In brief
Agriculture and food systems are both drivers and victims of escalating climate and nature crises, in turn increasing the risks to healthy diets, livelihoods and economies. Public policies can set incentives for farming and market practices that further exacerbate these trends, but they can also play a role in reversing them. The global Policy Dialogue on Transition to Sustainable Agriculture is a peer-to-peer platform to share experiences, facilitate partnerships and catalyse policy leadership to accelerate the transition to sustainable agriculture and food systems that benefit people, prosperity and the planet.
Policy Pathway Briefs provide an overview of emerging experiences and lessons on policy approaches that contribute to this transition, covering a series of topics requested by Policy Dialogue members, to support peer learning and knowledge exchange. The briefing notes are in no way exhaustive. The options facing governments will be context-specific and look different across and within countries. The notes aim to act as a discussion starter and to facilitate exchanges between countries engaged in the Agriculture Policy Dialogue and with other global initiatives, drawing on the experiences presented by members and examples that are identified through further research.
This Brief focuses on the interactions between water security, resilient freshwater systems and agricultural practices and land use. It identifies policy instruments and actions for governments to provide incentives and support to water users in agriculture to manage the quantity and quality of water sourced, used and discharged in a more sustainable way. This can boost water security and resilience of freshwater systems more broadly while strengthening the resilience of agricultural production and food security.
