GFFA

The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) 2017 entitled “Agriculture and Water – Key to Feeding the World” will be held in Berlin, Germany, from 19 to 21 January 2017. It is organized by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in cooperation with GFFA Berlin e.V., the Senate of Berlin and Messe Berlin GmbH. General information on the GFFA 2017 can be found on the conference website: www.gffa-berlin.de/en.

About IAMO

The Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) analyses economic, social and political processes of change in the agricultural and food sector, and in rural areas. The geographic focus covers the enlarging EU, transition regions of Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, as well as Central and Eastern Asia. IAMO works to enhance the understanding of institutional, structural and technological changes. Moreover, IAMO studies the resulting impacts on the agricultural and food sector as well as the living conditions of rural populations. The outcomes of our work are used to derive and analyze strategies and options for enterprises, agricultural markets and politics. Since its founding in 1994, IAMO has been part of the Leibniz Association, a German community of independent research institutes.

Contact

Daniela Schimming
Public Relations
Tel.: +49 345 2928-330
Fax: +49 345 2928-499
presse@iamo.de
www.iamo.de/en

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