IWMI is one of 15 international research centers supported by the network of 60 governments, private foundations and international and regional organizations collectively known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is a non-profit organization with a staff of 350 and offices in over 10 countries across Asia and Africa and Headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

SIWI, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) released the report, "Saving Water: From Field to Fork - Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain."

Organizations at [World Water Week, a meeting of 2,500 scientists, politicians and officials from 140 countries who met to discuss global water issues] in Sweden said policy makers and businesses have to drastically improve harvesting methods on farms and minimize waste in food processing. Consumers also must be made aware of the implications of food waste, which consumes large amounts of water that could otherwise be beneficially used in a world that faces water shortages, a report said.

The brief authored by the Stockholm International Water Institute, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and the International Water Management Institute shows that the current food crisis is less a crisis of production than a crisis of waste. Tossing food away is like leaving the tap running, the authors say.

Colin Chartres, director general of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) said the causes of water scarcity are essentially identical to those of the food crisis.

"There are serious and extremely worrying factors that indicate that water supplies are close to exhaustion in some countries," he said.

"As much as half of the water used to grow food globally may be lost or wasted," said David Molden, director of research at the International Water Management Institute.

The report was unveiled at World Water Week, a meeting of 2,500 scientists, politicians and officials from 140 countries who met to discuss global water issues. The United Nations has named 2008 the International Year of Sanitation.

"There is a large potential for wastewater agriculture to both help and hurt great numbers of urban consumers," said Liqa Raschid-Sally, who led the study published by the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and released this week at the World Water Week conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

The report, "Saving Water: From Field to Fork — Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain," was issued on Thursday by the Stockholm International Water Institute, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the International Water Management Institute (report pdf here). It outlines ways that governments could halve the amount of food lost between field and plate by 2025.

SIWI, along with the UN food agency FAO and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) compared discarded food to leaving the tap running in a joint report 'Saving Water: From Field to Fork - Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain'.

'As much as half of the water used to grow food globally may be lost or wasted,' IWMI researcher Charlotte de Fraiture said.

Some 1.2 billion people were estimated to live in regions where demand for water is greater than supply. The pressure is increasing over demand for agricultural products like beef and bioenergy that are water intensive.

These predictions come in a report by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) based in Sri Lanka, which is backed by the World Bank. The most detailed of its type, it is based on a survey of 53 cities in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

Charles Chartres, director of the IWMI, warned this week that the proportion of food grown using waste water is bound to ...

The 53-city International Water Management Institute survey showed 80 percent of those cities regularly use untreated or partially treated waste water for urban agriculture.

Officials said the practice is often critical to farmers' incomes and urban food security but raises health concerns.

"Irrigating with wastewater isn't a rare practice limited to a few of the poorest countries," said IWMI researcher Liqa Raschid-Sally, lead author of a report on the survey. "It's a widespread phenomenon, occurring on (49 million acres) across the developing world …"

As developing countries confront the first global food crisis since the 1970s as well as unprecedented water scarcity, a new 53 city survey presented at the conference by the International Water Management Institute indicates that 80 percent of those studied are using untreated or partially treated wastewater for agriculture.

In over 70 percent of the cities studied, more than half of urban agricultural land is irrigated with wastewater that is either raw or diluted in streams.

CGIAR, which was established to achieve sustainable food security and reduce poverty in developing countries through scientific research, has noted that parallel to the food shortage and price rises is a water crisis.

Colin Chartres, the International Water Management Institute's director general said the reasons for water scarcity "are much the same as those that account for the food price crisis".

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A new 53-city survey conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) indicates that most cities are using untreated or partially treated wastewater for agriculture.

Wastewater use is critical to farmers' incomes and urban food security but raises health concerns, IWMI said in a statement released on Monday.

In over 70 percent of the cities studied, more than half of urban agricultural land is irrigated with wastewater that is either raw or diluted in streams.

The International Water Management Institute, which published the findings, said that more than half of farmland near 70 percent of cities in Third World countries is watered with sewage that threatens to spread epidemics.

An increasing demand for water and food has spurred the use of sewage to water crops but in many cases is the only form of irrigation for farmers who lack clean water, the study showed. It is mostly used to produce vegetables and cereals, and poses a major health risk to consumers of uncooked vegetables.

A global food shortage and unprecedented water scarcity have driven an increase in the use of partially treated or untreated waste water to irrigate crops, according to the International Water Management Institute report released yesterday at a world water conference in Sweden.

IWMU researcher Liqa Raschid-Sally said waste water was used mainly to grow vegetables and cereals such as rice, and posed major health risks to consumers of uncooked vegetables.

The paper deals with environmental and social values of river water. Although many decisions on water allocation in river basins are made on economic grounds but environmental and social benefits of water should also be considered in river basin management.

A report to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development links this waste in Western countries to problems in feeding the world's poor and needy. The report, from Stockholm International Water Institute, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN and the International Water Management Institute, says "tremendous" quantities of food are discarded in processing, transport, supermarkets and people's kitchens. It urges governments to halve the waste by 2025.

John is a Denver native, who graduated from Metropolitan State College and attended the University of Montana Graduate School of Business. He works for the city of Denver, Department of Public Works, Wastewater Management Division. John is an avid hiker, backpacker and -- in the days before a knee replacement and hip replacement

Reuters writes that a study released by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on Monday said "cities in developing countries around the world are using untreated or partially treated wastewater for agriculture, posing serious health risks to urban consumers. …

Thought for Food -- "Water-Related Synergies and Trade-offs - Food and Bioenergy" and "Improve Food Security - Combine Productive Sanitation, Conservation Agriculture and Water Harvesting" discussed a report from the International Water Management Institute and "'eco-sanitation' to create synergies in agricultural production that can enable us to feed more people and improve the sanitation situation."