Special Sessions COSTEA
Comité Scientifique et Technique de l'Eau Agricole (Scientific and Technical Committee for Agricultural Water)
The COSTEA Think Tank, dedicated to water for food in the face of climate change challenges, was established in France in 2013 and is implemented through Eau, Agriculture et Territoires (EAT), with financial support from the French Development Agency (AFD).
It has progressively expanded internationally by connecting its partners within a Scientific and Technical Committee of nearly 800 members from multiple countries, a genuine community for reflection and action.
Its mission is to produce, share, and promote knowledge and policy recommendations to address the challenges of irrigated agriculture.
COSTEA organizes working groups, field expertise missions, cross-learning initiatives, and training activities across four main thematic areas:
➢ Agroecological reengineering and management of collective irrigation systems
➢ Wastewater reuse for agriculture
➢ Mitigation of irrigated agriculture’s impact on climate change
➢ Participatory and inclusive territorial water governance
COSTEA will participate in the upcoming ICID Congress, a major international event dedicated to irrigation and water management.
Its governance is based on a Steering Committee composed of representatives from member states (through their sectoral ministries in charge of agricultural water), which defines strategic orientations and validates COSTEA’s objectives.
To date, member states include: Cambodia, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine, Senegal, Chad, Mauritania, and France.
More information on: comite-costea.fr
COSTEA will be attending the next ICID conference!
On this occasion, a series of thematic side-events organized by COSTEA will highlight international experiences, research findings, and practical approaches addressing the challenges of agroecological transition in irrigated systems:
MONDAY 12TH OCTOBER
- 14:00 – 15:00 | Morgiou (Level 1)
FARM, AFD, Agri-PDB, COSTEA / Financing Water management for Agricultural Transitions: Public Development Banks as Catalysts for Adaptation and Resilience - 16:30 – 18:30 | Morgiou (Level 1)
COSTEA – Turning the Marseille Call into Action for Water and Food
TUESDAY 13TH OCTOBER
- 08:30 – 10:00 | Morgiou (Level 1)
COSTEA / Water storage | With : AFD, BRL, SCP, INRAE, CIRAD, AgroParisTech, Hydroconseil, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis
- 10:30 – 12:30 | Morgiou (Level 1)
COSTEA / Reengineering of irrigated infrastructures and management to promote agroecology | With : SAED, ISRA, LISODE, BRL, SCP, CIRAD, URA-ECOLAND
- 14:00 – 16:00 | Morgiou (Level 1)
COSTEA / Assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from irrigated agricultural systems and mitigation levers | With Rives et Eaux du sud-Ouest
WEDNESDAY 14TH OCTOBER
- 08:30 – 10:00 | Morgiou (Level 1)
COSTEA / REUSE for agriculture: innovative and participatory approaches for implementation in Mediterranean area | With : Experts Solidaires, AdaptAction, INRAE, INRGREF, Région Occitanie, Commune de Barjac, Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères, Al Ard, Toubas Water Utility, JSC Nord Hébron | From territorial planning in Palestine to Tunisia’s national strategy, and including risk management training in Jordan, this side event will showcase the diversity of approaches implemented by COSTEA and its partners to support the reuse of treated wastewater in agriculture across the Mediterranean. Drawing on concrete experiences, the speakers will demonstrate how resource planning, governance, economic viability, risk management and capacity building can be brought together. A discussion session will provide an opportunity to identify tools and approaches that could be adapted to other contexts.
- 10:30 – 12:30 | Morgiou (Level 1)
COSTEA / One Water Vision / Remote sensing in irrigated agriculture | With : IRD, INRAE / OneWater Vision, FAO, World Bank, Digital Earth Africa (IWMI), BRLi, Rives & Eaux, SCP, CESBIO, UMR G-EAU | Remote Sensing in Irrigated Agriculture : Current Challenges - Future Perspectives : Planetary remote sensing offers considerable potential for irrigated agriculture, from tracking land cover to quantifying water resources. However, significant challenges remain: limited temporal and spatial resolutions, a lack of transferability of approaches, and barriers to the adoption of remote sensing tools among them. In this side event, we will open a discussion around best practices to tackle these and future perspectives to explore, involving Join the conversation!




