Food and Agriculture Organization launches a digital platform to guide irrigation investment

25 October 2026

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has launched the Mapping of Irrigation Potential and Needs Initiative, known as IRMA, a digital decision-support platform that helps countries identify where irrigation is feasible, needed and likely to deliver sustainable benefits. QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, spoke at the Rome Water Dialogue 2026 during the World Food Forum and said water security is food security. The organisation set out a 4R approach of reduce, reuse, recycle and replenish, and four priorities: water-use efficiency, fair access, drought and flood preparedness, and ecosystem protection. It identified four types of water value, namely cultural, social, economic and environmental. The Global Dialogue on Water Tenure was launched at the 2022 UN Water Conference. King Letsie III of Lesotho and LI Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, took part.