Now in its sixth year, the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute continues to make progress in leveraging the University of Nebraska’s expertise to address one of the biggest challenges of our time: ensuring a water and food secure world for future generations.
In fiscal year 2016, the institute and its many partners helped fuel dynamic advancements in water and food security within selected areas of the world — from Nebraska to the Middle East. WFI, along with university faculty, worked alongside farmers, scientists and communities, and forged partnerships with key national and international organizations.
The institute’s most recent annual report is now available, highlighting WFI’s outcomes through collaborative initiatives and partnerships.
The report outlines the institute’s impact in the following areas:
- Closing water and agricultural productivity gaps
- Improving groundwater management for agricultural production
- Enhancing high productivity irrigated agriculture
- Freshwater and agricultural ecosystems and public health
- Education and engagement
- Communications
Together with partners, researchers and scientists, including 84 Faculty Fellows from across the University of Nebraska’s four campuses including from the School of Natural Resources, the WFI achieved success in three notable areas. These projects are launched, funded and showing much promise:
- Partnership with the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum and the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India. Ten doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows are working in Nebraska on some of the world’s most severe water and food challenges, using exciting new technologies.
- WFI’s work in the Middle East and North Africa region is advancing rapidly, addressing drought through the use of geospatial mapping and monitoring to improve irrigation management and crop productivity. This work is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and is carried out in collaboration with the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the Dubai-based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture.
- WFI’s signature event, the Water for Food Global Conference, has come of age. The seventh conference, held for the first time at Nebraska Innovation Campus in April, drew more than 350 participants. Sixty speakers from around the globe shared their expertise on leveraging public-private partnerships for improved water and food security in the 21st century.
More examples of WFI’s recent projects and impacts can be found in this year’s annual report, available at {insert link}. To request a hard copy of the report, contact Dana Ludvik at dludvik@nebraska.edu or (+) 402.472.9510.
For more information about the Water for Food Global Institute, visit http://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/.
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The Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska was founded in 2010 to address the global challenge of achieving food security with less stress on water resources through improved water management in agricultural and food systems. We are committed to ensuring a water and food secure world while maintaining the use of water for other human and environmental needs.
The University of Nebraska has invested in four interdisciplinary, University-wide institutes — including the Water for Food Global Institute — that leverage talent and research-based expertise from across the University of Nebraska system to focus on complex state, national and global challenges.
Learn more at waterforfood.nebraska.edu.