World Food Day Colloquium 2013

Water Efficiency for Food Security

Schloss Hohenheim, Stuttgart

Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

09:00 – 17:30

A cooperation between the Food Security Center (FSC) and the Institute of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Hohenheim

This year’s World Food Day Colloquium highlights the specific role of water to improve global food security. The Colloquium will stimulate the debate regarding water strategies, especially in agriculture. Water efficiency is an integral part of this discussion as agriculture accounts for more than 70% of water used worldwide, of which up to 40% is lost due to inefficient agricultural practices.

Judy Libra, Research Scientist from the Department of Technology Assessment and Substance Cycles at the Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik Potsdam-Bornim e.V. in Germany will open the debate with a keynote speech on “Water for food: Strategies to adapt to global change”. The importance of water efficiency, as well as the relevance of water efficiency to improve the livelihoods of poor and food insecure peoples, will be analyzed by a panel of scientists and experts. Young scientists will also present and discuss their perspectives on the topic “Water pricing: The only possibility for water saving?”. Finally, the Justus von Liebig Award for World Nutrition 2013 will be granted at the Colloquium.

On World Food Day, October 16th, the United Nations also reminds us of the almost 870 million people worldwide who are chronically undernourished, as well as the growing threats that unsustainable models of development have on natural resources, ecosystems and biodiversity which are necessary for the future of our food supply. At the same time the UN declared this year the 'UN International Year of Water Cooperation' to raise awareness both on the potential for increased cooperation and on the challenges facing water management in light of the increasing demand for water access, allocation and services.

The event is sponsored by the Foundation fiat panis as well as DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and the programme ex)/(ceed (Higher Education Excellence in Development Cooperation).

Application deadline: October 11th, 2013

Contact
Food Security Center
University of Hohenheim
D-70593 Stuttgart | Germany
Phone +49 (0)711-459-24455 | Fax +49 (0)711-459-24456
Email: fsc@uni-hohenheim.de | www.foodsecurity.de