Israeli Water Technology Wins Prestigious Swedish Award

Netafim, an Israeli company that is a global leader in smart drip and micro irrigation recently won the 2013 Stockholm Industry Water Award.

“Globally, seventy per cent of our finite freshwater is used for irrigation and with rapidly expanding demand for agricultural products there is a dire need to improve water productivity,” said the Stockholm Industry Water Award Committee in its citation. “Netafim’s remarkable achievements, helping farmers across the world to ‘grow more with less’, are directly contributing to a more water and food secure world.”

“We are truly honored to receive the Stockholm Industry Water Award,” said Igal Aisenberg, Netafim President & CEO. “As the global pioneer and leader in drip irrigation, we have always focused on saving water. With water and land scarcity topping the list of today’s major global challenges, we’re leveraging our expertise and experience in drip technology to help combat food price inflation, ensure food security, and achieve water sustainability. This prestigious award is testimony to our efforts, and inspires our work to continue to help reduce water usage and make the world a better, more sustainable place.”

“As a veteran of Netafim and as an Israeli, I’m proud of our receiving this award,” said Naty Barak, Netafim Chief Sustainability Officer. “Drip irrigation, which originated in Israel’s Negev and spread to the entire world, provides a solution for the world’s most difficult challenges. Owners of large sugarcane plantations in South America, corn growers in the US, and poverty-stricken smallholders in Kenya, Brazil and India use our drip irrigation technology to achieve greater yields while saving water. Along with our feeling of pride for receiving the award, we recognize that there’s a long road ahead of us, and we’re determined to continue leading the way.”

According to Netafim, “Honoring the business sector’s contribution to sustainable water management, the award is granted by the Stockholm International Water Institute in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The award recognizes improved performance in production processes, new products, and management, as well as innovative approaches in water and wastewater technologies, which together help improve the world’s water situation.”

ISRAEL IS A WORLD LEADER IN ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Israel is considered a world leader when it comes to environmental sustainability, especially in regards to water. As a mostly arid country where the Negev Desert consists of 66 percent of the country, Israel has had to learn how to conserve the limited water resources that she has and to use those resources as efficiently as possible. However, as a nation dedicated to the values of Tikkun Olam (fixing the world) and who thrives on innovation, Israel has worked very hard to share her water preserving techniques with countries that face similar problems. In other instances, Israel has offered assistance by helping address the world’s water crisis by teaching how to convert unclean water into drinking water at low cost and by trying to save a polluted river in India.

WATER PRESERVATION IS A MAJOR GLOBAL PROBLEM

Water preservation is considered a major environmental issue internationally. Former UN Secretary General Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali once stated, “The next war in the Middle East will be over water, not politics.” The UN claims that one fifth of the world population lives in areas where there is water scarcity.

By Rachel Avraham, staff writer for United with Israel

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