Commission on Water for Food Futures Convenes to Address Urgent Shift in How Food Systems Manage Water

September 22, 2026 — The Commission on Water for Food Futures (CWFF), a global initiative led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), convened this week to discuss how countries can improve water productivity in food systems while safeguarding water resources in the process — a step toward the high-level report the Commission will deliver at the 2026 UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi this December.

Background

Agriculture uses 70 percent of global freshwater, and farmers will need to grow more food with less reliable water availability to meet the demands of a growing population. To address the critical challenge of balancing water security and food security over the next 15 years, Cambridge University Press launched the Cambridge Sustainability Commission on Water for Food Futures, led by IWMI and the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the University of Nebraska.

The CWFF is a global, multi-institutional initiative focused on rethinking how water is managed within food systems to meet future water and food security challenges. Building on the findings of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, the CWFF is assessing current science, policy and practice to guide strategic thinking and generate practical recommendations for balancing water and food security by 2040. The Commission builds on the collective missions stemming from the Transformative Futures for Water Security dialogue, a bottom-up process that captured the priorities of more than 1,000 water and food stakeholders across 440 institutions in the Global South.

Purpose and Approach

The Commission’s purpose is to critically examine existing approaches to water management in food systems, identify limitations in meeting future needs amid climate uncertainty and resource pressures, and highlight emerging innovations and policy directions. Through a demand-driven approach informed by stakeholder consultations, the CWFF is exploring themes including meeting societal water and food demands, aligning consumption with water uncertainty, embedding water in agricultural practices and intensification, and optimizing water use across the food system.

IWMI Director General Mark Smith underscored the stakes of the Commission’s work: “We fail on future water security and food security without science and innovation. The Commission on Water for Food Futures will help us, instead, to succeed — by using science and evidence to build a future-facing agenda for water and food systems that is fit for the complex, uncertain and rapidly changing world of tomorrow.”

Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director at CGIAR, emphasized the growing difficulty of balancing food and water needs: “In many regions, balancing food and water security has become more challenging than ever. This new Commission, led by the International Water Management Institute and CGIAR, will unite evidence, insights from commissioners, key experts, and young professionals to drive collective action, investment, and innovative solutions to tackle one of the world’s most pressing challenges: water scarcity.”

Structure and Timeline

Integrating evidence and inputs from commissioners, key experts and young professionals from across the globe, the CWFF will produce a high-level report to be launched at the 2026 UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi this December, with full findings subsequently published in Cambridge University Press’s Global Sustainability journal in 2027. As a Cambridge Sustainability Commission, the CWFF represents a scientific assessment approved by the journal’s editorial leadership at the project proposal stage, exists to answer specific research questions on global sustainability themes, and does so by identifying, appraising and synthesizing relevant evidence-based natural and social science expertise.

By embracing innovative solutions and policy environments and fostering collaboration among stakeholders, the Commission aims to stimulate developments and investments that secure a sustainable and resilient future for both water resources and food systems worldwide.

Conclusion

As the CWFF moves toward its December report launch in Abu Dhabi, this week’s convening reflects the Commission’s ongoing effort to translate broad scientific consensus on the water-food nexus into a practical, evidence-based framework for action. With water security and food security increasingly recognized as inseparable challenges, the Commission’s work — grounded in input from over 1,000 stakeholders across the Global South — aims to give governments, researchers and investors a coherent agenda for navigating the water and food pressures the world will face through 2040.