World-wide water resources are under consideration: on the one hand fresh water resources are increasingly scarce. On the other hand, the flows of wastewater are increasing. Domestic wastewater is, directly or indirectly, increasingly being used for agricultural production, under various circumstances. A modern challenge is to channel and manage these flows properly, considering food safety, developmental and environmental issues, institutional arrangements, and national and regional policies.

In this respect, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR) has proposed to organize and co-finance a regional expert group meeting on Municipal Waste Water Use for Irrigation as a starting point for further focused and collaborative research in close cooperation with the Regional Centre on Urban Water Management-Tehran (RCUWM) under the auspices of UNESCO and the Water and Environment Centre (WEC), University of Sana’a.

 Objectives of the expert meeting

To formulate a regional research agenda on the use of wastewater on the basis of an exchange of knowledge and information by a selected group of regional and international experts. The Expert Meeting will have the task to critically review and comment existing insights and knowledge and to discuss priority research on cross-cutting issues related to the use of (treated) domestic wastewater in agriculture. The overall issue has important links to fresh water availability, productivity, health and environment

To create interest at donor agencies to financially support advanced research on the subject.