Advancing Water-Wise Agriculture: The IHE Delft-NWRC Partnership and Regional Collaborations in Africa and the Arab World

Water and Agriculture across Africa and Arab World regions face mounting challenges due to declining freshwater availability. Increasing demand, over-extraction, and poor management practices lead to groundwater depletion, salinization, and widespread contamination. These pressures are particularly acute in the world's driest and most water-stressed region. This session reflects on the long-standing collaboration between the IHE Delft in the Netherlands, and National Water Research Centre (NWRC) in Egypt, which began in the 1990s. Over the decades, this partnership has expanded to include other Arab and African partners in tackling water scarcity and agricultural sustainability. The session will explore the historical context, share experiences from both previous & ongoing projects, and provide space for open discussion on how this collaboration—and similar regional partnerships—can contribute to the future of agriculture and water resilience in these vulnerable regions. This is a joint session under three key projects: SafeAgroMENA, GWS-SENCE, and WaPOR, all supported by the Water Development and Partnership Program (WDPP) and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).