WFO brings farmers’ experience into preparations for the 2026 UN Water Conference, linking global policy discussions with practical solutions on the ground.

Farmers’ experiences and solutions informed UN discussions on water governance, as the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) participated in the High-level Preparatory Meeting for the 2026 UN Water Conference, held in Dakar, Senegal, from 25 to 27 January 2026.

The meeting brought together governments, UN entities, and stakeholders to shape the scope and priorities of the 2026 Conference, review progress and gaps in the achievement of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and identify ways to accelerate action on water-related challenges.

Representing WFO, Betty Chinyamunyamu, CEO of the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM), contributed to the session “Strengthening Participation: Action points and collaboration for an inclusive 2026 UN Water Conference”. The discussion focused on how to ensure that diverse stakeholder voices meaningfully inform the Conference process, with particular attention to those directly managing water and natural resources on the ground.

Speaking from the perspective of farmers and rural communities who manage water on a daily basis for food production, livelihoods and ecosystems, Chinyamunyamu stressed that meaningful participation must be embedded in the design of the Conference, moving beyond consultation towards engagement that genuinely shapes priorities and outcomes. She highlighted the importance of institutionalising participation, including through recognised constituencies and structured spaces, and ensuring that community-led solutions feed directly into decision-making, supported by adequate resources to remove financial and structural barriers.

“A truly inclusive UN Water Conference is not one where communities are simply present in the room,” she said. “It is one where they help set the agenda, shape the discussions and see their solutions reflected in outcomes and commitments.”

Image courtesy of Betty Chinyamunyamu (National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM)). Copyright not verified.

WFO’s engagement in Dakar also continued through the Expert Group Meeting side event “Insights for the 2026 High-Level Political Forum – In-depth Review of SDG 6”, organised by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Division for Sustainable Development Goals, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

During the discussion, Betty Chinyamunyamu framed water as a driver of prosperity, highlighting its role in income generation, job creation and economic transformation across food systems. She stressed that accelerating progress towards the 2030 targets requires shifting the focus from managing scarcity to using water productively within the food–energy–environment nexus.

She highlighted the importance of scaling up farmer-led and decentralised water infrastructure, including small-scale irrigation, water harvesting and renewable-energy-powered systems, alongside investments in healthy watersheds and catchments as essential economic infrastructure.

Addressing finance, the WFO representative underlined that water can only drive prosperity if farmer-led investments are properly financed and de-risked, and if Climate-Smart Agriculture is recognised as a core water productivity strategy linking environmental sustainability with economic returns

“For farmers, water is one shared resource which, when managed as a nexus, can deliver prosperity across communities,” she said.

As preparations continue for the 2026 UN Water Conference, the participation of a global farmers’ organisation such as the World Farmers’ Organisation highlights the importance of including farmers’ voices in global policy dialogues. By connecting international discussions with realities on the ground, WFO helps ensure that global policymaking is informed by farmers’ lived experience, while also strengthening farmers’ capacity to engage in the political processes shaping agriculture and water governance. This two-way connection between policy and implementation demonstrates how grassroots innovation and policy development can reinforce one another, contributing to more effective solutions to achieve SDG 6 by 2030.

Image courtesy of Betty Chinyamunyamu (National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM)). Copyright not verified.