Tania Imran – FutureWater

FutureWater, samen met het regionale kantoor van de FAO voor het Midden-Oosten en Noord-Afrika, presenteerde de blauwdruk van een nieuwe beslissingsondersteunende tool tijdens de interregionale workshop van de FAO over “Geïntegreerde benaderingen en op feiten gebaseerde goede praktijken in duurzaam landbeheer om de integratie van de WEFE nexus te bevorderen”. Het instrument is ontworpen om gegevens uit de waterboekhouding te gebruiken om het sectorale gebruik en de vraag naar hulpbronnen binnen de water-energie-voedsel-ecosysteem (WEFE) nexus te beoordelen en in evenwicht te brengen.

De workshop, georganiseerd door FAO’s Interregional Technical Platform on Water Scarcity (iRTP), werd bijgewoond door deskundigen uit MENA en Afrika ten zuiden van de Sahara, waaronder Jemen, Malawi, Egypte, Jordanië, Algerije, Marokko, Tunesië, Botswana, Zimbabwe en Tanzania. Deze diverse bijeenkomst creëerde een waardevolle ruimte voor regio-overschrijdende uitwisseling over best practices in duurzaam land- en waterbeheer.

De presentatie van FutureWater benadrukte hoe de tool, die momenteel in ontwikkeling is, bedoeld is om op feiten gebaseerde planning en toewijzing van middelen in concurrerende sectoren te ondersteunen. Het nieuwe initiatief bouwt voort op eerder werk in het kader van het waterschaarsteprogramma Azië-Stille Oceaan van de FAO en brengt een systeembenadering van geïntegreerd hulpbronnenbeheer naar voren.

Het was bijzonder bemoedigend om veel interesse te krijgen van verschillende landen om de tool te testen, wat de dringende behoefte versterkt aan schaalbare, data-gedreven oplossingen die duurzame ontwikkeling in waterschaarse regio’s kunnen ondersteunen.

FutureWater is er trots op een bijdrage te kunnen leveren aan het bevorderen van een geïntegreerde aanpak van land- en waterbeheer en kijkt uit naar de volgende stadia van ontwikkeling en pilot testen.

FutureWater heeft met succes het tweede deel van het Shiraka trainingsprogramma over “Climate Smart Water in Agriculture” gegeven, in samenwerking met The Hague Academy for Local Governance. De training was onderdeel van het Shiraka Programma, een initiatief van het Nederlandse Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken gericht op het versterken van duurzame partnerschappen en kennisuitwisseling met landen in het Midden-Oosten en Noord-Afrika.

Het programma hanteerde een praktische aanpak, gericht op praktische toepassingen en instrumenten die relevant zijn voor de Tunesische landbouwcontext. Deelnemers, afkomstig van het ministerie van Landbouw, Watervoorraden en Visserij, namen deel aan interactieve sessies aan de hand van casestudies die hielpen bij het opbouwen van capaciteit over hoe watervoorraden effectief gekwantificeerd en beheerd kunnen worden in een veranderend klimaat.
Belangrijke tools zoals REWAS en Follow the Water (ontwikkeld in samenwerking met FAO) werden gepresenteerd om waterstromen in landbouwsystemen te analyseren. Om de uitdagingen van de gegevens aan te pakken, werkten de deelnemers
ook gewerkt met op afstand gedetecteerde datasets en leerden ze hoe ze informatie konden openen en verwerken met behulp van platforms zoals WaPOR, FAO’s portaal voor waterproductiviteit via open toegang tot op afstand gedetecteerde gegevens
teledetectie.

De training benadrukte het belang van datagestuurde benaderingen en slimme instrumenten om de besluitvorming in het waterbeheer te ondersteunen, vooral onder omstandigheden van klimaatvariabiliteit en waterschaarste
omstandigheden van klimaatschommelingen en waterschaarste. Het succes van dit programma onderstreept FutureWater’s voortdurende inzet voor capaciteitsopbouw en innovatieve oplossingen voor klimaatbestendig waterbeheer in de landbouw

Het Interregionale Technische Platform voor Waterschaarste (iRTP-WS), geleid door de Voedsel- en Landbouworganisatie (FAO) van de Verenigde Naties, heeft als doel om de kloof tussen praktijk en innovatie te overbruggen om transformatieve veranderingen in water-, land- en landbouwbeheer te stimuleren, vooral in het licht van klimaatverandering. De focus ligt op het verbeteren van de paraatheid van systemen voor water-, voedsel- en klimaatuitdagingen door middel van beter bestuur, capaciteitsopbouw en e-learning.

