Registration is open for the 2017 Water for Food Global Conference organized by the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska. The conference, held April 10-12 at Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, will examine the work being done to ensure water for food security from local to global scales. A discount of $100 is available to those who register on or before March 10. Conference details, including how to register, are available at http://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/2017wfc.
The three-day event will bring together experts from around the world to explore “Water for Food Security: From Local Lessons to Global Impacts,” a theme inspired by the notion that global breakthroughs come from local action.
Speakers from academia, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and private industry we will share best practices and advances in science, technology and policy that are helping to achieve greater food security with less pressure on scarce water resources. The conference includes collaborative sessions developed with key partners of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, including the International Water Management Institute, the United States Department of Agriculture, International Food Policy Institute and The World Bank, among others.
In addition to the rich variety of plenary sessions, concurrent sessions and technical seminars and workshops, there will be special events to facilitate networking among participants, including two receptions featuring international fare and live entertainment; student poster competition; photography competition and exhibit and a Nebraska bar-be-que banquet in the 100-year-old Creekside Barn at Roca Berry Farm.
Topics include:
• Expanding access to irrigation for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa
• Developing market-based approaches to drought management
• Enhancing high productivity irrigated agriculture, highlighting challenges and opportunities from the Great Plains to sub-Saharan Africa
• Improving water management and governance for food security in great river basins of the world
• Transforming water policy to develop sustainable and equitable water management practices in local regions around the world
• A View from the Field – how farmers from different parts of the world are using technology and best practices to increase yields
• Engaging students, stakeholders and future leaders through science literacy and citizen science to examine the relationships between water, food and energy, as well as agriculture and public health.
Featured speakers:
• Closing Keynote/Heuermann Lecture by A.G. Kawamura, former California Secretary of Agriculture, third generation fruit and vegetable grower from Orange County and co-chair of Solutions from the Land, an organization developing a roadmap for 21st century agricultural systems
• Ann Bartuska, Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics with the U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Marlos De Souza, Secretary, Water Platform Land & Water Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Chandra Madramootoo, James McGill Professor, Bioresource Engineering Department, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University; Past President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage
• Sithembile Ndema Mwamakamba, Climate Smart Agriculture Programmes Manager, Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)
• Steven Schonberger, Practice Manager for Middle East and North Africa Region and Global Lead for Water in Agriculture, Water Global Practice, The World Bank
Registration:
• Early registration runs through March 10: $450
• Regular registration runs March 11 to April 1: $550
Special registration discounts are available to academic faculty, staff and students.
The 2017 Water for Food Global Conference is a North American Regional Event for the 8th World Water Forum, the world’s largest water-related forum organized by the World Water Council.
Stay up-to-date with the latest information on the conference by visiting http://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/2017wfc and following the institute on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Generous support for the 2017 conference is provided by the Robert. B. Daugherty Foundation, the University of Nebraska, Monsanto Co., Senninger Irrigation Inc., the Nebraska Corn Board and LI-COR Biosciences. Those interested in sponsorship opportunities may contact Molly Nance at mnance@nebraska.edu or (+1) 402.472.5512.
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The Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska was founded in 2010 by the Robert B. Daugherty Foundation 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.
More details at: http://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/2017-water-for-food-global-conference/