The AWSAMe initiative

The escalating impacts of climate change – including water scarcity – pose a critical threat to global agricultural sustainability. As one of the organizations aimed at addressing this challenge, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed the Value Added Impact Area (VAIA), Addressing Water Scarcity in Agriculture and the Environment (AWSAMe) initiative.

The AWSAMe initiative specifically supports a better environment, one of the four betters of the FAO Strategic Framework 2022–2031. It works towards more resilient food systems through interventions which enhance water productivity, such as irrigation efficiency or soil moisture conservation and improving agriculture yields in marginal environments by promoting:

• indigenous, drought-resilient and nutritious crops with the potential to improve biodiversity; and
• saline agriculture in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), coastal areas and other affected lands.

The initiative integrates innovation and science with conventional and indigenous practices at field level to guide the development of evidence based policies at various levels.
The inception phase of the initiative as reported here is carried out through a project funded by FAO's Flexible Voluntary Contribution (FVC).

Focus areas