Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute

09/04/2026

ICYMI: DWFI and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) convened an inspiring session at World Water Week focused on innovative market-based business models and financing mechanisms for small-scale irrigation.

The session explored how we can build a supportive, sustainable ecosystem for smallholder farmers and resource-constrained growers and shared specific stories of companies doing just that. These included:

🔄 Transition to Irrigation as a Service (IaaS): Moving from equipment ownership to pay-per-session or subscription models gives farmers reliable water access without high upfront costs, shifting equipment maintenance and downtime risks to service providers.
👩‍🌾 Target existing heavy users: Women make up 20% to 70% of irrigation service customers. Overcoming their unique barriers requires intentional actions, like recruiting women pump operators, offering flexible payment plans, and running targeted focus groups.
📍 Localize logistics and support: Moving heavy equipment across long distances is inefficient. Partnering with local agricultural input shops as neighborhood equipment pickup points cuts transport costs and keeps machinery close to fields.
🎯 Deploy smart, targeted subsidies: Subsidies should be designed to avoid government overdependence. Kenya’s National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan (NISIP) shows how targeting foundation nodes (like water harvesting) attracts private sector investment in solarization and services.
📈 Link financing with market access: Results-based financing supports pay-go suppliers, but financial tools alone cannot solve market access challenges. Long-term adoption requires helping farmers transition to high-value crops and securing off-taker agreements.

💬 Discussion: What other strategies can help scale accessible and sustainable agricultural water solutions for smallholders?

🎥 We will share the full session recording as soon as it becomes available from World Water Week!

09/01/2026

When we talk about irrigation efficiency, we often focus on water. But what about the energy it takes to pump, move and apply that water?

Energy use can have significant implications for both farm profitability and long-term water management — particularly as groundwater levels decline and pumping demands increase.

A new DWFI article explores the often-overlooked connection between water and energy in irrigation, including where inefficiencies occur and how system performance, energy prices and weather can influence both costs and water use.

Read more:

Photo Caption: A center pivot irrigation system operates in a soybean field in Western Nebraska. Credit: David Munyaneza | DWFI 

08/27/2026

💧 Starting in one hour at World Water Week: How can we make small-scale irrigation more accessible, affordable and equitable?

For many smallholder farmers, access to irrigation remains a major barrier to adapting to a weather variability and building more resilient livelihoods. Women often face additional constraints related to land, credit and household decision-making.

In our final session, DWFI's Nicole Lefore and partners will explore innovative market-based approaches and financing mechanisms that can expand access to small-scale irrigation—particularly for women and resource-constrained farmers.

The session will highlight emerging models that reduce the risks and costs of equipment ownership, including:

💧 Irrigation as a Service (IaaS), allowing farmers to purchase water or access irrigation equipment more flexibly
🤝 Farmer-owned and non-ownership models that shift equipment burdens to businesses
💰 Innovative financing, including leasing, producer off-taker arrangements and group-based agreements
👩‍🌾 Business models that create new entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for women
📈 The potential role of tailored subsidies and blended finance in scaling irrigation

Following short presentations, policymakers, donors and private-sector leaders will join a panel discussion, with plenty of opportunity for audience engagement around the challenges—and opportunities—of scaling equitable irrigation across different contexts.

Join Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) for this timely conversation.

📅 Thursday, August 27
🕑 14:00–15:30 CEST
📍 A2, Level 6 + online (free)
Session ID: 12504

Learn more about our participation this week » https://ow.ly/tpUE50ZEp3y

08/27/2026

💧 Starting in one hour at World Water Week: How do we move from drought policy to meaningful action?

Drought is increasingly affecting water security, food systems, ecosystems and human health—with the most severe impacts often felt by vulnerable communities.

While many countries have developed drought policies and national drought management plans, turning those frameworks into action remains a major challenge. DWFI and partners will explore how capacity building, peer learning and communities of practice can help bridge the gap between drought policy and implementation.

The session will highlight practical approaches to empower practitioners, policymakers and communities, including:

🌱 New online courses on drought risk assessment and preparedness
🤝 Peer learning through webinars, case studies and practitioner exchanges
📊 Economic analysis to support investments in drought resilience
🌿 Nature-based solutions
💧 Innovations connecting water, food systems and human wellbeing

By combining traditional training with social learning networks, how can we accelerate knowledge uptake and support more accessible, integrated drought management?

From Policy to People: Advancing Inclusive Drought Resilience

📅 Thursday, August 27
🕘 9:00–10:30 CEST
📍 Room 24/25, Level 2
Session ID: 12654

Convened by Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, UN Environment Programme, UNEP-DHI Centre on Water and Environment and Global Water Partnership.

08/26/2026

💧 What will it take to scale small-scale irrigation?

Small-scale irrigation can help farmers increase productivity, strengthen resilience and improve food security—but expanding access requires more than technology. It requires innovative business models and financing mechanisms that work for farmers and service providers.

At World Water Week 2026, DWFI and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will explore Innovative approaches and financing mechanisms for small-scale irrigation.

The session will highlight real-world approaches including irrigation-as-a-service, leasing, producer off-taker agreements, group-based agreements, subsidies and blended finance—and how these models can help catalyze long-term scaling.

📅 August 27 | 14:00–15:30 CEST | A2, Level 6
📍 Online (free) or in person at World Water Week in Stockholm

Join us to explore what it will take to make small-scale irrigation more accessible, scalable and sustainable.

