Topic outline

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  Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture

  The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) together with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC), in collaboration with the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), have initiated a Capacity Development Project on the Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture. The project was launched in November 2011 with an international workshop in Bonn, and ran until June 2013.

  The impetus behind the project is population growth and rapid urbanization which are intensifying pressure on fresh water resources. The high level of local water demand is leading to increasing water scarcity and stress and is consequently driving the use of nonconventional waters, such as (treated) urban wastewater.

  Click here to download the Project Concept Note 

   Link to UN-Water Share for Coordinators

  Proceedings of the UN-Water project on the Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture A Collaboration of UN-Water Members & Partners FAO · WHO · UNEP · UNU-INWEH · UNW-DPC · ICID · IWMI This proceedings of the Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture project documents the activities and outcomes of the project from the International Kick-off Workshop in Bonn, Germany in November 2011, through its five regional workshops and the International Wrap-up Event in Tehran, Iran in June 2013.
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  Links to individual Workshops

   

  • International Kick-Off Workshop, Germany Page
  • 1st Regional Workshop for Francophone and Northern Africa Page
  • 2nd Regional Workshop for South, West and Central Asia Page
  • 3rd Regional Workshop for Anglophone Africa Page
  • 4th Regional Workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean Page
  • 5th Regional Workshop for Southeast and Eastern Asia Page
  • International Wrap-up Event Page

  
  
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  Reference Documents

   

  • 1. WHO:

    Guidelines for the Safe use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater:

    Vol. 1: Policy and Regulatory Aspects	Vol. 2: Wastewater Use in Agriculture	Vol. 3: Wastewater and Excreta Use in Aquaculture	Vol. 4: Wastewater and Excreta Use in Agriculture	Information Kit: Using Human Waste Safely for Livelihoods, Food Production and Health

    2. FAO:

    a) General:

    The wealth of waste: the economics of wastewater use in agriculture	Water Quality for Agriculture	Wastewater treatment and use in agriculture	Water management for Urban and Peri-urban Horticulture	Agriculture and Urban Water management in a recycling society

    Some national data on wastewater production, collection, treatment and discharge/use in agriculture is available on AQUASTAT - Municipal wastewater: from production to use

    b) Africa

    Manuel des bonnes Pratiques	On-farm practices for the safe use of wastewater in urban and peri-urban horticulture	Growing Greener Cities in Africa

    c) Latin America and the Caribbean:

    Experiencias en prácticas de manejo de aguas servidas para la producción agrícola a pequeña escala	Reutilizacion del agua	La reutilización del agua en agricultura: ¿beneficios para todos?

    3. UNU-INWEH:

    Safe Water as the Key to Global Health

    4. UNEP:

    Sick Water? The central role of wastewater Management in Sustainable development	Building the Foundations for Sustainable Nutrient Management

    5. UNW-DPC:

    Capacity Pool 14: Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture	Mid-Term-Proceedings on Capacity Development for the Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture

    6. IWMI:

    a) General:
    

    Wastewater Irrigation and Health	L'Irrigation avec des eaux usées et la santé: Évaluer et atténuer les risques dans les pays	Cities versus Agriculture: Revisiting Intersectoral Water Transfers, Potential Gains and Conflicts	Wastewater Use in Irrigated Agriculture: Confronting the Livelihoods and Environmental Realities	Recycling Realities: Managing health risks to make wastewater an asset

    Sustainable Management of Wastewater for Agriculture	Drivers and Characteristics of Wastewater Agriculture in Developing Countries: Results from a Global Assessment

    A Framework for Analyzing Socioeconomic, Health and Environmental Impacts of Wastewater Use in Agriculture in Developing Countries	Wastewater Use in Agriculture: Review of Impacts and Methodological Issues in Valuing Impacts	Meeting the challenge of wastewater irrigation: economics, finance, business opportunities and methodological constraints	Efficiency indicators for waste-based business models: fostering private-sector participation in wastewater and faecal-sludge management

    b) Africa:

    Safer Irrigation Practices for reducing vegetable contamination in urban Sub-Saharan Africa	Informal Irrigation in Urban West Africa: An Overview	Rural-Urban Food, Nutrient and Virtual Water Flows in Selected West African Cities	Low-Cost Options for Reducing Consumer Health Risks from Farm to Fork Where Crops Are Irrigated with Polluted Water in West Africa

    
    

    c) Asia:

    Urban Wastewater: A Valuable Resource for Agriculture A Case Study from Haroonabad, Pakistan	Use of Untreated Wastewater in Peri-Urban Agriculture in Pakistan: Risks and Opportunities	Wastewater Reuse in Agriculture in Vietnam: Water Management, Environment and Human Health Aspects

    d) Latin America and the Caribbean:

    Urban-Wastewater Reuse for Crop Production in the Water-Short Guanajuato River Basin, Mexico

  
  
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  Reference Videos

   

  • 1. FAO: Discovering water re-use

    Video in English

    Video in Spanish

    Video in French

  • 2. IWMI Videos:

    Good Farming Practices to Reduce Vegetable Contamination	Recycling Realities in African Cities	Improving Food Safety in Africa – where vegetables are irrigated with polluted water
    A wastewater irrigation system in urban Accra, Ghana