Side-Event on The pivotal role of Startups in advancing Innovation and leveraging Partnerships for sustainable water security

Excellencies, Ministers, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to join you today.

There is perhaps no greater challenge for agriculture in the Near East and North Africa than water.

For decades we have spoken about increasing agricultural production.

Today, the question is different.

How do we produce more food with less water?

That is the defining challenge for Algeria, for this region, and increasingly for the world.

The numbers explain why.

The Near East and North Africa is the most water-scarce region on Earth with annual renewable freshwater resources among the lowest globally.

Algeria experiences extremely high water stress, with freshwater withdrawals exceeding its renewable freshwater resources, reflecting heavy reliance on groundwater and non-conventional water sources. Agriculture alone accounts for more than 70-75 percent of total freshwater withdrawals, yet food demand continues to grow while climate change is making rainfall more uncertain and droughts more frequent.

This means that water security has become food security.

But water scarcity should not only be seen as a constraint.

It can also become a powerful driver of innovation.

The future of agriculture will not depend only on finding more water.

It will depend on producing more value from every drop of water.

That is precisely where FAO is focusing its efforts.

For many years FAO has promoted the principle of "More Crop per Drop."

Today, thanks to digital technologies, we can move one step further.

We can measure water productivity almost in real time.

We can identify where water is used efficiently and where it is lost.

We can help farmers make better irrigation decisions.

And we can support governments in allocating scarce water where it generates the greatest social, economic and environmental returns.

This is exactly the purpose of WaPOR, FAO's open-access platform that uses satellite observations to monitor water productivity. WaPOR allows countries to move from measuring water withdrawals to measuring water productivity, helping answer the most important policy question: where does every cubic metre of water generate the greatest economic, social and environmental value

Here in Algeria, WaPOR is already supporting the Mitidja Plain, one of the country's most strategic agricultural regions.

Using freely available satellite information, it provides detailed information on evapotranspiration, crop performance and water productivity at high spatial resolution.

Today, policymakers, irrigation authorities and farmers can monitor not only how much water is used, but also how productively it is being used.

This changes everything.

Because you cannot manage what you cannot measure.

And what gets measured gets improved.

But technology alone is never enough.

Data create value only when people transform them into decisions.

That is why FAO has worked with the Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources to establish a national WaPOR unit, strengthen technical capacities, and develop practical tools for irrigation management together with the International Water Management Institute.

This is also where startups become essential partners.

Young entrepreneurs can transform open satellite data into irrigation advisory services, drought early-warning systems, farm dashboards, artificial intelligence applications, precision irrigation technologies and decision-support systems for farmers.

Innovation does not replace farmers.

Innovation empowers farmers.

It allows them to produce more with less water, fewer inputs and lower costs.

At the same time, Algeria is demonstrating leadership beyond its borders.

Through FAO's Regional Water Scarcity Initiative, together with partners including ESCWA, ICARDA, IWMI, ICBA and UNICEF, Algeria is helping build regional solutions for drought preparedness, biosaline agriculture and sustainable water management.

This is exactly the type of cooperation we need.

Because water does not recognize borders.

Neither should knowledge.

But let me conclude with one broader message.

Water security is no longer simply an environmental issue.

It is an economic issue.

It is a food security issue.

It is an energy issue.

It is a peace and stability issue.

The future belongs to countries that learn to produce more nutrition, more income and more resilience with every cubic metre of water.

That requires investment in infrastructure.

It requires better governance.

It requires innovation.

It requires partnerships.

And above all, it requires better information.

At FAO, we believe that the future of water management is not about managing scarcity-it is about managing productivity.

If we combine Algeria's leadership, FAO's digital public goods such as WaPOR, regional cooperation through the Water Scarcity Initiative, and the creativity of its entrepreneurs, water scarcity can become an opportunity to build more productive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems.

That is how we will achieve water security.

That is how we will strengthen food security.

And that is how we will build a better future.

Thank you very much.