Voor 2024-2025 richt het werkplan zich op “Geïntegreerde Wateroplossingen: Navigeren door Klimaatverandering en Water-Energie-Voedsel-Ecosysteem (WEFE) Nexus Dynamiek.” Het FAO Regionale Kantoor voor Azië en de Stille Oceaan leidt Strategische Prioriteit 1: Nexus Denken, waarbij cross-sectorale en inclusieve besluitvorming wordt bevorderd om hulpbronnen optimaal te benutten en duurzame WEFE-gebaseerde oplossingen te implementeren.

Om besluitvorming op basis van de nexus-benadering te ondersteunen, ontwikkelt de FAO, in samenwerking met FutureWater, een tool die gebruik maakt van Water Accounting-gegevens om toegankelijke inzichten in WEFE-dynamiek te bieden. Deze tool zal WEAP en de bijbehorende API integreren in een Excel-omgeving, waardoor scenarioanalyses voor zowel projecties als interventies worden gestroomlijnd. Door de krachten van beide platforms te combineren, biedt het een intuïtieve, gestandaardiseerde en collaboratieve benadering van Water Accounting, wat bijdraagt aan een meer geharmoniseerd besluitvormingskader.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Asia-Pacific Water Scarcity Program (WSP) to help countries across the region address the increasing challenges of water scarcity. The program aims to promote sustainable water use and support economic productivity despite growing water constraints.

Mongolia’s inclusion in the WSP presents a valuable opportunity to strengthen its water management capabilities. By applying proven methodologies and resources, the program will enhance the capacity of Mongolia’s Water Resource Ministries and River Basin Organizations (RBOs) to tackle the country’s unique water challenges effectively.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of Water Accounting for improved water management under a changing climate, FutureWater, with FAO’s support, is conducting a Water Accounting assessment for Mongolia’s two key river basins—the Tuul and Orkhon. Using cutting-edge techniques and tools, this initiative will provide critical insights to support sustainable water allocation and long-term resilience.

With the highest rate of urbanization in South Asia and as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, Pakistan faces a range of complex challenges, including more frequent and intense flooding, declining economic productivity, and deteriorating public services. Growing dependence on groundwater, coupled with insufficient surface water recharge, is leading to severe localized groundwater depletion.

With support from the Asian Development Bank, the Government of Pakistan aims to upgrade and expand water and sanitation infrastructure in the cities of Sargodha and DG Khan, both of which face significant climate change-related challenges that impact combined drainage and sewer networks. The project has three major outputs:

improving climate-resilient urban infrastructure and services,
enhancing institutional capacity, operational efficiency, and gender inclusiveness of service providers, and
creating greater economic empowerment opportunities for women in the WASH sector.

To assess the exposure and vulnerabilities of project components to potential climate risks, FutureWater will utilize advanced downscaled Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) ensembles, along with relevant hazard data and local information, to conduct a detailed Climate Risk Assessment (CRA). The insights gained will enable the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to implement effective adaptation measures and ensure climate-resilient development.

The International Soil and Water Forum, organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, brought together over 500 participants from 55+ countries in Bangkok in December 2024.

Shared experiences under the four thematic areas: i) managing water scarcity, ii) reversing land degradation and boosting land restoration, iii) sustainable soil management and iv) integrated climate resilient and, soil and water management, provided a holistic overview of the status, challenges, best practices and potential opportunities for achieving water and food security while maintaining healthy ecosystems.

Key government officials from countries such as Pakistan, Thailand, Egypt, Peru and Nepal highlighted the importance of decision-making based on scientific evidence and acknowledged data availability, accessibility, affordability and utilisation as major issues in developing countries. Comprising of 3 plenary sessions, 16 thematic sessions and 9 side events, the forum was successful in getting the ‘Ministerial Declaration on managing water scarcity and reversing soil degradation for sustainable and resilient agrifood systems’ endorsed by ministers and representatives from 27 countries.

During the forum, Peter Droogers and Tania Imran from FutureWater presented the ongoing work on Water Accounting under FAO’s Water Scarcity Program running across 5 countries (Thailand, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Mongolia and Indonesia). In collaboration with FAO’s NENA office, FutureWater also hosted the Inter-Regional Policy Dialogue on WEFE nexus and presented the newly developed tool ‘REWEFe’ (Rapid evaluation of Water, Energy, Food and ecosystem) which quantifies the inter- and intra-linkages within the four sectors.

Uzbekistan is one of the fastest-growing economies in Central Asia, driving a steady rise in energy demand. However, the country faces significant power shortages due to increasing consumption, declining efficiency of aging power plants, and mounting climate pressures, particularly in regions like Tashkent, Samarkand, and Sirdarya. In response, Uzbekistan is prioritizing renewable energy development, especially solar power, to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. With its abundant sunlight, the country is well-positioned to harness solar energy, and several large-scale photovoltaic (PV) projects are currently in progress.

