Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS)

Agriculture is one of the industry sectors identified by the charter of MIT, and is inscribed inside the dome of Lobby 7 on campus. The MIT Professional Education short program Innovation and Technology in Agriculture and the Environment furthers this connection between research at MIT and industry practitioners.

Back to our roots

MIT short program, Innovation and Technology in Agriculture and the Environment, unifies industry and academia.

July 24, 2017

Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change Research Scientist Kenneth Strzepek meets with Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture Tefera Deribew.

Charting a better future for Africa

Kenneth Strzepek applies models to help decision makers advance food security and sustainable development in a climate-compromised continent.

June 22, 2017

For their 2017 J-WAFS Seed Grant project, MIT professors Stephen Graves and Bishwapriya Sanyal will analyze irrigation practice, supply chain design, and extension services in Senegal. Their goal is to understand how policy and market conditions influence the availability of irrigation technologies in developing countries. Seen here: Irrigated rice cultivation in the Senegal River Valley.

J-WAFS awards $1.4 million in third round of seed grant funding

Principal investigators will receive grants of up to $200,000 per year for two years, overhead free, for innovative research on food and water challenges.

May 10, 2017

Researchers have developed a new method for removing even extremely low levels of unwanted compounds from water. The new method relies on an electrochemical process to selectively remove organic contaminants such as pesticides, chemical waste products, and pharmaceuticals.

MIT researchers develop new way to clear pollutants from water

Electrochemical method can remove even tiny amounts of contamination.

May 10, 2017

At the second annual Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize competition, seven finalist startups and teams from MIT and other universities pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges, for a chance to win prizes totaling $25,000. The pitches addressed some of today’s most pressing issues in the food and agriculture industries.

Funding solutions for pressing food and agriculture issues

Teams tackling crop spoilage, pesticide pollution, and farming efficiency win annual competition.

May 3, 2017

(Left to right) L. Rafael Reif, President of MIT; Fady Mohammed Jameel, president of Community Jameel International; and Sanjay Sarma, MIT vice president for open learning

Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) to spark global renaissance in education through innovation at MIT

Empowering underserved populations will be a guiding focus.

May 2, 2017

A new safety test for foodborne pathogens is based on a novel type of liquid droplet that can bind to bacterial proteins. This interaction, which can be detected by either the naked eye or a smartphone, could offer a much faster and cheaper alternative to existing food safety tests.

New technology could offer cheaper, faster food testing

Specialized droplets interact with bacteria and can be analyzed using a smartphone.

April 5, 2017

MIT scientists have found that climate change will likely worsen drought conditions in parts of Africa, dramatically reshaping the production of maize throughout sub-Saharan Africa as global temperatures rise over the next century.

Climate change to worsen drought, diminish corn yields in Africa

Over the next century, southern Africa will see widespread decreases in maize production.

March 16, 2017

Kevin Patrick Simon (left) sets solar panels in place with villagers at a pilot site in Jharkhand, India. Simon, an MIT PhD candidate in mechanical engineering, is studying solar irrigation.

How engineering students are seeking to solve major food and water security problems

Students with a common passion for food and water security share their research at the MIT Water and Food Security Symposium.

January 9, 2017

Keynote speaker George Hawkins, CEO and general manager of DC Water, presents at the fifth annual MIT Water Summit, hosted by the MIT Water Club.

Students, academics, and entrepreneurs join forces to tackle the future of water utilities

Fifth annual MIT Water Summit brings together interdisciplinary panelists to give multiple perspectives on major issues surrounding the water sector.

December 21, 2016

Left to right: Xylem CEO Patrick Decker, MIT Associate Provost Karen Gleason, and J-WAFS Director John Lienhard celebrate the signing of the J-WAFS Research Affiliate agreement.

Xylem becomes first J-WAFS Research Affiliate

Global water technology company signs agreement with J-WAFS for directed research and support of student activities and other water-related initiatives.

November 18, 2016

Produce is vulnerable to potential safety issues in the food supply chain.

MIT Sloan takes interdisciplinary approach to managing food safety risks in China

Team announces collaboration with the Walmart Foundation.

November 3, 2016

This desalination plant in Israel, called Sorek, is currently the world's largest, producing 625,000 cubic meters of fresh water per day. Boris Liberman, chief technology officer of IDE Technologies, the company that built this and several other huge desalination plants in Israel and California, was among the speakers at MIT's Low Carbon Desalination Workshop, which explored the potential for redu...

How to achieve “green” desalination

Workshop explores ways to reduce or eliminate the carbon footprint of seawater desalination plants.

October 19, 2016

Membrane structures in plant xylem from different species are being investigated for use in water filtration.

J-WAFS Solutions program awards $750,000 in commercialization grants

Four new projects and one renewal receive $150,000 in funding for 2016-2017.

August 12, 2016

A five-day MIT Professional Education course — Agriculture, Innovation, and the Environment — showcased new technologies and strategies for making the agriculture industry more productive.

Growing season

New professional education program on agriculture, innovation, and the environment attracts global agricultural leaders to MIT.

July 19, 2016

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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