South Asia’s water crisis is a worldwide concern. The region’s population is soon expected to reach two billion; the greater Ganges Basin alone is home to 700 million people, many of whom are among the poorest in the world. Managing water resources in this region to alleviate poverty has historically been an intractable problem, and solutions will require a multidisciplinary approach.
This publication documents the proceedings of the South Asia Regional Fulbright Alumni Workshop on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus convened in Kathmandu from 10–12 February 2015. The workshop aimed to foster an interdisciplinary and transboundary discussion of the interrelationships among water, energy, and food (WEF).
The workshop assembled 60 South Asian alumni of the Fulbright, Humphrey, and International Visitors Leadership programmes, along with 40 regional and international experts, to promote a shared understanding of water, energy, and food issues in the region. Experts in water resources, as well as those specializing in food and energy security, brought to the workshop many years of experience in their own fields and countries. Participants and speakers included government officials, academics, researchers from think tanks, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and activists. The goal of the three-day workshop was to promote a shared understanding of the complex interrelationships among water, energy, and food issues in South Asia and beyond.