Regional approaches to food and water security in the face of climate challenges

A workshop held in Midrand, South Africa, in May 2011 brought together policy and decision-makers, researchers and practitioners to discuss water security issues in eastern and southern Africa. This proceedings document summarises the workshop's outcomes with the aim of:

improving the understanding of water security
identifying opportunities to better address challenges faced by individual countries and sectors
highlighting areas for further research
identifying immediate opportunities for development projects.

The document outlines the current situation in the region, providing a global context of the threats and opportunities faced by Africa. The first part of the document presents talks given during the workshop. Research on sustainable livelihoods in corporate supply chains and the pros and cons of both hydropower and regional cooperation were were among the topics discussed.
Following the talks, the workshop's discussion centred around the following three themes.

Pro-poor approaches in land and water, including issues surrounding states indifference to the voiceless poor, the need for donors and states to align long-term goals and supplement each other’s work and questions regarding the role of the private sector.
Can energy and finance dynamise agriculture and water management? Concerns about the private agricultural sector, hydropower and dams persist, so these cannot be regarded as magic bullets. New investment by the BRIC countries may help to halt the increase in coal powered energy plants.
What interventions are needed in trade and markets? Among the issues discussed were the incompatible national standards for electricity, a need for greater cooperation and the question of finance. The discussants concluded that substantial barriers mean that rapid progress is unlikely and the outcomes are uncertain. Markets, trade and harmonisation will be significant enablers and an important step will be to encourage further public discussion on the practical benefits that could result from more focused investment.