Meeting the nutrition and water targets of the Sustainable Development Goals: achieving progress through linked interventions
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the need to address the most pressing issues of today: the conservation of a healthy environment that supports the health, wellbeing, economic development and growth of humankind, contributing to peace and security for all. This paper describes the key water-nutrition linkages reflected in SDG 2 (end hunger) and SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) as well as the opportunities and challenges to meet both these goals. The key gaps in knowledge of SDG2-SDG 6 linkages, and key policy recommendations for addressing these gaps are discussed. Support for additional research is also needed to increase understanding and develop synergistic solutions in the areas identified as key knowledge gaps on water-nutrition interactions. More research is also needed on emerging research findings, such as (i) water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)–nutrition linkages, (ii) irrigation–nutrition linkages, and (iii) current status of water quality and the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of pollutants in water environments.
