AgTalk: Water-Food-Energy Nexus
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In developing countries, population growth and economic development are increasing the demand for food and water resources. By 2050, the demand for energy is forecast to double, with water and food requirements set to increase by over 50 percent.
OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), as an active development finance institution is tackling these challenges in a pragmatic way with a result-oriented approach. Affordable, reliable, and competitive energy is considered to be an essential enabler for the development of water and agriculture. Since 2008, OFID has committed 4.1bn USD for the nexus sectors. The organization considers this nexus as one of the central themes of its Strategic Corporate Plan for 2016-2025.
OFID supports innovative systems addressing the nexus challenges in arid areas like biosaline agriculture. It recognizes that ICBA has done exemplary work in this field.