Water is key to food security and nutrition. However there are many challenges in the wider context of the nexus between water, land, soils, energy and food, given the objectives of inclusive growth and sustainable development. This is the main message of a new report, launched on Friday by the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) for the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS). The report explores the relations between water and food security and nutrition, from household level to global level, and calls for coherence on these issues at all levels of policymaking and water management. In an article for The Guardian, Professor Lyla Mehta, the team leader of the report, writes that, “Policies and governance issues on land, water and food are usually developed in isolation. Against a backdrop of future uncertainties, including climate change, changing diets and water-demand patterns, there has to be a joined-up approach to addressing these challenges.” She argues that since there are competing demands over water from different sectors such as agriculture, energy and industry, policymakers need to prioritise the rights and interests of the most marginalised and vulnerable groups, with a particular focus on women, when it comes to water access. The authors describe the growing influence of corporate actors, which compete with agricultural smallholders, fishers and poor households for access to water. Lyla Mehta notes that, “Smallholder farmers produce more than 70% of the world’s food but often lack recognition of their land and water rights in formal legal systems. Women and girls frequently spend several hours a day collecting water but lack decision-making power when it comes to water management.” States and other relevant stakeholders should therefore ensure that policy and legislation give women and men equal access to water and make sure to avoid negative effects on the the food security of the urban and rural poor in any reform in water management. In a foreword to the report, the Chair of the HLPE Steering Committee, Per Pinstrup-Andersen, concludes, “Safeguarding water for the dignity, health, food and nutrition security of everyone on the planet is one of the biggest challenges that humanity currently faces. It is a fundamental dimension of the sustainable development agenda. We hope that this report will help policy makers and actors around food, agriculture, water and all concerned sectors worldwide to overcome this challenge.” (ab)