3° World Water Forum launches a "Dialogue coalition on Water, Food and Environment"

As part of the activities being held in 2003 during the International Year of Fresh Water, the World Water Forum celebrated its third edition in Japan from 16-23 March 2003 addressing issues related to the usage and management of water resources.

The Forum was organized to discuss the world water situation, devise strategies and create synergies to promote the sustainable use of water while celebrating the World Water Day on 22 March. The crisis in the world's supply of fresh water is closely related to the climate change caused by the rapid growth of population, industrial and human pollution and global warming among other factors.

FAO along with the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) and the Japanese National Committee of Irrigation & Drainage were in charge of coordinating one of the themes of the Forum called Agriculture, Food and Water. Food production is directly linked to the availability of water. Shortage of water means a decrease in food growth and therefore incapacity in meeting booming world population's food requirements.

In solving the dilemma between agricultural production and environmental protection a policy coalition called "Dialogue on Water, Food and Environment" was established between important organizations that work in the area of nature protection, irrigation and food security. The Dialogue Coalition, which includes FAO, other UN agencies and international institutions, stressed the need to produce more food with less water while meeting the growing needs in cities and industries.

Among the assessment projects underway to give decision-makers an efficient tool to implement sustainable ways of water usage, 23 UN agencies combined efforts to publish the first edition of the UN World Water Development Report under the title "Water for people, water for life" presented during the Forum.

To read an executive summary of the UN World Water Development Report please click here.

To download the daily coverage from the 3° World Water Forum please click here.