daugherty water for food global institute

Support The daugherty water for food global institute

Every day, nearly a billion people in the world do not have enough safe and nutritious food to lead healthy and active lives. Many of them also lack access to enough clean water to meet their needs. By 2050, our global food demand will double to meet the needs of nearly 10 billion people, making water and food security one of the most urgent global challenges of our time.  

Nebraska is fortunate to have one of the most progressive and prosperous agricultural industries in the world, thanks to the blessings of our natural resources, the ingenuity and hard work of our farmers, and the research leadership of the University of Nebraska. The Daugherty Foundation selected NU to harness this winning combination for a new institute focused on ensuring water and food security for our growing world. The Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) was founded in 2010 to leverage the university’s expertise and extend it with strong state, national and international partnerships.

The institute’s impact is achieved through the work of its talented staff, more than 100 faculty and global fellows, postdoctoral researchers and students in a wide variety of fields who pursue projects focused on increasing water and agricultural productivity. Additionally, the institute includes the 50+ years of experience at the Nebraska Water Center and the Water Sciences Laboratory, and benefits from the expertise of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln. As a systemwide institute, DWFI taps the specialized resources available at all four NU campuses, including the College of Public Health within the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. DWFI also collaborates with other universities, businesses, nongovernmental organizations and government agencies around the world to address issues on a global scale.

Through research and policy development, education and communication, the institute is enhancing knowledge, fostering future water and food security leaders, and developing effective techniques to sustainably manage water and increase food security.

Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Fund

Gifts to this fund benefit the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute.


Measure your life by the difference 
you’ve made in someone else’s.

When you make a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation, you can trust that it will be used in the way in which it was intended. That’s a promise we’ve kept with our donors since our organization was founded in 1936.