Article

Water for tomorrow

navigating trade-offs in food systems, landscapes, and shared water resources

How can we produce the food we need while protecting the water, landscapes and ecosystems we all depend on? This guest blog by Riva's Sára Bori for the Government of the Netherlands explores the difficult choices involved – and what it takes to manage them through an interactive long read.

25 August 2026

Water connects food production, healthy landscapes, thriving communities and resilient economies. But demands on water are growing, and decisions about how land and water are used can create benefits in one place while increasing pressures elsewhere.

Drawing on experiences from South Africa’s Letaba region and global food value chains, Water for tomorrow explores these interconnected challenges and the trade-offs they create. With insights from SIWI’s work on water and landscape governance, it looks at how better understanding of water across landscapes can support more informed decisions – and why cooperation between governments, businesses, farmers and communities matters.