In this review, we take stock of 10 research articles that cover strategic delta planning processes in Asia, Europe, and the US. We test working hypotheses about consent, innovations, actor coalitions, and planning tools in different phases. We posit that strategic delta planning is a deliberate effort to influence delta developments, wherein wishful thinking on how a delta could develop is repeatedly confronted with vested practices and interests. These confrontations produce expected (e.g., institutional embedment, changing people’s minds) and unexpected changes (e.g., actors suddenly consenting or stepping out). Strategic delta planning is therefore not only an ambitious planning process, it is also highly uncertain, as consent on strategic directions has to be renegotiated across phases and arenas. Recommendations for practice are therefore highlighted that cover vocabulary, persuasiveness and tools. Further research is proposed to study the vagaries of strategic delta plans in urbanising deltas.@en

The growing competition for finite land and water resources and the need to feed an ever-growing population require new techniques to monitor the performance of irrigation schemes and improve land and water productivity. Datasets from FAO's portal to monitor Water Productivity through Open access Remotely sensed derived data (WaPOR) are increasingly applied as a cost-effective means to support irrigation performance assessment and identify possible pathways for improvement. This study presents a framework that applies WaPOR data to assess irrigation performance indicators, including uniformity, equity, adequacy, and land and water productivity differentiated by irrigation method (furrow, sprinkler, and centre pivot) at the Xinavane sugarcane estate, Mozambique. The WaPOR data on water, land, and climate are in near-real time and spatially distributed, with the finest spatial resolution in the area of 100gm. The WaPOR data were first validated agronomically by examining the biomass response to water, and then the data were used to systematically analyse seasonal indicators for the period 2015 to 2018 on g1/48000gha. The WaPOR-based yield estimates were found to be comparable to the estate-measured yields with ±20g% difference, a root mean square error of 19±2.5gtgha-1 and a mean absolute error of 15±1.6gtgha-1. A climate normalization factor that enables the spatial and temporal comparison of performance indicators are applied. The assessment highlights that in Xinavane no single irrigation method performs the best across all performance indicators. Centre pivot compared to sprinkler and furrow irrigation shows higher adequacy, equity, and land productivity but lower water productivity. The three irrigation methods have excellent uniformity (g1/494g%) in the four seasons and acceptable adequacy for most periods of the season except in 2016, when a drought was observed. While this study is done for sugarcane in one irrigation scheme, the approach can be broadened to compare other crops across fields or irrigation schemes across Africa with diverse management units in the different agroclimatic zones within FAO WaPOR coverage. We conclude that the framework is useful for assessing irrigation performance using the WaPOR dataset. @en

Latent heat of evaporation represents a large outgoing component of the energy balance established at a crop-stand surface. This explains why agriculture uses approximately 70% of all the freshwater withdrawn in the world. Increasing demand for water due to population growth, competition with industrial, domestic and environmental requirements, and the decreasing quality of water, limit the agricultural capacity for food production. The Water Resources, Development and Management Service (AGLW) of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is carrying out activities aimed at helping country members in supporting sustainable water management to securing food for a growing population. These activities cut across the various levels of the water domain, going from the (inter)national policy level down to local-level field applications. In this article, FAO's experiences in agricultural water management are used to provide lessons from the past and indicate directions for future challenges.@en