inefficiencies may result from harmful subsidies eg subsidising energy for groundwater abstraction by farmers for instance freer trade in agricultural commodities and the reform of farm support policies in oecd countries can alleviate some of the tensions between food security and water productivity box the linkages between the policy areas also have to be considered early on under this programme which involves an aud billion investment over years the government is acquiring tradable water entitlements with the objective of returning more water to the environment the water is acquired through direct buybacks of water entitlements from irrigators as well as savings from infrastructure upgrades