With the support of the Asian Development Bank, Uzbekistan aims to strengthen energy security and promote environmental sustainability by developing three solar PV plants (100 MW, 400 MW, and 500 MW), two substations, two battery energy storage system (BESS) facilities, and associated transmission lines across Samarkand, Bukhara, Jizzakh, Sirdarya, and Tashkent provinces. To identify the exposures and vulnerabilities of these project components to potential climate risks, FutureWater will utilize advanced downscaled Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) ensembles, along with relevant hazard data and local information, to conduct a rapid Climate Risk Assessment (CRA). The insights gained will enable the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to implement effective adaptation measures and ensure climate-resilient development.

Currently, Pakistan’s energy mix consists of 58.8% thermal, 25.8% hydel, 8.6% nuclear, and 6.8% alternative sources, reflecting efforts to diversify from fossil fuels. Pakistan’s installed electricity generation capacity reached 41,557 MW by 2022, with significant growth in transmission line length over the past 5 years. However, the T&D system has not kept pace with the nearly 15,000 MW capacity added during 2017-2021 (ADB, 2024). Despite investments, transmission and distribution losses averaged about 18% over the last 5 years, exceeding the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (NEPRA) 15.3% target. In 2020, 23.7% of generated energy was lost during transmission, distribution, and delivery (ADB, 2024). Notably, transmission and distribution losses exceed 25%, far higher than in comparable countries (GoP, 2017). Therefore, there is an urgent need to upgrade the existing distribution infrastructure to fulfill the energy demands and ensure steady socioeconomic development in the country. ADB will provide financing for four underperforming DISCOs, selected in consultation with the Ministry of Energy: Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO), Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO), the Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO), and the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) to:

to upgrade the critical infrastructure of these DISCOs to reduce technical losses.
to implement revenue protection measures to improve collections. Additionally, the project design includes embedded climate resilience and reform measures to enhance institutional capacity and financial sustainability.

These rehabilitation efforts will also take into account and address the growing impacts of climate change in four DISCOs. FutureWater will make use of state-of-the-art downscaled Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) ensembles, and other relevant hazards and local information to develop this CRA. Insights from the CRA will be used to devise adaptation strategies. Additionally, FutureWater will be reviewing the existing meteorological monitoring network and recommending additional potential monitoring sites for improved surveillance in the country. To further assist the Government of Pakistan, in actualizing its second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) agenda which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit of GDP by 50% (compared to the level in 2016), by the year 2030, FutureWater will also develop a GHG account and prepare a Paris Agreement alignment assessment.

FutureWater, in collaboration with FAO Pakistan, has been implementing a hands-on training on Water Accounting under the GCF project titled “Transforming the Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management”. Comprising of 7 modules, the capacity building program has been running since December 2023, with both online and in-country training sessions.

The latest in-country session took place from 10th-15th June at the FAO office in Islamabad where 35 participants from both Punjab and Sindh provinces successfully completed Module 5 and Module 6. Module 5 focused on the development of WEAP models for the seven respective spatial scales while the aim of Module 6 was to build and assess different socioeconomic and climate change scenarios. Participants understood the key differences between projections and interventions, and learned how to extract and pre-process climate projections data for generating different SSPs scenarios in WEAP. Similarly, the multidisciplinary groups were able to analyse the gaps between supply and demand based on the initial model results.

The next module, which is also the last module of the training program, will enable participants to translate the scientific findings into policy action through the development of different knowledge products i.e. infographics and policy briefs. The knowledge products will mainly be designed for decision makers and farmers and will serve as evidence for informed decision making and equitable use of water resources under different constraints. This training will mark the completion of the first round of water accounting which will be subject to improvement based on the in-situ monitoring equipment being installed under this project.

Increasing water scarcity continues to threaten the agricultural sector in Asia. To address this critical issue, FAO and its partners have been developing a comprehensive Asia-Pacific Water Scarcity Programme (WSP) since 2019. The program aims to assess the ongoing issue of water scarcity in the region, evaluate potential management options, and assist partner countries in implementing adaptive management in the agricultural water sector using innovative tools and approaches.

Addressing the issue of water scarcity requires a sound understanding and development of water accounts to ensure evidence-based decision-making for equitable use and allocation of water resources under a changing climate. To achieve this, a comprehensive hands-on training program on water accounting will be developed and implemented across four countries: Indonesia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Thailand. In collaboration with the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), FutureWater will design and deliver the water accounting training program. This program aims to not only improve participants’ understanding of water accounting but also enable them to use modern and innovative tools to develop water accounts, with a particular focus on quantifying linkages between field interventions and basin-scale hydrology.

Participants will work with tools such as REWAS and Follow the Water (developed by FutureWater in collaboration with FAO) to conduct water accounting in agricultural systems at different scales. Through the use of these tools, participants will be able to estimate real water savings at system and basin scales and analyze the impact of different irrigation schemes on the overall water availability in the system. Moreover, participants will also learn how to access and extract remotely sensed datasets to assess the status of the water resources in the Nam Ngum pilot basin.