The article highlights the emerging challenge of farming in Egypt’s desert regions, where agriculture increasingly depends on scarce deep groundwater (“fossil aquifers”) rather than traditional Nile irrigation. In this context, holistic and sustainable agricultural practices are being introduced to bolster resilience. These practices focus on improving water use efficiency, building soil health, and reducing dependence on depleting water resources. By integrating techniques such as biodynamic and regenerative farming, the initiative aims to strengthen food security, adapt farming systems to harsh desert conditions, and support rural livelihoods in the face of climate stress and water scarcity. The article underscores the vital link between groundwater availability and food production, and the need for innovative, context-specific farming approaches in arid landscapes.

Gillian Babb, an MSc student at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, conducted her fieldwork in the Maldives under the 3SWater Project and Water and Development Partnership Programme (WDPP). During her research in the islands of Mulah and Kolhufushi in the Meemu atoll, she explored the deep cultural and ecological connections between island communities and mangrove ecosystems. Through the voices and experiences of local women—known as Dhatthas—she documented traditional knowledge, daily practices, and poetic expressions that reflect the intertwined relationship between people, water, and the living landscape.

From 7th–11th July 2025, IHE Delft and partners conducted a Water Infrastructure Asset Management training in Siaya County, Kenya, under the EcoRural Project.

The sessions equipped local water providers and officials with practical tools for life-cycle costing, risk-based decision-making, and human-centered asset management.

Field visits and participatory discussions bridged theory and practice, fostering sustainable water system management.

The training emphasized data-driven planning, policy alignment, and community engagement, leaving a lasting impact on rural water resilience management

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“Nile Pop: Music, poetry, and stories on a shared river” was organised on February 22, 2020, at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden (The Netherlands), as a collaboration between IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Stichting Zenobia, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, and the Africa 2020 workshop “The Nile: inclusion and exclusion over a transboundary resource”.

Nile Pop turned the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden’s Tempelzaal into a stage featuring presentations and performances by an international group of researchers and musicians. They showed how the Nile river has inspired popular culture in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, and how popular culture influences the way we understand the river, manage its water, and represent its infrastructure.

The event at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden and this special issue are part of the project “Open Water Diplomacy: Media, science and transboundary cooperation in the Nile Basin”, funded by the Water and Development Partnership program (Phase2), which is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In many parts of Maputo (Mozambique), accessing water is a challenge. The documentary tells the stories of women and men at the margin of the water supply network and beyond, where chasing water is the norm. Their stories reveal the many ways in which water deeply marks people’s life and their ability to live and settle in a place, take care of their family or develop a business. As these stories unfold, the question of why so many in Maputo are unserved or undeserved becomes more urgent. Water utility staff are faced with this question: is it possible to provide water more equitably?