There is a close link between the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation and the human right to food. Safe drinking water and sanitation are crucial for human health and nutritional up-take, while water and plant nutrients (often in the form of fertilizers) are indispensable for producing food.
The ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals are that all people should have access to safe water and sanitation, and all people should be food and nutrition secure. However, despite multiple linkages between water, sanitation and food production, these are often handled as separate sectors, both within research, governmental institutions and by practitioners. A holistic approach to providing clean drinking water, sanitation and ensuring nutritious food production is challenging and rarely addressed simultaneously. An expert group consisting of researchers and practitioners has been formed under the SIANI umbrella in order to explore linkages between water, sanitation and food (WSF) sectors.
The group aims to:
- identify most important linkages between water, sanitation and food production.
- map information and technology transfer between Swedish WSF actors and actors in low to middle income countries.
- develop policy recommendations for integrated management of WSF linkages in low to middle income countries.
The expert group is a result of collaboration between researchers and practitioners at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Salvation Army, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Uppsala University, Swedish Agricultural University (SLU) and EcoRelief as well as contributers in workshops.