Develop and implement a Global Campaign on Salinization
Saline Water & Food Systems Partnership (facilitated by NFP and NWP)
(
Non-governmental organization (NGO)
)
#SDGAction50341
Description
Salinization is rapidly becoming one of the biggest challenges for food production worldwide. Salt-affected soils occur naturally, for example in (semi)arid areas with limited precipitation. Also, along coastal regions and in deltas, salinity intrusion via tidal dynamics and sea level rise increasingly impacts agricultural production. Salinity severely impacts crop development and growth, threatening food security, biodiversity and livelihoods of millions of people in various parts of the world (SDG2, SDG6). It is therefore important to raise awareness about this issue, and develop measures appropriate to geographic conditions and local contexts.
Collaborating partners share the ambition to collectively develop and implement a ‘Global Campaign on Salinization’. The ultimate objective of this Campaign is to increase awareness about the issue of salinization among policy makers, researchers and practitioners in the global water and food sectors, and subsequently formulate and drive a joint agenda to strengthen policy, knowledge, and implementation.
This Commitment “Develop and implement a Global Campaign on Salinization” builds on several underlying principles:
• The Campaign is first and foremost a communication activity that increases awareness by means of developing and using collective communication products, joint activities, organizing events. The aim is that in the medium term this Campaign will initiate the formulation of e.g. new research programmes and innovative implementation projects, or the promotion of new policies in this area.
• The Campaign will not prescribe one specific response strategy to the salinization challenges. Response strategies may vary between mitigation and adaptation options, depending on local conditions and realities. Changes in water management systems, water infrastructure, but also modifications to agricultural production methods and growing salt tolerant crops varieties could be part of locally or regionally diversified response strategies to salinity.
• The Campaign will stress, however, the need for integrated approaches in response to salinity challenges, including cooperation between the working areas of soil, water and crops. Salinization may be harmful when it comes to food production, or when groundwater is extracted in coastal regions. At the same time, salinization can be beneficial to coastal ecosystems, or provides the opportunity for shifts to aquaculture.
• The Campaign will boost new ideas, bundle initiatives, and create a stronger (communication) momentum for the benefit of collaborating partners. The Campaign will not ‘claim’ already on-going initiatives, search for added value to all partners and complementarity to on-going work and mandates.
Before developing and implementing the campaign, further scoping will take place. In this phase (April-May 2023), discussions will be held with committed and potential partners to confirm collective ambitions, opportunities and conditions for working together on this Campaign. Issues to touch upon are overall coordination and task division, timeline, in-kind or in-cash contribution needs, etc.
During the development phase (May-September 2023), necessary preparatory work for the Campaign takes place: development of an overall communication plan, key message, communication material, activity planning, etc. (example: www.worldwaterday.org).
After that, an implementation phase (October 2023 and onwards) starts during which each partner implements agreed joint activities, and prepares communication about on-going initiatives.
The Campaign serves a greater purpose. Besides increasing awareness about the issue of salinization among policy makers, researchers and practitioners in the global water and food sectors, the ambition is to promote the formulation of a collective follow-up agenda: strengthen current and initiate new policies, knowledge and research programmes, and innovative implementation projects. Impact areas are:
1. At policy level increased awareness about the water-food nexus and the need for an integrated approach to salinization taking into account climate change, soil, land and water management and sustainable food systems. Nexus thinking and a mindset for integrated measures are important preconditions to formulate new policies in response to salinization. Impact: Attention in policy networks, e.g. visible in UN level guidelines and national policies.
2. Salinization is a complex issue with many dimensions and specific research fields. Think of the impact of mitigation and adaptation measures in the long term, but also ecophysiology, research on soil quality, groundwater flows and climate change impacts. Further development of knowledge base, networking and information sharing to improve mutual learning and increase the impact of public financing. Increasing access to and sharing existing knowledge is also necessary, by e.g. building links among the international and national knowledge hubs and networks. Impact: A joint research agenda, new research programs/consortia and funding, international/regional knowledge hubs, training activities.
3. At the level of practitioners, including water managers and farmers, there is a growing demand to implement new innovation projects and learn from best practices and knowledge exchange on salinization, acknowledging differences between local conditions and response options. Impact: access to resources, new funding programmes targeting salinization events. webinars, training, business and farmer meetings to give practitioners access to best practices and solutions based on a systems/integrated approach.
In terms of immediate impacts and outputs of the commitment, we will work towards developing and using collective communication campaign material, targeted and coherent communication activities, developing and disclosing online databases with best practices, and a Launch event with broad international coverage and participation. Again, the Campaign will try to add value to on-going initiatives, and organize new activities that support the collective ambition of increased awareness about the issue of salinization.
FAO, INSAS, WASAG, Free University Amsterdam, Wageningen UR, ICBA, Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ADB, ICCAD, CGIAR, GWP, The Salt Doctors, SeedNL, Deltares, Royal Eijkelkamp.
Feedback
Action Network

Timeline
Entity
Region
- Global
Other beneficiaries
Policy makers, researchers, NGOs, practitioners and local communities dealing with the issue of salinization.
Countries









Contact Information
Martijn, Programme Advisor