Photo: BMEL/Photothek
Berlin Agriculture Minister’s Conference – a commitment to strengthen global water governance
Conference traditionally concludes the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), the motto of which was “Water. Harvests. Our Future.”. Sixty-one ministers from around the world and representatives of 14 international organisations took part in the Conference.
The ministers emphasised agriculture’s reliance on sufficient water to produce food and the key role that the sector played in global food security. Furthermore, they clarified that agriculture, as one of the largest water users, was a core part of the solution to water scarcity, maintaining that it could make a meaningful contribution to sustainable water use and deliver effective solutions for global water resilience. The ministers also underscored that jointly ensuring water and food security delivered wider benefits, including preventing social unrest and decreasing migration pressure.
Agriculture key to achieving SDG 6
In her keynote speech, UN Special Envoy for Water Retno L. P. Marsudi emphasised that agriculture was at the frontline when it came to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, namely ensuring clean water and sanitation for all people. “Farmers are not only producers, but also guardians of this most important resource for humanity,” said the UN Special Envoy, adding: “We must decide how much water we use, how much we pollute, how much we waste, and how much we leave for future generations.”
Young farmers demand more justice and ownership
Olesia Shakalo-Olshanetska and Lucas Vidal Podestá picked up on this theme. The young farmers from Ukraine and Argentina had met with 18 other colleagues from around the world at the International Young Farmers’ Forum 2026 in the run-up to the GFFA to share their perspectives on the future of agricultural and food systems. In their statement, they criticised the global inequality in farmers' access to important resources such as water and land and to technologies, and they condemned acts of war, especially those directed against water infrastructure, which harm farming communities and the local population. They called on the ministers present to recognise farmers as key players in sustainable water use – as the basis for productive agriculture and food security. They also called for more support to give them greater weight in political decision-making processes, both nationally and internationally.
Young farmers with Agriculture Minister Rainer.
Photo: Photothek.de
A clear commitment to international agreements
In their final communiqué, the agriculture ministers committed themselves to foster water resilience and reaffirm the commitments under key international agreements and instruments, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 and 6, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Commitment for more efficient water use
In order to achieve a more sustainable use of water, the agriculture ministers committed themselves to promoting a more efficient water use in agriculture while supporting flood risk management measures. They also emphasised the role of forests in stabilising the water cycle and the need to reduce water pollution. Key elements to be promoted included the collection and use of data, the development of effective early warning systems and international cooperation in research, capacity building and technology transfer. Renewable energy solutions should be explicitly recognised as key elements for effective water management.
Unlocking the potential of the blue economy
In line with the GFFA Communiqué 2025 on the bioeconomy, the ministers emphasised the potential of the blue bioeconomy for food security, income diversification for local communities, the protection of traditional knowledge and the conservation of aquatic genetic resources. Sustainable and inclusive value chains should be created, tapping into previously underutilised resources such as algae and residual raw materials from fisheries and aquaculture.
Promoting the human right to water
With a view to the recognition of human rights to water and sanitation by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010, the ministers committed to supporting equal participation and access to water for vulnerable and underrepresented groups, including smallholder farmers, indigenous peoples, women, and young people. They promised to ensure that farmers had the right tools and resources to produce food sustainably with increasingly scarce water resources. Finally, the ministers called for strengthening international water governance and for empowering the voice of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture in global water decisions ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference (to be held in December) and beyond.
“I am delighted that Berlin has today made a clear commitment that agriculture is not the problem, but a central part of the solution for sustainable water use,” said Germany’s Federal Minister of Agriculture Alois Rainer at the end of the conference. “Agriculture belongs at the table of global water policy – not on the sidelines, but at the centre of the debate.”
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