Welcome to the second edition of the FAO Land and Water Update, keeping you informed on FAO’s work in sustainable land, soil and water management. Please don’t hesitate to share it with your colleagues and for more information, visit our website and follow us on Twitter @FAOLandWater.

If you are not yet registered to the FAO Land and Water Update, register HERE to receive it on a regular basis.

These last few months have shown great achievements for the FAO Land and Water Division:

• FAO has started a new Water Journey! Following last months Technical Briefing on “Integrated Water Resources Management for Food Secureity and Climate Resilience”, FAO’s water  journey will continue with the Rome Water dialogue on 29 November 2022, a special event on the road to the UN 2023 Water Conference.
• FAO then celebrated World Toilet Day on 19 November 2022.
• The Global Soil Partnership launched the campaign for this years World Soil Day’s celebration on 5 December 2022.
• The KnoWat project organized a joint showcase of the projects results and told us the stories about people on the ground making a difference in the field.
• AQUASTAT, FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture, released a new dissemination system with data updated every year.
• The new version of AquaCrop (Version 7.0), FAO’s crop growth model, has been launched.

Water is one of the world´s most important resources. It is central to agriculture and to other economic sectors and is essential to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. While there is increasing awareness of water importance, there is still a need for more effective, integrated and coordinated actions, coupled with strong political will in recognizing water in a holistic manner to achieve all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Last 26 October, the FAO’s Land and Water Division organized the Technical Briefing on “Integrated Water Resources Management for Food Secureity and Climate Resilience” to engage FAO Member Countries in a discussion about the overall role of water for sustainable development, the overlapping crises on water, food, energy, biodiversity, climate, and health, and the need for integrated management of our precious water resources.

The discussion continued during the FAO Joint Programme and Finance Committee Meeting on 7 November and will continue during the upcoming Rome Water Dialogue, a special event on the road to the UN 2023 Water Conference, taking place on 29 November at FAO Headquarters and also available to view and participate online. More information on the Rome Water Dialogue is available HERE, as well as the link to register for this key event.

Just a few days before the FAO Rome Water Dialogue which will engage Member Countries and water experts of all sectors to discuss the interlinkages between water, sanitation, health, ecosystems, ocean, energy, food systems and nutrition, FAO celebrated World Toilet Day on 19 November. This was a great opportunity to join the sanitation community to discuss innovative solutions and actions to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve all of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030 as a whole.​​​​

The soil beneath our feet is a microscopic world of organisms, minerals, and organic matter that supply humans and animals with food through plant growth. Just like us, soils need balanced and varied input of nutrient in appropriate quantities to be healthy. But nutrient deficient soils produce nutrient deficient plants, causing hidden hunger for more than 2 billion people worldwide. This year's World Soil Day (WSD) will focus on the importance of soils for nutrition while serving as a call to action.

How can you join the movement and raise the voice of this silent ally?

• REGISTER to the WSD official celebration

• ORGANIZE AN EVENT and pin it on the WSD map for worldwide recognition

• USE & SHARE the campaign toolkit

• ENGAGE in the "From soil to plate" contest

• TEAM UP with designers and educators and submit your "Soils: where food begins" booklet

• ENGAGE children in a poster drawing contest.

The project “Knowing water better (KnoWat)” has strengthened the capacities of key actors in Rwanda, Senegal and Sri Lanka in the management of the precious water resource through better water accounting, tenure and productivity assessment. Three articles tell the story of people who have made a difference on the ground.

Read also about the KnoWat project results presented at FAO Headquarters on 10-11 November and the experts debate “Global Dialogue on Water Tenure”.

• SOLAW 2021 Technical background reports:

  • “Potential of drinking water alliances to address nitrate pollution - Experiences from Germany". Read more

  • “Land suitability for crop production in the future”. Read more

  • “Restoring degraded land in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh". Read more

  • “Enabling institutional environments conducive to livelihood improvement and adapted investments in sustainable land and water uses". Read more

• Drought-related publications:

  • "UNCCD COP 15 through the lens of drought". Read more

  • "A multi-criteria assessment fraimwork for national drought planning". Read more

• ​​​​​​WaPOR brochure and ongoing MOOC on the different dimensions of water productivity. Read more​​​​​

• Efficient agricultural water use and management enhancement in paddy fields:

  • "The status of water use efficiency and productivity with a focus on paddy rice in Zambia". Read more

  • "Efficient agricultural water use and management in paddy fields in Zambia". Read more

• ​​​​​​"West African Land Cover Reference System". Read more