Nourish and Flourish: Sustainable Water Use in Agriculture for Feeding 10 Billion People on a Livable Planet

By 2050, our planet will need to feed nearly 10 billion people, but current agricultural water management (AWM) practices can only sustainably ensure food for 3.4 billion. This gap highlights the urgent need to transform water management in agriculture. AWM is fragmented and infrastructure-driven, overlooking inefficiencies, institutional weaknesses, and ecological limits. This leads to overuse in some regions, underuse in others, and risks to food security, rural livelihoods, and ecosystems.  

This session will show how transformative AWM can deliver food security while enablingclimate resilience and environmental stewardship. The keynote will present insights from the World Bank’s upcoming report, “Nourish and Flourish”, which includes a new water–food nexus typology, three paradigm shifts for AWM, and the “Prosperity–People–Planet”framework.

The session will highlight innovations like AI-driven remote sensing, digital water platformsand performance-based irrigation contracts. The private sector – especially smallholders and technology providers – plays a key role. Panelists will discuss combining green and blue water resources to boost productivity and protect ecosystems.

Emphasis will be on scaling climate-resilient irrigation, integrating AWM into broader land, water, energy and agricultural strategies, and building inclusive, sustainable pathways. Case studies will illustrate lessons, point out existing gaps and showcase opportunities for collaboration. The session ends with a dialogue on mobilising investment, strengthening institutions, and building partnerships for a transformative global AWM agenda.