This side event will present the main findings and recommendations from FAO's first global report on  'The State of the World's Land and Water Resources  for Food and Agriculture' (SOLAW)' to be officially released to the public in the fourth quarter of 2011. 

The SOLAW Report, which contains some 250 pages of text, diagrams and maps, was prepared on the basis of 17 technical papers on a range of land and water-related subjects. SOLAW outlines the availability and state of land and water resources for agriculture at global and regional levels and the threats resulting from their scarcity and degradation under increasing pressures on these resources by continuing population growth, changes in diets and climate change. It discusses institutional and policy changes required at global and national levels, and technical approaches needed in specific settings to counter these threats. The main recommendations are for improved governance of land and water resources and a closer integration of policies, particularly for agricultural production systems at risk - i.e. those which face land and water constraints and which would be negatively impacted by climate change and other socio-economic drivers.

Programme