Researcher Inge de Graaf of Wageningen University & Research has been awarded a Vidi grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for the project SAFE-GROUND. Through this project, she will investigate how the balance between water, food production, and the environment is shifting under climate change, and where opportunities exist to restore that balance.
This year’s dry summer once again highlighted how dependent agriculture and nature are on sufficient water availability. During dry periods, groundwater often acts as a hidden reserve that continues to supply water to crops, rivers, and natural ecosystems. At the same time, groundwater resources in many parts of the world are increasingly under pressure from growing water demand and climate change.
Worldwide for the first time
With SAFE-GROUND (Sustainable Groundwater for Resilient Crop Production under Climate Extremes), De Graaf will develop a novel modelling framework that connects groundwater processes with agricultural and ecosystem dynamics, linking local and regional water systems to the global food supply. Using this framework, she will investigate how changes in groundwater availability propagate across spatial scales and what consequences this has for food production and ecosystems. For the first time, the project will provide a global picture of these interconnections and reveal where the balance between water, food production, and the environment is under pressure.
“A large share of global food production depends on groundwater, yet we still know surprisingly little about how resilient these resources are to increasing drought and water use. Through this research, I want to better understand where risks emerge, how they propagate from local agricultural systems to global food systems, and what opportunities exist to use groundwater more sustainably.”
The Vidi grant will enable De Graaf to further expand her research line on groundwater and global water resources.
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