ACEWM co-hosted the International Conference on Water, Food, and Energy Security held from July 4- 5, 2022 at Sapphire Addis Hotel, Addis Ababa.
The conference is organized by Florida International University (FU) in collaboration with Africa Center of Excellence (ACEWM) and other academic intuitions and organizations working in the sector.

This year’s conference was held with the theme ‘The Role of Science and Communities in Post War Reconstruction’ and is intended to create a platform for international and national expertise to highlight and share local and global experiences on natural resource management, water management, irrigation, flood control, drought management, energy, and food production. In a changing climate and water, food, and energy demands are increasing with the growing population.
Minister of Water and Energy, Habtamu Itefa stated that the government is working to address the water, energy, and food scarcity following the rapid population growth and urbanization, and he called water experts to play their part in the efforts to defend the water security of the country.

In his keynote speech, Professor Assefa Melesse, organizer and chair of the conference from Florida International University pointed out that water plays a critical role in major economic activities including energy, agriculture, environment and other sectors in Ethiopia.He urged experts in the water sector to contribute their share for the effective use of cross-boundary, surface, and groundwater resources.He also noted that the conference is a great opportunity to create awareness on the agenda and help to close the gaps in a scientific way.
ACEWM Director, Dr. Feleke Zewge made a brief presentation on ‘Strengthening Partnership and Collaborations to Address the Water-Food-Energy Nexus Challenge in Ethiopia’ highlighting ACEWM’s Perspectives and experiences.
During the two-day conference, a number of research papers with a specific focus on food and energy nexus and use in the continent were presented and discussed.
The conference also highlighted ways to resolve conflicts related to the use of the Nile water.