It’s time to act – water and time are running out!

Globally, access to water is the most limiting factor for agriculture. Today, 70 percent of all water in the world is used for agricultural production. For more people to be able to eat their fill, a much more efficient way of irrigating crops is needed. At the green tech company Spowdi, we see ourselves as pioneers in helping small farmers grow their crops. Our solution uses 80 percent less water while producing more abundant harvests. Spowdi possesses one of the innovations needed at World Water Week to address the global water issue.

The world's water is a finite resource, and we must find more efficient methods for global food production when it comes to irrigation. Otherwise, we risk more hungry people, which in turn increases poverty worldwide.

It is time again for the annual World Water Week which has put Stockholm on the global map since 1991 - this year during August 20-24. A global water conference with around 2,500 participants from all over the world, organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute - SIWI.

This year, the focus is on innovation to mitigate the water shortage and make the use of water more efficient. Climate change, loss of biodiversity, and not least poverty – these threats and changes can be addressed through access to water.

The green tech company Spowdi has long emphasized the importance of saving water within farming, especially in equatorial countries where water scarcity is significant and where infrastructure, such as electricity, to sustain irrigation systems is either lacking entirely or unreliable as a source of irrigation.

We dare to assert that we have an innovation that is part of the solution to streamline water consumption. With our innovation, we save 80 percent of the water currently used for irrigation, and it is powered entirely by solar energy.

That is our way of using water as a tool to change the world.

Globally, there are 500 million small farms, the majority of which are managed by women. Together, they produce one-third of the world's food and employ approximately two billion people - mostly women. They live closest to the fields and are the first to be affected by climate change.

For a few years now, female small farmers in several Indian states have been testing our irrigation solution. Agriculture is vital in India and accounted for 15 percent of the GDP in 2017/2018. The number of people employed in agriculture in India amounts to 43 percent of all employed individuals in the country in 2018, according to statistics from The World Bank.

According to an independent report, Spowdi's Smart farming solution has been revolutionary for the small farmers who tried it. One female small farmer harvested 330 kilograms instead of the previous 106 kg, and the time from planting to harvest decreased from 214 days to 141 days. She tripled her earnings.

We not only streamline agriculture with more abundant harvests and less water consumption - but we also enable female small farmers to become entrepreneurs.

The testing period is now over, and we have been tasked with delivering an additional 18,000 irrigation systems. When these systems are in use, thousands of women will have an improved working environment, contributing to increased food production.

We see this as the beginning of something truly great, and after India, we are now turning our attention to Africa and Southeast Asia where the problems with irrigation are similar.

However, Spowdi is part of a larger chain where many more contributors are needed. India and other countries require a more efficient food transport chain, and more solutions are needed to minimize water consumption.

The global investment community has begun to recognize the need for innovations to solve the water shortage.

According to statistics from the Climate Bonds Initiative, green investments in various water initiatives have increased significantly. In 2014, 3.3 US billion dollars were invested in green water initiatives. By 2021, that amount had increased to 31.3 US billion dollars. An 850 percent increase over seven years.

We, along with other innovative companies, welcome the government's increased ambitions to create long-term financing solutions in developing markets. This includes, among other things, so-called blended finance. It is a method to mobilize private capital flows to growth and frontier markets. We know that the demand exists, and the government's initiative is a step in the right direction!

We need to collaborate. Both within and between the public and private sectors. And there is no time to waste.

World Water Week is a great initiative to place the water issue at the top of the agenda. We assume that many great innovations to alleviate the global water shortage will emerge from the meeting in Stockholm this August.

Through collaboration, we can make a change – time and water are slipping away from us.

Henrik Johansson, CEO and Co-founder of Spowdi

Lars Thunell, Chairman and Co-owner of Spowdi, former CEO of SEB and IFC – International Finance Corporation – a subsidiary of The World Bank