Just got this through a Twitter contact. MEMs interested in global ag/water policy might be interested in the following conference:
Water for Food: Growing More with Less
Second Annual International Conference
May 2-5, 2010 | Lincoln, Nebraska USA
http://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/2010/
About the conference By 2050 the world population is expected to increase 40 percent and the demand for food will double. Agriculture uses 70 percent of the world's freshwater withdrawals for irrigation, and 60 percent of the food supply is produced by rain-fed agriculture, yet global water supplies face increasing demands from expanding urban populations and a changing climate holds unknown risks. We must grow more food using less water.
Hosted by the University of Nebraska and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Water for Food: Growing More with Less, will be May 2-5, 2010, at The Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln, Neb., USA. Major conference sponsorship has been provided by the Robert B. Daugherty Charitable Foundation.
Speakers include:
U.N. Panjiar, Ministry of Water, India
Martin Pasman, IRRI Management, Argentina
Prem S. Paul, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Shiqi Peng, National Agro-Technical Extension and Service Centre, China
Harvey Perlman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Richard Perrin, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Elijah Phiri, University of Zambia, Leader of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Pillar 1
Jeff Raikes, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Rich Richards, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organization, Australia
Pedro Sanchez, Columbia University; World Food Prize Laureate