“Water is at the intersection of global agriculture and climate change goals, serving as a resource to address the urgency of adaptation and the promise of mitigation. However, these goals – adaptation to ensure food security, changed practices to support mitigation, and reduced water use in agriculture – are often at odds.” –Lefore, N.
As extreme weather becomes more common, improving water management in agriculture has become urgent to secure our food supply. Farmers must adjust quickly to changing rainfall and rising temperatures to keep producing food. At the same time, agriculture accounts for 70% of the world’s freshwater use and is responsible for roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. This raises the important question: Can agricultural water management support both adaptation and mitigation, or do these goals inherently work against each other?
In an opinion piece following their SIWI Seminar Series at World Water Week 2025, DWFI’s Nicole Lefore and IWMI’s Petra Schmitter explain that global climate goals, and even more so, climate finance mechanisms, prioritize mitigation, while farmers and governments tend to focus on adaptation to ensure food and nutritional security. Through examples of rice cultivation, peatland management, and solar irrigation, they show that achieving co-benefits for adaptation, mitigation, and water security can rarely be achieved simultaneously. The authors argue that progress requires policies and investments that reflect local priorities and provide greater support for adaptation, paired with strong data and evidence to guide decisions. Co-benefits are possible, but they require intentional planning, coordinated action, and increased adaptation investment at every level.