Nourish and Flourish: Water Solutions to Feed 10 Billion People on a Livable Planet

Bys: Benli, Bogachan, Waalewijn, Pieter, de Jong, Ijsbrand

Nourish and Flourish addresses the urgent challenge of sustainably feeding a projected 10 billion people by 2050. Although an additional 2 billion people have been fed in the last 20 years, current agricultural water management (AWM) practices must be transformed if future needs are to be met without environmental damage. The report shows how this challenge can be met through three paradigm shifts: (1) embrace complexity to balance the requirements of people, prosperity, and the planet; (2) establish incentives to transition from hardware to services; and (3) end the guesswork by collecting and using data for transparent, evidence-based decisions. These shifts are complemented by a new water-food nexus framework that categorizes countries by their level of water stress (high/low) and food trade position (net importer/exporter), enabling tailored, context-specific solutions rather than one-size-fits-all approaches. Combined with examples of country experiences, the report illustrates pathways to AWM transformation at scale. Nourish and Flourish addresses the question of how these changes will be financed-- because no government can do this alone. It outlines how existing agricultural finance can be better allocated and how sources of financing can be exp anded and diversified, including a greater role for private sector participation and investment. It also addresses how innovations can be integrated to improve governance, service performance, financial sustainability, and productivity. The report reframes AWM not only as a means to improve production but also as a platform to deliver economywide gains across sectors. The analysis shows that strategic AWM investments can unlock major development dividends. One action alone-- expanding sustainable irrigation-- could create at least 245 million jobs, before accounting for the multiplier effect across storage, processing, transport, and markets. By transforming how countries manage agricultural water, policy makers can simultaneously boost food production, create jobs, build climate resilience, cut emissions, and protect ecosystems, nourishing people while enabling economies and landscapes to flourish on a livable planet.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1464807825
• ISBN13: 9781464807824
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: World Bank Publications
• Length: 72 Pages