Department of Water, Agriculture and Food

The Department of Water, Agriculture and Food covers the fields of water quality and quantity, water safety, agriculture, food production, agricultural emissions, and developments surrounding food demand. Water and water management, in both the Netherlands and in Europe, are important in relation to agriculture, housing, nature development, recreation, and transport. Issues that play a role in this respect are the effects of climate change, the availability of fresh water, and the living conditions and safety around the deltas. The department looks at possibilities for the Netherlands, especially, to combine expansion and efficiency in food production with nature and landscape, which on a European scale, is also linked to European Agricultural Policy reform. On a global scale, the department studies world food supply and biofuel production, and how these issues relate to biodiversity, emissions and the use of space.