More opportunities to engage » https://ow.ly/Ae9L50ZEoQs

The Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the University of Nebraska is co-convening and speaking in sessions at World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, August 23-27, 2026. The conference is held every year and World Water Week 2026 has a theme of Water for People and Progress, with the...

08/26/2026

🌱 How do we turn drought policy into action that builds resilience for people and communities?

At World Water Week 2026, DWFI's Jesse Bell will be part of a conversation focused on bridging the gap between drought policy and implementation—and making resilience-building approaches more available and practical.

From policy to people: Advancing inclusive drought resilience

This interactive session will explore how capacity building, peer learning and communities of practice can accelerate the uptake of knowledge and strengthen drought resilience. It will highlight practical approaches spanning drought governance, resilience investment, nature-based solutions and integrated water-food-wellbeing innovations.

📅 August 27 | 9:00–10:30 CEST | Room 24/25, Level 2
📍 Online or in person at World Water Week in Stockholm

Join us to explore how we can move from drought policy to meaningful action for more resilient communities.

More opportunities to engage » https://ow.ly/uBGe50ZEoKO

08/25/2026

What does it take to understand what’s really in our water?

In the latest Water for Food Podcast, host Frances Hayes goes behind the scenes at the Water Sciences Laboratory with lab manager Jennah Duncan to explore the science behind water quality testing — from nitrate and PFAS to pesticides, isotopes and emerging contaminants.

Hear how the lab’s work supports researchers, communities and agricultural decision-making in Nebraska and around the world, and what new testing capabilities are on the horizon.

🎧 Listen to the full episode:

Water security isn't just about having enough water—it's about knowing what's in it. That's the focus of the latest episode of the Water for Food Podcast, where host Frances Hayes, DWFI Director of Communications and Public Relations, goes behind the scenes at the Water Sciences Laboratory at the ...

08/24/2026

🌍💧 The evolution of water multilateralism: Tackling today’s challenges

What can the past teach us about building a stronger global water future?

At World Water Week 2026 in Stockholm, DWFI and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) convened an inspiring intergenerational dialogue on the evolution—and future—of water multilateralism.

Drawing on DWFI emeritus executive director Robert Lenton’s more than 40 years of international water expertise and his new book, Confronting Water Insecurity, the conversation explored how we can build global water policy and institutions that are fit for the challenges ahead.

💡 Key takeaways from the discussion:

🔹 Build future-ready scaffolding: Unlike energy or climate, water lacks a unified global body. A flexible, science-informed framework—backed by strong political leadership—could provide the foundation for stronger global cooperation.

🔹 Treat water as an investment: Closing the massive funding gaps in water will require a shift in how we value it, including greater disclosure of water risks and treating water as a critical investment rather than simply a budget cost.

🔹 Recognize that water challenges are local: Water demands and challenges vary significantly from place to place. Solutions must account for local contexts and manage competing demands across sectors, particularly agriculture.

🔹 Bring everyone to the table: Water policy is a two-way street. Farmers and others working “with dirt under their nails” need a meaningful voice—and we must continually ask who may be missing from the conversation.

🔹 Empower the next generation: Emerging water leaders brought optimism and fresh perspectives to the discussion. The path forward isn't necessarily about reinventing the wheel, but building on the foundations and lessons of the past.

The future of water multilateralism will require global cooperation, local knowledge and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward.

08/24/2026

🌎 Starting in one hour at : How can the lessons of water multilateralism help us tackle today’s—and tomorrow’s—water challenges?

Water challenges are nothing new. But the institutions, policies and approaches we use to address them have evolved significantly over time.

This session brings together an intergenerational dialogue on the past, present and future of water multilateralism, drawing on more than 40 years of international experience from water resources and sustainable development specialist (and DWFI emeritus executive director) Robert Lenton, whose new book examines the history of water in multilateralism and global water policy.

Together, the speakers will explore:

💧 What can the evolution of international institutional architecture teach us about what should come next?
💧 How can we create institutional arrangements for water that meet the needs of the future?
💧 What should be the priorities for the 2026 UN Water Conference—and what comes afterward?
💧 How do today’s water challenges compare with those of the past, and how can we overcome them?

Join the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) for this important conversation about where water multilateralism has been—and where it needs to go next.

📅 Today, August 23
🕒 15:00–15:40 CEST
📍 Talkshow Studio, Level 5 + online (online participation for the first 20 minutes only)
Session ID: 12704
Find more events » https://ow.ly/ElfN50ZEjNm

08/23/2026

Why is agricultural irrigation so often left out of global water discussions? 🌍💧

During our World Water Week talk show today, DWFI's Nicole Lefore and Darren Siekman of Valmont Industries, Inc. highlighted a critical gap: we cannot solve global water challenges without bringing agricultural technology providers and industry to the decision-making table.

As Darren noted during the panel:

💬 "We have to have that seat at the table. Because, no pun intended, without it, there won't be anything on the table."

Key takeaways from the discussion:

• Industry as a Solution Partner: Technology providers are on the front lines of water management, actively leveraging R&D and data to drive water stewardship and precision agriculture.

• Breaking Down Silos: Sustainable water management requires an integrated approach that connects irrigation with community governance, regional economics, nutrition and health.

• Supporting Farmers: Successful irrigation, especially in areas in which it does not currently exist, relies on building a robust local ecosystem—including supply chains, repairs, and flexible financing models—rather than just pushing equipment.

Let's stop talking about water in silos and start collaborating on integrated, real-world solutions.