Irrigation expansion can provide the water necessary to increase food production for our growing world. It can also be a means for moving farmers from simply producing enough food for their families to generating more income through domestic markets or export of additional production. However, increasing use of irrigation can have varying impacts on the nutrition of the local communities …
DWFI Podcast 37 – Opportunities of Irrigation and Mechanization
In November 2023, the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute announced a new USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems (ILIMS). ILIMS enhances global food security by generating research-based solutions to support the growth of vibrant irrigation and mechanization markets; develops strong institutions and local capacity for their sustainability; and fosters opportunities for equitable access for …
DWFI Podcast 36 – Impacts of Drought on Human Health
Drought is a prolonged dry period that can occur anywhere in the world and results in a water shortage. Unlike some other disasters, drought has a slow onset and a prolonged impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy and the environment. An estimated 55 million people globally are affected by droughts every year and as many as 700 million people are …
DWFI Podcast 35 – Nebraska’s Agtech Innovation Ecosystem
Farmers are the original agtech innovators. As the population grows, and water resources become scarcer, there is a need for continued innovation in agricultural technologies, and a ready network to foster and accelerate them. The 2024 Nebraska Agtech Innovation Ecosystem Map, jointly published by Water for Food and The Combine AgTech Incubator by Invest Nebraska, outlines the ecosystem for entrepreneurs …
DWFI Podcast 34 – Impacts of Climate Change in the US
The Fifth National Climate Assessment is federally mandated by Congress and released every four years to serve as the foremost review of research on the current and future impacts of climate change in the United States. In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, DWFI Director of Communications and Public Relations Frances Hayes discusses key findings of the report …
DWFI Podcast 33 – Economic Cost of Drought
Aakanksha Melkani, a postdoctoral research associate at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI), researches the economic implications of drought in the United States, specifically on agricultural sectors. In this edition of the Water for Food Podcast, we are sharing an episode of Nebraska on Tap, a podcast produced by the Middle Republican Natural Resources District in Nebraska. Host …
DWFI Podcast 32 – The Melting Cryosphere
This edition of the Daugherty Water for Food podcast features a discussion with Randall Ritzema, Tika Gurung, and Nick Brozović on the Melting Cryosphere and Food & Water Security. A 2023 report called Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: An Outlook (HI-WISE), published by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), was an urgent call …
DWFI Podcast 31 – Agriculture in Space
Yufeng Ge, Santosh Pitla and David Jones have already conducted research in the areas of ag-relevant sensors for more efficient application of fertilizer and water, and the development of an autonomous planter capable of seeding a 5-acre field all on its own. But now they’ve set their sights quite a bit higher — growing food in space. The three biological …
DWFI Podcast 30 – Central Asia Partnership
Since 2013, UNL Water Sciences Lab Director Dan Snow and other researchers in the University of Nebraska system (NU) have collaborated with faculty and students in Central Asian institutes to improve water quality research across the globe. The purpose of this effort is to share NU’s knowledge and expertise in water quality research with a region that has limited resources …
DWFI Podcast 29 – Nicole Lefore, DWFI
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has selected the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the University of Nebraska to lead its new Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems (ILIMS). In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, we hear from Nicole Lefore, the director of the new lab and the associate …