Summary and conclusions from the SIWI Seminar for Young Water Professionals Drainage basin security - implications of virtual water trade and agricultural subsidies at regional, national and local levels

This is a summary of the Young Water Professionals Seminar involving more than 50 young people from all over the world working with water. The presentations and following discussion were very lively and were about how subsidies and trade barriers imposed by the developed countries are influencing the income-generating capacity of millions of people in the developing world. Even though this is a very complex issue not easily resolved during the seminar it was also clear that there are some fundamental problems that need to be addressed. The importance of looking for solutions at different levels (i.e. local, regional, national) was highlighted as well as the policy of double standards, preaching free trade but only for the benefit of overdeveloped countries themselves. Further it was discussed how to achieve basin security through food security, and managing water for food security. The conclusion was that win-win solutions would be made if agricultural subsidies were to be completely removed.