FAO-RNE Regional Technical Dialogue on Water

In preparation for the 37th session of the Regional Conference for the Near East (NERC 37), the FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (FAO-RNE) is organizing a virtual Regional Technical Dialogue on Water, titled “Water Use Efficiency and Water Productivity within Sustainability Boundaries for Resilient Transformation of Agrifood Systems in the NENA Region “. The event will take place on 20 September 2023, from 11:00- 14:00 (Cairo time) via Zoom Platform.

The Regional Technical Dialogue on Water aims to provide a forum through which member countries, stakeholders, and development partners can exchange information and lessons learned on the Dialogue’s main topic and propose joint action at regional and sub-regional levels. It also seeks to assist FAO-RNE in identifying water-related regional priorities, gaps, and challenges to better shape potential future work programmes in the Region.

With the aim of reviewing the aforementioned issues within the context of enhancing water use efficiency and productivity as a means of accelerating the transformation of agrifood systems in the Near East and North Africa region, the discussions on technical cooperation during the meeting will seek to break down the available courses of action required to accelerate agrifood systems transformation, using four related response areas:

1. Facilitating the transformation of legal and institutional frameworks by promoting multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral governance and by strengthening policy coherence.
2. Advancing water and agriculture sustainability by investing in improved water efficiency and productivity tools to meet sustainable boundaries of water use towards a more resilient economy.
3. Fostering a solid and standardized knowledge base for adaptive decision-making.
4. Managing sustainability within uncertainty by maintaining a climate-smart transformation. 

Expected Outcomes

The deliberations and consultation process during the meeting will lead to the formulation of the following products:

• Review of the regional progress on SDG 6.4.1 and 6.4.
• Stocktaking on effective management response options in the agriculture water sector, potential areas of work to improve governance, policy coherence and assist partner countries to implement adaptive management in the agriculture water sector using appropriate and newly developed tools and methodologies (i.e. water productivity, water efficiency, water accounting, non-conventional water resources, inclusive land, and water governance among other topics).
• Collect Inputs to guide and influence NERC-37 water-related discussion topics, with a special focus on primary response options required to accelerate agrifood systems transformation and bring back agricultural water use within sustainable limits towards a more productive future.
• Recommendations on the modalities and transition pathways for addressing regional priorities in preparation for the Regional Conference.